AKAI MPC Key 37 G2 — a standalone synthesizer and workstation

Following the One G2groovebox, AKAI Professional has released the second generation of its well-known standalone instrument in the classic cream finish of late-1980s MPCs.

Photo: official website akaipro

The new model has 37 synth-action keys with aftertouch, pitch and modulation wheels, and 16 velocity-sensitive RGB pads with eight banks. The workstation has a 7-inch multitouch display, an eight-core processor, 4 GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage. A project can use up to 32 instrument plugins and 16 stereo audio tracks. USB-C provides 24 × 24 audio channels, 32 channels of expanded MIDI and external peripheral support for studio integration.

Photo: official website akaipro

The instrument supports exFAT, FAT32, NTFS, EXT4 and HFS+ drives, plus AIF/AIFF, FLAC, MP3, OGG and WAV audio files. Connections include eight 3.5 mm CV/Gate outputs compatible with TS cables, USB-A and USB-C, five-pin DIN MIDI I/O, two 6.35 mm TRS line inputs, two 6.35 mm TRS line outputs, a 6.35 mm stereo headphone output, three 6.35 mm pedal inputs and an SD card slot. Other features include Ableton Live project import/export, direct USB-C sampling from smartphones or tablets, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Stem Pro, Super Timestretch, more than 1,000 factory sounds and 100 multi-effects algorithms.

Photo: official website akaipro

AKAI MPC Key 37 G2 will be available for $1,000.