AKAI Professional MPC Sample

Jag har redan en MPC (Key 61) vilket är min favorit av alla syntar jag har, MEN... den är inte bra på direkt sampling.

Det fixar MPC Sample galant! Jag hade behov för nåt jag kunde spela med direkt istället för att gå till studion och starta upp allt, nåt man kan bara ta tag i när man sitter brevid soffan, i köket, sängen, i bilen... överallt.

Den är extremt enkel att använda. Dock får ni som tänker "budgett MPC" att detta är INTE en MPC Live, One, XL etc. Det är som ren ritbräda, du kan snabbt sampla allt kring dig, hör du nån fågelsång, nån ljud nånstans, så är det bara att trycka record, pad - pad - pad, för varje ljud och böra göra en låt direkt.

Det är som en portabel inspelnings grej vart du kan leka med dina inspelningar, och det är faktisk förvånande roligt att "leka" med.

Det är inte ett komplett studio, det är inte idéen bakom den, men tänk på den lite som en spelkonsol för musiker.

When you are confronted by all the videos on YouTube etc you may be sceptical and rightly so. It has to be said that a lot of people online may not actually understand how the history of the mpc 60 and 3000 is connected to this little box of joy. There’s a lot discussion about what’s missing, which device you should choose, or just simply masses of misinformed influencers just talking to keep you engaged rather than to let you know how good the product actually is. Unfortunately, this is the current state of affairs with social media.
For those who have used any good vintage machines you realise how simplicity is really the ultimate key to creativity and satisfaction. Learning your tools inside out and creating a muscle memory that allows you to flex, at any moment, to create your own masterpieces. Testing the limits and boundaries of simple equipment has created entirely new genres in modern music. This was rarely predicted by music industry companies but it has been a proven method for several generations to escape the boundaries of the tools that they used. Aside from the sound and build of the vintage mpcs, this formula has been tried and tested. There are literally countless albums that have used the mpc as the main sequencing or sampling tool. Do the research and you’ll find the results.
So why the long intro about vintage machines you may ask? Simply because the DNA of this machine lies in that simplicity. The ability to pick it up, switch it on and simply start sampling to your hearts content is where the old and the new mpcs connect. Nobody needs large feature sets, DAW’s with too many tracks, features and workflows that you can’t remember without watching a video or reading a manual. Unfortunately this current music industry process has distracted thousands upon thousands of keen musicians from actually focusing on what they need to do, which is make good music and have fun in the process.
Speaking of fun, I can only say that the fun factor is exactly where this mpc takes the prize. It is far from perfect but I must say it has a feature set larger than any vintage pieces of equipment, yet it is powerful enough to create anything that my vintage pieces of equipment can create and more. The portability is a major plus and muscle memory for this type of device will probably developed within one week of regular use. Having been out for a short period of time I’m pretty sure that there’s feedback and future ideas being gathered to improve the device. There are some minor bugs but nothing too jarring. For those of you that are on the fence you might want to wait to see how this develops but to be honest it doesn’t get much better than this as a new release but there is room for improvement. We have seen worse and better. You can make or sketch your tracks, depending on the genre of course, with this device without a doubt. The ability to play along with computers and other pieces of equipment means that it can hold its own amongst more sophisticated and complex devices yet still provide you with a fully hands-on experience that does not leave you perplexed or confused. It just allows you to stay in the flow. Just long enough for a smile to start appearing on your face when you realise that within a few minutes you’ve already started to sketch out your idea.
For those of you who are new to the MPC world, there is a learning curve but I can safely say with this device, it is not particularly steep and the device actually has been quite well equipped with enough samples and ideas for you to get going for a good period of time. For those you are looking for your own kind of personalisation of the device, the SD card slot is your gateway. Within a few minutes, you can load up the device with your own personalised samples, if you’re not keen on direct sampling as your first steps. With that said the sound quality is on par with most other pieces of equipment. Of course it is not perfect and there are some aspects that have room for improvement. However these are just things that either can be rectified in future updates or has to be accepted for what they are.
In conclusion, I actually think this is the first MPC that feels like an actual continuation of the legacy MPC’s. Even though they may have been a fantastic onslaught of videos on social media, in my opinion the device does live up to its own hype. But don’t let other people convince you of what you can experience yourself. Pick up the device, turn off the computer, load some samples and dive into the world of mpc pad sequencing. See what your creativity can reward you with when you spend time being in the mpc zone.

Als langjähriger MPC-User (u. a. mit der Akai MPC1000, Akai MPC2000, Akai MPC One und Akai MPC Live 3) war ich natürlich sehr gespannt auf die Akai MPC Sample – und ich muss sagen: Das Teil macht richtig Spaß!

Die MPC Sample ist super kompakt, schnell einsatzbereit und genau das richtige Tool für kreatives Arbeiten ohne viel Ablenkung. Gerade für unterwegs oder als schnelle Beat-Skizzenmaschine ist sie perfekt. Workflow ist typisch MPC – Pads fühlen sich gut an, Timing sitzt, und man ist sofort „im Groove“.

Besonders positiv finde ich:

Sehr direkter Workflow (kein Menü-Dschungel)
Schnelles Sampling und Choppen
Leicht verständlich, auch für Einsteiger geeignet
Trotzdem genug Power für ernsthafte Beats

Natürlich merkt man im Vergleich zu den großen MPCs, dass ein paar Features fehlen:

Ein dedizierter MIDI-Track wäre echt wünschenswert gewesen
Eine Normalize-Funktion fehlt ebenfalls (muss man etwas umständlich umgehen)

Aber ganz ehrlich: Wenn man weiß, worauf man sich einlässt, ist das kein Dealbreaker. Die MPC Sample ist bewusst reduziert – und genau das macht sie auch so inspirierend.

Fazit:
Für mich als jemand, der viele MPC-Generationen kennt, ist die MPC Sample ein richtig cooles, kreatives Tool für schnelle Ideen und oldschooliges Arbeiten. Kein Ersatz für die großen Geräte, aber eine perfekte Ergänzung.
Ach ja, als Ex-Nutzer der EP133 von TeenageE und der SP404, kann ich nur sagen die Sample ist absolut unschlgbar gegenüber den anderen.