AKAI MPC Live III Retro: The Future of Sampling – Retro Style!

The new AKAI MPC Live III Retro takes you straight back to the golden age of sampling – with loads of modern features! The special Retro edition of the standalone MPC is available now! All about the AKAI MPC Live IIIAKAI MPC Live III RetroAKAI MPC Live III Review: Welcome to the FutureAKAI MPC Live III: Quick FactsMPC Live III: How much Power Would You Like?

MPC Live III: MPCe is the FutureMPC meets TR: New Step Sequencer ButtonsMPC meets Force: Clip MatrixHardware Upgrades: Now with a Built-in MicrophoneAKAI MPC Live III: ConclusionPrice and AvailabilityAKAI MPC Live III: Pros and ConsMore Information AKAI MPC Live III Retro Released in October of last year, the AKAI MPC Live III marked the beginning of a new era. With the hugely expressive MPCe pads, loads of memory and CPU power, additional step sequencer buttons, a clip matrix, and much more, the MPC Live III opens up a new dimension of beatmaking. You can find out all about the MPC Live III in our review below.

MPC Live III Retro · Source: AKAI Professional Starting today, you can also order the MPC Live III in retro colors! The new special edition sports the classic look of the iconic samplers of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. They even used the old AKAI Professional logo from the golden age of sampling.

Under the hood, the MPC Live III Retro is identical to the standard model. With a 2nd-generation 8-core processor, 8 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of internal memory, it can handle up to 32 plugin instances and 16 audio tracks. The three-dimensional MPCe pads open up vast new possibilities.

For example, you can assign each pad to up to four samples simultaneously, or use the pads as expressive X/Y controllers. The MPC Live III Retro also boasts a versatile touch strip and four touch-sensitive knobs. Source: AKAI ProfessionalSource: AKAI ProfessionalSource: AKAI Professional With a built-in rechargeable battery that lasts for up to four hours, integrated stereo speakers, and a high-quality microphone, the MPC Live III Retro is perfect for making beats on the go.

That said, it also offers all the connectivity you need to use it as the central hub of your DAWless setup. Multichannel audio and MIDI over USB-C is also supported, as is WiFi and Bluetooth. Price and Availability You can now order the AKAI MPC Live III Retro from Thomann* for €1,599.

The standard black model is still available. Affiliate Links AKAI Professional MPC Live III Retro €1,599.00 at AKAI Professional MPC Live III Customer rating: (30) $1,529.

00 / £1,379.00 / 1,569.00€ at More Information AKAI Professional website More from AKAI Professional AKAI MPC Live III Review: Welcome to the Future [02 October 2025] The AKAI MPC Live III is finally here!

As the first MPC of a new generation, the Live III marks a quantum leap – not only in terms of memory and power, but also in terms of workflow and expression. We put it to the test. AKAI MPC Live III: Quick Facts 8-core CPU 8 GB RAM, 128 GB internal memory Expressive MPCe pads with 3D sensing technology Assignable touch strip Step buttons for TR-style sequencing Clip matrix Desktop-quality stem extraction Built-in lithium-ion battery, speaker, and condenser microphone AKAI MPC Live III Review Over the past few years, we’ve often wondered when AKAI Professional would present a successor to the MPC Live II.

Most recently, everyone got all excited just before the 2024 NAMM Show, but the leaked photos turned out to be the MPC Key 37. If you’ve been out and about on the internet during the past few weeks, you may have already heard that the time has finally come: The new MPC Live III marks the arrival of a new generation of standalone MPCs – just one day after Roland caused a stir with the TR-1000. Good times for all groove enthusiasts!

Affiliate Links AKAI Professional MPC Live III $1,555 / £1,422 / €1,599 at I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to try out the AKAI MPC Live III ahead of its launch. And to cut right to the chase: The third generation of the MPC Live is much more than a facelift. Usually, you get a bit more memory, maybe a bigger screen, a couple of new buttons and functions, and that’s it.

But this time around, AKAI has really gone all out. The Live III not only offers more of everything, but also opens up completely new production and performance workflows. In this respect, this release marks the beginning of a new era in the rich history of the MPC.

The MPC Live III has more than twice as many knobs as its predecessor · Source: AKAI Professional MPC Live III: How much Power Would You Like? Let’s start by taking a quick look at the key specs. As you might expect, the Live III offers more memory and a faster CPU than any other MPC before it.

The quad-core processor found in previous models has been replaced with an 8-core CPU. With four times the processing power of the Live II, the Live III can handle up to 32 plugin instances and 16 audio tracks. The new CPU also significantly speeds up power-hungry functions such as stem extraction.

Consequently, the Live III is the first standalone MPC to support the high-quality zplane Stems Pro algorithm, which was previously only available in the MPC desktop software. The new model also doesn’t skimp on memory, offering 8 GB of RAM and a whopping 128 GB of internal storage. With that, the Live III pulverizes the specs of the previous top-of-the-line model, the MPC X SE, which didn’t even offer half as much.

Of course, you can always add additional storage using external USB media, an SD card, or even a permanently installed SATA SSD. AKAI MPC Live III · Source: AKAI Professional MPC Live III: MPCe is the Future However, the first glance at the panel reveals that this is so much more than a performance upgrade. Although the MPC Live III is only marginally bigger than its predecessor and features the same basic layout, it has more than twice as many buttons, not counting the pads.

According to AKAI Professional, the goal was to build the ultimate DAWless production and performance platform. And they’ve come up with some clever ideas to achieve this. On the left-hand side, a new assignable touch strip has been added.

You can use it, for example, to send controller data or to manipulate the note repeat values in real time. The strip also lets you quickly adjust pad and track levels and control the new Touch FX to spice up your performances. Assignable touch strip · Source: AKAI Professional What’s even more exciting, however, is that the pads are obviously quite different from previous MPCs.

There’s a visible separation between the four corners of each pad, and each corner can light up in a different color. Meet the most groundbreaking new feature of the MPC Live III: the expressive MPCe pads. The sturdy rubber pads have been a non-negotiable feature of every MPC ever since Roger Linn invented the pad sampler back in the ‘80s.

Making changes to the pads is always a risky move for the manufacturer; the tradition-conscious user community doesn’t seem to appreciate experiments. So the pads haven’t really evolved much over the years. The MPC2000XL was the first to offer aftertouch, the MPC5000 introduced illuminated pads.

Compared to those cautious baby steps, the new MPCe pads are a huge leap. MPCe pads with 3D sensing technology · Source: AKAI Professional Equipped with three-dimensional sensing technology, the new pads not only detect velocity and polyphonic aftertouch, but also continuously track the position of the finger. This opens up a new layer of expression previously unheard of in the MPC universe.

While I don’t consider myself an MPC purist, I’ll admit that I was a little skeptical at first. The response of the pads is undoubtedly one of the things that make or break an MPC. Could adding a whole new dimension make things more complicated than they should be?

While I was waiting for my review unit to arrive, I wondered if I’d find myself constantly hitting the wrong spots, making it impossible to get a tight groove. Fortunately, I quickly realized that these concerns were completely unfounded. When the MPC Live III is used in the traditional MPC fashion—sample, chop, play—the pads work just like you’d expect, and they don’t seem to care at all where you hit them.

The new pads open up a new layer of expression · Source: AKAI Professional However, they can do so much more. To get an idea of what’s possible with MPCe, I loaded a few kits from the new “MPCe Expressive Kits” expansion, which are designed to showcase the new possibilities. And I quickly realized that AKAI hasn’t promised too much: the new pads really do open up a new expressive dimension.

For example, you can assign four layers of a pad to the four quadrants, allowing you to play four different samples or articulations on a single pad. Open and closed hi-hats on opposite corners of a pad? No problem.

Snare, rimshot, flam, and roll, or four different toms on one pad? Also easily doable. Thanks to the MPCe pads, you can now cram up to four times as many sounds into a single pad bank.

The response of the quadrants is reassuringly precise, making it easy to hit the right sounds. But it goes much further than that, as you can also assign the X and Y positions on the pad to modulate parameters of your choice. For example, you can configure a pad so that the snare sounds muffled and dry in the lower left corner and bright and airy in the upper right, with precise control over everything in between just by hitting different spots on the pad.

While they’re great for drums, I found the new expressive possibilities to be especially inspiring with longer samples. Since the position is continuously tracked while you press down on a pad, you can now interact with samples in a completely new way (at least in MPC land). The new pads can be used to control filters and LFOs, change the pitch, modulate effects, or pretty much anything you want – in real time, while the samples are playing, and simultaneously for each pad.