Akai Pro Releases Biggest MPC Update Ever

Akai Pro has released MPC 2.10, described as “the biggest MPC update ever for the MPC One, MPC Live II, MPX, and MPC 2 desktop.”

The update features a new Vocal Effects Suite; 4 new plugin instruments, including Mellotron and Solina string synth; new insert effects; support for USB audio interfaces and more.

Here’s what’s new in MPC 2.10:

  • 4 New Plugin Instruments: Hype, Solina, Odyssey, and Mellotron
  • New AIR Vocal Insert Effect Suite w/ Automatic Vocal Tuning, AIR Doubler and AIR Harmonizer Plugins
  • USB Class Compliant Audio Interface Support
  • 7 new Insert Effects including Half Speed, Diode Clipper, Stutter and more
  • MPC Drum and Keygroup Engine Enhancements including Akai Pro Sample Tail, Dedicated Pitch Envelope, and Keygroup Portamento
  • 10 New Drum Pad Effects including Ringmod, Bitcrush, Decimator and more
  • New Sample Key Detection

Here’s a video playlist covering the new features:

Pricing and Availability:

MPC 2.10 is available now as a free update for MPC One, MPC Live, MPC Live II, MPC X and MPC2 Desktop users.

39 thoughts on “Akai Pro Releases Biggest MPC Update Ever

  1. i wonder if it will be coming to the akai force aswell. Something else i wonder i that nowadays all hardware updates seem to be free anyway and it should be free in my opinion so why do we still clarify that ?

    1. it wasn’t really free. when the MPC Live was relased in 2017 the parts value was estimated to be around $300 while the instrument cost about $1200. so when you bought as an early adopter, like myself, you really made an investment on Akai’s software development to come. it was a risky advance credit to give considering the practice of abandoning firmware by companies that didn’t really hurt them at the time (Tempest anyone?).
      i am glad Akai came through even if it’s been a long ride and key features are still to come (disk streaming, mixer, arrangement)

      1. Parts value 300 dollar! I wonder how you got to that crazy low price? Do you really think Akai sells millions of the Live?

        1. when the MPC Live was announced the FCC filings showed details of the internal components including the Radxa Rock2 board and some people on a forum (perhaps gearsluts, don’t remember) made parts lists and calculated that estimated price.

          1. The $300 parts cost estimate doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.

            MPC Lives are going for $1000 at Guitar Center, and you have to assume that the retailer is taking a 40-50% cut. That’s not money that Akai gets, it’s money GC gets.

            So let’s say Akai gets to keep $600 of the sale, which is erring on the high side for Akai.

            The average labor cost for products is around 25-30% of the retail price. That’s around $250.

            So that leaves Akai with about $350 out of the purchase price, again erring on the high side for Akai.

            Random Internet forum dudes priced the hardware components and estimated them to cost about $300. No idea if that’s accurate, but you’re assuming so, so let’s roll with it.

            That leaves Akai with $50 profit per MPC, at best. So they have to sell a lot of MPCs to justify doing much development on firmware updates.

            Which tells you that the firmware updates aren’t done to make existing customers happy, they’re done to make the MPCs a more compelling product for people to purchase.

            Which makes all the cool updates a pretty awesome freebie.

            1. i don’t disagree with large parts of what you say (albeit i’m shocked that GC would make so much profit on just selling the MPC / not doing anything really) but there is the thing that Akai made the conscious decision to resist calls for updating the mainboard which would ultimately lock legacy customers out of the updates, at least at some point. sure you don’t make more money out of people that plan to buy only one product, but if you have customers with GAS that feel the need to complete their MPC collection, i think you are more likely to keep them as customers by still supporting their “old” products

            2. Nope! Retailers don’t make 40-50% when they sell an Akai Live or anything else electronic. They probably make closer to 15% or not even that much. The competition is fierce.

              1. That’s not true. Because retailers sometimes give me 15-20% off products I bargan for. They wouldn’t be able to make a profit to stay in business if they only made 15%. They make at least 33% to 40% because music retailers makes hundreds of millions in profits. Check Forbes for GC, Sweetwater and B&H.

            3. 40/50% lol. Those days are over like 3 decades ago.

              Let me burst that bubble. Big retailers have been selling gear under stock prices for a long time making sure no one man company could survive. Nowadays while those big players sell loads even they don’t make much profits anymore.

              Everyone lost and nobody gave a shit.

          2. It’s misleading to just go by the parts list, same way that a bunch of meat and veg bought at the grocery store doesn’t transform itself into a steak dinner when you get home.

            1. yes exactly you need to add a recipe and the cooking. or in the MPC case, the software, firmware and synth content. which hadn’t been served up yet if you bought in 2017.

        2. 300 USD parts value doesn’t mean it costs that much to manufacture. There’s probably a lot more direct costs like transportation, assembly and QA. PLUS the development costs for the software (which in the end was shared by multiply SKUs) plus all the overhead … And then $300 for posts might not be the biggest of the costs.

      2. Ha crazy. I went to a pawn shop and they thought an MPC Live was the computer controller and not the full blown MPC. Sold it to me for $300 I still can’t believe it to this day. It was a worthy investment it’s a solid unit and this update is even better.

  2. Son of a Bee! This is awesome. I do expect all of these to come to the force, just dont expect a lot of Force features to come to the mpc line. Had an mpc live and sold it a while back. Been trying not to buy another MPc but got dam this is extremely tempting.

    1. Just got the synth content pack, says its compatible with the Force. Not sure how that is but the “Read Me” says the 4 synths are compatible with MPC OS and Force. Maybe check it out if you have a Force. Its call the synth content pack which comes with the 2.10 firmware and mpc2 software. Looks to be an add-on since i installed the moc software 2.10 and the synths werent in there. They have their own installer.

      1. Yes. Says compatible with Force 3.0.7. Hopefully that version will be released soon and include the other MPC goodies.

    1. in case someone knows the answer. which one is more stable: maschine+ (current os version) or force/mpc´s? thank you.

      1. Mpc’s. Sold my Maschine+. The synths are a joke, in the GUI, parameter control and the resource usage. Massive is a massive beast and always drained my CPU%. I had a force that froze once and crashed once. The MPC Live 1 never crashed or froze on me and i used it hard for a few months.
        Just got a MPC Live 2, no issues yet. My Maschine crashed about 4-5 times in the first week but that was before their crash-free update around launch. I finaly sold it because i was always worried it would crash when the CPU was at about 80%. Stopped using the instruments just to avoid it and stuck with samples. Then noticed the FX were getting me up there. Actually never checked my cup usage on the akai gear, just felt stable enough to either warn me or just not crash. I really liked the simplicity of the Maschine+ woirkflow, yes its just a standalone box but F%^& computers sometimes. Just felt like a lost project waiting to happen all the time. Funny how all the folks on youtube who were promoting the Maschine+ all show more recent video using the MK3. Guess they found out as well.
        Akai has really done a fabulous job of catching up with standalone, delivering a solid product, battery powered, reasonably priced since Behringer Jam hasn’t been released yet and the updates always bring something great. The Air plugins, Drum Synth and now this. Complainers gone complain but im sure we all know when you’ve made a great purchase and can reap the benefits of longevity and frequent updates.

    2. They updated it quite a lot more than just with those plug ins. Which you would have known if you checked their video or read this article.

  3. 4 new instrument plugins, 14 effects, update to the programs view, add a usb audio interface, sample key detection which is pretty great. Thats pretty big and in their words, Biggest MPC update which would mean all other updates were smaller. Which they were. Can’t really diminish this as a pretty sweet update but …. internet. So someone will definitely try but its silly.

    Maschine+ latest update- added a poly synth and bug fixes.

    1. That layout really makes no sense. The screen, knobs and pads on the The Force line up for a reason. A Force/MPC “workstation” could be cool but I hope the layout is better than that.

      The Force already lets you connect MIDI keyboards by DIN, USB and Bluetooth.

  4. Gotta say nice update being able to plug in audio interface is huge, plus love the idea of using a tascam Model 12 mixer to eq and send the mix back is a real wow, guess I am buying a Model 12 which is a 10 channel interface, most mixers around $600 mark is 2 to 4 channel usb interface.

    1. interesting… can you elaborate on this? You would do the EQ digitally in the Tascam, and return all channels back to the mpc (or in my case Maschine)??

      Maschine does have a mixer funtion but i find using eq plugins on every channel a bit cumbersome. And/Or cpu intensive. Did not find the best way of working yet actually

      1. > You would do the EQ digitally in the Tascam, and return
        > all channels back to the mpc (or in my case Maschine)??

        hm. how about latency?

    1. I wouldnt think so. I remember trying to use my ipad an as audio interface, I forget why, just had an idea but I didnt get it to work. Wanted to send multiple outs from AUM to my computer. I got as far as plugging my ipad to my computer and realized its not an interface, it can accept one but not be used as one. Maybe it can, i just didnt get that far or try.

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