The Akai Professional MPC X is the best MPC for beginners. It’s easy to use and offers great connectivity for mics and musical instruments.
There’s no doubt; getting an MPC is the best way to enhance your music production.
With many available on the market, which do you choose? What features do you look for? And what differentiates a good MPC from a bad one?
We’ve reviewed the 3 best MPC for beginner artists to help you out:
| Image | Product | Check Price |
|---|---|---|
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Akai Professional MPC X | |
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Akai Professional MPC One | |
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Akai Professional Live 2 |
Reviews of the Best MPC for Beginners
Akai Professional MPC X
Best Overall
With its graphical and user-friendly interface and state-of-the-art signal routing, the Akai Professional MPC-X is our top pick and the best sampler for beginners. The intuitive pads make it a great beat making machine for beginners and ensure you get good responsiveness when using it with your drums or keyboard.
Customers also report how this interface allowed them to gradually progress in skill level. In addition, the advanced signal routing ensures you work with a more efficient and effective flow.
This product has extensive creative abilities. You can customize your sound using the 16 speed and pressure-sensitive pads. In short, Akai has packed this MPC drum machine with so many buttons and controls, you can use it as you upgrade from beginner to advanced level.
Another thing customers love about this MPC is how it hardly crashes. It runs smoothly and provides the reliability you need to create captivating audio.
The most visually striking feature is the display, which can tilt into standalone mode. This isn’t a useless gimmick, but this 10.5-inch back-lit touch display is easier to see in standalone mode, helping during live performances when lighting isn’t the best.
It also features 36 connections, including two instrument inputs and 8 CV-Gate outputs for controlling external synthesizers. With such capability, customers can connect all their peripherals with little restriction.
In addition, the combination of inputs, wide range of pads and excellent user interface makes it well-suited to producing hip hop. For this, it’s the best sampler for hip hop on our list.
Despite it being a high-quality MPC, customers mention reduced performance when in standalone mode. It only has eight stereo modes in standalone mode, with many finding it limiting their options when performing live.
PROS
- Excellent for MPC studio recording.
- Easy-to-use interface.
- Compatible with all software: few crashes.
- Great connectivity and ports.
- Convenient tilting display for live performances.
CONS
- Only eight stereo tracks when in standalone mode.
- Pads easily attract dust.
Akai Professional MPC One
Best Budget Drum MPC
The MPC One is a compact and affordable option that offers great performance and extensive creative opportunities for beginners.
It features responsive pads, with customers mentioning how they allow for accurate and precise sound control. This is enabled by the 4x CV ports and MIDI inputs and outputs, which is an excellent combination for versatility.
Weighing only 4.7 pounds, the MPC X is one of the most compact and capable MPCs you can get. It has a width, depth and height of 10.7, 10,7 and 2.1 inches, respectively. This means you can easily fit it in a small bag to conveniently carry it from your house to a recording studio or stage.
Customers also report how great the MPC One performs in standalone mode. It has more than eight stereo tracks when in this mode, allowing for better customization and creativity.
Even so, a lack of mic and instrument inputs will deter vocalists and instrumentalists. Customers have stated how they prefer to buy more expensive MPCs with these inputs.
In addition, most customers use Ableton Live as their DAW, but this MPC doesn’t have a dedicated control for it. These customers report how frustrating it is to find another means of controlling Ableton Live when performing.
PROS
- Great performance when in standalone mode.
- Controllable using a computer.
- Cheaper but capable option.
- Compact and portable.
CONS
- No mic or instrument inputs.
- No dedicated control mode for Ableton Live.
Akai Professional Live 2
Best Portable Drum Machine
Besides its lightweight design and compact size, the MPC Live 2 is battery-powered, allowing you to use it in areas without a direct power supply. Also, the battery lasts up to five hours, which is enough for MPC studio recording sessions and live performances. Because of these attributes, it’s the best MPC drum machine for portability.
Even so, customers say how amazing the speakers sound for the MPC’s size. In most cases, bigger devices have better speakers, but customers report that this compact MPC has the speakers to compete with flagship models, like the Akai Professional MPC X.
In addition, Akai has included as many connections, buttons and MPC pads as you’d expect from a standard-size device. The 23 connections and nine knobs allow for music sampling and synthesis, making it excellent for beginners.
Despite having one of the smallest displays for an MPC, customers report how difficult it is to navigate the user interface.
Software selection is also limited. One noticeable absentee in the software package is Ableton Live, which is an excellent choice for beginners.
PROS
- Battery-powered for portability.
- Doesn’t compromise on ports despite being small.
- Great-sounding speakers for size.
- More buttons and connectivity than the competition.
CONS
- User interface isn’t easy to use.
- Software selection could be better considering the price.
How to Choose the Best MPC For Beginner Artists
To choose from the best MPC drum machines, take the following into account:
Connectivity
The best MPC drum machines need to have as many input and output connections.
Inputs you should look for are:
- Instrument.
- MIDI.
- XLR.
- TRS.
- RCA.
The best MPC machines have multiple versions of these inputs. For example, the Akai Professional MPC X has five MIDI inputs.
For outputs, look for:
- CV/Gate: For controlling external devices.
- Stereo headphones: To listen to yourself during MPC studio recording sessions.
Extra ports that are nice to have on your MPC are:
- SD card reader.
- USB Type-A and C ports.
CPU and Memory
Processing power is essential for ensuring your workflow is fast and you produce music quickly. Fortunately, all the devices on our list perform well here as they all feature 1.8GHz Quad Core ARM® processors.
For memory, look out for:
- RAM: RAM is responsible, in part, for how fast your device works. To consider a device as the best MPC, it should have a minimum RAM of 2GB.
- Memory storage: More than 4GB is decent. But, the Akai Professional MPC X and the Akai Professional Live 2 exceed this standard with 16GB.
Pads, Button and Knobs
Pads
The more pads, the better! But, keep in mind that more than 16 pads compromises portability.
Ensure the MPC pads are speed and pressure sensitive for a more responsive sound control.
It’s also good to have them backlit for better legibility during nighttime or a live performance with low lighting.
Buttons
Also ensure the buttons are customizable, helping you produce more authentic music. All the MPC’s on our list have this customization.
The same rule applies here: the more, the merrier. But, not to the point where the device is too big to carry around.
Knobs
Knobs give you live control over music processed by the MPC. Artists use these most in the studio because they allow you to vary sound effects. The best MPC on our list has 24 knobs to easily customize and edit sound.
It’s important you understand what the knobs do before buying, though. Some allow you to adjust your perimeter, while others allow you to adjust gains and mixes.
Gains are important as a beginner to ensure you have a consistent decibel output, while mixing allows you to effortlessly blend tracks.
Display
The best MPC drum machines have intuitive displays that visually represent the music you produce.
Music production can now be a one-device task, thanks to the display. A bigger display is always good for a beginner, making the MPC easier to use and legible.
Also, ensure it’s touchscreen so you don’t need to use a computer and to ensure optimum mixing speed.
Conclusion
To consider a product as the best MPC drum machine for beginners, focus on the number connections, audio quality and responsive pads, buttons and knobs. The Akai MPC Professional X does all that, and more, which is why we’ve made it our top pick.
If the MPC X doesn’t take your fancy, the Akai Professional MPC One offers great performance when in standalone mode, while the Akai Professional Live 2 is extremely portable with its battery power.
