Akai Force 3.1 update: Disc Streaming (finally)!!!!

[EnochLight]

I gotta' say, this is pretty bad ass. Been looking forward to this for a long time - so glad I picked up a Force when I did!

[slic]

Yup, be a few Octotrack users looking at this now....streaming was the last reason to use an OT really.
Looking forward to this coming to the MPC LIVE 2...all this + battery and sound bar

[EnochLight]

Yup, be a few Octotrack users looking at this now....streaming was the last reason to use an OT really.
Looking forward to this coming to the MPC LIVE 2...all this + battery and sound bar

Admittedly, I'd love to have this on my MPC Live II as well, but since Force is my studio fixture, it's become less important to me now. I primarily use my MPC to bang out quick ideas and get things started, though I've avoided using it to record audio in a traditional DAW-sense as it's missing disc-streaming and has no "proper" Arranger, so if those two things do come to MPC, I may change my tune.

But in the meantime, my Force has pretty much become the most important part of my studio setup. Absolutely love this thing!

[Billy+]

How well does it work with Reason?

What kind of setup can you have?
Midi in out, audio samples etc.....

I get that it is for standalone work but at some point you're going to want to pull the steams or maybe make a few of your own samples etc....


Tell me more

[EnochLight]

How well does it work with Reason?

What kind of setup can you have?
Midi in out, audio samples etc.....

I get that it is for standalone work but at some point you're going to want to pull the steams or maybe make a few of your own samples etc....


Tell me more

Prior to me buying Ableton Live 11 Suite over BF, the only DAW I used with my Akai Force was Reason. You've got a few of ways of doing it, but this is how I do it:

1. Compose my song idea on Force (my Force also serves as the sequencer hub for some hardware synths that I have).
2. When I get to a point to where I feel like I can't take it any further (or if I "finish it" altogether), I export my Force Project as separate stems.
3. I import all stems into Reason (having set Reason's tempo to the same as I had it on my Force Project), and either (a) continue to develop the song further or do (a) and then move onto (b) which is: mix and master in Reason (I use Neutron 3 Advanced as my channel strip and usually master in Ozone 9 Advanced standalone).

I've also sync'd Force to a Reason project or various Reason devices, all wireless, using Ableton Link and jammed in conjunction over my Wifi. That's always fun and pretty much effortless. Now that Force does disk-streaming, there's no limit in length to stereo audio track recordings, but you only get a total of 8 of those, and if you use some of those audio tracks to trigger audio Clips, then that's one less track you get for that (though you can load any recorded audio or stems into a Drum Program and trigger them from that as well as a workaround). I rarely run out of room, though.

I'll be frank - there's a learning curve. I'd recommend you spend some time watching the various Force 3.10 launch videos to see how a typical song project goes, as it's very "Ableton Live" like in that regard. You don't need Ableton Live and can even continue to use Reason as your main DAW just fine, but working on Force in standalone is nothing like working in Reason if you compose mainly using Force's Clip matrix. Move into the Arranger, however, and it's more like a traditional Reason DAW "timeline".

[Billy+]

I've watched way too many videos on the force and one of the things that puts me off is the 8 channel limit but I can also see how that might work to an advantage by limiting which is something that is missing in the modern daw but was always impacted previous musicians.

I much prefer the timeline for sequencing rather than clip laun but again I can see an advantage to "building" sections so again I think that I could work with it.

One thing that I would miss is access to my rack extensions during creation, how easy is it to create sample based devices from Reason and add them into a force device? Or would you just midi out into Reason routing the midi into the rack extension and return the audio back into force?

The biggest thing is the sound pallet available on the force, I've seen a few preset play through videos and although the sounds are nice I would definitely prefer a few different choices.

[PhillipOrdonez]

The clip matrix is the reason I am not interested in the force. MPC live 2, however,

[Billy+]

The clip matrix is the reason I am not interested in the force. MPC live 2, however,

Most of the reviews I've seen fire off the mpc in favour of the force and say the only thing they would miss is the mpc software that for some reason doesn't get included with the force?

[EnochLight]

One thing that I would miss is access to my rack extensions during creation, how easy is it to create sample based devices from Reason and add them into a force device? Or would you just midi out into Reason routing the midi into the rack extension and return the audio back into force?

The biggest thing is the sound pallet available on the force, I've seen a few preset play through videos and although the sounds are nice I would definitely prefer a few different choices.

Using the Autosampler feature on Force makes it pretty easy to create Keygroups of any plugin you have, whether it be VST or Rack Extension. You just need to run a MIDI 5-pin DIN cable from Force to your computer, so having an audio interface with a proper 5-pin MIDI DIN input is optimal, as Force will need it to trigger the Rack Extension or VST that you want to auto-sample. To be clear, it's not all automatic - you'll still need to adjust the ADSR envelope and massage the effects after you auto-sample. For that reason it's always recommended to sample dry without effects if you can help it and add the effects on Force instead. If the effects are absolutely part of the sound though, then you may need to auto-sample with a lower key stride between samples - especially if the effects are rhythmic.

The clip matrix is the reason I am not interested in the force. MPC live 2, however,

Heheh - well, horses for courses and all that. I actually have both, and writing on either just depends on how I feel at the moment. I absolutely love Force's Clip matrix - that's one of the unique selling points on it. But I also like the MPC's archaic way of doing things, which I why I also keep my MPC Live II available. But if you don't want to spend money on both, you can do literally 90-95% of what the MPC can do right on the Force, plus have access to the Arranger and disk-streaming, which is something the MPC is sorely lacking.

Most of the reviews I've seen fire off the mpc in favour of the force and say the only thing they would miss is the mpc software that for some reason doesn't get included with the force?

Because the MPC workflow is the polar opposite of Force, so the MPC Software would make little sense on Force. It integrates more with Ableton Live than anything (though it still doesn't come close to what you can do with Push 2 while tethered to a computer). Force's strength is in its ability to be 100% standalone, no computer required or needed. And about the 8 audio tracks - trust me - I feel the same. I don't feel constrained at all, and having that limitation invites the sort of creativity you'll never get with a limitless audio track count typical of all modern DAW.

[Billy+]

Do you get any software with the force?

Cut version of Live maybe?

How well does splice integrate into it, can you actually access anything or do you need to use a computer?

What kind of extensions/packs are available...

How good are the included synths

[PhillipOrdonez]

Disk streaming should come to the live 2 next, right?

[EnochLight]

Do you get any software with the force?

Cut version of Live maybe?

Yeah, it comes with a free copy of Ableton Live 11 Lite. It also comes with a free trial of Splice.

How well does splice integrate into it, can you actually access anything or do you need to use a computer?

It integrates with Splice great, but all curation is done via the website through your Internet browser. That said, once you download any content, you just hit 'sync' on your Force and all Splice content is sent to it direct from the Splice server (not your computer). You can, however, also run the Splice app on your computer and get access to all of your Splice content in Reason or any other software you use.

What kind of extensions/packs are available...

You get a pretty good factory Expansion and content to get you started, but that's all subjective.

How good are the included synths

As of 3.10, the included plugins are pretty damn good - there's nothing like it in its class save for Maschine+. I feel the synths are perfectly usable and quite nice, but there are some tradeoffs. Most are voice limited, and you're not going to get Serum or Omnisphere or VPS Avenger quality synths here. But as a standalone machine, it's incredible as far as what the included synth plugins can do.

Disk streaming should come to the live 2 next, right?

No clue. Akai has been coy about that. Most agree that it will take a massive re-write in how the MPC deals with tracks (it will need to treat them 1:1, which it does not currently) and an Arranger would be very likely. If it does appear on the current generation MPC's, you may be looking at the middle or end of 2022 at the earliest. There's also rumors of an MPC keyboard workstation in the works, but take that nugget with a grain of salt.

[Billy+]

Ah so the splice integration isn't as good as suggested. Having to search for and create your collection on a secondary device before being able to access the content isn't the same as integrated.

And I assume that 11 lite is 8 track limited as well....

[EnochLight]

Ah so the splice integration isn't as good as suggested. Having to search for and create your collection on a secondary device before being able to access the content isn't the same as integrated.

It's integrated fine as far as I'm concerned. I don't want to have to navigate and curate content on a tiny ass 7" screen, as it's much much easier to do it from my actual computer. Besides, I can just use my smartphone and the Splice app to do the same thing if I really want to stay away from my computer (or if I'm out and about).

And I assume that 11 lite is 8 track limited as well....

Of course - you're not going to get the farm for free. But it works well enough to get a feel for the DAW, and also shaves some money off of the upgrade (even on sale) if you ever take the plunge. Believe me, I mulled over it for years - YEARS - before doing so. As I said, Reason works perfectly fine with Akai Force, and if Reason is your comfort zone for finishing off productions, I'd absolutely stick with it.

[Billy+]

Oh don't take it the wrong way I was just wondering if the live version would at least work with force or if I would have to pay for some upgrade to intro for 8 tracks.

I guess it could be an easy way into using live and I could also use RRP with some of my other midi vst tools as well, it's definitely got me interested more than 6 months ago.

What sort of music do you make? Do you have a sound cloud or YouTube channel?

[EnochLight]

What sort of music do you make? Do you have a sound cloud or YouTube channel?

I know it's stereotypical to say "I make everything", but lately I've been experimenting with atmospheric/drone as well as trip hop. I've got a few releases out, though my last single was more of an 80's inspired alternative arthouse rock single from about 3 years ago. I've done 4-to-the-floor as well in the past.

That said, my past work wasn't done on Force or an MPC though - it was 100% Reason:

2018:

2014:

2009:

[Billy+]

Is that a bad sign that you haven't got anything produced with the force?

[EnochLight]

Is that a bad sign that you haven't got anything produced with the force?

Oh I have plenty produced on Force (as well as my MPC). No formal releases though - I tend to go years between those. I absolutely love producing on Force (and by extension, my MPC). It offers the sort of invigorating drive, creativity and focus that I often struggle with looking at a computer. Not saying I won't ever work in Reason (or Ableton Live) again, but having something like Force just "works" for me. YMMV...

[Billy+]

Well I've just found out that CM is giving away a free copy of Live lite 11 on the 29th along with a track from scratch tutorial session so I might have to give it a go again and see if I can get into the live mind set.

[EnochLight]

Akai Force update: Firmware 3.1.2 just hit our accounts. If you've got a Force, this addresses a lot of bugs (including a save bug that was driving me crazy). Log in to your Akai account for the download. Full notes are below:

https://cdn.inmusicbrands.com/akai/Forc ... eNotes.pdf

Stability and reliability

ALS Import
• Importing projects from Ableton Live now accounts for user’s Disk Streaming setting
Automation
• Automation written for XYFX’s Enable parameter will now play back correctly
• Grid automation lane name field now updates correctly when changing modes
Arrange
• A crash will no longer occur when selecting the Output 1/2 track header in the
Arrange view
Macros
• Unwanted parameters no longer arrive when copying existing macro parameters to
Track FX Rack
• Track and Track FX mode macros will now populate OLEDs correctly when reloaded
Saving and Loading
• Samples are no longer overwritten when saving a project without making edits

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Known issues

• When a clip is looping, repeatedly recording short notes over one another can cause notes'
on/off states to be incorrect, resulting in longer notes being sequenced than were recorded
• When time stretching a sample in Sample Edit, a portion of the end of the audio generated
is cut off
• When a user’s Audio Device Inputs/Outputs preference is set to 32, a hard freeze can occur
when manipulating AIR Filter’s Cutoff pa