Akai just teased the SampleKey, a keyboard sampler with open firmware

Akai just teased something I did not see coming: the SampleKey, a keyboard sampler and the keyboard sibling of the MPC Sample.

The timing is the story here. Behringer announced a $150 MPC clone with open-source firmware yesterday, and Akai's answer is to open up its own firmware. In the teaser video, Akai Dan says they are opening the firmware to the community, so users can code their own functions into the unit. Turn it into a granular sampler, an FM synth, or a groovebox. You are the developer, depending on how much power the CPU inside has.

The hardware itself is compact and all about the keys. Two octaves, pitch and mod wheels, three knobs, a bigger encoder plus another on the left, and a center screen that looks like the one on the MPC Sample. One thing it does not have: pads. Those stay exclusive to the MPC Sample. Per the teaser, it can sample individual keys and do automatic key splits, among other things.

Full writeup from SynthAnatomy here: https://synthanatomy.com/2026/10/akai-samplekey-the-keyboard-sampler-sibling-of-the-mpc-sample-with-open-firmware.html

Fair warning: this is a teaser only, so no price, release date, or full specs yet. But open firmware on an Akai sampler is a big swing, and I want to see what the community does with it. What would you turn it into first?