Akai Professional MPC ELEMENT DAW Controller

Bought it to upgrade my MDP-18, which feels a bit cheap. This one was not much more expensive, colourful lights and lovely feeling pads. Software is OK, limited but OK, I am not familiar with the MPC software, so cannot give a valued comparison to previous / other MPC software.Where this fell down for me was using it as a midi controller for other plugins / drum machines. Some of the nice function like note repeat do not work. Unlike the MPD18 which works fine. So, as a replacement for the MDP18 it failed. In terms of size, it is perfect, slim and smaller than a laptop, ideal for travel. Only thing I did not like was that it did not have retractable feet (like a keyboard) to give it some angle........it will only lye flat.The only thing I could see this being useful for me would be taking on holiday with laptop to make beats using the MPC elements software.Quality = 10/10, Portability = 10/10, Standalone beat making = 8/10. Versatility as midi controller = 0/10.

Pads are really nice, which is the main reason I bought it. Great build quality too. But the software is rubbish and nothing on it works correctly without it.Ended up killing it by being an idiot and accidentally using the wrong power supply for a USB hub which it was plugged in to - it got overloaded through the USB. Kind of thankful I did, but obviously the waste of £100 was a frustration.Replaced it with the Vestax Pad One and rated it 5 star- it's much better for what I wanted, and cheaper.On a side note, AKAI support is absolutely awful. Contacted them about a problem I was having with the midi mappings and I waited 3 days for robotic response linking me to a page I'd already been on via google. Won't be buying from them again I think.

I am a total newcomer and bought this piece of equipment just for its cheapness and easiness.Honestly the "one track" issue is a big one. It means that you cannot combine different types of sequence together.So if you just want to make a song out of drum parts ok you can do that (though the lack of tracks make this a pain too), but you won't be able to combine that with a simultaneously playing keygroup part (keygroups are the way you would record notes as if using a keyboard). The site claims that it's fully featured without a DAW. This just isn't true.It's a drum machine then rather than a standalone music composition device. If you have a DAW fine (maybe) but for this reason alone its not an all-in-one solution for a beginner, which is sad, because it so nearly is :-(

all fine

Great little unit of making quick beats and structuring songs. Construction is good - has the feel of an iPad/Table device. Feels like it would last for years.Buttons are study and responsive - you should be making new tracks within minutes.

Since my initial review the device broke down and had to go back for a new circuit board. I also had serious firmware/software problems with a new mpx16 recently, sadly I am now a very unhappy AKAI customer.On top of this AKAI has since returned the MPC Element repaired, but with a MPC Fly cover plate and several dents in the brush metal plate to go with it!!!!It's a sad day R.I.P Akai I once loved your products!!OLD REVIEW BELOW:I was not that interested in the cut-down PC software that comes with it and I hate the latency with controllers!!! However when I use the Element with iMPC Pro on the iPad it feels great! It's responsive and you can punch in beats without losing that quintessential MPC feel! The build feels solid, sleek and elegant, it's a new school package with old school flavor!