Roger Linn, the original designer of the MPC drum machines, has tested out one of Akai’s more recently launched products to give his verdict on how it’s changed over the years.

Linn worked with Akai when it was based in Japan, and designed products such as the MPC60 and the MPC3000. He eventually had an unfortunate fall out with the company and moved on to making other tech.

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In a new video, Linn tests out the MPC Live II, first launched in 2020. He was curious about how good the newer products were and occasionally gets asked about his thoughts on them. He had never actually tested any out and was never able to give an answer, until now that is.

“By coincidence, recently, I’ve been in touch with the American Akai company and they kindly offered to send me one of their MPC models, the MPC Live II,” he says. “So I thought I’d give it a go and let people know what I think.”

He adds, “The short answer is I didn’t expect it to be as good as it is but I must say I’m impressed with it, they really did a very good job. First I was pleased to see that they honoured my original design by keeping most of the original panel controls.”

Linn says the placement of controls were important to him for fast access and easy learning, so users wouldn’t need to spend ages with a manual. Check out the video below to hear him test out the MPC Live II with one of his own creations, the LinnStrument Expressive MIDI Performance Controller:

Linn currently runs small business Roger Linn Design, which his LinnStrument forms part of along with other products such as the Tempest Analogue Drum Machine and the AdrenaLinn III Guitar Processor.

Linn also invented the LM-1 Drum Computer, the first programmable, sampled-sound drum machine in 1979. Manufactured by his company Linn Electronics, the LM-1 and its successors the LinnDrum and Linn9000 provided the drums for many records during the 1980s, from Prince to Madonna, to Michael Jackson and Elton John.

Find out more over at Roger Linn Design.

The post “I must say, I’m impressed with it”: Original MPC creator Roger Linn tests out Akai’s MPC Live II appeared first on MusicTech.