[Mambattedge]

Akai has announced 2.0 OS for their flagship MPC5000 drum machine workstation, a free download for MPC owners. Now, the MPC itself has long been a bit minimalist in what it does - I think that’s part of its appeal, that it has resisted complexity. But users of the MPC1000 and 2000/2500 have as a result turned in some cases to an alternative firmware, [You cannot see the link as you're not logged in. Click here to login or here to register.], to get all the features they want. And Akai has generously [You cannot see the link as you're not logged in. Click here to login or here to register.].

Akai says the 2.0 OS responds to user requests. Here’s what’s baked in:

• Keygroup programs for chromatic, key-mapped samples (that wasn’t in there before, really?)
• S1000/3000/4000/5000/6000, Z4/Z8 import
• Effects automation recording, “an MPC first” (by which I assume they mean it’s the first time on the MPC, as this is commonplace in software, certainly)
• Controller Grid Edit Window for graphical controller automation / event editing (something Roland has touted in the past on their machines)
• “Chopshop” for slicing samples into smaller pieces, with a Zoom feature
• MultiEdit: edit multiple pads at once
• Quantize Track Mutes (something Ableton users, incidentally, have asked for but not gotten, although implementation on a computer is a different can of worms because of plug-ins)

Generally, it looks good to me - not anything that’s so impressive for those of us committed to computer workflows, but looks nice if you’re a 5000 owner. But as a non-MPC person, I’m not terribly qualified to respond. So I leave that to our MPC-using crowd. Let us know what you think, and whether you folks with devices like the MPC1000 and MPC2500 with the JJOS running are jealous - or don’t care.

Free download / more specifics:
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