What’s up, Lab Crew!
I was pleasantly surprised to come back from vacation to a post about some new plugins for the MPC.
Apparently, last month there were some breakthroughs in the HAKAI community, and we now have over 73 Hardware verified* New VST PLUGINS THAT WORK ON THE HARDWARE!?!?!?
What is the MPC Underground/Hakai?
Hakai started off as a custom firmware branch that brought some Akai Force features to the MPC and unlocked other aspects of the OS. But as of last month, there was a MAJOR leap in the community's capabilities and output.
The MPC OS runs on a JUCE-based plugin host, so developers have started coding and porting plugins that can run inside the MPC software.
I’m most excited about the Airwindows plugins that have been compiled for this. I will definitely be turning my more seasoned Akai Force into a sandbox for these plugins.
I’m very impressed at the speed of the development honestly. This project only really blossomed in September 2026, which is less than a few weeks ago, and it's already a working ecosystem.
I’ve even started working on a few plugins to contribute to the community.
The community and brains behind it
Most of the credit goes to those who are daring enough to risk bricking their machines; they are the true MVPs. With a self-enforced ‘no piracy’ rule, the community often brings to life features that have been overlooked or underdeveloped by Akai.
And this isn't something the MPC community hasn’t seen before.
Who remembers JJOS?
Short for Japanese Genius, a rumored Akai ex-coder brought critical bug fixes to the MPC1000/2500 and features Akai never brought to completion.
The product is still being developed, as a new version was released recently.
I think it speaks volumes that Akai has continually curated a community willing to ‘hack’ their products and bring new, desired functionality to them. It’s very hip hop
And there isn’t any other company out there that really has this unique challenge.
Installation
The biggest hiccup for me at this point is the need for root access. The documentation says that the installers need root SSH, and this is a step in modifying the hardware. #warrantyvoiders.
Which brings me to my biggest caveat.
I could brick my machine using these builds,
and there is no Akai support.
That’s something to keep in mind for those willing to dive in.
There are real risks, and if you don’t have a backup machine, you’re playing with fire.
The best *free MPC VSTs you can get
With some classics like Dexed and JV-880 coming to the ecosystem, you can maintain continuity of sound from the DAW to the hardware, which is pretty cool for a dedicated hardware version of a DAW VST…
But the catalog is essentially limitless, and I know we’re only a few weeks in; however, the community has spoken.
Consider this AKAI's unofficial' Max 4 Live ’ with virtually endless synth tones and audio utilities.