NAMM Winter Show: Akai Professional introduced a new tool for creating beats on-the-go - the XR20 Beat Production Station.
The XR20 is a portable beat production station loaded with a sound set that is geared towards making Hip-Hop and R&B beats wherever and whenever inspiration strikes.
More than 700 pre-loaded sounds cover a range of drums, percussion, effects and instrument samples, while an integrated effects engine includes Reverb, EQ and Compression, enabling musicians to make complete backing tracks. A microphone input is included for mixing vocals over patterns. Bright, backlit pads provide visual cues for added beat precision.
The XR20 features sounds of standard and electronic drums, single (one-shot) hits, bass and synth sounds to easily create the maximum mix in minimal time. Key features of the XR20 include:
- More than 700 sounds produced by Chronic Music
- Ninety-nine Preset Patterns and 99 User Patterns
- Backlit LCD
- Bright, glowing, backlit pads that follow the beat
- Microphone input and Headphone output
- Pattern Play Mode - different patterns can be triggered from individual pads
- Drum Roll/Note Repeat feature
- Battery Power capability and AC Adapter
The Akai XR20 is coming Q2 - 2008 to musical instrument retailers with an MSRP of $499.
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Tags: 2008 NAMM Show, Akai, samper
6 Responses to “Akai Intros XR20 Beat Production Station”
Please Wait
Dude the Akai xr20 is wack as hell!! I cant believe they would put out such garbage!! I thought Akai put out quality!!
kann - what do you hate about it?
I agree the xr20 was pretty bad. I wasn’t impressed with the new mpc 5000 either. It seemed really buggy!
This beat box is awesome! Portability, sound quality, with a few MPC traits thrown in for good measure… It works for me!
I think I’m going to pick one up to replace my old DR-5. It has better sounds for making crunk beats and a more usable interface.
Thanks but no thanks. Akai must be trying to get beginners on a budget with this one. No usb or flash card????? No way to update the O.S. or the sound set????? Sounds like a updated Alesis HR16, or Boss Dr. Rhythm… Ummmm…. I’ll pass