NAMM 2019: It’s that time of year again when the rumour mill is in overdrive ahead of the NAMM show and the ‘mill has dug up this leaked image of what looks to be an Akai APC Live.
The images were first seen on the Sequencer.de forum and when we first clapped eyes on it, there were shouts of “fake!” around the office. However, on closer inspection it does look more ‘real’ than we first thought.
What looks a bit like the bastard-child of an MPC Live and Ableton Push (originally built in collaboration with Akai), the APC Live looks to feature the same 7” touch screen as the MPC and the same 8x8 pad layout of the Push.
Other design features of note include a crossfader and eight rotaries, a la the APC line, the side grille looks very similar to that on the MPC Live and the rear panel and I/O layout bears similarities with both the MPC-X and Live. In fact, if this is a fake then hats off to whoever has done it, because it all looks pretty legit.
The rear panel tells us that we have a 2-in, 4-out audio interface onboard, MIDI In, Out and Thru, plus four CV-Gate outputs. While the very front of the unit has an SD card slot, headphone output with volume and a Cue Mix dial.
What has most people in a bit of a tizz, is that if this machine follows in the same footsteps as the MPC Live, then we have a standalone instrument on our hands, which would mean it should be running Ableton Live.
There’s no doubt that Akai has been developing very powerful processing within its MPC line recently and lending the same tech to its sister brand, Headrush. So it’s not entirely inconceivable that an Ableton Live Lite edition could be deployed here. Perhaps it could be both a controller for the full, unadulterated version of Live in the studio and a standalone instrument with the Lite edition when on the move?
You can put us in the ‘very much excited’ camp about this one, because if it is real, then it looks like it ticks a lot of boxes. Although, it’s too good to be true… right?
Of course, this is all sheer conjecture at this stage and we won’t really know until the show, so be sure to check back with us soon and keep those eyes peeled on our NAMM news and rumours page.
