AKAI Professional MPC Live II 4-stars Reviews

A bit disappointed

MPC is great sequencer but not that great sound module. I bought it primarily to use it as sound expander, but got disappointed. AKAI stage piano samples (including Yamaha C7 and Steinway for 200EUR) sound very poor in comparison to my Roland or Yamaha keyboards. Even cheep Roland students keyboards piano sounds much better. Product returned

Great for sounds bank, Bad for non-stop live preformance.

Plus there is bug with channels. Basically, you can only play long notes on one midi channel at the time. Akai is aware of the bug since 2016. But the sounds banks and effects are easy to use. perfect gear to create a song from your sofa. without the need of a computer. Not good at all if you want to plug in midi controller.

Great for composing

This is my first MPC. After a few months of use, I have to say I really like the Live II. It's not as intuitive as I first imagined, but I enjoy how it makes me think about sounds and compositions. I've made more tracks on it in a few months than using my regular setup over the past 3 years.

The downside is that the MPC Live II isn't any good in a live setting. I found myself going back to my SP404 for that.

Overall, it's a cozy groovebox to jam on while relaxing on the couch. Even though this image could seem pedestrian, the music that you come up with often sounds like you wouldn't have been able to create it any other way.