Akai Force 3.5 Beta Update: First Impressions, Frustrations & A Creative Reality Check

Just an honest look at one of the biggest updates to the MPC/Force ecosystem in a few years.

All right, what’s up, chat?

It’s been a few days with the Akai Force 3.5 update. We know it’s a beta—fair enough. But still. For MPC users, we also have the MPC3 desktop version now, albeit in a very rudimentary form. We’ve been waiting for this for the longest time. So today, I want to dive into an overview of what’s going on with this update.

A Continual Push Toward Modernization

One of the first things I noticed was that they’ve attempted to bring users into the modern era. A lot of the synths that were on the Force before were very rudimentary. So it’s nice having plugins like Cloud Supply, Noire, and Homage from Native Instruments—these give us a whole new array of sounds.

That said, my critique is this: Akai should reach out to more companies they haven’t worked with yet IK Multimedia, Rob Papen, EastWest, and others. These partnerships could level up the sound libraries within the Akai Force and MPC ecosystem.

Let’s be real—there are a ton of MPC users who’ve already used SampleTank, Albino 3, or Blue from Rob Papen. They would love to have standalone versions of these inside their machines. This isn’t just about sounds; it’s about ecosystem growth, additional revenue streams, and smarter market positioning.

Right now, Akai is missing out tenfold by not forming those strategic partnerships.

or maybe there is a larger play with Native instruments

Follow Actions: Redundant Without Depth

Another update: Follow Actions. Great idea. But limited execution.

Right now, you can only apply Follow Actions to an entire row, which doesn’t help much if your tracks are on different rows or you want more nuanced triggering. If clips can’t trigger each other with Follow Actions, the feature feels redundant.

Redundancy isn’t bad—it gives users multiple ways to accomplish the same thing. But redundancy without depth? That’s just frustrating.

For example: Follow Actions are a powerful addition but currently, they’re limited to changing an entire row. For a DJ transitioning tempos or song sections, this is perfect.

But guess what? Most DJs are doing pre-recorded sets, so why not just use the arranger?

If you’ve been using the Arranger for years, you’re probably not seeing an advancement—you’re seeing limitations. This leads me to say that we need Follow Actions inside clips. That’s where depth lives. And yes, I understand we’re working with limited RAM, but this is still a much needed feature.

Still No Clock Synced LFO in Envelope Follower?

This next one is hard to stay positive about. For years, I’ve said: that

“The Akai Force would be the most powerful standalone machine on the market if it had one feature—a tempo-synced LFO inside the envelope follower”.

Why is this still missing?

You can find tempo sync options in key groups and drum tracks, but not inside the envelope follower. Why?

With 3.5, we now have tempo-synced envelopes in key groups—great.

I no longer need third-party plugins like AirPumper or MotherDucker. I can do sidechaining natively, per voice, or over an entire program.

I’ll just load up a sample and trigger it.

Still, if I want to use this machine as an external effects module, I’m missing key automation and sound design opportunities because there’s no tempo sync in the envelope follower. This is basic. And the silence from Akai on this limitation is honestly baffling.

New Plugins, where is Air Spectral?

Along with the new plugins, they also dropped a useful one: an expander—the opposite of a compressor. Great for adding a little dynamic range to lifeless recordings. Not the same as transient shaping, but a good tool for those of us who call ourselves engineers.

Still, we’re missing Air Spectral, which is an incredibly modern, powerful sound design tool. I don’t get why that’s not included. Maybe it’s memory limitations again?

Community Feedback vs. Personal Responsibility

Let’s shift gears from my experience to the broader community experience.

Every day, I see dozens of posts: “This feature’s broken.” “This bug needs fixing.” Most of the time? User error.

People don’t know how to use the machine.

Me? I read the manual before I buy something, so I know what I’m getting into. Not everyone’s like that. I get it. Ultimately, its the user’s responsibility to learn their gear.

What I’m seeing is people expecting the MPC or Akai Force to make the music for them.

Let me go on a tangent for a second…

The Death of the “Mystical” Studio

Back in the day, it was a mystical experience to walk into a studio and hear crunchy, lo-fi, early ’90s hip-hop thumping from a chunky grey box atop a dusty table with 3.5mm floppy disks and vinyl records strewn about. Some dude in baggy jeans, smoking a Philly, cooking up heat that made your neck snap.

It was mystical, wondering how they got those sounds out of the records. How the drums hit so hard. How they made lush sonic landscapes out of dusty basement records.

That era is over.

Ninth Wonder showed us we could use a laptop and make soul music from a dorm room with $200 laptop and a ‘fully licensed’ copy of FL Studio. Now, more than ever, it’s about the sound and the feeling, not the ‘magic’ behind the curtain.

Plus, Those old samplers were full of flaws. At the time, the flaws were annoying. As we improved and technology advanced, what were once flaws began to feel endearing. They made the music stand out—not because the music was great, but because the imperfections added character that was missing.

Today, it’s your responsibility to create that same interest intentionally.

You Are Not J Dilla

You can’t just pick up an MPC Live II and become J Dilla.

J Dilla would sound like J Dilla on anything because he was Dilla.

The gear doesn’t make you a better producer. Time and effort do.

Being a great musician does.

Just like yesterday, you’ve got to adjust your expectations and embrace your limitations. That’s how you get better. Not by whining about what you don’t have. Work with what you do have, master that.

The tools we have today are only here because earlier producers broke barriers. For all of the features that come in he budget MPC One would’ve set you back $16,800 in 1990 . Respect that.

Complaints ≠ Creativity

It’s not about analog vs. digital. DAW vs. standalone.

It’s about you, the producer, making or ‘producing’ something from your mind.

I create within my limitations on standalone and love what I make.

Then I check the forums, and it’s nothing but whining and moaning about tools.

You don’t see carpenters complaining about their hammers.

You don’t see leaders complaining about their followers.

Just saying.

What’s missing isn’t features—it’s creativity.

We’ve become reliant on plugins, YouTube tutorials, and DSP wizards.

or relying on taking something someone else has recorded and acting like we own it.

But when you try, you can create beautiful, vintage samples right now. Pick up a mic. Record the world. Sample yourself.

Bang out a few notes on a busted piano. Sample your phone recording. Now you own it—no copyright strikes.

Final Thoughts: Bug Fixes and Bugged Out Expectations

Yes, there are bugs. It’s a beta. That’s expected.

But more importantly? People need to debug themselves.

I personally started making tracks using Windows Sound Recorder to loop the ends of songs. That progressed to DJ software, Garageband, Logic Pro, Reason, Ableton Live, Bitwig, and FL Studio.

I can say that people’s biggest mistake is approaching the MPC and The Force like they are their predecessors, OR the DAWs they are used to using.

They are something entirely different, and it’s not the device

Your personal operating system might be the real issue. It’s preventing you from making the music you want so badly to be respected for.