Akai MPC Live III: expressive pads come to the MPC grid; $1699 with new core

Akai’s MPC Live III hits the same week as Roland’s new analog-digital flagship. This new standalone box has an updated 8-core processor and specs, enabling new features — but the biggest story here is expressive pads with 3D sensing.

CDJ-3000X: first CDJ to go online; expanded usability, sound quality

AlphaTheta, the company that DJs will probably never stop calling “Pioneer,” has a major update for their flagship deck. It starts to make the CDJ-3000 seem more like a foundation for this: expanded media access, online connectivity, and some welcome usability, reliability. and sound improvements.

Peter Kirn - September 9, 2025

“Deep calm”: Roland Mood Pan is a digital handpan

Sometimes, Roland gives us predictable things. Sometimes, the company decides to digitize the handpan for an electronic hand percussion instrument that can also make gamelan and singing bowl sounds, pretty environmental noises, and function as a Bluetooth speaker.

Peter Kirn - June 27, 2025

Novation’s Launch Control XL 3 fader box, the update we were waiting for

Peter Kirn - May 8, 2025

Ableton Move 1.5 beta: full MIDI I/O and clock, sample slicing, Auto Filter, more

Peter Kirn - May 7, 2025

Ableton Move 1.3: sample from USB-C, polyphonic expression over MIDI

Peter Kirn - February 13, 2025

Ableton Move guide: tips, tricks, questions answered, hacks

Peter Kirn - October 18, 2024

Music Thing Modular Workshop System: patch, hack, code, mic, jack in

Peter Kirn - October 8, 2024

Roland JUNO-D is a feature-packed mobile keyboard starting at $899

Peter Kirn - September 25, 2024

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