MPC Thread : MPC Live - MPC X - MPC One (Part 1)

Just tried the Live out in the shop - disappointed that I can feel the latency when finger drumming. Was hoping it would be snappier.

TIL you can connect the octatrack to the Live as a disk to copy files!

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Thatā€™s what I was hoping too :ecstatic:

You can??? And youā€™re sure the samps were trimmed tight?

Yep, the latency in standalone seems to affect all programs. I assume this is the same for all units, not just the one I tried. I used about ten or so preset kits and instruments. Itā€™s only a small amount of latency - probably doesnā€™t matter for a lot of people - but itā€™s enough that rapid finger drumming and quick rolls have to be done by physical feel, ignoring the sonic lag, which is kind of a bummer for a percussionist who wants to follow his ears. Iā€™m very sensitive to this, and Iā€™m used to the ultra-snappy response of the Nord Drum 2 + Pad and other low latency hardware units like the Wavedrum. Itā€™s the kind of thing that could be accommodated for with practice, but it seems itā€™s just the same as a computer with a low buffer setting. Keygroup programs feel like they might even be a bit slower than drum programs. Overall, Iā€™m still interested, but this is a bummer as finger drumming with self-created patches was the biggest hook for me.

really? i saw this video in mpc live group, sound smooth to me?

This ^
I was finger drumming my latest album in Live and felt super tight!

Thanks for the report cause Iā€™m quite sensible to latency and thatā€™s why I donā€™t usually use my iPad , canā€™t stand the jerky response , midi timing even if some of those synth sound really good. Iā€™m going to try it when available in my local store but I donā€™t have a great felling cause of the bugs, latency,
Etc.

Latency seems fine in the few finger drumming videos Iā€™ve seen.

Good idea to try it out first. Thereā€™s much less latency than using an iPad touchscreen by the way. I think it will be fine for most people, possibly me too if I can get used to it, just bummed because I expected better.

Iā€™m kind of glad Iā€™m forcing myself to wait a few months so that I can get a proper warranty (waiting until Iā€™ve moved to Australia). The demo unit also got pretty hot on the left side of the touch screen, which Iā€™ve seen described elsewhere. Excess heat is the quickest way to kill battery life, so thatā€™s kind of a bummer.

Some parts of the UI are a bit slow as well, like when selecting ā€œall keygroupsā€ from the dropdown list in program edit mode. The UI seems a bit undercooked right now. That kind of stuff can be fixed, but will it? Seems theyā€™ve got a lot on their plate with updates.

Overall it still seems like a great machine though, and Iā€™m hoping I still feel good about buying one a few months down the line.

Iā€™ve been using a couple of Wavedrums for the past few years, but Iā€™ve not felt any noticeable latency on the Mpc Live. Iā€™m without the Live for a week or so, but when I get it back Iā€™m going to really focus on comparing the response of both.

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Latency when finger drumming on my MPC Touch/MAC Mini SSD also noticed , its not too bad . The MPC Live = high end tablet inserted into a MPC Touch with more I/O.-exactly so of course you will get some latency because of the linux OS.

mhmmhā€¦ i didnt feel the latency at all. its very responsive to me. even when playing 16th rolls (not with note repeat, i mean playing it :-))ā€¦ thats actually the reason i have it and like itā€¦ maybe everyone should try out before buy, but as a former mpc 2500 user, i do NOT experience more latency in the liveā€¦ maybe the shop unit was unstable and had to be rebooted :-))

With my fingerdrumming skills (or lack of em), I am not noticing any lag. But then again, Iā€™m not going to be starring in Whiplash any time soonā€¦ Weā€™re talking about 1/64th note quintuplet swing rolls here, right? I understand that higher percussive skills bring higher expectations tho.

How have you found the work flow going from the 2500?

Have you used a Push before? How does it compare latencywise to something like that?

If I understood him correctly, he states that the latency of the mpc live feels the same to him as a computer/push/ableton combo, which both lose to Nord Drum 2 and wavedrum in his opinion.

Anyone who feels a latency of 32 or even 64 samps of an ITB setup has a different kind of nervous system than me. Iā€™m slow like that.

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No way those pads are the fastest Iā€™ve come across

Oh yeah, latency. Letā€™s go there.

Letā€™s assume a sample rate of 48 kHz and letā€™s be generous and go for a latency of 128 samples. This will give a delay of 128 Ć· 48000 = 0,0027 seconds or 2.7 ms.

For the speed of sound we use 343 m/s (thatā€™s in dry air at 20Ā°C).

Now letā€™s calculate the distance sound can travel through air in 2.7 ms: 343 Ɨ 0,0027 = 0,9 m.

Yup, thatā€™s right. Less than a meter. Thatā€™s about the distance between your hands and your ears when you clap your handsā€¦ :wink:

The lesson from this is that latency is always present in any kind of analog as well as in digital audio. I highly recommend http://whirlwindusa.com/support/tech-articles/opening-pandoras-box/ if you find this subject interesting.

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In shortā€¦ lightyears fasterā€¦ didnt like the sequencer in 2500 or jjosā€¦ too much ā€œclicksā€ā€¦ its pretty much close to the old workflow, but with the new bigger screen superfastā€¦ loadinng a sample, edit start and end, chop it to pads, play itā€¦ like 20 seconds :-))

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