Flavor Pro is an Akai Professional product, and the first thing the catalogue should establish is the host relationship, since Akai publishes instruments and effects in two distinct forms and the two require different things from a buyer: a plugin that runs in a DAW, and an MPC-ecosystem component that also runs on the hardware. The application of a flavour or colour processor in an MPC workflow is worth explaining, because it is the reason such a product exists inside that ecosystem rather than as a general-purpose effect. The MPC platform is built around sampling and pattern-based sequencing, and a colour processor inside that platform is used on the sample as it is loaded and on the pattern bus as it is assembled — which means the effect is applied at the point of sound design rather than at the point of final mix, and that placement changes what the processor needs to be. A flavour tool used on individual samples before sequencing has to work across a wide range of source material, since the same effect will be applied to a kick, a chopped break and a bass note within one project. A processor designed for that workflow therefore tends to offer a set of distinct character models rather than a continuous parameter range, since selecting a colour and adjusting its amount is faster than dialling in a sound from scratch on each of dozens of samples. The colour-processor category is well documented across the market and gives the catalogue criteria for what a listing should carry. XLN Audio's RC-20 Retro Color is organised as six modules — Noise, Wobble, Distortion, Digital, Space and Magnetic — and is positioned as perfect for drums, bass, guitars, keys and even full mixes, with a huge palette of vintage coloration effects and the developer's promise that it adds texture and life to sterile recordings. AudioThing, described as a developer of audio plugins compatible with multiple operating systems, established in 2011 and based in Dublin, publishes in the same territory, and the appropriate catalogue treatment is to lead with the specific models and controls rather than with the word "flavour", since a flavour processor's identity is its list of character types and its maximum amount of processing. The catalogue should also state whether a listing runs on hardware, since Akai publishes some components that run on the standalone MPC devices in addition to the software, and the hardware capability is a material feature for a producer working without a computer — and where a product is available in both a free and a paid edition, the catalogue should state which is listed, since Akai documents free modules within its effect ranges, as documented on Slate Digital's Virtual Mix Rack, where the developer lists Virtual Mix Rack Free as including Trimmer, Revival and Monster. Installation for MPC content follows a documented route of downloading the expansion and installing it into the MPC software's Expansions folder, or launching the installer on Windows, as documented on MPC Expansion Glitterball — a disco expansion with 10 drum kits built around vintage sources, produced by Sanny X with 8fonk on guitar and recorded rather than sequenced. Suits hip hop, electronic and sample-based production within the MPC workflow, and any session where colour is applied during sound design rather than at the mix stage. #FlavorPro #Akai #AkaiProfessional #MPC #MPCExpansion #Standalone #SoundDesign #Coloration #Flavour #CharacterModels #RC20RetroColor #XLNAudio #AudioThing #SlateDigital #VirtualMixRack #Glitterball #EditionComparison #HipHop #SampleBased #Mixing #MusicProduction #VST3 #AU #AAX