Ahow to Upload Samples on to 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 smashing piddling sample histrion and MIDI/USB drum controller. Its samples resided on cheap and available SD cards and even though somewhat sluggish when loading large files and picky about the formats it would accept, information technology was priced to smooth over such inconveniences.

With twice as many pads, more than retentiveness and costing less than double, the MPX16 is the logical next step. The add-on of resonant filters for each of its 16 pads, plus sixteen-bit sampling and sample editing are just some of the many enhancements in this, Akai'due south smallest, lightest and most affordable sampler to date. With so much going for information technology, is there anything not to similar?

Sweet Sixteen

Compact and portable at simply 29 x xiv.5 cm, the MPX16'south red and blackness plastic trounce isn't heavy merely feels durable enough for a life bouncing around in a backpack or paw baggage. Most edit operations are performed in a 4x5 matrix, accessed by a single push button and four encoders labelled A-D. A blue, backlit screen dishes out information and its editable fields are navigated by a pair of buttons with a combined value encoder and enter key providing assistance when necessary. This encoder is usually the most important control every bit it alone (past the action of pushing and turning) can alter values in larger increments.

The pads calorie-free in amber, light-green and red to bespeak whether a sample is assigned, currently playing or selected for edit. The pads perform well enough once yous have at that place's no way to conform their sensitivity. On the review model, I wasn't able to trigger a note with a velocity less than nine and while hitting the maximum was easy, getting a predictable spread took practice. The aftertouch is polyphonic and has a light response, but sadly information technology's not applicable to any of the internal samples. Aftertouch only becomes relevant in the MPX16'southward role every bit a MIDI controller.

I was glad to run across all audio connections are full-sized quarter-inch jacks, which in this example means stereo inputs and outputs, plus a headphone socket. The two MIDI ports are of regular proportions as well and joined by a USB connector capable of conveying power. Alternatively, an external adapter is supplied so you can function without a computer nowadays — and there'southward a good reason why y'all might desire to, which I'll come to later.

Autonomously from the small drove of born factory samples, all storage operations require an SD or SDHC carte. The card slot is stated to support any SD type but, remembering my experiences with the MPX8, I fabricated sure to source the fastest I could find, a class 10.

Kit Chat

Subsequently a brusque boot-upwardly, the MPX16 automatically loads the default kit, i01. The 10 internal kits are a ways of making noises if yous don't nevertheless take an SD menu; they feature combinations of classic drum-automobile samples, bass synths, shouts of 'yeah' and so on.

It's important to stock a carte with suitable audio as soon as possible, the key word there existence 'suitable' because, equally discussed in January 2014'southward MPX8 review, in that location are some file-format restrictions. Akai provide a file conversion program — a fairly primitive matter and different to the one 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. Subsequently 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 carte reader by booting while holding the 'Main' button. Alternatively, a standard card reader can be used; either manner, you're now able to build kits full of your own samples. Theoretically, that is. Several of my samples, apparently candy without error, were mysteriously empty. After doing it again and being puzzled some more, I decided to carelessness Akai'southward program and bulk-procedure my WAVs in Wavelab, based on the requirements stated in the manual.

Upward to 48MB of samples (stereo or mono) can be loaded at a fourth dimension, merely even with the fastest menu I owned, this could exist a lengthy procedure. To give you lot an example, a unmarried 32MB WAV took ane minute 48 seconds to load. Furthermore, during the load process, there was a constant whine, which I traced to the USB connectedness taking power from my Mac. This might not ever be a bad thing. In the studio, the whine could be a handy indicator that long samples are still being loaded, but it would suck in a live situation. Fortunately, the effect disappears when power is taken from an external adapter.

Having successfully populated a bill of fare with samples, assembling xvi of them into a kit is every bit 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 employ, the 4 encoders are adequate for minor adjustments, but no fun for large increments. For case, in the second row, adjusting the sample starting time and end points can involve large numbers, a task for which the value encoder is infinitely superior.

On the rear console, which equally yous will discover is a fetching red color, nosotros find quarter-inch sockets for headphones, stereo output and stereo input, MIDI I/O ports, a USB port, an SD menu slot and a socket for the external power supply. When designing a kit, each sample can be transposed farther than the MPX8. Initially the limit looked to be an octave upwards or down, until I noticed the unproblematic 'envelope > tune' parameter, which can extend it by another octave or perform the usual office of pitch-sweeping. Two envelopes offer set on/disuse shaping of the filter and amp stages before hitting the single effect, reverb. This has no adjustable parameters (despite at that place being an unused slot in the matrix platonic for adding adjustment of the reverb disuse fourth dimension), just the factory setting is a proficient all-rounder for percussion.

The resolutions of the pan, book and reverb mix controls were all college than on the earlier model only pride of place for sprucing up every sample must become to the resonant 24dB low-pass filter. It sounds pretty skillful too, although some provision for injecting velocity-control to the filter cutoff or envelope depth could have added even more life.

The bottom row of the matrix determines how samples are triggered, with the expected one-shot, looping and concur modes of the MPX8 implemented. Select polyphonic playback and yous can fire off repeated instances of a sample, up to a polyphony limit of 64 voices. This suggests applications involving long, ambient loops, but for percussion it adds a more natural feel to multiple strikes of cymbals and gongs, for example.

Sampling

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

The sampling process is adequately unproblematic, every bit yous'd await from a visitor whose name was one time synonymous with samplers. First cull whether the recording is sourced from the left input, the right or both, in the example of stereo. Having decided on a source and set the gain appropriately, the concluding pick is whether to start sampling after a threshold is exceeded or manually. Then it'due south just a affair of pressing a button when prepare.

The final setting of note is 'Mon', which is a switch for monitoring the recording through the MPX'south own outputs. Sampling is ended by a press of 'value', later which y'all either keep or discard the recording. In that location is no style to audience the issue earlier making this conclusion so keeping is usually the only practical option, after which the sample tin exist named and assigned to a pad.

Adjacent to the Sample Tape 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 later all. You can trim the start and finish signal until it's only right, then execute the command to non-destructively chop your sound to size. In this way you lot can excerpt or copy portions of the WAV to new files or completely discard sections outside the trim points. Further processes include reversing, normalising, adding a fade-in or out and converting from stereo to mono. In general everything worked equally expected, although some edits threw upwards a 'format error' message. This even occurred for samples created past the MPX16's ain processing and apparently the outcome will exist addressed in a forthcoming update.

Conclusion

With its pads, portability and price the MPX16 has much to be proud of, merely you can't dispel the feeling that, with more attending to detail, it could take been superb. With 48MB of RAM to play with, it's a pity you can't take total advantage of it, say by layering multiple samples and velocity-switching between them. Similarly, it's a shame the polyphonic aftertouch tin can't be drafted in to add move to the MPX's samples, but at to the lowest degree the feature injects extra pleasure when driving other gear. Every bit a USB/MIDI controller for percussion, the MPX scores solidly and its potential for employ as a module will increase dramatically once the Omni mode issue is resolved. However, the biggest limitation isn't MIDI-related, information technology's the time taken to load big samples. Information technology near makes a nonsense of the generous RAM allocation.

Looking back, I've listed enough of moans and niggles so information technology'due south merely off-white to remark that, with a selection of favourite samples arranged into kits, the MPX16 is a very playable drum surface and a controller you lot tin can take anywhere. Perhaps more importantly, information technology's a 16-bit Akai sampler with filters, envelopes and far more tweakability than its predecessor. If employed more often than not for curt, percussive samples, the loading time won't even be an outcome, 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 two MPX8s, simply across that the alternatives are deficient.

MIDI Matters

Occasionally, 1983 seems like a lifetime ago, particularly when a new device slips into the wild impeded by an obvious graphic symbol defect. The MPX16 transmits on a fixed MIDI channel (x) merely receives incoming notes on all 16 channels without discrimination. Removing this weird Omni mode implementation is, unsurprisingly, Akai's number-ane feature request and hopefully it will happen before long. It won't be an issue if yous plan to trigger the MPX's samples over the USB connection, but it sure limits the MPX16's viability as a MIDI module. Totting up a few more than missed opportunities, the encoders don't send MIDI CCs, nor does the MPX answer to them.

Pros

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

Cons

• Slow 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 try that is so nearly wonderful. It scores highly as a portable drum controller, sampler and sample player, but is let downward by dull sample loading and a poorly conceived MIDI spec. Fortunately, the price should save information technology from eternal damnation and some fixes are in the pipeline.

information

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Source: https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/akai-mpx16

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