Akai MPC Live III is the next generation of its MPC standalone groove workstation with more power, hands-on control, and all-new 3D sensing technology.
At the end of last year, Akai released the MPC Live III, the successor to the sampling groove station with an all-new CPU, more hands-on control, the front-panel sequencer, and, of course, the new 3D-sensing technology on the 16 pads.
Akai now offers the MPC Live III Retro, a version with an alternative design.
Just like the MPC Live II back then, the MPC Live III is now also available in a retro version. It offers tribute to the visual language of the original MPCs that laid the creative foundation for hip-hop production, sampling culture, and modern beatmaking.
New colors on the outside, but inside, the retro version is identical to the standard MPC Live III, including:
- Gen 2 8-core processor (4 performance + 4 efficiency cores)
- 8GB RAM
- 128GB internal storage
- Up to 32 simultaneous plug-in instances and 16 audio tracks
- New MPCe™ pads with 3D-sensing technology for expressive X/Y control, sample blending, and dynamic note repeats
- 16-step sequencer with function buttons for instant electronic-style workflow
- and more
The Akai MPC Live III Retro is now available for 1599€.
More information here: Akai Pro
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Thomann
Article from October 2, 2025
With the MPC OS 3.0 update, Akai delivered a massive free update for its standalone hardware grooveboxes at the beginning of the year. The community’s desire for a hardware upgrade wasn’t met at the time, but Akai is now addressing this need.
After the new hardware leaked out of all possible sources, it has been known for some time what it will be. Now it’s official. Akai has released the MPC Live III, the next generation of its MPC standalone groove workstation.
Akai MPC Live III
The countless leaks of the past few days and weeks were true. This is the new Akai MPC Live III (3). The popular standalone MPC groove workstation has undergone a significant upgrade, both inside and outside.
Akai’s marketing department describes it as the most advanced standalone music production center to date – reimagined for today’s beatmakers, producers, and live performers.
From the outside, the MPC Live III has received more buttons for hands-on control, a performance-oriented touch strip, and new, intriguing touch pads. The touchscreen and Q-Link controls, however, have remained the same. I would have liked to have seen more controls here.
Expressive MPCe Touch Pads & Step Sequencer
A highlight of the MPC Live III is the next-generation expressive MPCe touch pads that feature a new 3D-sensing technology. According to Akai, they are ultra-sensitive and go beyond aftertouch, offering you new ways to play with sounds in an MPC environment.
Each touch pad is actually an expressive X/Y pad with the same functionality as a big pad. One unique use case is the ability to map up to four samples on one touchpad (a sample in each corner). Once done, you can X/Y control these, including seamless sample blending and dynamic note repeats.
Go max, and you have up to 64 (16×4) samples playable right from the touchpads. You can also use it to create modulation. This is a never-before-seen feature in an MPC and a very exciting one.
Another new feature, and for the first time in MPC history, is the new 16-step sequencer controls in the MPC Live III. With these, you can program steps into the step sequencer without needing to use the touchscreen.
The steps also have secondary functions, which give you even more hardware control. This includes track select, clip launching, and more.
Many of the sequencer functions previously available only through touchscreen controls have now been integrated into the hardware, which is a very positive development.
Just underneath the step sequencer, a whole series of additional function buttons is now available, including undo/redo, save/save as, sample edit, and more.
Also new is a performance touch-strip with dynamic real-time control of live effects during performances, modulation, pitch-bending, and Q-link parameter.
More Power, More Tracks, More Plugins
Akai also takes a big step forward with the MPC Live 3 in terms of available resources. Yes, there’s much more power. It’s powered by a new 8-core processor with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal memory.
That’s four times the power of the former MPC Live II. The SSD bay is still onboard.
At the core of MPC Live III is the current MPC 3 OS, featuring all the improvements introduced by the latest update. They promise that the new hardware configuration, combined with the software, supports up to 32 simultaneous plugin instances and 16 audio tracks.
It also offers full compatibility for desktop-quality Pro Stems separation, super-timestretch, and more. The touchscreen remains unchanged at 7”.
On the software side, the Akai MPC Live III introduces a new performance clip matrix and clip edit mode, enabling real-time loop creation and arrangement with the touch of a screen.
You can craft beats and melodic ideas, record and play MIDI and audio loops of different lengths in any launch combination, all in real-time. Ableton Live set import is also onboard.
Not only can you load more plugins, but you can also take advantage of new pre-installed plugins. It ships with the new MPC3 Pro Pack that includes effects and tools from AIR (Reverb Pro, Visual EQ4, Fabric Select, Utility). This pack is also available for separate purchase on all MPC 3 OS-compatible units.
Also included are advanced CV capabilities, a Q-Link envelope follower and LFO, and the Super Timestretch algorithm.
Upgraded Portability & Rearpanel
To make the latest MPC generation more portable, Akai added a built-in condenser microphone for capturing everything from vocals to field recordings. Then, you get a discrete ultra-compact studio monitor with studio-quality punch and low-end sound for instant playback.
Like the MPC Live II, the new version features an internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery, allowing you to make music on the go.
Let’s move on to the back panel of the MPC Live III, where you can also discover new and positive features. It starts with a headphone socket, a speaker ON/OFF switch, and six line mono outputs that have remained unchanged.
Furthermore, it features stereo XLR/TRS combo inputs with mic pre-amps, enabling you to connect professional microphones to it. A Kensington lock is still onboard.
Next to this, you have RCA inputs, eight CV I/O ports on stereo cables, an SD card slot for memory expansion, and a dual MIDI I/O interface, which provides up to 32 channels of bi-directional MIDI. Yes, the unit also features both USB host ports and a new USB-C port.
A key new feature is that the USB-C port can now stream both MIDI and audio, transforming the MPC into a 24-channel audio interface. You can use it, for example, to connect smart devices (iOS/Android) directly to it for sampling sounds into the MPC.
Finally, it has a power supply input via an externaé PSU (adapter), and a silver power ON/OFF button. Also onboard is WiFi and Bluetooth with Ableton Link support.
Akai MPC Live III First Impression
The MPC Live III isn’t just a long-overdue CPU/RAM upgrade, but a truly new generation. I wasn’t expecting that huge step. Well done, Akai.
With the new 3D expressive touch pads, hands-on step sequencer, more panel controls, and the touch strip, they’ve made the MPC Live III even more of an instrument. The touchscreen controls are moving more into the background, which I like.
The new generation has increased significantly in price, but it also offers more than the previous version. We’ll see where the device settles after 6 months.
Akai MPC Live III is available now for $1699,99/1599€/£1399,99.
More information here: Akai Pro
Lordy, it wasn’t AI! That is a Frankenstein of a UI and all those buttons above a touch screen? That’s not going to be fun to use… I’m sorry, but this looks like design by committee, more is not always better. That said, it might appeal to those who already use Live II and are looking for more of everything.
Exactly. Using the Live 2, I was always like “I wish i had a sequencer like an elektron device to quickly lay out drums”. Poof, it happened. The internal sequencer sucked so this is a welcome addition. Plus the Force clip launching + arranger now. And im sure i will be making use of those expressive pads. The mpc was always hard for me since it kept me trapped in the world of hip hop or 4 on the floor stuff. But with the MPC 3 software and the additions of the Force macro controls and now a nicer clip launcher. I can see myself getting ambient jams a little easier with some structured drums with a bunch of nudging and p-locking. Looks can be deceiving.
love my Key 37.
don’t regret the buy.
much cheaper and nice Keys with aftertouch.
guess the RAM will BE enough für for me.
my 500 Has 128 mb.. 😄
I was thinking the same but after a couple of reviews on youtube , im sold , this is simply the best stand alone in the market, I ordered one and selling my mpc live , it will be a nice upgrade for me, it will be a learning curve but it’s promising
Hello
You wrote : “It’s powered by a new 8-core processor with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal memory. That’s four times the power of the former MPC Live II.”
Non, this is wrong.
Going from a dual-core processor to an octa-core one (4 times more cores) and from 2 GB to 8 GB of RAM (4 times more RAM) doesn’t quadruple the power of a computer… or it would be a “world first”. 🙂 There are other criteria to take into account when calculating “power” (RAM speed, I/O, etc.)
I know that is what Akai’s salespeople are saying about the MPC Live III (not you), but it’s most likely false and this deceives the consumer.
Well Akai wrote it and they have it front and center with their team doing the demos. Also, it is indeed a “world first”. The Push 3 upgrade kit (and standalone) is a Compute Element CM11EBI38W that has a Intel Core i3-1115G4 with 2 cores and 4 threads. Not sure which SoC Akai went for, if its Intel, AMD, MediaTek, Rokchip, Unisoc, Snapdragon etc., they probably went for an off the shelf smartphone SoC which are super capable minding that if its running Android, it is a barebones version of it to dedicate all processing and memory to the DAW. Ableton went for a Linux distro in the Push, which again leaves all the processing for the DAW (Push, Move and Note all use the foundation of the same OS hence the ease on interoperability).
Loopop mentioned he did some stress testing on the MPC3 and after 256 tracks found no slowdown, we’ll have to see how it keeps up after all the upgrades that Im sure are in the pipeline. Basically this is a tablet inside a midi controller just like Push 3. The Polyend trackers, Elektron boxes, OP1 etc. are also a computer in a midi controller, hell, even the Prophex X has an ITX AsRock motherboard inside (https://youtu.be/rMMB0aYPhxY?si=4IcWecEIrl6hfwVf) besides SMD analog chips just like Behringer do it.
We’ll be seeing a lot more of these computers inside music instruments as a cheap way to commodify more capabilities for musical expression which is a good thing since the’ll be getting cheaper and more powerful. I think this MPC3 is the first thing I see that can get the computer out of the studio to make beats (not mixing of mastering ofc) where you can hook your audio interface with everything there. It is a brilliant device, no matter how ugly or cluttered it looks.
There are dozens of these boxes and it seems they only last about a year before an upgraded model is released. Now you feel you have “old tech” and want to upgrade. A money-sink sector to avoid.
Precicely. If anything, considering MPCs only the latest of the modern line and Roger Linn’s classics don’t feel obsolete. I wouldn’t want to feel left behind every couple of years.
It is the same with everything really. Phones, TVs, cars and its been like this since forever. All those MK1, MK2, MK3s… its the nature of the beast. I dont mind it at all, quite the contrary, my mate bought a Digitakt 2 and sold me his MK1 box and everything for $375! Am I bummed that this version is mono, lower quality screen and has less tracks? Nope! I got a banging deal on a very capable machine, mature firmware and literally days of YouTube tutorials and hundreds of posts online in case I need to figure out how to do something. Small anecdote, I upgraded from iPhone 11 to iPhone 16 and it was totally NOT worth it, a bit snappier OS, a bit of a better screen and camera was not worth $1000. I shouldve kept the 11 for a few more years.
Looks powerful now and for mobility, that’s a winner and huge storage too, Akai do listen, I’m getting /I’m LIFEPASS4, got barred from Gearspace tm1000 posts, I keep getting quoted and I can’t post
TBH the moment I saw that they removed external SSD installation capabilities, it became a hard pass. I’ve been using a Live 1 for the last two years, I’m happy with it. I’ve got a 4tb drive installed with a copy of my entire sample library and I use it for live stuff, producing, recording turntablism stuff into and editing. while there’s some things that sound interesting, but I think those are more part of the firmware update to 3.6. I don’t wanna give up my storage capacity and I’ve gotten pretty used to playing with the super fat pads from MPC Stuff. if I was gonna drop that much on any piece of gear right now, it would be the Rane One MKII over that without a doubt.
They do not remove external ssd installation…
thanks!
I just got my Live III and it is a monster in the best kind of way. I have owned just about every model of the modern MPC line starting from the OG Live, and I still own an X. This is by for the most powerful unit to date, and I LOVE it. While it loses some of the luxury of the X, it makes up for with some new useful buttons. While it loos daunting in pictures, the buttons are arranged in very smart quadrants and it’s easy to get to grips with. I love this thing.
BTW: You absolutely can still install an external SSD.
thanks 🙂
It’s a massive upgrade. They worked hard and put out a great new product. It’s far and away better than the Live2 and unmatched by other standalones. I haven’t seen a company offer this much of an upgrade in the last 20 years. They built more into the new 16 sequencer buttons than any current sequencer has. 16 audio tracks? 32 plugins! Still has 4 sends and 8 buses. You guys.
You disagree? Point it out. Who did better?
If you don’t want all of the new things this device offers, cool. That’s your choice. If you’re talking shit because you can’t afford it, work harder. What can I say?
why are you so rude? and what if he can’t afford it ? so what? he can’t have opinion on a product he can’t afford ? you should sell your MPC and any other equipment you have and put the money in heavy manners school and school of stop being a dick. sell a kidney even if you can’t afford.
Today Roger Linn pointed out to an essay he wrote on the new Akai.
When I want to make music, I have in past used a DAW—usually Logic Pro—running on my MacBook Pro. But I sometimes miss the music-focused controls and audio/MIDI I/O of the old MPC that I designed for the old Japanese Akai company back in the late 1980s.
A couple years ago, the current American Akai company kindly sent me an MPC Live II, then recently the newer Live III. To my surprise, I find myself—when I want to make music—preferring to use these devices instead of a DAW.
The question of “DAW vs. standalone hardware music workstation?” is an interesting one to me. It seems odd that people use a trackpad or mouse to manipulate pictures of knobs, buttons and sliders instead of touching real physical controls. And it also seems odd that people connect an audio interface, MIDI interface, and control surface to a general purpose computer, all to have the perceived advantages of that general purpose computer.
Ideally, I’d like to see a music workstation that has the advantages of both: lots of music-focused hardware controls and I/O, a piano keyboard (or LinnStrument) for music input, a big touchscreen, and all running on a powerful OS like Mac OS on a powerful computer like an Apple M5 Max. But this doesn’t exist.
In recent years, some interesting standalone music workstations have appeared on the market, most notably the newer MPCs and the standalone Ableton Push. The Push 3 is excellent— especially with its MPE pads— but I think it’s fair to say that it is designed as more of a companion to running Live on a computer than as a fully standalone device.
By comparison, the MPC is a fully standalone device, with an extensive control panel and audio/MIDI/USB I/O, a surprisingly useful 7” or 10” touchscreen, internally running Linux on a powerful ARM computer, and a 5-hour battery and good-sounding built-in speakers on the MPC Live model. And if you want to use a computer, Akai offers the MPC software as a Mac or Windows app, using a tethered MPC’s control panel and I/O, thereby permitting either standalone or tethered operation. Also, I’ve found that the 7 inch touchscreen on the MPC Live is surprisingly useful because it doesn’t need to waste space displaying all the controls that are already on the hardware panel.
So again and to my surprise, these days I find myself using the MPC to make music instead of Logic on my MacBook Pro.
Of course, I’m only making music for my personal enjoyment and not for professional release, so I don’t have professional needs like exchanging Mac files with other musicians or using specific Win/Mac-only plugins. And I don’t need the huge feature lists of powerful DAWs like Logic or Live or Bitwig.
So it’s a tradeoff. DAWs still let you do more and leverage the power of the computer you already own, but the MPC provides a very compelling all-in-one solution. So I’d say that the MPC is increasing becoming a viable alternative to computer DAWs.
There’s another point worth mentioning. Recently I’ve gotten to know some of the people at Akai and have found them to be a talented and impressive group, from Andy Mac who makes many of the MPC videos, all the way to their leader Jack O’Donnell, who I’ve found to be a kind gentlemen, a respected leader who listens to his employees, and someone who possesses a remarkable track record of making effective choices. For example, he made the bold and expensive choice years ago of moving the MPC from running a proprietary OS on an Intel CPU to running Linux on ARM, not dissimilar to what Apple did when it switched to Unix and ARM back in 2001. As a result, new MPCs have a large feature list yet run cool and fast, even with lots of plug-ins and tracks playing. Plus, by using a common technology platform for a large number of products, Akai is able to provide an impressive level of value for the money. In my experience, this is not easy to do.
Are there things I’d do differently? Sure. I’d prefer that the MPC and Force were easier to learn and use, and I wish they’d have kept the Help button that I had on the original MPC.
But O’Donnell is surprisingly good at keeping Akai successful year after year. The music products business is incredibly competitive, and I’ve found that one of the kindest things a leader can do is keep the lights on and the paychecks paid. Having designed the original MPC, I am of course biased. But if I had to place a bet on a horse to win the race to the best music-focused standalone workstation that would eventually overtake computer DAWs, I’d have to say that I’d bet on Akai and the MPC and Force.