How To Upload Samples Into Akai Mpx 16

Akai's MPX16 has more pads and functions than its MPX8 predecessor, but remains just equally reasonably priced.

The Akai MPX8 was a neat little sample player and MIDI/USB drum controller. Its samples resided on inexpensive and bachelor SD cards and even though somewhat sluggish when loading large files and picky about the formats it would accept, it was priced to smoothen over such inconveniences.

With twice every bit many pads, more memory and costing less than double, the MPX16 is the logical adjacent stride. The addition of resonant filters for each of its sixteen pads, plus sixteen-scrap sampling and sample editing are just some of the many enhancements in this, Akai's smallest, lightest and nigh affordable sampler to engagement. With and so much going for information technology, is there annihilation not to like?

Sweet Xvi

Meaty and portable at only 29 ten 14.v cm, the MPX16'southward red and black plastic shell isn't heavy just feels durable enough for a life bouncing effectually in a backpack or hand luggage. Most edit operations are performed in a 4x5 matrix, accessed by a single button and four encoders labelled A-D. A blue, backlit screen dishes out data and its editable fields are navigated past a pair of buttons with a combined value encoder and enter key providing assistance when necessary. This encoder is commonly the most important control equally it alone (past the action of pushing and turning) can modify values in larger increments.

The pads lite in amber, green and red to bespeak whether a sample is assigned, currently playing or selected for edit. The pads perform well plenty once you take there's no way to adjust their sensitivity. On the review model, I wasn't able to trigger a note with a velocity less than nine and while striking the maximum was piece of cake, getting a predictable spread took exercise. The aftertouch is polyphonic and has a light response, but sadly it'due south not applicable to whatever of the internal samples. Aftertouch simply becomes relevant in the MPX16's function equally a MIDI controller.

I was glad to see all audio connections are full-sized quarter-inch jacks, which in this instance means stereo inputs and outputs, plus a headphone socket. The two MIDI ports are of regular proportions too and joined by a USB connector capable of carrying power. Alternatively, an external adapter is supplied so you can function without a figurer present — and there's a good reason why you might desire to, which I'll come to later on.

Apart from the small collection of built-in mill samples, all storage operations require an SD or SDHC card. The carte slot is stated to support any SD type just, remembering my experiences with the MPX8, I made certain to source the fastest I could notice, a class 10.

Kit Chat

Later on a short boot-upwards, the MPX16 automatically loads the default kit, i01. The 10 internal kits are a means of making noises if you don't even so have an SD bill of fare; they feature combinations of classic drum-machine samples, bass synths, shouts of 'yep' and then on.

Information technology's important to stock a carte du jour with suitable audio as before long every bit possible, the cardinal word there being 'suitable' considering, as discussed in Jan 2014'south MPX8 review, there are some file-format restrictions. Akai provide a file conversion plan — a fairly primitive thing and dissimilar to the 1 I tried in the earlier review. With my usual childlike optimism I chose a random agglomeration of samples, dragged them into the conversion utility and clicked the 'convert' button. Afterward I specified a folder for the output files, it was all over. I then dragged the resulting WAV files to the SD card in the MPX16, conveniently transformed into a card reader by booting while property the 'Principal' push button. Alternatively, a standard card reader can be used; either way, you're at present able to build kits full of your ain samples. Theoretically, that is. Several of my samples, apparently candy without mistake, were mysteriously empty. Later doing it over again and being puzzled some more, I decided to abandon Akai'south program and bulk-process my WAVs in Wavelab, based on the requirements stated in the transmission.

Up to 48MB of samples (stereo or mono) can be loaded at a time, but even with the fastest carte I owned, this could be a lengthy process. To give y'all an example, a unmarried 32MB WAV took 1 minute 48 seconds to load. Furthermore, during the load procedure, at that place was a constant whine, which I traced to the USB connection taking power from my Mac. This might not always exist a bad thing. In the studio, the whine could be a handy indicator that long samples are all the same existence loaded, but it would suck in a live situation. Fortunately, the consequence disappears when power is taken from an external adapter.

Having successfully populated a card with samples, assembling 16 of them into a kit is as easy as touching pads and turning encoders. Past repeatedly pressing the 'Pad Edit' button, each row of the edit matrix becomes live for editing. In typical use, the 4 encoders are adequate for minor adjustments, but no fun for large increments. For example, in the 2d row, adjusting the sample start and end points can involve large numbers, a job for which the value encoder is infinitely superior.

On the rear panel, which as you will notice is a fetching blood-red colour, we detect quarter-inch sockets for headphones, stereo output and stereo input, MIDI I/O ports, a USB port, an SD card slot and a socket for the external ability supply. When designing a kit, each sample can be transposed farther than the MPX8. Initially the limit looked to be an octave up or downwardly, until I noticed the simple 'envelope > tune' parameter, which tin can extend it by another octave or perform the usual role of pitch-sweeping. 2 envelopes offering attack/decay shaping of the filter and amp stages before hitting the single event, reverb. This has no adjustable parameters (despite there being an unused slot in the matrix ideal for adding adjustment of the reverb decay time), but the factory setting is a practiced all-rounder for percussion.

The resolutions of the pan, volume and reverb mix controls were all higher than on the earlier model simply pride of identify for sprucing up every sample must go to the resonant 24dB low-pass filter. It sounds pretty practiced too, although some provision for injecting velocity-control to the filter cutoff or envelope depth could take added even more life.

The bottom row of the matrix determines how samples are triggered, with the expected 1-shot, looping and hold modes of the MPX8 implemented. Select polyphonic playback and you can burn off repeated instances of a sample, upward to a polyphony limit of 64 voices. This suggests applications involving long, ambient loops, but for percussion it adds a more natural experience to multiple strikes of cymbals and gongs, for instance.

Sampling

Striking a blow for sampling on the move, MPX16 has a built-in stereo microphone. This is easily overlooked merely could be a life-saver in some situations, especially given the tools provided to trim and clean up subsequently. The mic is sensitive to the concrete vibrations of the MPX and a better pick, if possible, is to use the (line-level) audio inputs.

The sampling process is adequately uncomplicated, as you lot'd await from a company whose proper name was once synonymous with samplers. First choose whether the recording is sourced from the left input, the right or both, in the example of stereo. Having decided on a source and ready the proceeds appropriately, the last choice is whether to kickoff sampling after a threshold is exceeded or manually. So it's only a matter of pressing a push when gear up.

The concluding setting of note is 'Monday', which is a switch for monitoring the recording through the MPX's own outputs. Sampling is ended by a press of 'value', after which you either continue or discard the recording. At that place is no style to audition the result before making this decision then keeping is usually the only practical pick, after which the sample tin be named and assigned to a pad.

Adjacent to the Sample Record button is Sample Edit, which offers a series of processing options, including 'delete', which yous'll need if the latest sample turned out to be a turkey after all. You lot tin trim the offset and stop point until it'south just right, then execute the command to non-destructively chop your audio to size. In this way you can excerpt or copy portions of the WAV to new files or completely discard sections exterior the trim points. Farther processes include reversing, normalising, adding a fade-in or out and converting from stereo to mono. In full general everything worked as expected, although some edits threw upwardly a 'format mistake' message. This even occurred for samples created by the MPX16's own processing and patently the issue will be addressed in a forthcoming update.

Conclusion

With its pads, portability and cost the MPX16 has much to exist proud of, merely you can't dispel the feeling that, with more than attending to particular, it could accept been superb. With 48MB of RAM to play with, information technology's a compassion you can't have full advantage of information technology, say by layering multiple samples and velocity-switching between them. Similarly, information technology'south a shame the polyphonic aftertouch tin can't be drafted in to add together move to the MPX'south samples, but at least the feature injects extra pleasance when driving other gear. Equally a USB/MIDI controller for percussion, the MPX scores solidly and its potential for use every bit a module will increase dramatically in one case the Omni mode issue is resolved. However, the biggest limitation isn't MIDI-related, it'due south the time taken to load large samples. It almost makes a nonsense of the generous RAM allotment.

Looking back, I've listed enough of moans and niggles and so it's only fair to remark that, with a option of favourite samples arranged into kits, the MPX16 is a very playable drum surface and a controller you can take anywhere. Possibly more than chiefly, information technology'southward a 16-flake Akai sampler with filters, envelopes and far more tweakability than its predecessor. If employed more often than not for short, percussive samples, the loading time won't even be an issue, and in that context, the MPX16 begins to look rather inviting.

Alternatives

If sampling isn't important but having sixteen pads is, you might consider 2 MPX8s, simply beyond that the alternatives are scarce.

MIDI Matters

Occasionally, 1983 seems like a lifetime ago, peculiarly when a new device slips into the wild impeded by an obvious character defect. The MPX16 transmits on a fixed MIDI channel (x) only receives incoming notes on all xvi channels without discrimination. Removing this weird Omni way implementation is, unsurprisingly, Akai'due south number-1 feature request and hopefully it will happen soon. It won't exist an effect if you plan to trigger the MPX's samples over the USB connectedness, but it sure limits the MPX16'due south viability as a MIDI module. Totting up a few more missed opportunities, the encoders don't transport MIDI CCs, nor does the MPX respond to them.

Pros

A portable sampler and sample player.
Doubles as a 16-pad drum controller with polyphonic aftertouch.
Cheap.

Cons

Ho-hum to load long samples.
MIDI implementation currently a disappointment.
Won't play all samples and conversion software lacks finesse.

Summary

The MPX16 is a worthy effort that is and so nearly wonderful. It scores highly as a portable drum controller, sampler and sample histrion, but is let down by slow sample loading and a poorly conceived MIDI spec. Fortunately, the price should salvage information technology from eternal damnation and some fixes are in the pipeline.