Akai Professional MFC 42

The Akai MFC 42 can be purchased at a good price at a bunch of different stores that offer music gear so its definitely worth the try. It has 42 analog filters and is a rack able unit. My first incounter with it was when I got a chance to use it when someone had it racked on the MPC. I really had no idea what it was but since I am an MPC lover I knew that I had to get my hands on it and give it a shot. You will love using it, you can filter with mono and stereo sections and it has the ability to modulate as well. You can control the stereo and the mono completely separately .


UTILIZATION

Getting started with it was fairly easy, I didn’t even have a manual for it and had no problem just mesing around with the knobs and seeing what kinda cool sounds I could get out of it. You have a few different types of channels , Low, High pass, band pass and notch. Also the speed of the LFO is controlled by the “rate” knob. The Aka MFC 42 also syncs up to your MPC’s midi clock too so the timing will be right on. Some times it didn’t seem like the MFC42 had a mind of its own and I was difficult to get it to quite doing some effects. But that could have been something that I did wrong and because I didn’t have a manual for it at the time I had no idea what was going on.


SOUND QUALITY

The sound quality is amazing and it provides a very bright colorful sound. The filters really bring out some cool effects in some of the chops and samples that I use. Since I have been using this for a few years now, right around 4 years I have used up all of the filters maybe too many times at this point but I don’t care because it just sounds so darn good.


OVERALL OPINION

Overall, if you have an MPC you must have this. Akai MFC 42 was built for the MPC users.

It's got the aforementioned drawbacks, as far as considering stereo/mono as separate channels.

Price paid

$150 US

UTILIZATION

As mentioned, excellent interface design.

It's built like a tank.

SOUND QUALITY

I got it when Guitar Center mistakenly reduced their price for a blowout sale. It's an analog filter module. It has two inputs, mono and stereo, though they're both mixed together to the stereo outputs. First of all, the interface design is sublime. Signal flow pretty much moves from left to right, with modifiers being on the far left so you don't wonder why something is behaving the way it is. Knobs you tweak often are larger, and protrude more than others. Knobs you tweak fairly often are medium-sized, and knobs of specialized functions are the smallest of all. Variable choices (filter modes) are on buttons or toggle switches. Excellent. All buttons light up to let you know if they're selected or not. So... the sound? It's not too colored, which is good if you're filtering a whole mix. The filter doesn't have the same character as, say, a Moog or a Roland SH filter. It offers choices between 12dB/oct., 24dB/oct., and 48dB/oct.(only available on the Mono channel). It's got a phaser (decent, though not too very wide), and a distortion effect (evil or off. Two options.) There's an LFO, and an envelope (which can be triggered via MIDI), though both can't be used at the same time. Also, a major shortcoming: though the LFO rate can be synchronized to MIDI, the phase of the LFO cannot. For instance, if you have, say, a sawtooth wave selected for the LFO, there's no guarantee that the starting point of the wave will be on the beat, though the tempo will be constant. Too bad. Also, the effects (distortion and phaser) will be applied equally to both the stereo and the mono channel. Best, then, to think of this as a single unit with flexible input options. -Hoax

OVERALL OPINION

It's pretty nice, and can be used in any number of contexts. I put the stereo filter in notch mode, modulate it with an LFO, then turn the phaser on, and it's a supa-warm and organic effect for electric piano.

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: Cruel Hoax ( 1-, 2004)

MIDI sucks on it and yeah the distortion is a cruel hoax waiting to get you! DON"T USE IT!

Price paid: $250.00

UTILIZATION

It's best use is to just filter records and make basslines. Usint MIDI on it is a real PAIN.

you can run over it and it'll laugh at you--BUILT FORD TOUGH!

SOUND QUALITY

LO'S---real good for making basslines and filtering samples. Can clear up sample quality.

OVERALL OPINION

Only used it on a few songs--if u got the money get it--if not--you don't need it--get another keyboard or something

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com
Posted by: bhardman ( 6-, 2005)

Filter 2 and 4-pole and 8-pole Sereo mono, analog circuits, EQ section and distorting. Extensive connection: Jack 6.35 (-10db / +4 dB), RCA (Phono and Line), Midi.

UTILIZATION

Configuration very easy 1 button = 1 function. The manual is rather well done and detailed, with examples of configurations covering most uses. The facade is very clear. Perfect for studio use.

SOUND QUALITY

The filters are really good, soft and warm. The treatment is very musical. The LFO can be synchronized with MIDI rendering excellent (4 waveforms with complete division values ​​or triplet) and its function as phase change is also effective.
I just wish the poor quality of the distortion (which may be helpful to emulate the sound of a 303) I do not use very little and in this case, in homeopathic doses. The EQ section is sorely lacking musicality to my taste, I prefer to use a dedicated EQ, even that of the mixer before sending the signal to the filter.
It is ideal for treating groups of synths and drum loops. I also used as envelope follower (A, D, S, R) on digital synths, even on analog modeling synths, filters found them a bit too cold and some artificial sounds.

OVERALL OPINION

The whole production is very good (the knobs can be a bit sensitive), it is truly ergonomic, all parameters can be sent and received via MIDI, including all parameters (send scene) that can be sent a block for total recall early song to find its settings (which is really handy). Side connections is very complete: Jack 6.35 (-10dB / +4 dB), RCA (Line / Phono) and MIDI trio. It is more musical and detailed than the Electrix Filter Factory and sweeter than Sherman. One can only regret the distortion a bit sloppy and lack of musicality of EQ, without these two weaknesses this filter could be flawless from AKAI.