Akai MPC vs Native Instruments Battery 3

Akai MPC vs Native Instruments Battery 3

Ok, so lemme start off by saying I’ve been using an Mpc since birth so I may be a little biased. I’ve always got compliments on my “big sound” which I feel I owe partly to the Akai Mpc’s outputs. I don’t think anybody can actually put their finger on it, but for some reason some stuff just sounds better when it comes out of an Mpc.
With alot of producers switching to software, spending “akai” money is becoming less of a necessity. All you need is a drum program or editor to start banging out beats. That’s where Battery3 comes in. It’s affordable, easy to use, and is becoming a go to virtual instrument for alot of us, including myself.

Now, on to the battle…

Out of the Box- The Mpc comes with nothing more than a power cord and the unit itself and manual. Doesn’t even come with any drum sounds!
Battery3 comes with a 12gb sound library dvd and the install disc. I will say that about 3/4 of the sound library is useless in hip hop production.


Pads or Keys? I personally enjoy using the Mpc4000 pads to sequence my drum tracks. Using Battery3 and a midi keyboard just doesn’t cut it for me. However you can use Akai’s MPD controller to give you the Mpc feel using Battery 3 and save a buck.



Sequencing- Well, Battery 3 is not a sequencer so you’ll have to use a host program like Pro Tools if you want to sequence a track using it.

(advantage MPC)

Sampling- I’m not much of a sampling guy so I probably can’t judge this fairly, but editing a sample on a huge computer monitor while using Battery 3 is much better than the Mpc’s baby screen (non color) hands down. You can tune, add effects, compression, adjust lengths and start points, stack and filter with Battery 3 in seconds. It all goes back to the visual part of editing. I’m sure some of you will complain about the chopping in battery as opposed to the Mpc, but like I said, I don’t sample much, feel free to give me your feedback on this one.

(advantage Battery3)

Learning Curve – If you’re new to making beats, either of these may be difficult to use out of the box. If you’ve been using vst’s and software sequencing you may be able to pick up on battery3. If you’ve been using workstations for creating then the Mpc may not be so challenging. Having used both, I feel like Battery3 is easier to pick up. Everything is pretty much right in front of your face. Where as with the Mpc, there’s a lot of menus and windows you have to go through to accomplish simple tasks like adding reverb or other fx. Another thing to take into consideration is the setup process of both of these. If you’re new to the production world, you may find it difficult to get all your midi and audio cables routed correctly as opposed to popping in a dvd and installing. Since most people use computers every day, I’m gonna give this one to NI.

(advantage Battery3)

Cost- no need to get too deep into this one, Akai’s Mpc will set you back in the 500-2000.00 range depending on your needs, I have the Mpc4000 and it cost me 1500…. USED! Battery3 will set you back about 2-300 new.

(advantage Battery3)

Sound Quality- Now if you’ve never used an Mpc then you may disagree, but all of us who have will know what I’m talking about. There’s something about the Mpc’s more so the older versions Mpc2000, 3000, 4000 that just add a nice fatness to your drums. I’ve used the newer 1000 and 500 and didn’t notice it so much. I can load the exact same sample into my Mpc4000 and into Battery3 for some reason it just sounds better coming out of the Mpc. Is it the ouputs? I’m guessing so, they just add the right amount of the so called “grittyness” to the sound. I think that’s why alot of big producers today still go with the Mpc for their drum programming. These guys can buy anything they want, and they still have their old Mpc’s.
Not that the sound from Battery3 isn’t good enough, it’s just not equal to me. I

(advantage Mpc)

FX/Features – Depending on which model of Mpc you buy this will be different for you. I have the 4000 so that’s what I’ll refer to. Onboard Fx consist of the standard, Chorus, Delay, Flange, Pan, Phaser, Reverbs, the usual stuff for the Mpc. They all sound pretty good, no complaints. I just don’t find myself using them much because I prefer to add in fx during the mixdown or tracking process. Battery3 has the same stuff as well, but I feel like I use them quite a bit more. Possibly because they’re right in your face and easier to adjust on your computer screen then on Akai’s small screen.

A feature that really bothered me about Battery3 is not being able to play one sample across all the keys with the tuning changing for each note. So if you have an 808 loaded up you can’t play a high 808 and a deep 808 from the same sample. You have to load it up twice and tune each one individually. With the Mpc, I select my 808 pad, hit the 16 levels button, select tuning, and I’m breaking windows with my bass. Well not really, but you get it. It will assign 16 levels of tuning for the chosen sample. If you make hip hop tracks, this is a great feature. Another thing I didn’t like about battery3 was the note repeat. If you make alot of “down south” type tracks, you’ll probably be adding tripled hi hats and snare rolls. As simple as hitting the note repeat button in the Mpc, coupled with the 16 levels you can have your snares rolling and pitch shifting in seconds. To do this in Battery3 I was a little lost. You have to setup your pitchbend assignment to adjust the tuning of the assigned sample, you’d think it’d automatically do this. Nope! Then you have to go to the setup menu and adjust the note repeat and for some reason it just doesn’t sound natural. Like the timing lags a little bit. Could just be me, but I prefer to do this on the Mpc.

(advantage Mpc)

Overall – This is my own personal opinion. If I had to make a decision on which is better suited for myself. I’m sticking with the Mpc. I’ve used both extensively and I just feel I make better music using the Mpc to host and program my drum samples. The swing, the output, the pads, note repeat and 16 levels. These are things I use in almost every track. It could be that I’ve just gotten used to using the Mpc and it’s a much faster creation process to me. If you’re on a tight budget, Battery3 is a great option, but keep in mind it doesn’t sequence. If Battery had note repeat, 16 levels, sample and pitch tune across the keys , I’d like it alot more.