NAMM 2017: Watch Akai Demo New MPC Live And MPC X Hardware

We caught up with Akai's product specialists at NAMM 2017 to get a hands-on demonstration of the new MPC Live and MPC X hardware that's been causing quite a stir in the tech world. 

MPC Live 

At the heart of the new MPC Live is a beautiful, full-colour 7-inch multi-touch screen, 16 amazingly responsive, velocity- and pressure-sensitive RGB pads, four touch-capacitive Q-Link controls and a large, clickable master encoder knob. Featuring multicore processing technology, 2GB of RAM and an expandable 16GB of on-board storage, Live is as powerful as any MPC that has preceded it. Thanks to a ultra-portable lightweight footprint (5.5 lbs) and battery powered operation via the internal, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, MPC Live provides an unleashed creative experience honed for expressive live performances and immersive, self-contained production – launch clips with real-time time-stretching; sample, grab, pinch & edit waveforms; program the step sequencer; record, sequence & edit audio/MIDI live; apply XY FX in real-time, and much more directly from MPC Live’s gesture controlled capacitive color screen.

AKAI MPC Live

MPC Live Features

• Standalone MPC – no computer required – natively powered by MPC Software 2.0
• 7-inch full-colour multi-touch display
• Also acts as a control surface for MPC 2.0 software, compatible with Mac & PC
• Internal, rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Selectable inputs: Turntable (RCA) with ground peg and stereo balanced 1⁄4-inch jack
• 6 configurable 1⁄4” balanced jack outputs
• 1/8” headphone output
• 2 pairs of full-size MIDI inputs and outputs
• 16GB of on-board storage (over 10GB of premium sound content included from leading sound designers including CR2, TOOLROOM, Loopmasters, Capsun Pro Audio, and more)
• User-expandable 2.5” SATA drive connector (SSD or HDD)
• 2 USB-A 3.0 slots for thumb drives or MIDI controllers
• SD Card slot for loading samples and projects

MPC X 

AKAI MPC X

The new MPC X is a standalone MPC featuring a beautiful, full-colour 10.1” multi-touch screen and 16 amazingly responsive, velocity- and pressure-sensitive RGB pads – all fuelled by a multicore processor surgically tuned to power MPC Software 2.0TM. Rounding out the controls are dedicated menu buttons, a large master encoder knob and 16 touch-sensitive 360o assignable pots (Q-Links) with adaptive OLED displays, perfect for viewing and precisely automating individual parameters to deliver expressively nuanced recordings.

MPC X Features

• Also acts as a control surface for MPC 2.0 Software, compatible with Mac & PC
• 16 Touch-capacitive Q-Links controls with OLED displays
• 66 buttons for direct, hardware access to all aspects of MPC Software 2.0
• Standalone MPC – no computer required – natively powered by MPC Software 2.0
• 10.1” full-colour multi-touch display
• 4 selectable inputs: 2 XLR / 1⁄4” combo jacks with switchable phantom power, 2 instrument level; 1⁄4” jacks, turntable RCA input with ground peg
• 8 outputs: balanced 1⁄4” jack
• Dual 1⁄4” and 1/8” headphone outputs
• 2 full-size MIDI inputs, 4 full-size MIDI Outputs
• 8 configurable CV/Gate outputs enabling the analogue control of modular gear, such as classic synths
• 16GB of on-board storage (over 10GB of premium sound content included from leading sound designers including CR2, TOOLROOM, Loopmasters, Capsun Pro Audio, and more
• User-expandable 2.5” SATA drive connector (SSD or HDD)
•  2 USB-A 3.0 slots for thumb drives or MIDI controller
• SD card slot for laoding samples and projects