Akai announce MPC Renaissance

Akai‘s legendary MPC controller is set to receive a 21st century makeover with the release of the MPC Renaissance.

Following in the footsteps of controllers such as Native Instruments’ Maschine, the controller ditches the on-board storage and processing of the original models and uses the MPC as a hardware controller for Akai’s own software engine, run on the user’s computer.

As well as 16 back-lit MPC pads, the controller features an integrated pop-up display and 16 Q-Link controls, as well as dedicated turntable inputs. The feature that may get the MPC purists on board is the inclusion of  a “vintage mode” which changes the output sound’s character to that of an MPC3000, MPC60 and other units from the line’s rich history, demonstrated in the video below.

This isn’t Akai’s first foray into the world of dedicated software controllers – the APC40, developed in association with Ableton, was the software’s first official dedicated controller. It has proved to be popular with Ableton users, but it remains to be seen how it will fare against Native Instruments’ Maschine, which has just expanded its line with the Maschine Mikro.

No word of a concrete release date, so keep an eye on the Juno product page for updates.