Akai Professional Reviews 

I bought the Akai MPK Mini Play MK3. Delivery was fast and the price was good. The packaging, however, was a bit poor — just a short cable and a cheap cardboard box, so it doesn’t have that premium or luxurious feel. Aside from that, it works well and for the price it was a good purchase

I purchased Akai 1.5 Ton 5-Star ACs in May 2026. Unfortunately, unit has developed a recurring water leakage problem inside the room, which has now happened four times since installation.

Despite registering complaints each time, the issue has not been permanently resolved. I suspect the unit may have a manufacturing defect and have requested a replacement but every time technician made temparary arrangments.

The after-sales support has also been disappointing. I contacted Akai through WhatsApp, but received no satisfactory response. There are no proper complaint status updates or messages, and I have to repeatedly follow up with the dealer myself.

Very frustrating experience. Akai needs to seriously improve its product quality and after-sales service.

I’ve been an Akai customer for a while, but I am writing this review because I feel completely misled and ripped off. I spent 700€ on an MPC One, believing I was purchasing a professional, full-featured piece of hardware. Recently, I discovered that core workflow features, specifically "Clip Launching" witch are now locked behind a 199€ "MPC Pro Pack" paywall.

This is not an optional luxury add-on; this is fundamental, industry-standard functionality that makes the device actually usable in a modern creative environment. To have this locked behind a massive, additional fee after already paying a premium for the unit itself is, in my opinion, an absurd and predatory business practice.

I reached out to their support team to express my frustration, and while they acknowledged the feedback, it’s clear this is a deliberate strategy to squeeze more money out of existing owners for features that should have been part of the base OS.

As a user who has invested time and money into their ecosystem, I feel like a second-class owner. I am now looking at selling my device and moving to competitors who treat their customers with more respect and don't hold their hardware hostage behind software paywalls. If you are considering buying an Akai MPC, be aware that the price you pay upfront is not the final price you will have to pay to get the actual functionality you expect.

An iconic name and some good moves to keep it in the game, but let down by confusing branding, buggy software and hardware, and too many organizations, accounts, and logins. attracted to new MPCs but afraid to get burnt again.

Very poor and bad coustomer service and there is no response after complaints... Customer care tell caller not replying properly and misbehave with customer this for the AC installation service .... I think that installation ke time ye itna seen create kr rhe h toh product me koi complaint aa gyi toh ye log kuch bhi nhi krenge

I honestly don’t know why I bought another Akai product. I already had bad experiences with Akai in the past — especially with registration and the software/driver installation. Back then, it cost me an insane amount of time.

Now I bought another Akai product, the MPK Mini IV (25-key), simply because I liked how it looks. Unfortunately, I forgot how annoying and confusing the installation process and DAW recognition of their products is when used with my DAW, FL Studio.

After two hours, I maybe got about 60% of it working — and now I’m done. I’m packing everything back into the box, writing “NEVER, NEVER AKAI AGAIN” on a piece of paper, and hanging it visibly above my monitor.

Why is it so hard to make it work like this: plug in the MPK Mini IV (25-key), automatic detection, and then just work in peace? Nope — not with Akai! :((

Hi All.
Just purchased a Akai MPC Key37. Fairly New to the Synth World, but fully intreaged what these Machines are capable of is mind blowing,
With regards to the 37 the product overall,
The build quality is excellent, Colour/ finish/Layout/controls. Pads, buttons, knobs are perfect and responsive and the wonderful Touch screen is perfect in all aspects..Plastic it maybe? but far from flimsy.
The downside for me 'unfortunately' listening/and watching the usual tube Clips,
For one , the Sounds the Machine produces are nothing like what the 37 actually sounds Like that is supplied, These are only Achieved though purchasing all manner of software,which in many Cases are far from Cheap,with these upgrades it's capabilities are Endless without doubt, for someone with no budget this would become unbelievable.
Yes I managed the purchase £price of £6--? Some will say!!
This brings me to the Point 👉 is the Key 37 Worth its price Tag? For myself a definite No,
Listening to Hype is Costly unfortunately, therefore its price Tag covers it's Wonderful Touch Screen ,and ithe Internal gubbins, but without purchasing the add-on software? it's Capabilities are limited as for a classed Standalone Keyboard this ifor me is in question, when it comes up against the likes of a Korg,or Roland in this price Range
Another point I like to mention is the internal memory is on the Low side, compared to Many,
also as for the Sample Sounds !! Does it need so many, for many of these Samples are repeated,
For Example a Click is a click a bass drum thud is a thud but No! ! 3 octaves Above, 3 below on many of these Single sounds, if not on all of its samples ,no wonder the internal memory is Low, fortunately these can be deleted 👍
But if these Samples have added to the overall Cost of the Key37 I'll be even more disappointed with this Akai product, because the Hype was more than enough!!
Regards Steve 🤘 😎

Great products, frustrating support experience

Review:

I’ve been an Akai user for years and I truly love the hardware — especially the MPC line.

Unfortunately, my recent experience with Akai / inMusic support was deeply frustrating and emotionally exhausting.

I purchased the MPC Pro Pack and accidentally registered it under the wrong email. What should have been a simple fix turned into a long, confusing process involving bots, language limitations, errors, multiple redirects, and delayed responses.

I eventually did everything support asked for, provided serial numbers and proof, and a ticket was created — but the experience completely killed the excitement of the purchase.

Music gear is not just software. For many of us, it’s emotional. Inspiration matters. Timing matters. When support processes feel cold and slow, it takes away the joy of creating.

I’m not writing this to attack Akai — the products are great — but to ask inMusic to seriously improve how they handle customer support, especially for digital purchases and account issues.

A great product deserves a great support experience.

Franchement, très mauvaise expérience au restaurant au AKAI Bruxelles.
Déjà, on a été mal accueillis et placés comme si on dérangeait. L’ambiance était vraiment bizarre, aucun sourire, aucune considération.
On nous a littéralement ignorés, personne n’est venu nous demander ce qu’on voulait consommer, comme si notre présence ne comptait pas.
On s’est sentis maltraités, mis de côté, et clairement pas respectés.
Honnêtement, je ne recommande pas du tout. Expérience vraiment désagréable du début à la fin.

I bought and paid for brand new official Akai APC64
Their dealer sale used product unknown origin I received in open box. (just one and only open package).
I cannot register it and contacted both - dealer and Akai.
I got access to software included in product, however Akai support answer was very sleeky - ask dealer is it new product or not.
Conclusion:
I am gonna return it (just waiting for details from shop), most likely return cost at my expense.
Akai pro, who uses Kanye West as their face - I make you donation for selling "garbage like used staff".
NOT professional
Akai - I don't like you anymore.

MPC hardware is great but their desktop DAW software only runs on Windows and MacOS - which is classic because AKAI uses the superior Linux OS on their MPC hardware.

All of the truly great software is cross-platform and AKAI is missing out on a market here.

Never buying Akai again faulty products made to last a year no help line seller(rockshop) nor manufacturer will help faceless company selling cheap products now. Good bye forever

Akai pro has fixed issues with registering used products.

They are now easy to register.
Thanks to Akai for improving in response to customer feedback.

SERIOUSLY DONT BUY AN AKAI PRODUCT EVER THEY USE A THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE LICENSE COMPANY CALLED ILOK WHO REFUSES TO LET YOU ACCESS YOUR PURCHASES EVEN WHEN YOU CONTACT THEM FROM THE SAME EMAIL ADDRESS YOU'VE USED FOR DECADES.. ILOKS SOFTWARE LOOKS LIKE IT WAS DESIGNED IN XP

I HAD A MUCH BETTER EXPERIENCE WITH NATIVE INSTRUMENTS WHO SORTED THIER LIVES OUT OVER 5 YEARS AGO AND GOT WITH THE TIMES DELIVERING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

ARTURIA IS GOOD BUT THEIR HARDWARE SUPPORT IS SERIOUSLY IS LACKING

SERIOUSLY IF YOUR COMPUTER BREAKS DOWN YOU CANT TRUST AKAI TO ALLOW YOU TO REINSTALL YOUR PURCHASED SOFTWARE THEY EXPECT YOU TO BUY IT AGAIN

AS SUCH HALF MY BUNDLED AKAI AND AUR INMUSIC SOFTWARE IS NOW RENDERED USELESS

THEREFORE AKAI = USELESS DONT BUY
LOOK AT TRUSTPILOT BEFORE BUYING ANY HARDWARE OR TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE BUNDLE AS THERES PROBABLY A HIDDEN CAVIATS

IN THIS CASE A THIRD PARTY CALLED ILOK WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO SUPPORT CUSTOMERS

INSTEAD ILOK HAS BEEN A CONSTANT CAUSE OF FRUSTRATION FOR 7 YEARS
WHERE OTHER COMPANIES HAVE IMPROVED AKAI SUPPORT IS NOW WORSE THAN EVER
IVE LOST ACCESS TO IVER HALF MY SOFTWARE AND IM SERIOUSLY UNHAPPY ABOUT IT

THIS IS SENT FROM MY GOOGLE EMAIL ADDRESS AKAI CAN SEE MY COMPLAINTS VUA MY ASSOCIATED EMAIL

HOWEVER IT DOESN'T APPEAR THEY CARE ABOUT REVIEWS DUE TO THEIR LIW SCORE OVER THE LAST DECADE

When looking at reviews for Akai Professional, it's important to remember that Akai Professional, part of InMusic group, is not Akai, a brand which is applied to all sorts of electronics such as cheap TVs and cooking appliances. If there's a review for a TV here, it's the wrong Akai.

I bought an Akai MPC Key 37 and have discovered the MPC system for the first time - only 35 years too late, perhaps. This is a synthesizer keyboard based on the new MPC environment, so it's essentially a computer and software in a handy package rather than a traditional synth or sampler, but it works well, its fast, and has an amazing selection of presets.

I needed to contact Akai Professional support over the bundled software and online store partnership – they took a while to respond, but were very helpful once I had a customer service advisor to talk to (Monika).

The older packages and bundles are still tied to a partnership with FastSpring, which is a third party store and it has lots of issues with checkout and payment (even when buying a free item), it also charges extra for 'continued access to downloads' when Akai Professional offers continued access once you have bought something.

I resolved the issue with FastSpring not taking payment by filling out total nonsense in their checkout form - the only thing to remember is to make sure the email address used is the same as your InMusic profile.

If you've bought an MPC Key 37 which comes with a voucher for one free extra instrument, do NOT use it to get the MPC Stems expansion (that is only £9,99 and if you hesitate on checkout you'll get a 10% off code, so £8.99. InMusic should just make it a part of the MPC Desktop and Standalone package rather than trying to gouge such a trivial extra amount for it).

Akai Professional's MPC store has moved to a new checkout partner and I'm sure their future offerings will be more robust and user-friendly, harmonised across all InMusic brands. However, there's a worrying trend to subscriptions and DLC across all these types of instrument, and the MPC/Air subscriptions do not (as far as I can tell) extend to standalone MPC instruments, so check carefully before being tempted.

Jura and op-X4 are well worth having. My objection was that the free plugin did not include the option of getting the excellent "Fabric" one, which would make the MPC Key 37 very versatile.

Note that while marketing claims the MPC Key 61 has many more bundled instruments, the actual difference between the sounds provided with the 61 and the 37 is just six virtual instruments. The rest of the package is the inclusion of VST versions of the AIR softsynths, and some effects plugins.

These do have a high price normally, but Akai frequently offers promotions for MPC instruments and software, so don't buy them unless you NEED the sounds right now, or have waited for a discount.

The MPC Key 37 itself is a brilliant bit of kit, really versatile and flexible. After buying it I weighed up all the gear I owned and sold six things that it overlapped in sounds and process, worth twice what the MPC Key 37 cost even though they were secondhand. That illustrates what kind of value it offers I think... but I do hope they upograde it to 4GB RAM to match the 61 key, and it's a shame it doesn't have an M2/nVME slot as an evolution of the SSD in the Key 61 - instead, you add storage on an SD card which is certainly cheap and apparently not much slower than the Key 61's SSD interface anyway. The Key 37's exposed SD card feels more vulnerable than an internal nVME card would however, and since it holds your samples and projects, you'd want to make backups and protect it from theft at gigs.

This company is poisoning the crap out of their products with Diisononyl phthalate. I got a live 2 in the mail yesterday, 2-3 hours after it being in my house I was getting a headache, slight seizures, coughing fits, I threw up my dinner and it made my eyes swell and turn red. So I put it away in its box washed my hands and went to bed. Dude, It makes my eyes swell just sitting next to it while it’s in its box. I just took a picture of it, but apparently, I can’t post it on here.

I purchased the AKAI Professional LPK25 - USB MIDI Keyboard Controller with 25 Responsive Synth Keys for Mac and PC, Arpeggiator and Music Production Software,black for $59 in December 2024. Be careful--the piano keys on this device are really small! It's difficult to play in the same way you would a piano. The device is plastic but well made. Be carefuly about whether this fits your Mac. Recent models of Mac have a different USB type port, and a converter is needed for it to work.

Eine MPC One gekauft und nur Probleme, auf der Verpackung steht alles schön auf Deutsch, Gerät ausgepackt, ok keine Bedienungsanleitung dabei kein Problem laden wir uns die PDF. Und hier fängt das Problem an! Es gibt keine Bedienungsanleitung auf Deutsch! Da mein Englisch schlecht ist hilft es mir natürlich garnicht! Support angeschrieben, natürlich Antworten die nur auf Englisch zurück was mir nicht hilft! Akai Deutschland weiss ich nicht wofür es die überhaupt gibt. Sind nicht in der Lage ein Deutsches Bedienungheft anzufertigen. Fragen beantwortet der Kundenservice garnicht immer nur Links zur FAQ alles auf Englich und dann noch nicht mal die Antwort auf meine Frage dabei! Naja geht das 750,- teuere Gerät zurück! Ach ja und die beste Antwort war ich solle mir das Handbuch doch übersetzen mit Google! Nie wieder Akai!

I have a mpc one, I have it for 3 years now. I like the immediacy of getting beats done but if I want to mix them, I export them to my mac, because there’s way more options in my daw (logic). For midi sequencing though it’s been a nightmare. I was so excited to control some synths with the mpc but I’m getting more and more frustrated with akai as the same bug keeps reappearing in every update thus far (2.15.1). I mapped 4 cc’s to the q-links to have some control while playing but it doesn’t work properly. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, sometimes in steps, sometimes without visual feedback. I updated my mpc 7 times the past few days and there’s not 1 single firmware where it works like it should. Not to be trusted when gigging live. Now I’m probably going to sell mine as I don’t want any frustration in my studio.

I ordered a AKAI MPK mini about an year ago. First of all, the drum pads were not working properly, and you had to really "hit" the buttons for them to to work (usually you should be able to just lightly tap them for them to work). I really didn't have a problem with this since I almost never used them anyways.

However, a very comedic thing happened a week ago. I, for the first time, dropped my AKAI MPK Mini from a table (around 50cm drop to the floor with a carpet) by mistake. The MIDI keyboard stopped working... It's really insane, since the drop wasn't even that bad and the first time ever.

I feel like AKAI just uses their legacy/history as a pioneer in the MIDI keyboard industry as an advantage, and they don't really care about quality and just want to profit. Because this is just outrageous honestly.