No Roland is not better for example.
The new MC line has not a good documentation from what I have seen.
I think you can press the record button in list view and voila, step sequencer, if thatās what you mean
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Yeah saw this the other day actually, but itās still not quite what I mean. On the old ones you step through each step with the transport controls and you can insert notes, delete them, edit any settings and midi cc values etcā¦ And you step through at your chosen quantize setting. Also, every time you step forwards or backwards, anything currently on that step triggers and you hear it. Itās perfection, bring it back! haha
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For as much as I love my MPC it feels like the MPC legacy is weighing it down.
Iād love to see a new machine without the legacy and compatibility. I hoped the Force could have been it but it was just a different form factor.
On the other hand, I made my best productions on the Force and on the Live ii, so Iām nitpickingā¦
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Yeah, I guess Iām someone who likes variation and changes in workflow regularly to keep things fun etc. I want an MPC to be an MPC, and an Octatrack to be an Octatrack for example. I really donāt like the idea of every box having every same functionality as the next, cos then, whatās the point heh. To me, everything has strengths and weaknesses. Everyone seems to want Ableton in a box, but if I wanted Ableton in a box Iād have kept the Push 2. 
FWIW I also dig the Maschine 3, however I donāt like being so attached to the PC and screen. Undoubtedly the best pads Iāve ever played on though.
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The step sequencer might not be that bad if anyone actually wanted to try to learn itā¦ I wonāt, it confuses me everytime I open it, but I havenāt gave it a solid ten minutes to try to figure it out yet. You probably could learn it and get good at using itā¦ that is what elektron is for though 
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As far as the new MPCs go, the Live has actually been pretty impressive tbh, especially since I wasnāt into the idea at all initially, being a bit of an old Akai gear fanboy haha. Things like the touchscreen really put me off. But then seeing and hearing my mateās in action it convinced me enough to grab one.
However, the latest updates HAVE been super buggy, which is less impressive, and I can definitely see why people want a bit of transparency from them (me included). Itās 2022, work with your audience. It achieves great results when companies listen to the people buying the machines tbh. And release notes on bug fixes should just be a given imo. I really donāt understand them not giving out this info.
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You do you bruh.
This is the step sequencing I mean, should be time stamped around 43.30:
I do what werks for me, and you do what works for you 
Tempted to sequence my Live with my MPC2000 
thankfully the MPC is not Ableton in a different box.
I disagree with everything between here and my last post.
I like MPCās, old and new. I also like the Force and my Electribe 2ās.
Just adding my two centsā¦
Iāve dived pretty hard into the MPC Live 2 I got last month. I use it entirely stand alone so far (the reason I bought it) but will eventually use it in Logic when Iāve got some tunes to finish up.
Anyway, I have experienced zero bugs so far. Every issue Iāve hit was user error (wrapping my head around the vastly different workflowā¦never used an MPC prior).
Iām not negating peoples issues with Bugs at all. Though I feel Iāve played with 80%+ what this thing has to offer, my projects havenāt been crazy complicated (which they eventually will be, no doubt).
I ordered my MPC Live 2 after watching lots of videos but some how didnāt look into this thread prior. I got pretty worried while the Live was in transit after reading many posts. With that said, I just want to add to the thread that my experience has been AWESOME! so far. Itās not a perfect machine of course, but for what I want to do with it, itās been amazing. Especially the playability of the pads. Best Iāve ever felt. Sample slicing has worked flawlessly too which I believe some were struggling with. Not sure why, it just has.
The next thing Iām going to dive into is the auto sampler. Super excited about capturing my vintage synths in there. I had a plan to do that with Logicās autosampler but never had a chance. Hopefully it all goes well.
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Man Iām super happy you enjoy it. Iām blown away that quite a few people here donāt seem to get that I for one was obviously joking in my comments a few posts further upā¦just shows you how partisan the whole gear thing has becomeā¦makes me laugh lol.
I for one have two of these (MPC Live & MPC X). I much prefer the X over the Live for the added controls and q-links, but the Live can be fun on the sofa and does feel nice when grooving out on the go.
Personally I do feel they are TOO feature rich, in the sense that my workflow experience with this MPC series is more mental/conceptual than it is physical. But then I like constraints, they force my creativity ā I realise that for some itās the other way around.
The other issue is with Akaiās inconsistencies in their design and UI philosophy & executionā¦eg why canāt I use any of the hardware buttons to access the FX slots (touchscreen is a must here, breaks with the logic of the UI otherwise), and why canāt I erase a trackās contents while the sequence is playing (an idiosyncrasy so profoundly MPC that it feels more like ideology on Akaiās part than a workflow choice), why canāt I pinch n zoom in the piano roll where the touchscreen would actually improve workflow significantly (they claim Apple holds a patent here, but I call BS, SO many non-Apple products allow for pinch n zoom), and why canāt I reorder tracks eg in Track viewā¦stuff like this, the list goes on.
Then thereās also the frustrations of having been on the journey since day 1: I bought my Live pretty much when they came out (and sold my MPC1000 with JJOSXL shortly after)ā¦you probably wouldnāt know now, but back then these devices came out quite unfinished! They advertised it as a production & midi centre and praised its bluetooth and wifi integrationā¦none of those features actually were available when the product was launchedā¦I mean, we had to wait until ver 2.8 to get the midi capabilities that were promised on release date (ie 2 years +)ā¦and as if they didnāt want us to enjoy those features too much, with that release they also quietly changed the track mute behaviour in a way that was universally disliked if you can believe the forumsā¦it took them until 2.11 to address that track mute behaviour (if Iām not mistaken)ā¦itās little things like that that make some of us be a little less hot n heavy about Akaiās way of doing things.
I mean Andy Macās customer engagement counterpart, āDanā, proudly announced on gearspace.com over two years ago, that the MPC platform was moving towards ver 3.0 where a linear, visual sequencer would be made available and the feature sets between the Force and MPC would be converged to a good extentā¦I know because Iāve been waiting for that for over two years nowā¦and needless to say, a few months later āDanā disappeared and with him any further communication from Akai on gearspace (despite the loud commitment by Akai upon release that they would be there for the community in that particular way)ā¦this is fine in general, but anyone whoās dealt with Akai in the past (ie bought am MPC1000 or MPC 2500 upon release) will know of their shitty reputation and chronic abandonment of product support (without fulfilling even the most basic promisesā¦Iām also looking at you, MPC Renaissance) in the pastā¦granted this time around theyāve been worlds better ā unbelievable almost, for Akaiās standards, but thatās why a few of us still wonāt trust their commitment 100% since inMusic took over Akai a long time ago, and thatās why some of these bugs and issues that a few of us have been having since 2.11 sting so muchā¦because it happens to be very much like the Akai that weāve known for 20 years prior to this latest series of MPCs.
Cue the MPC 1000ā¦it was a total shit show with Akaiās own OSā¦and a former engineer of theirs had to quit his job and then come back around in a one-man effort to turn the device into what it should have beenā¦thatās JJOSXL.
Itās easy enough to buy gear, try it, and move on when it doesnāt connect. Iām glad youāre enjoying yours and at the same time I want to extend a sweet middle finger to all those that call people haters because they report bugs on here or share their frustration with particular UI/workflow decisions while simultaneously stating āif you donāt like it you can ignore itā
yes, indeed, you can.
happy beat making, may the force be with you all.
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I was looking at an MPC X as they seem to be selling used for way cheaper. The little screens on the qleds would be such an improvement. I actually find I donāt use the qleds enough as Iām never sure what they are supposed to be doing (though the pop out thing is helpfulā¦when itās not annoying 
).
Iām pretty ignorant about most MPC things and was rather surprised when I recently learned how different the force was (thought it was just another variation of interface with same OS).
I actually saw someone hacking their Live with Force OS running on it. Interesting to say the least.
Anyway, thanks for the history breakdown. Lot of good info in there. Hopefully they donāt drop the ball on the Live series as there are a few āfeaturesā I would love to see (especially improvements around the piano rollā¦ for some reason I keep thinking there are easier ways to do various things. Might just be lack of experience with it but some processes seem odd to me like no āselect allā).
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Yeah, but which device offer the best workflow to end up with bad music?
As much as I like my MPC one this is the thing I dislike most about it. Half the screens and functions feel like they were designed by different teams with very different philosophies, and with no thought to how those screens fit into the larger workflow. Q links functions are inconsistent at best across the screens, especially when dealing with the FX. There are just so many weird little idiosyncrasies - I donāt know if they have any actual ideology or design philosophy at AKAI. Agreed wholeheartedly on pinch zoom, the piano roll is pretty good overall but it feels a little funky sometimes.
All of that said, I love my MPC and itās the beating heart of my setup. For the most part it does what I need and does those things very well.
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Not sure if it helps but I believe you can edit the qlinks across the whole system.
I havenāt had the time but Iām going use the OT as a starting point (Iām used to it) so they are as similar as possible then try to make a more logical layout.
so many ways to skin a track on the mpc, I just love it