GoKawiilAkai MPC is one of the most storied names in music history. But over the last decade, it’s strayed pretty far from its roots as a humble sampler. The modern MPCs run virtual synthesizers, have complex arrangement tools, and sport large touchscreens. They have more in common with your computer running a DAW than they do with the original MPC60. The MPC Sample is both a return to basics and Akai’s triumphant foray into the growing market for portable, battery-powered, and affordable music gear.
The MPC Sample has everything you need to make beats right out of the box. There’s a reasonably bright 2.4-inch color screen for editing samples and navigating the UI, a mediocre built-in speaker, an extremely sensitive mic, and a rechargeable battery, and it comes preloaded with hundreds of samples to get you started.
Now, you’re unlikely to be deciding between the MPC Sample and other MPCs, like the Live III or the One+. It’s partially a matter of price (the Sample is $399, and the next-cheapest model is the One+ at $699), but it’s also completely different from everything else in the MPC lineup. It allows you to record, edit, play back, and arrange samples into patterns. That’s a bit reductive, but it covers most of the core features. That’s not to say the Sample is hamstrung — its limitations are part of its appeal.
The MPC Sample takes inspiration from the MPC 60 in both workflow and design. It sports the same beigeish-gray body, a vintage-styled Akai Professional logo, a parameter fader, and even a wrist rest (which is mostly cosmetic). The difference is that the MPC Sample is much smaller. It’s not quite as portable as the Teenage Engineering KO-II or the Roland P-6, but at just over nine inches long and seven inches wide, and under two inches at its thickest, it will still easily fit in a backpack for some on-the-go beat making.
Of course, the pads are what make an MPC an MPC. Like any other entry in the pantheon, there are 16 velocity-sensitive pads arranged in a four-by-four grid. In my opinion, Akai’s are the best in the business. Only those on the Roland SP-404 come close.
Vintage logo for vintage vibes. Image: Terrence O’Brien / The Verge
But, because the Sample is so tiny, the pads are much smaller. It’s not the same luxurious experience you get on other Akai devices. They’re better than the pads on MIDI controllers like Novation’s Launch series, or on the P-6 or KO-II, but they’re not as nice as those on the Roland 404. I’m already a pretty crappy finger drummer, and with smaller targets, I was more prone to mistakes.
Connectivity is surprisingly robust. There are balanced 1/4-inch stereo ins and outs, 1/8-inch TRS MIDI in and out, analog sync, and a headphone jack, plus USB-C for power, MIDI, audio, file transfers, and firmware updates. There’s even a microSD slot for expanding the internal 8GB of storage.
There are a few quirks of the Sample workflow that I found annoying. There is resampling, which I use constantly on the SP-404, but here it just turns the current sequence into a new sample. There’s no way to resample live playing or sample manipulation at the moment. I also find the step sequencer cumbersome. You have to scroll through each step rather than programming a four-on-the-floor beat on the pads.
Choppin’ Image: Terrence O’Brien / The Verge
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