Yeah i love the SP+iPad combo as well. It’s an amazing duo.
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The OPX-4 is beautifully integrated with the MPC but I’m just not ready to drop $149 for it. I think the price is too high for me right now for what it offers sonically. I’ll stick with my MPC + iPad combo which is how i roll with it 90% of the time anyhow.
I’m not against spending money on things which make sense for my workflow…OPX-4 just didn’t meet that criteria for me at this stage. No rush to get it. I’ve got plenty to fill my bucket for now…the new SP firmware update looks amazing.
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For me it’s not.
I sold my MPC One and MPC Live II retro. Bought a SP404 MKII, a 12.9" iPad Pro M1 and a 16" Macbook M1 Pro with Ableton Live 11. I can use them standalone, but also in my studio connected through a iConnectivity Audio4C, just using USB-C cables. This maybe will not work for someone else, but for me it’s perfect.
And yes, GAS…but I try to resist 
I have an SP-404 as well, that USB C is maagic…
Looks like Akai can’t make that magic happen…
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In terms of feeling & integration it’s no comparison —the MPC X with its Q-Links is the much better experience.
I have a Live to which I had an EC4 connected (swapped that out for a Midi Fighter Twister). It‘s ok but never feels quite native.
I recently got the MPC X and there the Q-Links really do make a difference to workflow.
That said, if you primarily want to map parameters of your projects to the EC4 for performance, then obviously that gives you a flexibility that the MPC X couldn’t match (q-links can be mapped to project parameters, as I’m sure you know, but you’d have to suffice with 16 controls on the MPC X vs 16x16x16 controls on the EC4).
Note also that I much prefer the feel and acceleration of the q-links (and the MFT) over the EC4’s stiffer knobs.
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well don’t know if you had tried this before you sold your units but in another way akai has gotten very close to that workflow, like you’re using the 404, macbook, ipad, and ableton all together and also on their own… you can also use the mpc one or live in controller mode with a macbook and it’s better than seamless because the macbook enhances the powers of the mpc, but you still use the mpc as if it’s stand alone so the workflow is not more complicated just more powerful… also of course you can use them on their own and the mpc has ableton export as well…
that’s
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Yeah it’s nice this way but we want it to do Audio over USB with an iPad like the SP404mk2, OP-Z, OP-1, Digitakt, DigiTone, Syntakt, and i believe MC707 and MC101 do today. 
1 cable for Audio and Midi I/O is the desire on the MPC. It should be more than capable of supporting this feature.
I end up using an audio dongle on a USB-C to get audio from my iPad to my MPC when they are paired…so any reduction in cables is welcomed 
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me too, always options… but at the same time it’s definitely the next best thing, and in a weird way it’s less work when dealing with the macbook at least…
You can remap q-links on the Project, Program, Pad scene, and Pad parameter modes.
Screen is fixed to whatever is on screen. All of these modes have physical buttons.
They give you 5x16 qlinks (with screens) in theory.
I have to mention the OLEDs again. I think they would be excellent during a performance because you never have to guess what knob does what, when jumping between modes. And it doesn’t matter if you are in complete darkness 
I’ve really tried to incorporate the iPad in my music production over the years.
Perhaps I’m becoming a grumpy old man but it just feels so vanilla compared to a laptop. So many frustrations, every time. Even just browsing the web makes my blood boil. And I have the keyboard thing. Do you like to use keyboard shortcuts? Forget it. This is essentially a large iphone 
But I know, people are making crazy good music on it, it just isn’t for me.
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I love the ipad as long as I’m not emulating a desktop workflow, but once I get into AU shenanigans I begin to seethe lol, can’t stand it… but stand alone or as a sample fodder for my hardware samplers is lovely
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I know, I have used it that way. The MPC is nice but not nice enough for me.
Yeah I guess that’s the way.
But I think I’d rather just use an iphone for that. Way more portable, and the large screen is pretty decent.
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I don’t use the large ipads, I stick with the ipad mini, it’s the perfect size… I do have an old ipad 3 which is larger but I only keep that for old legacy apps that won’t run on the latest models
those max ipads just feel weird to me
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I’ve had the same experience in the past, I’ve tried to use an iPad for music and quickly abandoned it… probably 3 years ago was when I last did this.
The iOS landscape seems very different to me now though… a big change in my perception has been adding an iPad Pro (M1) with a magic keyboard. This feels like the best of both worlds to me now.
The value for money on iOS apps/auv3’s compared to Mac OS versions is amazing too.
Get AUM, Drambo and Koala, add some synths, and 
you’ve got a very powerful music making device for under $120. (Excluding the cost of the iPad obvs).
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Got it.
But that keyboard is so frustrating to me, mainly because it only handles an extemely limited amount if keyboard shortcuts. App developers simply don’t support it.
You can run iOS apps on M1 mac too though I totally agree on the value for money. But I’d rather just go for an iphone if I’m using audio apps. But this is just my personal preference and has nothing to with what is actually good for anyone else!!;D
Has anyone else noticed a very sluggish UI with the 2.11 update?
On an MPC Live 1st gen here and it’s acting very weird - pad shortcuts take a long time to do anything, freezing, buttons locked out etc.
I’ve done some troubleshooting (reinstalled all the plugins from scratch - Hype etc etc), updated to 2.11.2 - issue persists, very slow to respond and generally unusuable performance all around.
I re-downloaded and installed 2.10 - perfect performance, back to normal behaviour, pad shortcuts etc are snappy, things load as they should.
Not seen this mentioned anywhere else, so hope it’s not only me lol.
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I’m maybe too old also but for me the MPC is close to be perfect now for what I want to have: All-in-one machine for making music. No PC. I think that for the price (700€ for a MPC One) and with the latest updates, the MPC has no competitor today.
The 2.10 update was incredible (Hype, Granulator) and changed a lot the value.
The 2.11 update with the probabilities, ratcheting, etc… made it closer to the Electro territories and I appreciate it as the MPC was too Hip-Hop oriented until now for me. And I love the Flavor plug-in. The flutter is basic but filled the lack of a second LFO to make vibratos.
I had a lot of machines in the past but made a break 3 years ago, sold everything to focus on Fruity Loops and VSTs. It was cool, I made some interesting tracks and distributed music on main music streaming platforms. When I decided to come back to hardware I spent a lot of time studying and comparing the today’s machines. I made a choice of reason by ordering a MPC One. It was on 2.9 firmware. I was happy but I still felt that I could fall into GAS again. Then 2.10 came and 2.11 which literally calm down my GAS.
For sure OPx-4 is a must have for Electro style music if you don’t have other gears or don’t want to add ones. But yes, the price is too high. I really don’t understand the marketing strategy of Akai. They had the opportunity to make some breakthroughs if they’d add it for free with 2.11 or to definitely kill the competition IMO. They made the choice to make money with plug-ins than to convince Electro musicians that MPC is essential for the price and then sold much more of it.
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That’s definitely an issue they could face with new sales - if Fabric and OPx improve on the potential of the MPCs and are increasingly showcased on YouTube, the effective price of a new device will be the unit plus the plugins, because that’s what people will be buying them for. So the One won’t be quite the same bargain it has been so far.
I guess new owners will still get a voucher, which presumably could be put towards a plugin. But it’s still a lot of extra money.