Akai MPC DrumSynth Review, Pros and Cons
Added 2020-11-24 15:04:06 +0000 UTCHi!
I've been exploring the beta of Akai's DrumSynth for MPC/Force for a while, and now that the "embargo" has been lifted I can give it a brief public spin. In my opinion, it quite simply makes the MPC and Force one of the best sounding and fully featured hardware drum synths out there.
Of course, it wouldn't be all pros without some cons... the DrumSynth implementation continues MPC's "siloed" approach. While it has automation and sequencing like samples or other plugins, its mixer is its own thing, and mutes don't work (yet I hope), there are no chokes, and it's not part of the drum kit flow, so you can't mix and match samples and drum synths. Using individual drum synths "costs" you one of 8 available plugin slots, and while you have an 8-synth "kit" instance, you can only use one at a time.
It is free though, so if you have an MPC or Force it's certainly a major upgrade, and hopefully, future versions will bring a tighter integration.
If you dislike scrolling through endless folders of samples, this is worth a look!
All my best,
Ziv (scrolling through drumsynth categories instead of samples on youtube as "Loopop"...)
