MPC X VS MPC LIVE 2- WHICH ONE SHOULD YOU BUY?

mpcx versus the MPC live 2. today I'm going to give you my top three pros and cons for each one of these machines and I'm also going to tell you why I would buy one over the other let's get it [Music] what's up welcome to the channel I'm your host Octavius Caesar if you're new here please consider subscribing and hit that Bell notification button to help me with the YouTube algorithm but she's here also if you're in the market to get any one of these machines I will have links in the description below to zounds.com where you can purchase these machines through their flexible play as you pay program I highly recommend them since I have purchased almost all of my gear through them using the same payment system so check it out let's jump right into the content now hey I wanted to let you guys know that I recorded this video like basically right before the mpcx SC came out so I wasn't about to record it again but I think that my overall stance on how I feel about both of the units even with the mpcx SC being upgraded it's still the same so this this video is still valid so at this point there are a lot of videos reviewing the mpcx and the NPC live too giving you the technical specs and overview of the units I even have some on my channel but how is it to use them and what makes one stand out from the other they both have the same operating system so in the nutshell they both can get you to the same results so why would I buy the npcx over the NPC Live 2 or vice versa both of our amazing units and the Akai brand continues to reach new highs with the software and capabilities making these Standalone units very powerful since they are similar with the results they can produce let's get into the three pros that separate these units starting with the MPC X the first pro you will automatically see when you look at the x is the way it looks in the build quality this thing is built like a tank and it resembles some of the classic NPCs like the 2500 and the 4000 if you slap the big screen on it the face plate on the x is metal something NPC Live 2 is lacking with is mostly plastic build the mpcx is a centerpiece and it makes a statement in any Studio that it's in people will always notice or point it out when they see it giving you kind of that cool Factor if that matters to you at all but it's not just about how it looks it's also the feel the Q links are smooth when you turn them the jog wheel feels like classic NPCs to the touch and when you move it around and the buttons are are clicky and tactile I prefer the buttons on the mpcx over the MPC live any day and I really feel like the buttons play a huge part on the way the X feels to me and there are a lot of buttons which brings me to my second Pro and that's the functionality the mpcx was foreign to me at first because I was so used to using the past shortcuts on the MPC live too but once I got a chance to sit down with the X as long as I've had it I've developed a fast workflow because all the buttons at your fingertips I also want to note that the buttons that you use most often like menu sampling and undo are noticeably bigger so you won't have no problem hitting these on the Fly no repeat on the X's class touch I love using the physical buttons versus the touch screen on NPC live too mixing on the mpcx is considerably better as well it has 16 Q links and it maps to all the plug-in parameters or virtual instrument settings letting you change them really fast and it's great because you don't have to bank through four set of Q links like you do on the MPC live too this thing has a big and small headphone jack with its own dedicated volume control furthermore all the knobs that control volume are either on the top or on the front of the Union so you don't have to reach in the back to manipulate that all in all all the buttons in the position of the knobs and Jacks makes it great for you to create because everything is at a touch of a button so you don't have to think about what you're going to do and the inputs you need to make now to me the last thing that separates the X from all the other NPCs is the i o out of all the new gen NPCs the npcx has more inputs and outputs than all the other NPCs I could sit here and tell you about all the inputs and outputs that the mpcx has but I'm only going to highlight the ones that's exclusive to the X the mpcx is the only New Gen MPC that has four stereo outputs it also has two stereo inputs two of which you can reach on the front for things like guitars and plugging in instruments the mpcx also is the only NPC that has four midi outs and it has the headphone jack like I said before two one which is a seven millimeter and the other that is a quarter inch so you don't have to use an adapter you can roll with whatever input that your headphones come with when you're using the X the midi connection on the new NPCs is already op but with four dedicated midi outs it just opens up the floodgates and what this thing can do and what it connect to I believe that having an extra set of Studio inputs is also dope because that gives you less reason to buy things like a mixer to Route audio into the NPC X Out of all the inputs that I talked about the mid anything else and the extra stereo inputs is what standouts to me when it comes to the mpcx now on to the MPC live 2. I know the X could be a hard act to follow up but the NPC Live 2 also has features that make it hard to pass up the first thing on the NPC Live 2 is the speaker and I admit when I first heard that they were going to put a speaker on the NPC live too I thought it was the stupidest I ever heard but after I got a chance to play with this thing I quickly felt stupid for my previous thoughts because I fell in love instantly Akai says that these are monitor quality speakers I wouldn't quite say that but they are loud enough to make beats without using headphones and surprisingly they do have a great bass response so you can hear the low end when you're making your Beats I really think that it's dope that you don't have to use headphones when using this machine the battery is the second thing that I love on the NPC live too this is no secret if you've been on my channel long enough you know that I'm a huge fan of the battery because of his power and portability the battery is rated for six hours but I found that you can get about four and a half to five and a half hours comfortably this allows you to make music anywhere you could go to your favorite spot and make music so how dope is it that I can isolate myself from everyone if I want to and make music without power or headphones just the unit to me this is huge and one of the reasons why I love the MPC live too so much these two things put together brings me to my third point and that is portability portability is the MPC Live's best feature I have taken this thing everywhere I've taken it to Vegas I've taken it down south to visit my family I've taken it to the beach campsites around campfires and so many more places this easily fits in the back so you can take it wherever the inputs and outputs on this thing also isn't lacking so it's a great machine to take from Studio to Studio as well the i o and the MPC Live 2 is not far off what the X has it has great capability when it comes to connectivity with other outboard gear and such and if you're worried about having enough storage or sounds on the NPC Live 2 that's a non-factor as well like the X the MPC Live 2 has an expandable Saturday that will let you put up to a two terabyte hard drive in it giving you more than enough storage so that you can put as many samples on this thing as you want and create some crazy stuff on the go all you need is a backpack in this machine and you're Off to the Races the NPC Live 2 is amazing and the speaker in the battery are exclusive no other NPC has these features except the MPC live too both of these machines do a lot but they're not perfect but Mis the cons of things that you can look over but I would like to give you my opinion of what the cons are you guys can decide for your yourselves what do you think these are valid pros and cons for you so with that said let's get into the cons of the MPC Live 2 first with the NPC Live 2 they could have put more shortcut buttons on it they were able to do this with the MPC one but the MPC Live 2 is supposed to be a more premium product by the price the past shortcuts on the MPC Live 2 is not bad but we all know that having dedicated buttons is better the other thing I don't like about the MPC Live 2 buttons is that they have like a rubber recoating on them I'm pretty sure that Akai did this because they felt like people were going to take this thing outside so they wanted to protect the wear on the button so that is me just kind of nitpicking but they're definitely not as tactile as the buttons on the MPC X number two I feel like they could have put at least one mic preamp on the MPC live too even though the NPCs are audio interface compliant which means that you can hook up an audio interface to these and use the mic preamps I still think putting one on the NPC live 2 would have made it the ultimate portable device for making music because like I said earlier all you would need is just a unit and nothing else maybe a microphone and a mic Cable number three more RAM and a better CPU from the very beginning I always thought that the NPC should have had more RAM and more CPU power this would have made an already powerful machine even more powerful and future proof as well the CPU isn't bad with a quad core processor in it but six would be better I mean come on my iPhone 13 has six cores in it so if we can put six cores in the phone we should definitely be able to put six cores in the NPC now on to the cons of the MPC X the first com with the mpcx is the same thing that I mentioned with the MPC live too it needs more RAM and CPU power now the x is really behind only having two gigs of RAM and a dual core processor it was the only NPC in the lineup that hasn't been updated data in a while but we have got rumors of an MPC XL this year so we're going to hold out to see if it comes but if it does I do expect it to have more CPU power and more gigs of RAM since it is the flagship unit the second thing is that the mpcx is big now I said the mpcx is a centerpiece for a reason this thing is Hefty and it takes up a lot of space in your studio so if you have a minimalist setup or you don't already have room in your studio you're going to find quickly that you're not going to have enough room for this NPC either the last con for the mpcx is the price this unit is not cheap at 22.99 I can almost buy two NPC lives put one in the studio keep it there and take one with me at the same price that I could get a mpcx this is one of the reasons why I was never able to get npcx even though I wanted one I was never able to afford it but thanks to sounds I was able to get my hands on one of these to test the review for you guys guys so shout out to sounds now for what you guys been waiting for which one would I buy and for that answer I would say that I would buy the NPC Live 2 and do own the one that you guys seen in this video and think that is the best NPC made to date plus it was more on my price range if I had an unlimited budget then I hands down would buy both of these units but since I don't I had to pick the one that was best for me but for you it depends on what you need I would say that the x is for someone who has the budget and the room to buy one piece of gear to build around if your NPC Enthusiast then the npcx is also for you because it resembles some of the classic NPCs like the 2500 and the 4000 like I said earlier also if speed and quick workflow is something that you value then the x is what you need the live two is for someone who can't sit still and is everywhere a studio jumper or somebody who can't be stuck in the studio for long periods of time a Netflix and produce type of person because of the i o and the NPC live too you also can build around it if you want to but it carries a much smaller footprint than his bigger brother so minimalists are welcome all in all price space and functionality is subjective to you so if you are thinking about getting one of these units then make sure you weigh the pros and the cons to make the best decision for your studio needs like I said links are in the description these are two of many tools that you can use to make music we must remember that the tools are interchangeable but the musician is not we create what we love and it brings us joy to present it to others in many ways music is therapy so keep creating music y'all stay safe be blessed and I'll catch it in the next video peace foreign

Channel: THEKINGOCAESAR

Views: 9,431

Keywords: akai mpc, akai, mpc one, mpc key 61, akai mpc x, mpc, mpc x, music production, akai mpc key 61, akai mpc one, making a beat, beatmaking, mpc x se, mpc live, mpc live 2, mpc x special edition, mpc live ii, mpc one sampling, sampling, mpc beats, akai mpc live 2, akai mpc live, mpc x tutorials

Id: FDOR9Dc8d3k

Length: 13min 24sec (804 seconds)

Published: Fri May 05 2023