The MPK mini mkII is an ultra-compact controller designed for the traveling musician and desktop producer. In this guide and video, we cover setup with the MPK mini mkII with the included MPC Essentials software and the AIR Hybrid plugin. We walk through downloading, installing, and authorizing the software and how to quickly get up and running and making music.
Guide Contents
Video WalkthroughAkai Pro MPK mini MKII – How to Download, Install and Setup the Included Software (Mac Overview)
MPK mini is an ultra-compact keyboard with an impressive array of buttons, knobs and pads that provide hands-on performance and production control over your music software. With a 25-key velocity-sensitive keyboard, 8 backlit MPC-style pads and 8 Q-Link knobs, the MPK mini is the ultimate portable controller to get your music moving.
Akai Pro MPK mini MKII – How to Download, Install and Setup the Included Software (Windows Overview)Driver Installation
The MPK Mini MKII is a class-compliant MIDI device. A class-compliant device is one that doesn't require extra drivers to connect your Windows or Macintosh computer. Class-compliant devices use drivers which are built into the host (i.e. the computer) operating system.
Registration
1. Launch your web browser and go to www.akaipro.com.
2. Go to the top right-hand corner of the web site and click on Sign In, you will be prompted to a new page to either Create a New Account or Sign In.
3. If you are a new customer, click on Create an account or Sign In if you are a previous customer.
Fill out the necessary information to register as a new user and click Create Account. The minimum length of the password must be equal or greater than 8 symbols.
4. You have successfully made an account! Click on your name at the top right-hand corner of the website and you will see a drop-down menu. Select My Account.
5. On the left-hand side of your Account page you should see My Dashboard. Go to the bottom of this section and select My Registered Products.
6. This is where you register your new Akai controller. Please make sure that you are entering the complete serial number as it appears on the bottom or back of your product. The serial number will be located on a bar code and will begin with a “(21).”Please be sure to include the “(21)” when entering your serial number. Neglecting the '(21)' and failing to capitalize the 'A' will result in a rejected serial number. If you are entering the parentheses around the (21) and the product is still not registering, try clearing the cache in your web browser and try again. Select Register Product to complete registration.
7. You have successfully registered your Akai controller! All of your registered products will show up under Product Registrations. Scroll down in your Registration Page to see all of your available Software Downloads.
Downloading, Installing and Unlocking MPC Essentials
After successfully registering the controller, you will be presented with the serial numbers and download links for MPC Essentials, Hybrid 3, and Wobble. To download, install and unlock MPC Essentials:[
1. Select MPC Essentials 1.8.2 (PC) or MPC Essentials 1.8.2 (Mac) depending on your operating system. This will download as a file called Update-MPC-Essentials-1.8.2. Save this zip folder to your desktop.
2. After the download is complete, you will need to extract the files before installation. To do this, right-click on the Update-MPC-Essentials-1.8.2-WIN on your desktop and select Extract All.
By default, the program that is used to unzip files in your computer should be Windows Explorer.
Follow this link for additional information on how to extract files on Windows operating systems:
3. After the files are extracted, go into the Update-MPC-Essentials-1.8.2-WIN folder and select the Installer Assets folder. Select the Install_mpc. application to run the setup for MPC Essentials.The software may notify you that a previous version of MPC has not been installed.
4. Follow all of the prompts to proceed with the installation. Important: While some MPC Essentials products do require drivers, this one will not. Please ignore any prompts to install drivers.
5. After the installation is completed, you will be prompted to unlock your software. Select Unlock Now to continue. Call of duty online mac download.
To unlock the software, make sure you're entering the serial number for MPC Essentials found within your Akai Professional account. This will be a 15-digit code containing a mixture of capital letters and numbers, preceded with a '(21)'. Do not use the serial number on the back of your product.
6. You will want to make sure you're entering this number exactly as it appears in your account. To make the process easier, we recommend copy/pasting the code from your account into the software. Fill in the rest of the information and select Unlock Now.
After this, you will see a box saying you've successfully unlocked your MPC!
Congratulations, you have successfully installed the latest version of MPC Essentials!
Installing Hybrid and Wobble
1. Return to your Akai Professional account, and select AIR Hybrid (PC) to download Hybrid. Repeat with the download link for Wobble to download Wobble. The license for each plugin will be located on the right-hand side of the download.
2. After the download is complete, we will need to extract the files before installation. To do this, right-click on the zip folder and select Extract All.. . Make sure you remember this location so we can retrieve it afterward.
After the file is extracted, select Hybrid_3.0.7_Setup to run the installer for your plugin.
Follow all of the prompts to proceed with the installation.
Hybrid Installer :
Wobble Installer :
3. For Windows users, pay attention to the location where the 32 and 64-bit Hybrid and Wobble are being installed. You will need to know this later on in order to scan the plugins into MPC Essentials. By default, these will install to:
Hybrid
32-bit: Program Files(x86) / Steinberg / vstplugins 64-bit: Program Files / Steinberg / vstplugins
Wobble
32-bit and 64-bit: Program Files (x86)SONiVOXVST
4. It is common practice to put all of your plugins into a single folder in order to keep track of your plugin library, so you may want to consider changing the install location of one or both of the plugins to a single location. Note: It is ok to install both 32 and 64-bit versions to the same folder, but be aware that your DAW will only be able to recognize one and may fail the other.
5. Restart your computer once the plugins have been installed.
Authorizing Hybrid and Wobble
Before scanning and opening the plugins in MPC Essentials, authorize Hybrid and Wobble with the iLok License Manager:
1. If you do not have an Ilok account, make sure to go to ilok.com and click on Create Free Account. Fill out all of the necessary fields in the Free Account Setup page and select Create Account.
2. Once you have created your account, go back to the home page of the web site, you will find the License Support Installers. Download the appropriate installer for your operating system.
3. After installing the application, find and open the iLok License Manager from your Programs or Applications folder.
4. Click on Sign-In in the top left corner. If you have used iLok before with other products and have an account, sign-in to your account.
Please note: We recommend using an iLok account. Signing in is not always necessary to utilize an iLok license, but having and using an account to keep track of your licenses is free and provides additional features and options for managing and moving your licenses when necessary. You can see our Managing Authorization Codes and Licenses guide for more information.
5. Once you are logged in, click on Licenses at the top of the window and choose Redeem Activation Code.
A window will appear with space for you to enter an authorization code.
6. Navigate to your Akai Pro account page, highlight and copy the Authorization Code for Hybrid. Paste this code into the first box on the left and the code will fill out the remaining fields. When you're ready, click Next. Repeat this process when authorizing the Wobble plugin.
7. You will be prompted to choose a location for your license. You are free to choose an iLok dongle if you have one, but for most users, just choose your computer (this will be the option with the computer icon on the left) and click Activate.
8. You will be asked to confirm this one more time. Click Activate.
Finally, iLok will notify you when the activation is complete!
This process (steps 3 - 8) can be repeated for any other plugins that utilize an iLok license.
Scanning Hybrid and Wobble into MPC Essentials
1.Open MPC Essentials and navigate to the Preferences menu.
MAC: Select MPC > Preferences
PC: Select EDIT > Preferences ![]()
Choose the Plugins tab.
2. Add a check to the first available box on the left, then click on the browse box at the end of that row to browse to your plugin installation location.
3. To scan for the Hybrid plugin, click on the drop-down menu to browse and then select your C:[Hard Drive], double click on Program Files (not Program Files (X86,) double click on your Steinberg folder, and finally click on VSTpluginsonce and press Open on the bottom right-hand corner of the window.
In order to scan the second folder in MPC Essentials for Wobble, go back to the Plugins tab in the Preferences window and repeat steps 1 & 2 on the next empty field.
To scan for the Wobble plugin, click on the drop-down menu to browse and then select your C:[Hard Drive], double click on Program Files (x86,) double click on your SONiVOX folder, double click on the VST folder, and finally click on SONiVOXonce and press Open on the bottom right-hand corner of the window.
Hybrid
32-bit: Program Files(x86) / Steinberg / vstplugins 64-bit: Program Files / Steinberg / vstplugins
Wobble
32 & 64 bit : Program Files (x86) / SONiVOX / vstplugins / SONiVOX / VST
4. Click on Rescan All, allow the MPC Essentials software to scan all plugins in the selected location and then press OK.
Opening Plugins in MPC Essentials
1. First, navigate to the Preferences menu, find the MIDI tab and check off the box next to your MIDI controller (i.e. your MPK Mini MKII). This will tell the software to listen to incoming midi data from that device.
2. Exit the Preferences window and go to the center of the MPC Essentials software, to the right of the pads, you'll find your Sequence section. Click on the drop-down menu next to Typeand change it to Plugin.
3. You will then see a drop-down menu labeled Plugin. Click on this menu to browse for your VST plugins.
4. To open Hybrid or Wobble, click on the '+' next to VST to view your available VST plugins. Drop down the AIR Music Technology folder to open Hybrid, or the SONiVOX folder to open Wobble. You can load either of these plugins by double-clicking on them or clicking on them once then the Select button on the bottom right.
5. To view the plugin interface (GUI) and change sounds, click on the 'E'
button next to the Plugin drop-down menu.
Do not change plugin presets from the preset drop down in MPC Essentials.
Hybrid GUI :
Wobble GUI :
And that's it! You are ready to make some noise with Hybrid and your MPK Mini MKII.
Installing MPC Expansions
Expansion packs are samples that are organized into drum kits. They’re formatted specifically for MPC and can be quickly loaded to trigger from the MPK’s pads.
1. To install an Expansion, open your Akai account and scroll to the Software Download section. Under MPC Essentials Sound Libraries you’ll see Elements of UK Dance, Elements of House and Elements of Dystopia.
2. Click on Elements of UK Dance to download the installer packet.
3. Once the download completes, go to your Download folder. Mac users can double-click on the zip file to extract the installer. PC users, right-click on the zip file and select Extract All.
4. Once the file extracts, double-click the installer for your OS.
Mac users should select the DMG file.
PC users can run the Setup Application.
5. Follow the prompts to complete the installation. By default, The Expansion will install in the MPC content folder which will be automatically added to the MPC Essentials Browser. But, more on that to come!
6. For now, repeat this same process for Elements of House and Elements of Dystopia.
Loading an MPC Expansion to a Drum Program
Expansions are automatically added to the Browser during installation and can be easily loaded to a Drum Program.
1. First, make sure that your Program type is set to Drum.
2. Open the Browser by clicking the X icon at the bottom left of the screen.
3. Each Expansion pack is represented by a thumbnail image. Click the thumbnail to view its contents.
4. To add a sample, program or sequence to your Drum Program click on the file and drag-and-drop it into the software. Keep in mind, samples will need to be dropped on to a specific pad.
What's Next?
Further Technical Support
Whether you are a customer or dealer, if you already own an Akai Pro product, or if you just have pre-sales questions, the Akai Pro technical support team is available to help!
Visit the link below to connect with any of the following support options: online community support, phone support, email support. Dont starve shipwrecked mac download.
The MPK mini MKII is an ultra-compact controller designed for the traveling musician and desktop producer. In this troubleshooting guide, we go over some of the basic problems you may run into when first installing the included software for your Akai controller. If you are having registration, installation or authorization issues choose a topic from the list below to start troubleshooting. You will have MPC Essentials and the other included software running in no time!
Troubleshooting
Registration or website account login difficulty
1. Launch your web browser and go to www.akaipro.com.
2. Go to the top right-hand corner of the web site and click on Sign In, you will be prompted to a new page to either Create a New Account or Sign In.
3. If you are a new customer, click on Create an accountor Sign In if you are a previous customer.
Fill out the necessary information to register as a new user and click Create Account. The minimum length of the password must be equal or greater than 8 symbols.
4. You have successfully made an account! Click on your name at the top right-hand corner of the website and you will see a drop-down menu. Select My Account.
5. On the left-hand side of your Account page you should see My Dashboard. Go to the bottom of this section and select My Registered Products.
6. This is where you register your new Akai controller. Please make sure that you are entering the complete serial number as it appears on the bottom or back of your product. The serial number will be located on a bar code and will begin with a “(21).”Please be sure to include the “(21)” when entering your serial number. Neglecting the '(21)' and failing to capitalize the 'A' will result in a rejected serial number. If you are entering the parentheses around the (21) and the product is still not registering, try clearing the cache in your web browser and try again. Select Register Product to complete registration.
7. You have successfully registered your Akai controller! All of your registered products will show up under Product Registrations. Scroll down in your Registration Page to see all of your available Software Downloads. Image
Cannot Reset Password or Account is Temporarily Locked
Due to some changes to our website, you may have troubleaccessing an existing user account. If you are having trouble logging in toyour account, please follow the steps below:
1. Go to the top right-hand corner of the web site and click on Sign In, you will be prompted to a new page to either Create a New Account or Sign In. Image
2. Enter your email, select the Forgot Password option. A temporary password will be sent to your email with instruction If you don’t remember the email address you used to create an account, you can create the new account using different email information, then register your product under that account to access your included software downloads. Akai has a rolling registration.
The password reset may take some time depending on youremail provider. Please make sure to give this up to 24 hours and check yourspam folder in case it was filtered out accidentally:
3. Make sure to clear your web browser’s cache. This stores regularly used data which can prevent you from accessing changes to websites and accounts. Use the article below if you need instructions on clearing the cache in your web browser:
Gmail - If the password reset is not showing up in your primary tab, be sure to check your other inboxes, or tabs (for example, Promotions) or even your spam folder. Depending on the “rules” set up within your Gmail, it might be redirected elsewhere in your account.
Hotmail - Hotmail make take additional time to receive the password reset email. Additionally, you should be sure to check in your spam folder to ensure it wasn’t filtered as a spam email.
Make sure to request a password reset only once otherwise the process will restart and will take longer for you to receive the password reset email. If you followed all of the steps above and waited 24 hours for your password reset email with no response, please contact our support team.
Where do I find my included software?
1. Log into your Akai account. After successfully registering your MPK Mini MKII, click on your name at the top right-hand corner of the screen and go to your Account.
2. On the left-hand side of the screen under My Dashboard, you will see My Registered Products.
3. Scroll down the Registered Products page and you will see the Software Downloads available for your MPK mini MKII controller.
You will be presented with the serial numbers and download links for MPC Essentials, Hybrid 3, and Wobble.
For further assistance, please see this article on how to download and install the included software for your MPK Mini MKII:
MPC Essentials serial code fails to unlock software
1. To unlock the MPC Essentials software, make sure you're entering the serial number for MPC Essentials found within your Akai Professional account. This will be a 15-digit code containing a mixture of capital letters and numbers, preceded with a '(21)'. Do not use the serial number on the back of your product.
2. You will want to make sure you're entering this number exactly as it appears in your account. To make the process easier, we recommend to copy/paste the code from your account into the software. Fill in the rest of the information and select Unlock Now.
If you do not fill out every field in this registration page, the software will not unlock. All fields are required.
After this, you will see a box saying you've successfully unlocked your MPC!
Congratulations, you have successfully installed the latest version of MPC Essentials!
Hybrid & Wobble 'Fail' or 'Time out' when scanning into MPC Essentials
If you've scanned your VST folders and still don't see Wobble or Hybrid in your plugin menu, don't panic. I bet you're running MPC Essentials on a Windows PC, right?
Both the Windows and Mac versions of MPC Essentials feature both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. On a Mac, both versions are launched via the same application and can be switched in the Application Info window (right-click on MPC Essentials in your Applications Folder and choose ? Get Info). On a Windows PC, there are two separate executable files:
The key is to make sure MPC Essentials is scanning the correct VST folder(s). On a Mac, they will be installed to the same folder and selected automatically for you in the MPC Software.
1. Open MPC Essentials and navigate to the Preferences menu.
MAC: Select MPC > Preferences
PC: Select EDIT > Preferences
Choose the Plugins tab.
2. Add a check to the first available box on the left, then click on the browse box at the end of that row to browse to your plugin installation location.
3. Select the installation folder for each plugin,this is the default location on Windows for Hybrid & Wobble:
Hybrid
32-bit: C:Program Files(x86) / Steinberg / vstplugins 64-bit: C:Program Files / Steinberg / vstplugins
Wobble
32-bit and 64-bit:C:Program Files (x86)SONiVOXVST
4. Once they are selected click on Rescan All and they should scan into MPC Essentials with no issue!
If you still cannot scan Hybrid or Wobble into MPC Essentials, uninstall the plugins from your computer. You might have installed these into a different location on your hard drive. After uninstalling, restart your computer and make sure the plugins install into their default folders. Follow the link below on how to repair and remove programs in your Windows operating system:
MPC Essentials crashes when scanning for VST plugins
During the scanning process, incompatible or cracked plugins may cause MPC Essentials to stop functioning. If you experience crashes or instances of freezing while scanning your plugins, check the following.
If using Windows 10, especially on a touch screen laptop, you may want to check the display settings. Display scaling, specifically the enlargement of text, can cause some software to behave strangely. For the best results, set your display scaling to 100% and change it back after you're plugins have completed the scan:
1. Click on the Microsoft icon on your desktop, go to your Windows Settings and select System on the left-hand corner.
2. Click on the Display tab and scroll down until you see Scale and Layout.
3. Make sure that your Scale and Layout is set to 100%.
4. After you have made your changes, restart your computer and then attempt to scan your plugin folders again in MPC Essentials. Once you have successfully scanned your plugins into the software, feel free to go back to your Display Settings and change them back to the previous scaling. Keep in mind, if you need to scan plugins into your software again the scaling will need to be adjusted for that period of time.
For additional assistance on how to access your Display Settings, please follow this link:
MPK Mini Pads do not line up with the pads on MPC essentials software
After you are finished installing and authorizing the included software for the MPK Mini, you may find that the pads on the keyboard may not line up with the pads on the GUI of MPC Essentials.
For most users, simply hold down the Prog Select button and press Pad 6 to select Preset 2 - MPC Essentials. The Pad will blink signaling that a preset change has been made. This will line up the pads in MPC Essentials accordingly:
If this does not work right away, you may have an older model or have already overwritten the preset. But don't worry! We have a preset file already mapped out for you and ready to be loaded onto your MPK Mini MKII or MPK Mini Play.
If you are not already familiar with the MPK Mini Editor or need help installing the program, you may want to check out this article before attempting to load the MPC Essentials preset into the MPK Mini MKII:
If you already have the MPK Mini MKII editor installed, follow these steps to send the MPC Essentials preset file into your controller, if you have an MPK Mini Play you can find the editor download here:
1. Download The MPK mini mkII MPC Mapping file from this link. Please make sure to unzip the folder to your desktop once the file has completed downloading. If you have an MPK mini Play, download the MPC Essentials preset file from here.
Akai Mpk Mini Editor Software Download Mac Os
2. Close all other audio/MIDI software (including MPC Essentials), connect your MPK mini MkII to your computer, and open the editor software.
3. Select File > Open and navigate to the unzipped folder from Step 1. Select the file named mpc.mk2 and click Open. The preset settings will then be loaded into the editor.
4. On the left side of the editor, click on Send under Program 1. This will send the preset information to the first preset/program on the MPK.
5. On your MPK Mini MKII, hold down the PROG SELECT button and press Pad 5 (Prog 1) to select preset 1 on your MPK. The pad should flash to acknowledge the preset selection.
There are a few things to keep in mind here:
You have successfully setup your controller to work with MPC Essentials!
Getting 'Code Redemption Reached' error when entering license code into Ilok activation screen
If you are getting a 'Code Redemption limit has been reached' error when trying to activate your VST plugins there are few things that might have happened during your installation. These are the most common Ilok authorization problems:
The code was entered into the authorization field but it 'Timed Out' or 'Failed'
This often happens when the code has been entered into your Ilok account or one of the authorization prompts and is left hanging without clicking 'Next.' Or, you have already redeemed it and it's in your Ilok account waiting to be activated, check your Ilok license manager account to make sure it's not already in there. Please follow these steps:
1. Click on your Ilok License Manager icon. If you do not have this app already installed on your computer, you can get it from this link.
2. Find the plugin license in the list, right-click and select Activate.
If the license for your plugin is not in there and when you enter your code you still get the 'Code Redemption has been reached' error, please contact us and provide the following information:
This will give us all of the information we need to get you up and running!
You are trying to use the license code on the Second computer you are trying to activate
In order to use your license on a second computer, you must log into your Ilok account to activate your licenses on the new computer. You do not need to redeem your activation code again, this code is only meant to be used once to put 2 activations into your Ilok account. You can only have 2 computers activated at the same time. If you would like to activate more than 2 computers you would have to purchase an additional license for the plugin you are trying to use.
Follow the steps below to authorize your software on yourcomputer.
1. Open the iLok License Manager and Sign in
2. Click your username on the upper left-hand corner
3. Find the software license
4. Right-click (control+click for Mac) select activate
If you do not see the license in your Ilok account but the software is authorized on the first computer, the license is not attached to your Ilok ID which means you cannot manage the license between computers (you cannot activate your second computer or deactivate the licenses from the first computer.) In order to Take ownership of your licenses follow these steps:
1 . Go to the first computer and sign into your Ilok account
2. Click on your computer under the local tab underneath your Ilok ID
3. You should see all licenses currently located on your computer and the ones that are not attached to your Ilok ID. Right-click (control+click for Mac) select Take Ownership
You will see the activation populate in your licenses when you click on your Ilok ID again, now you can feel free to deactivate the first computer or log into the second computer to activate your license!
Your activation's are lost due to a crashed computer or computer hardware change
From time to time our computers can suffer physical damage, need to get their hard drives wiped, or need to have the OS reinstalled due to malware or viruses. In the event that this happens and you do not have access to the computer again, or there is a second instance of your computer taking up a license, you may need to reset a location to free up one of your activation's for a new computer.
If your computer has crashed or there is a second instance of your computer in your Ilok account and it's taking up a license, please contact us with this information so we can reset your inaccessible location:
Ilok ID:
Software Title:
Akai Professional Mpk Mini Editor Download
Location Name:
This will give us all of the information we need to get you up and running!
For additional information on how to manage your licenses, visit the links below:
Want to learn more about how the iLok License Manager works? Simply follow this link to find out!
Further Technical Support
Whether you are a customer or dealer, if you already own an Akai Pro product, or if you just have pre-sales questions, the Akai Pro technical support team is available to help!
Visit the link below to connect with any of the following support options: online community support, phone support, email support.
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