Question about AKAI XR20

#1-Stunna

New member
Hey guys, whats up? I am interested in buying an AKAI XR20 but I am not sure if you can hook it up to a computer and if so how? And do you think its a good substitute for an MPC500?
 
You connect the audio outputs of the drum machine to the audio inputs of the computer. It works abit different from an MPC. An mpc is a sampler, you record samples with it, then you arrange those samples. It is also an external sequencer which allows you to connect a midi device, record a note sequence on it, and then the MPC will play those notes back to the device, you can then arrange sequences of samples and/or midi into full songs.
 
I wouldn't **** with that it looks like a toy

based on specs and things it can do.


Cop a midi controller and go DAW
My advice
 
People get it twisted, especially noobs, it's a drum machine, nothing more nothing less. I know it's hard to fathom the concept of one box only serving one purpose, but it happens, even in the age of the computer DAW. It's not a sampler or sequencer, get an mpc if thats what u want. If you want to stop being an akai fanboy, you can get the alesis SR18 for slightly less money and get the same exact thing with a slightly diff look/layout. And people kill me askin simple ass questions that are easily answered by reading the sht they clearly laid out on the website. Thats what its there for, so you can get info on it and decide if it fits your needs. Whats the diff between readin on thier site and readin it on this one? Lookin at a pic of the back of the machines tells me all i need to know about this machine regarding connectivity. It's got audio and midi i/o, which is enough to connect this thing to ANY other peice of equipment.
LevLove
 
LevLover said:
People get it twisted, especially noobs, it's a drum machine, nothing more nothing less. I know it's hard to fathom the concept of one box only serving one purpose, but it happens, even in the age of the computer DAW. It's not a sampler or sequencer, get an mpc if thats what u want. If you want to stop being an akai fanboy, you can get the alesis SR18 for slightly less money and get the same exact thing with a slightly diff look/layout. And people kill me askin simple ass questions that are easily answered by reading the sht they clearly laid out on the website. Thats what its there for, so you can get info on it and decide if it fits your needs. Whats the diff between readin on thier site and readin it on this one? Lookin at a pic of the back of the machines tells me all i need to know about this machine regarding connectivity. It's got audio and midi i/o, which is enough to connect this thing to ANY other peice of equipment.
LevLove

I thought the new alesis and akai drum machines have different sounds
 
LevLover is right on point.

YO OBI... I use that thing every day and i disagree with what SOMEONE TOLD YOU.

I love it when people hear something and run with it, without ever questioning credability. Get an OPINION and judge things for yourself. damn bandwagon rider.
 
People get it twisted, especially noobs, it's a drum machine, nothing more nothing less.

It's more of just a sample playback device. It's not that much different than a less powerful Juno-D with pads instead of keys.
 
EaZe said:
LevLover is right on point.

YO OBI... I use that thing every day and i disagree with what SOMEONE TOLD YOU.

I love it when people hear something and run with it, without ever questioning credability. Get an OPINION and judge things for yourself. damn bandwagon rider.
I personally never said it sucked, Just relaying information i heard from someone I respect in production.

http://www.cockos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20524
 
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im a dj who is looking to produce also (obviously) but im wondering if like the MPC can i use the XR20 while djing???
 
Imagine owning one sample CD with an expensive box wrapped around it because basically that's what the XR20 is.

IMHO it is not a good substitute for an MPC, the XR20 might have some good sounds but the machine has some serious limitations (such as the lack of proper MIDI implementation)
 
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Akai Xr20 is a cool little beat production center

Imagine owning one sample CD with an expensive box wrapped around it because basically that's what the XR20 is.

IMHO it is not a good substitute for an MPC, the XR20 might have some good sounds but the machine has some serious limitations (such as the lack of proper MIDI implementation)


Not quite a sample cd wrapped in an expensive box, you can't use a sample cd as a controller to fire off drum samples, snyths, and bass sounds, (unless you chopped the loops and samples on the cd, but you still would need a controller) It's called a beat production center, it does have plenty of patterns and sounds to satisfy the average user, and if not, you can use it as a midi controller, which in my opinion, has really nice pads, better then the other akai midi pad controllers, even better pads then on my Akai MPK49, plus the blue lit pads look great and allows you to use the Akai Xr20 in a dim or dark room. You can build your own patterns, you have 12 pads so what, enough for most users, each kit has 12 drum sounds 12 X 1 shots and 12 Synth sounds. Connect this puppy to any midi or hardware daw and now you have access to unlimited drum sounds 1 shots etc, the limit is your library, can be run as midi master or slave. Small lightweight, very portable ac and battery operated, mic input, mute, beat repeat, pattern A -B and Fill, step edit, effects, lol, this is far from a cd in an expensive box, try playing some beat patterns on your cd on a 3 hour plan ride. Don't go by hear say, try it out for yourself, it won't replace an MPC or MV8000, like my Native Instruments Maschine did, but its a cool little"Beat Production Center"!!!!

By the way my Roland Mv8000 is up for grabs make me an offer, it has the vga and mouse card added and a ton of samples.
 
Not quite a sample cd wrapped in an expensive box, you can't use a sample cd as a controller to fire off drum samples, snyths, and bass sounds, (unless you chopped the loops and samples on the cd, but you still would need a controller) It's called a beat production center, it does have plenty of patterns and sounds to satisfy the average user, and if not, you can use it as a midi controller, which in my opinion, has really nice pads, better then the other akai midi pad controllers, even better pads then on my Akai MPK49, plus the blue lit pads look great and allows you to use the Akai Xr20 in a dim or dark room. You can build your own patterns, you have 12 pads so what, enough for most users, each kit has 12 drum sounds 12 X 1 shots and 12 Synth sounds. Connect this puppy to any midi or hardware daw and now you have access to unlimited drum sounds 1 shots etc, the limit is your library, can be run as midi master or slave. Small lightweight, very portable ac and battery operated, mic input, mute, beat repeat, pattern A -B and Fill, step edit, effects, lol, this is far from a cd in an expensive box, try playing some beat patterns on your cd on a 3 hour plan ride. Don't go by hear say, try it out for yourself, it won't replace an MPC or MV8000, like my Native Instruments Maschine did, but its a cool little"Beat Production Center"!!!!

By the way my Roland Mv8000 is up for grabs make me an offer, it has the vga and mouse card added and a ton of samples.

I like the build quality of the XR20 too, but Akai dropped the ball when it came to filling the box, it's like they decided to recreate the storage limitations of 90's drum machines and that's what I mean by having one sample CD with an expensive box wrapped around it.

The XR20 also falls short in regard to control, for example you can't do simple things such as pan left or right via MIDI, instead you have to go menu diving to enter values.
 
It looks like it's AKAI's answer to Beat Thang.

That's not a diss or anything... i'm just sayin'
 
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