If you use it in studio with lots of midi devices, you can make it the brain for midi too, no need to buy stuff like Bome box or MRCC. ( of cuz they are great if you need one in your setup ). MPC 2.10 takes your vocal processing game to the next level with the fantastic Air Vocal Suite. This trio of top-notch plugins gives you the ability to achieve professional-sounding vocals within your MPC. AIR Vocal Tuner Akai Professional have seriously levelled up the MPC‘s MIDI and CV capabilities with update 2.10. Edit Any Control Name Yes! Projects can be transferred and opened on any MPC live or MPC X considering all of the project's contents (samples, programs, sequences) are transferred as well. Considering there are differences in outputs and inputs on the MPC X versus MPC Live, you may notice that outputs or inputs are disabled if they are not available on the current controller. Along the way the Akai Force emerged, sharing many of the MPC's features and technology, but with a different approach to making and performing music. This latest revision of the Live hardware shows that MPCs aren't being phased out in favour of the Force; the two will run in parallel, and might hopefully cross-pollinate in cool ways. Boom Box

Storage & ConnectivityOut the box MPC Live II Retro ships with 16GB of internal Micro SD storage. For producers looking to add a personal touch to their production, MPC Live II Retro features a built-in SD Card slot, a user-expandable 2.5-inch SATA drive bay for connecting SSD or HDD drives and USB thumb input for immediate access to your own sample libraries. The MPC X, MPC Live and MPC 2.0 software will all be supported for use on Windows 8.1 and up, as well as Mac OS X 10.10 and up. This will only require the installation of a single driver to use the MPC X or MPC Live as a controller with MPC 2.0. As a side note, the MPC X and MPC Live can be connected to virtually any operating system for simple file transfer. That means if you need to transfer files off of your Windows 7 computer, you can connect your MPC and your OS will be able to recognize any connected USB drives or SATA drives. How big is the display? Is it a touch screen? Ableton mode provides a clip launcher, mixer and device control. The launcher view is your typical 8x8 grid of tappable clip slots, complete with animated loop progress bars in each clip. The pads also work as a tactile launcher, though of course showing a smaller window into the Session view. Scenes can be launched, and you can initiate recording into clips or into the Arrangement. On the buttons you get transport control and some other basic options.MPC 2.9 Firmware Update: now includes 8 all-new synth engines, powering 9 incredible DrymSynth plugins This excellent update sees the inclusion of the wonderful DrumSynth addon to your production tools, adding unparalleled rythmic power to your already impressive toolset. Melding an incredibly intuitive user interface with plenty of power (it uses the same multi-core processor as its bigger brother the MPC X), the MPC Live is a perfect sonic playground for you to unleash your creativity. The sheer amount of possibilities is easily tamed with an array of hands-on control (including Akai Professional’s tried-and-tested 16 pad format, four capacitive touch-knobs and an assortment of dedicated buttons) and the crystal-clear 7 inch touch-screen display. Put simply, it’s a professional production workstation with the expressivity and intuitiveness of an instrument.

Yes! The MPC X and MPC Live will both ship with USB 3.0 cables and work at USB 3.0 speeds when connected to the computer as a controller. While USB 2.0 may work, we do recommend using 3.0 cables and ports whenever possible for the best results. If the MPC is in standalone mode, any connected thumb drives or storage devices will operate at USB 2.0. Can I add additional storage space? Whether you're a producer, live performer, or DAWless jammer, this could well be the update you've been waiting for! All this made the MPC the centerpiece of my studio and the perfect travel companion for composition abroad. I previously used a Virus TI, OP1, OP-Z and iPad... it was a lot of weight to carry around and long setting up time!Unlike the Force and MPC X, the Live and One encoders (Q-Links) don't have displays. I've generally found the red outline on the screen to work fine for showing what the encoders are controlling, but the new version adds a graphical overlay that pops-up when you touch the encoders. This is especially helpful if you're not in Screen follow mode, and is great in most of the instrument and mix effect views, as these have margins at the sides. For other views, though, the overlay obscures what's on the screen, and I ended up turning the feature off.