You can easily sample vinyl through the line inputs, and we even output line-levels from our mixer to get vocals loaded and ready for chop sessions pretty easy.

One small gripe is the lack of microphone inputs and even a phono input for importing vinyl samples to slice up, but keep in mind this is the entry point for the MPC family. You can also easily adjust scales and one-pad chords on-the-fly, which means you can take your favorite sounds to-go, without lugging all your keyboards, AND be able to lay down parts quickly and easily without an external MIDI controller. Synth heads will also adore the automated sampling features so you can fire up your fave hardware patches, like we did with our Moog Sub Phatty, then easily import them across the keyboard and map the sounds to the grid. On the rear, you’ve got your ports for you main line inputs as well as full-sized MIDI plus CV/Gate, which makes this a great way to rig up your modular kit and control external synths pretty easily. Having a stand-alone workflow is what the MPC is all about, and the touchscreen and updated OS that Akai have developed are both…chef’s kiss.

And while that might be personal preference, we do prefer having the option of untethering from a computer to make beats and string entire songs together without the need for a PC. Digging into the software, we just feel more at home than on a Maschine. Looks-wise, the review unit we received sports a new retro-flavored skin, which is a cool, grey throwback to the vintage MPC brethren of years gone by.

Akai professional mpc one