Akai has announced that they are now shipping the MPC5000.
Akai’s MPC5000 is the first MPC to permit eight-track streaming hard disk recording for real-time capture of individual tracks or even entire songs. A 20-voice, three-oscillator analog synthesizer with arpeggiator, a new sequencing engine with 960 PPQ resolution, pad and track muting and mixing, 64 continuous [...]

If you’re interested in an MPC, get ready to drool.
Akai is shipping the MPC5000, the MPC they call “the most advanced MPC on the planet.”
It offers 8-track streaming hard disk recording, a 20-voice, 3-oscillator analog synthesizer with arpeggiator, a new sequencing engine with 960 ppq resolution, pad and track muting and mixing, 64 continuous sample [...]

At the 2008 Winter NAMM Show, Akai Professional announced the MPC5000, the first MPC to include eight-track streaming hard disk recording, a 20-voice, three-oscillator analog synthesizer with arpeggiator, a new sequencing engine with 960 PPQ resolution, pad and track muting and mixing, 64 continuous sample tracks and 12 Q-Link controllers. There is even a new [...]

MPCsounds.com has released Vintage Machinez 2, a drum library for the Akai MPC500/1000/2000/2500/3000/4000 featuring over 2,100 hip-hop style sounds. The library comes as 3 separate MPC soundsets (Parts 1-3) or can be purchased together as one large collection.
Drum machines in Vintage Machinez 2 include: Boss Dr. Rhythm 55, Boss Dr. Rhythm 110, Casio PT-30, Casio PT-68, [...]

 

 Vintage Machinez 2 Demo [0:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Akai Professional has introduced the latest member its music production center (MPC) family, the MPC500.
Portable and battery-powered, the MPC500’s functionality includes drum programming, sequencing, and sampling capabilities that allow artists the luxury of creating music on the go in a compact, road-worthy chassis. The MPC500 is data compatible with both the MPC1000 and the MPC2500 [...]

NAMM 2006 Winter Show: Akai announced Version 2.0 software revision for MPC1000 Music Production Center. The update, which coincides with a cosmetic change (from blue to black) for new units, is available free of charge from the company’s website and includes a number of significant enhancements that facilitates greater versatility from this popular [...]

NAMM 2006 Winter Show: Akai Professional introduced the MPC2500 Music Production Center.
The MPC2500 is the successor to the company’s highly acclaimed MPC2000XL. Featuring an inviting user interface, great-feeling velocity and pressure sensitive pads, twin onboard effects processors with a send for outboard effects, Q-Link controllers, plus 10 outputs and an S/PDIF digital output, the [...]

NAMM Update: Roland introduced a new member of the Roland MC family, the MC-808. The powerstation features eight motorized faders on its surface, a first for a groovebox. With Roland’s most sophisticated processor at its core, the MC-808 shares the same top-of-the-line sampling and sequencing features as its elder sibling, the MC-909.
The MC-808 shares two [...]

Not hearing enough clapping at gigs? The new sample library from MPCsounds.com has you covered.

The most extensive MPC claps library available today, the Klub Klapz 1 Collection offers users a wide variety of claps styles including Bounce, Dirty South, Urban, Top 40, RnB, and more. The sound library for the Akai MPC1000/2000/XL/3000/LE/4000 drum samplers is [...]

MPCsounds.com has released the Ethnic Hip Hop Collection, a new sound library for the Akai MPC 1000/2000/XL/3000/LE/4000 drum machines. The library is available on MPC CD-ROM, Zip disk, Floppy, or as Downloadable sets.
The Ethnic Hip Hop Collection library is the largest MPC ethnic library offered today containing over 30 melodic ethnic instruments ranging from the [...]

Akai is best known for their samplers, but they have created some other innovative products. Their lineup now includes:

MPC1000 Music Production Center - this sampler production center provides an integrated desktop sampler along with 64 tracks of sequencing.
Z4/8 24-bit Samplers - the world’s first 24-bit/96,Hz dedicated hardware samplers
MPC4000 Sampler/Sequencer - this is the most powerful [...]