Akai Force owners: is it fire from the gods?

personalnadir

While I much prefer the aesthetics of the MPC line, the Akai Force looks like all I need to make basic tracks without a DAW, and then some - particularly with the new update that lets interfaces connect to it. Has anyone tried one since the 3.1 update?

I am keen to move away from using a computer for recording as I spend so much time at one already. I'd also love to get a sequencer that can add more versatility to my synths and act as a master controller for them.

I'm after something that can:

- act as a basic multitrack recorder

- sequence synths - with the ability to switch patterns on the fly. The synths I have all have sequencers, but often they are good for one pattern, but the workflow for progressing through a song is a pain

- do a little live looping

- handle the whole process of creating a track

- be up and running faster than my ancient laptop

Not overly worried about complexity.

goldtop

Force does all of that, but the latest update has enough bugs being reported that I've delayed upgrading. 

Plenty of YT channels for guitarists using it:





I don't think any update has added layered overdub-style looping, though. Not necessary, perhaps with the tracks available.

The No1 downside now is that the recent firmware updates are so deep and far-reaching that the documentation is all over the place. 

personalnadir

Thanks, those are exactly the sort of videos I needed to see to convince me it’s what I’m after. Shame about the bugs though - hopefully those will get squashed in due course 

goldtop

I'm sure they will, but ISTM that Akai doesn't have enough developers for all of the products that use this 'MCS' system.

I had the MPC Live before, but the Force suits me much better. If I can coax the CV outputs to do Hz/V, I'll be very happy (not got into it that deep yet).