Akai Pro Unveils the MPC XL: Their Most Powerful Standalone Music Production Center

Akai Professional has just revealed the MPC XL, positioning it as the most capable standalone music production centre the company has ever built. This beast is designed to give beatmakers and producers everything they need without tethering themselves to a computer, and the specs suggest they’re serious about that claim. Catch up on all the latest news here. At the XL’s core sits a Gen 2 8-core processor delivering four times the processing muscle of previous MPC models, backed by 16GB of RAM and 256GB of internal NVMe storage. There’s even a SATA expansion bay if you need more space down the track. The system runs MPC3 OS and can juggle up to 32 plugin instruments alongside 16 audio tracks, with support for 256 simultaneous voices. That’s real studio-grade capability in a standalone box. The standout feature might just be the new MPCe pads. Ultra-responsive, these controllers feature 3D-sensing technology with four quadrants per pad, opening up fresh possibilities for sound morphing, looping, layering and effect control. Pair that with 16 touch-responsive Q-Link knobs sporting individual OLED displays, a dedicated step sequencer with RGB function buttons, and an assignable performance touch-strip, and you’ve got significant hands-on control. Visual feedback comes via a 10.1-inch HD touchscreen with tilt functionality, while the XL Channel Command provides quick mixing and recording parameter access through its dedicated OLED display and encoder. Everything’s designed for immediate access, so you don’t need to spend time tediously hunting through menus. Connectivity for the MPC XL is comprehensive. Professional mic preamps with phantom power handle vocals and acoustic instruments, dedicated instrument inputs cater for guitars and basses, and phono inputs let you sample directly from turntables. Eight separate outputs enable complex routing scenarios, while 16 CV outputs transform the MPC XL into a control hub for modular synthesiser setups and hardware rigs. USB-C delivers 24 channels of audio I/O and 32 channels of MIDI I/O, plus there are multiple five-pin MIDI connections for legacy gear. The unit ships loaded with plugins, samples and effects, including Native Instruments MPC Edition Play Series Analog Dreams and the Lone Forest Expansion. Combined with the full-featured sampler offering pro stem separation, time-stretching, slicing and resampling capabilities, plus DAW-style features like multi-track sequencing and clip launching, you’ll get a complete production environment straight out of the box, ready to go. In tandem with the MPC XL announcement, Akai Professional has revealed a new strategic partnership with Spitfire Audio. MPC users will gain access to Spitfire’s renowned tools within their devices, beginning with the MPC XL. Further details about this collaboration are expected at a later date, though it signals an interesting expansion of the platform’s sound library options. The MPC XL is available now through authorised dealers and select music retailers worldwide.