Akai MPC One vs Live 2 - Thoughts and Discussion

welcome back to the channel my name is sefti today we're looking at the mpc live 2 and the mpc one and a quick comparison thoughts impressions type of thing i've had the mpc one for over a year now i bought it actually pretty much when it came out uh which is about a year ago and then the mpc live 2 came out as well and i did not purchase it until recently i got it last week you might be thinking why did you get the npc live 2 when you have the mpc one and you're not wrong if you're thinking they're basically you know they fill the same role because they absolutely do have similarities but there are some key differences and some reasons why i ended up getting the mpc live too as well if you're wondering am i going to get rid of the mpc one no i'm definitely going to keep the mpc one it is still a fantastic tool and i would like to have it as a dedicated uh studio piece that i grabbed from time to time the mpc live 2 has some features that were that are very attractive for some mobile production type of thing and i think that's the distinction between the two is i feel like the mpc one even though it's smaller i feel like the mpc one is better for like a dedicated setup because it excels really well as a controller there is more buttons just straight up on the mpc one and then the mpc live 2. so you're actually doing more menu diving in the screen on the mpc live 2 than you are on the mpc one if you learn the shortcuts there is just the crapload of shortcuts on the mpc one so it's it's very conducive as a controller more things are reachable on these buttons you still have to menu dive obviously but like there's quite a bit that's reachable in fact one button that i'm always using that i wish was on here is program edit mpz one has program edit right here so you can just immediately go like that and jump into the program on here from what i can tell you have to go menu and then program edit every time not that that's a big deal obviously let's just click in menu or touch a menu and then press and program edit but it's something to consider in terms of workflow and usage and all that now if you plan on using the mpc software as your main daw like if that's your go-to tool for music production i really feel like the npc one fits the best bill or the best the best bang for buck it's the best option in terms of a a companion for a computer because there is more buttons and i actually think it's better that the footprint is smaller so it can just sit on your desk along with say a laptop and maybe a keyboard and all that and not take up too much of a footprint it can also be an audio interface too so you plug it in you got an audio interface along with um a daw surface controller type of thing so i think that is really great and it's also 700 the npc live 2 is almost double at 1200 so significant price hike for something that does very similar things and i think that's the the consideration is why would you spend the extra money on an npc live 2 when you have basically the majority of the same functionality as the mpc one and there's a few key differences and let's go over those i should also point out that this is like preference type of stuff i'm not going to go through an exhaustive list of exactly what's different down to the fine bits and points and all that this is a the selling points for me which i think is more useful from a consumer point of view like if you're thinking about which one you should buy then hopefully this perspective is going to actually help you in the decision so when i first read the specs on the npc live 2 and they i read that they put a speaker into it or a set of speakers i was like what first off why and uh and second off like that's just like extra space or money or you know resources being put into a box i don't think i'd actually use that uh feature fast forward now a year later and having purchased it i think the speakers are fantastic if you don't know there's a battery in this so i can actually just unplug it like so and it's still going so there's literally a battery in here it lasts a decent amount of time so it's a decent battery but it's battery operated so it's very mobile let me plug this back in so speakers battery operated those two things right there said to me that this could be a perfect mobile setup aside from a few issues and we'll get to those so one of the reasons for purchasing the embassy live 2 was the the mobility of it i really did want something that was a bit more stand-alone and i could grab like i could just unplug this pick it up and put it on the couch or put on my lap on the couch and start making beats with it one thing i really like about the op1 or the opz is how mobile it is and how i can just literally grab the device by itself and be good to go it has a speaker and all that and that ended up being a lot more of a selling point than i realized when i first read about the npc live 2 again when i heard about it i was like speakers why would you put speakers in this doesn't make any sense and then i thought about it as a like what if i had the mpc one and i literally could just pick up the mpc one by itself with nothing plugged in put on my lap and start making music with it no headphones or anything and then it started clicking with me i was like huh that is actually um a pretty nice feature like what if we go camping and i want to bring this you know like out in the wilderness or something not that i'm going to do that because i don't want dust and stuff to get onto it but let's say that's an option to throw it in the backpack and do that an issue with that just right off the bat is the weight because this is heavier than the mpc one the mpc1 isn't light but it's not like super heavy or anything like that this can easily fit in the backpack this is a bit more of a chunky device it's got some chunk to it uh because there's a battery obviously and there's speakers as well it's not a super portable device in that sense but it it's basically the best of both worlds right there that's possible without breaking the laws of physics and stuff with that considered you know speakers battery and what you get into with like the whole interface and all that um i think it strikes a good balance it technically can fit in a backpack it's a bit big for that so your backpack has got to be wide and all that probably better just have a straight up carrying case for it specifically by itself and that would be pretty good and obviously if you bring it on a plane or something you'd want headphones or just if you go into like a hotel room or something just if you're traveling essentially you're gonna have a few other devices with it but being able to just pick up the mpc live too like i said bring it to a couch and start making beats with it a lot of the times with portable devices you know i'll be on on headphones and i'll make a beat and i'll be like man this should be really cool if memes heard it and see if she like comes up with a melody or something well with this i can literally just pop the switch on the back and then i've got access to the speakers there's no hurdle to jump of having to hook up another pair of headphones or something like that be like yo listen to this beat real quick also if i want to play some guitar with it or something like if i want to hear the beat playing and also grab an acoustic instrument or another instrument and then like sing with it or something like that that it kind of opens that up without having to be in a studio environment with monitors set up to listen for and these are the pros these are literally the pros that i see as the mpc live 2 versus the mpc one the mpc one i think is a fantastic studio installation instrument it's like you can use this hook it up with a laptop and basically be good to go in a studio environment you know it can hook into a bunch of different gear like the the usb stuff and um eurorack plugs and all that like the cv gates it really works for being able to put it into a studio environment and make it a hub or controller for your stuff and the live 2 does that as well but there's less buttons on the live 2 and it takes up a bit more space and it has battery and speakers additionally one of my gripes with the mpc one is it only has a left and right output or a main mix output and you can't hook up a usb connection or anything like that at least as of now that i know of to expand the outputs the only way is to literally hook it up to a computer and then use the computer's audio interface that you have hooked up that's not the mpc one to have additional outputs the live two on the other hand is kind of like the the in between point between the mpc x and the mpc one price wise as well you have a main mix out and you have a 3 4 and a 5 6 outputs so three stereo outs or you can have a stereo out and four mono outs on this in addition to the cv gates outs so a lot of times i like to have a a beats left right or a percussion uh stereo mix and then i like to separate tonal instruments um like keyboards synthesizer pads and stuff like that into another stereo mix for uh mixing breakdowns and then another one for vocal type of stuff like if memes does any kind of harmony vocals or um you know just just things like maybe effects or harmony vocal type of things that would go in that category i like those all to be separated additionally i could send one channel out as a base but i usually like to have a separate base instrument if i'm going to do multiple outputs so this is considering this as a studio setup because again you're not going to like hook up three stereo outputs out in the hotel room you're not gonna do that obviously when it's in your studio you're gonna hook it up and utilize all the possibilities right there like hooking up synthesizers via the usb and all that stuff so the three stereo outputs is actually very useful to me because i use multiple outputs all the time and we track like eight to 16 tracks at any given time when we do live sessions uh because we'll have like base keys you know the summit hooked up i have like maybe the peak as well doing some other stuff and then if we record some samples or if i like uh do so if i do some crazy sample manipulation just reversing breaking stuff down decimating and all that i like that stuff to be separated and not have to share the same drum track and a lot of the times i would actually prefer to not have the drums come out of the mpc one and just have samples come out of the mpc one and have a separate drum machine by me which like the electron rhythm 2 or something like that fantastic obviously the those devices but it is another device and having the ability to say main mix drums uh 3 4 tonal pad you know maybe a lead sound something like that and then additional 5 6 to mess with that is fantastic that just gives a lot of breathing room have i done that yet in a mix or production no this is still relatively new we're still finishing up some other productions uh before we get more into some stuff with it but i have actually brought it to the couch and just made a beat without any headphones or anything and it's awesome and i'm surprised back to the speakers i i kind of glossed over the quality of the speakers like you turn them on obviously you're not gonna mix a record on them if you have a high-end pair of headphones or really awesome studio monitors atom studio mods monitors monsters studio monitors that are hooked up and your room is treated correctly clearly that's a better mixing environment i'm not trying to tell you that these monitors are going to be able to replace that that's clearly not the idea i don't think they're designed with that in mind i think they're designed as a you're in the middle of writing and producing so you need to hear the sound in a good enough way that's going to give you the vibe i think they hit that mark really well and to that point of the vibe you can actually hear low sine waves surprisingly well i was like wow yeah you can you can actually hear it go down there so you can get a sense of what the the low low frequencies are going to feel with the kick and underneath there so well done akai i like seriously was super skeptical and thought it was weird to put speakers in this you proved me wrong it's actually a fantastic setup like really great kind of combo of stuff between the battery speakers um and the additional features yeah like it's got two usb connections which you can always just hook up a usb um hub if you want for more connections that's what i do with mpc one so that was like cool you know it's a nice feature it does have wi-fi wi-fi is good as well i don't really connect it to other things via wi-fi that often i mean i could in the future like i i don't really use splice i know a lot of people like to use splice and with wi-fi you can log in directly and use that i personally haven't done that with mpc live too yet so that could be a big selling point for someone if you do that on the mpc one you have to ethernet jacket so after grab another cable plug in via ethernet jack on the back and then you're basically good to go and you also have ethernet jack on here as well so there's that but the the multiple outputs speaker battery all that stuff uh led to a i've been thinking about it for a while you know like it was like is this gear acquisition syndrome or am i really thinking that this would be a useful device and once i started thinking about being able to just grab it like bring it downstairs to the kitchen make a beat bring it for a weekend or somewhere else and make beats with it like it started um it started making a lot of sense the one thing that i really really really wish that they would have considered putting in here is a preamp just a basic basic preamp for the inputs that you could switch on because as it is right now if you do want to hook up a microphone you still have to have some sort of pre-amplification with it to bring it up to line level so that's another device i mean you could just bring like a zoom recorder or something and then like plug a mic in and then have the output go directly into the inputs on here and sample that way that's a workaround right there but it would have been phenomenal if you could just bring an xlr cable with like an sm58 plug it into the back and you're good to go in addition to like sampling like whatever else off your phone or something like that that'd been badass so unfortunately that's not the case with the mtc live or live two probably that's probably something they'll put in the future but you know before i wrap up for this video i should mention quality of the instruments build quality and all that and some key differences right there because they are important they're not like the main breaking points or anything but you should consider it if it is something that you're going to be a stickler about in terms of buying these um the pads are different uh they've both feel great the mpc live two pads are bigger because it does have a bigger footprint and i will say i think they feel better they're pretty much these but these are smaller these definitely feel great they're nice and big and just tactile sturdy like i don't know something about them just feel committed these feel um compact they feel more mobile even though this isn't like a super super small this is not the digi tag or anything like that but they still feel like condensed in here and again they feel good i'm not saying they don't feel good but their size is definitely smaller in comparison like as you can see on the screen um so consideration right there also the buttons are very plasticky slash uh clicky on here that you might actually like that better that might be something to be like i actually prefer plasticky clicky type of stuff and there's also a lot more buttons on here there's like 30 something buttons on here that give you access to the majority of the features um one thing that always kind of bugs me is the shift buttons right here on the mpc one so i have to go over here hold shift it would have been nice if they put it like right here because there's so many things that you're shifting holding or shift pressing and all that like the looper i use the looper quite a bit and so like i'm always going to that so over to live too these buttons are nice and rubberized this the build quality overall on the mpc live 2 feels like a step up not to say the mpc one feels bad so i don't want to give that impression this doesn't feel bad or like a toy but there's definitely more of a plastic feel to the mpc one the mpc live 2 has more has a bit more refined feel and touch and all the buttons have this really nice rubberized touch and feel to them they're also bigger i think well maybe not bigger but obviously the different like you have um you have printed screen printed you know onto the plastic or onto the casing i don't know if this is plastic or not the onto the casing of the the mpc one you got the printing and all that along with these plastic buttons this you have rubberized buttons with the backlit led that shines what it is that's coming through some considerations right there to think about these buttons feel the same i'm pretty sure they're identical this in fact this feels a little looser in comparison to this one which that's just manufacturing this also this big button like they feel the same this has a different click to it but overall pretty much the same i did notice also on the mpc live too i felt like the touch screen was a little better and that might just be placebo or maybe my mpc one touchscreen is just like slightly faulty and that's why i complain about it sometimes but i do find myself able to use the touchscreen a little more effectively on the live too which is good because like the live 2 you're going to be using it quite a bit oh yeah another thing i should mention as well is workflow i mean obviously the same workflow because npc but with this with the mpc one you're you know you're using the pads right here and then going up for the screen and doing buttons over here and all that that like this workflow like this how it's set up i actually don't think is as conducive to this to where you have the pads over here and you're adjusting in the screens in the middle i actually think that the live to ergonomically set up is better than the npc one and when i say better i don't mean man this is such an obvious buy this better i just mean it's like there's one point in ergonomics where technically i think the layout in live 2 is better than the mpc ones layout and this is something that i had no reference of before when i first got the mpc1 so i had no idea that this is how the layout would feel and i do think this feels better even though there's less buttons and i have to like menu dive more often to go to stuff again this is that's not a huge difference this is not something that would make or break like well you should clearly buy this instead of that it's just something to consider so i think that's all i wanted to cover in this video it was basically just a comparison impressions update type of thing again i've used the mpc one for the better part of the year and made a lot of videos on it if you're familiar with the channel i'm sure you've seen an npc one video or two i will be making some videos more videos on the mpc live and my impressions more experience about it i'm gonna probably do some modular stuff with it as well overall i like both of them you know i think the mpc one is a great platform and i think the live 2 is a fantastic mobile platform you would think that the mpc one would be more mobile but with the battery speakers and all that i feel like this is so close to being the ultimate perfect mobile setup with the whole like the screen and everything and the mpc software the daw experience of the the platform like it's great really really cool that's it for the video thank you very much for watching i really appreciate it if you stuck around all the way to the end thank you very much uh if you haven't subscribed yet please subscribe ring the notification bell uh hit the like button it lets people know that you enjoyed the video and that the algorithm can say hey let's show it to other people and all that stuff leave a comment as well let me know if you're getting the mpc one or the mpc live 2 or if you've already picked up one of the other all that stuff i actually got some comments on instagram as well like i know some people got the live and then realized that they preferred the one over it because of like the button layouts and all that so it's always interesting to see people's experiences in that uh yeah thank you so much for all the support we really appreciate it and see you next time for another video deuces you

Channel: Tefty & Meems

Views: 18,913

Rating: 4.8373384 out of 5

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Id: w9hgj7vNjh4

Length: 20min 11sec (1211 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 10 2021