AKAI Force

so weird man, this is the second time this has happened it’s all crystal clear now… maybe I need a new usb cable or something… anyways thanks, having an mpc one and an mx1 on a coffee table is just lovely

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No, it’s not just you - even on my Force + MX1, occasionally when I first boot up I’ll get some crackles, and even some weird artifacts where it sounds like the Force is struggling reconciling the sample rate that the MX1 is running at. After 10-15 seconds, it goes away and everything is fine. I spoke to Akai support at length about it, and all they could say is: your MX1 shouldn’t work with Force since Roland doesn’t state that they officially support USB Class Compliance. So, I’m just counting myself lucky that it is working at all, in any capacity! lol

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I didn’t end up using the MX1 with the Force for very long, though I still did not get any crackling or artefacts, @HisNameIsAlive is your MX1 on the latest firmware? (1.05 IIRC)

I think I would prefer to use a normal audio interface with it, or for now just the internal audio I/O. I might go for a 4 or 8 I/O interface down the line.

I hope that Akai in the future might allow multiple audio devices in the same way we can with midi devices.

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Yes - it’s on the latest firmware. Roland hasn’t updated it in years (as it’s a deprecated product that is no longer supported).

Only just saw this, but it sounds kind of similar to the Zoom R16 - according to Zoom, this only functions as a 2 in / 2 out interface unless the driver is installed, and while that may well be true on a PC (I’ve never checked), it provides eight separate tracks to the Force without any trouble. So that’s great, but I’d just expect shrugs from Akai and Zoom if it stopped working one morning.

This concerns me a great deal and is always in the back of my head whenever I turn on my MX-1 and Force. I mean, when USB Class Compliance was introduced for Force/MPC, the MX-1 didn’t work, so something they did in-between maintenance point releases caused it to start working. They could easily release a new firmware with rockstar features that I must have… only to break the MX-1 working as an interface. :frowning_face: :sob:

I could have sworn the MC-707 worked as a basic 2/2 in the early days, but it throws an error now. I might just be confused, but AFAIK it’s 44.1, so shouldn’t have the problems that Elektron gear has. I’m sure I managed to cross-sample between devices, but it might have been my MPC One rather than the Force.

Happily the Zoom continues to function, and is well worth watching out for as an affordable multichannel add-on to the Force.

Anyone know of a simple basic 8 input interface that is class compliant AND works with Force? Preferably a small desktop unit though rack is ok too. Essentially I just want to multitrack 8 inputs at a time into Force.

What about the MOTU Ultralite mk5?

Does it work with Force? Looks ideal otherwise.

Well, it is USB audio class compliant. Plugs and plays with iOS. Is there anything special that would make the force not work with a class compliant interface that works with iOS?

That’s only 4 stereo tracks on Force. Why not use all 8 stereo audio tracks and go with a 16 channel interface instead?

I think from what I can gather Akai runs a linux core, so some Motu stuff does not work, it is quite hard to find out.

@HisNameIsAlive Good point! I forgot they were stereo tracks :laughing:

Quite like the look of this one

Its meant to have some issues. Like bad pre-amps etc.

I have no personal experience with one though!

How about a Tascam US16x08?

Sorry @darenager I meant to reply to you but did it wrong.

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Behringer UMC1820 is the best bang for buck IMO and it definitely works cos I’ve got one plugged into my Force right now.

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This might help you:

“ MOTU Ultralite-mk5-Usable. Some stuff like sample rate, clock source, optical options, & midi options are on the device. The following are locked behind software: Phantom power & -20 dB Pad options, ZLM settings, EQ settings, compresser settings, gate settings, & reverb settings”

Zoom

LiveTrak 8-Usable. The class compliant mode of this interface was clearly made to be only used with mobile and not on a desktop. In the words of user u/dwnomad “Class client mode is in a menu on the device and has to be selected at each connection and you have to be on batteries or modify the device by splicing a connector in with the battery tray”

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxaudio/comments/shj3x3/audio_interface_list/

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Keep in mind that the version of Linux that runs on Force (and MPC) is a custom/modded version of Linux for Akai’s hardware, and thus - all else things being equal - USB Class Compliance still may be hit or miss when it comes to “official” Linux compliance.

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This dude got great mixing tips for the MPC & the Force.

All his MPC mixing vids are great

Yes you’re right. I’m kinda hooked on them :wink: