Hello PreSonus Team.
I'd love to see a MPC style groovebox made by PreSonus.
The groovebox market is relatively low competition as the only big competitors are Akai and NI.
Both companies can get away with slow development and abandoning products because the users have literally no other options/companies to turn to if they want to use groovebox style devices.
In my opinion a 3rd company like PreSonus could easily tap into this market with an MPC style groovebox and take over a large part of the market.
The Atom was a great first step. It's way better than any Akai MPD - virtually it's only competitor in the 16 pads midi controller range.
(It didn't get much hype unfortunately. Sending out units to "YouTube producers" would've been a good idea because that's a great way to generate hype and attention nowadays.)
Hardware companies make a big mistake by not catering to the hip hop crowd.
Classic Akai MPC are undoubtly a staple of hip hop culture and are still very very popular.
Even MPCs from the 90's still go for 500$+ on various websites. The demand is very high in the groovebox market but lacks competition.
Lots of music hardware that gains popularity in the hip hop community spills over to the EDM crowd and other genres but not vice versa. Hip Hop is ignored by hardware companies for unknown reasons which is why they are missing out.
Now, here's what I'd like to see in a MPC Style Groovebox by PreSonus:
- Standalone & Battery Powered - the MPC Live & X are currently the only modern products that give users the option to produce without being connected to a computer AND follow the MPC legacy and style of producing
- 16 Pads
- Design resembling the classic MPC look (especially MPC 3000, 2000XL and 1000) - a larger screen would be preferable of course
- Built to last & quality parts - many MPC's from before 2000 still run like new and are bug and issue free (try & test things, don't rush the product!)
- No desk tank - the MPC X for example is way too big to be carried around, portability is not key but shouldn't be ignored! -> this problem could be solved by making one product more portable like a MPC 1000 and a second product less portable like a MPC 2000XL
- Solid OS & Specs - don't try to stick a laptop into a MPC; specs slightly above the classic MPCs would be sufficient; a less powerful OS that runs bugfree/solid is a lot better than an advanced OS filled with bugs and problems
- Tight Sequencer / Arrangment Capabilites - the biggest complaint of NI Maschine users is the fact that it's very hard to arrange and mix inside of Maschine; Akai does a better job here but is still not there yet
It can't be that hard to make a better product than what Akai did in the 90s. With all the technology nowadays my request shouldn't come off as a fantasy.
I hope someone at PreSonus pitches this idea to the product development team. For further research I highly suggest PreSonus asks/focuses on the beatmaker / hip hop community.
Thanks.
