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

Whats a NAS USB device?

1 Like

well, now we have nice new effects, letā€™s talk about master effects chain again :slight_smile:
iā€™ve used this one before:


fuzz at beginning, cause i just like my music to be a bit saturated. and mpc3000 as a limiter here.
want to tweak this chain a bit, with new compressor, to make it a bit more dynamic. and new eq, maybe.
can anyone share their master fx setup?

2 Likes

Iā€™m lazy, I just put the AIR Mastering on the master and tweak till Iā€™m happyā€¦

I sometimes like to use several instances of the MPC vintage effects in series.

But truth be told, havenā€™t really considered mastering with the MPC tbh

1 Like

yeah, me too, itā€™s just for the live set to be compressed and to sound good on the clubā€™s soundsystem

For that, I just use the analog heat. Personally not a fan of compression.

Hey guys! Now that the mpc live is a more mature product, whatā€™s your opinion about it? Thinking about replacing my sampling trilogy (digitakt / mpc500 / sp404sx) by oneā€¦

Edit: for a bit of background, Iā€™m a jungle / boombap head, so lots and lots of chops in my music

Iā€™m about to release as a template the ultimate master chain for the new MPC series through my website store!(https://yorgosarabatzis.wixsite.com/yorgosarabatzis)
No need for anything else after that itā€™s the bomb!Instant Mastering!Tweaking the last detailsā€¦
Stay tuned!

2 Likes

For jungle and boombap, canā€™t really think of a better box, unless you want a ā€œvintageā€ sampler soundā€¦ In which case maybe MPC3000 or an EMU sampler would give more of that? My solution for that is a korg volca sample & PO-33, I just sample the ā€œvintageā€ sounds into either of those and resample back into MPC live if I want sampler grunge.

Only caveat for you could be the step sequencer. Its nowhere near elektron-level, no plocks / sample locks, and the touch UI could be slicker for that.

1 Like

For me, the tricky one there is the SP-404SX. I have one, and although I just bought an MPC Live, I find myself leaning toward keeping the 404. Despite the fact that itā€™s practically made from recycled alarm clock parts, it does bring two things to the table that the MPC does not (at least not yet anyway):

  1. It has the unique ability to stream up-to 6 stereo/12 mono samples at a time, of virtually any length (up-to the 32gb limit), directly from the SD card (which is literally days worth of audio). That said, disk-streaming is supposed to be coming to the MPC at some point, but as of right now, the 404 still has the advantage there.

  2. The FX. Period. Simply put, there are a few algorithms in there that cannot be replaced. If nothing else, theyā€™d be valuable to resample through back into the MPC. Hell, Iā€™d be using the 404 across the main outputs of the MPC, just as an FX unit, if only its inputs werenā€™t -10db consumer level RCA connections (sigh).

Otherwise, I think the sample/sound locks and other key aspects of the Elektron sequencer can, at very least, be emulated on the MPC, and the Live is light years beyond the 500 in my opinion. Of course, it all depends on how you use your boxes.

Cheers!

1 Like

Hello,

Anyone else noticing the latency when monitoring using the audio input and midi sequencing gear using the drum pads? Normally I use the mpc to drive a lot of gear thatā€™s plugged into my mixer but I took it and my emx2 out with me and noticed that the latency only appeared when attempting to sequence the korg via mpc padsā€¦maybe a midi thing? I didnā€™t seem to experience same latency when monitoring stuff I was tapping out on the emx2 itselfā€¦

As for 2. you could run the MPC to the 404 from the headphone output using a minijack-rca cable

Yes, true. And on occasion, I do that with other gear. However, as much as I donā€™t like mixing and matching odd cables and adaptors, more than anything, I try to avoid discrepancies in my gain structure wherever possible. Much like a studio, the signal flow in my live rig (which is where I spend most of my time) is pretty much immaculate: i.e. almost everything is +4db line level on balanced connections; and anything that isnā€™t, is on an insert or parallel effects loop.

I do wish the MPC Live had a dedicated insert point for patching external FX. That would make using the 404 a no-brainer for sure. I still think the 404 is a useful tool for sampling though; itā€™s just frustrating in the context of a larger setup, due to the lack of connectivity, both audio and MIDI.

Cheers!

Ahh okay. In that case you need a line level shifter. Use a Lake People SYM-AMP myself, they sometimes pop up on ebay for quite a reasonable price. Using it in my setup for going from rytm mk I indiout into balnced XLR (line level)

I also recall many studios over here having Aphex line level shifters. And ebtech makes one too IIRC

well, that was helpful, thanks!

anything i sequence from mpclive and plug into itā€™s input, produce huge latency, so itā€™s unusable.

@tsutek Nice! An mpc3000 or an sp1200 would be cool indeed if I had the money / space / gears to process itā€¦ But I have a Volca Sample already loaded with pitched up samples ready for some pitched down crunchyness and resampling! Iā€™ve also read that the mpc has gained some pretty good fx since last updates.

@JohntheSavage Iā€™ve never been too fond of the sp effects. The hands on tweakability is indeed nice but the effects themselvesā€¦ meh. Which ones do you especially like? And what do you think about mpc last update with all the new fx?

Regarding the sample / soundlock, I think I can live without since an mpc can handle a lot more samples than a DT at once. The plocks, Iā€™m still pondering how I would replace themā€¦

Well, as previously stated, Iā€™ve only had my MPC for a few weeks; during which time Iā€™ve been mostly sampling and building programs for an upcoming tour, so Iā€™ve yet to take the MPCā€™s onboard FX to task in any critical way. However, at a glance, and from what Iā€™ve heard thus far, they seem to be usable, and they do cover most of what the 404 has to offer in that respect. However, Iā€™m partial to the B-side, ā€œcharacterā€ type FX on the 404 that Iā€™ve yet to find alternatives for in the hardware domain: i.e. Noise Gen, Vinyl Sim, Radio Tuning, etc.

For that matter, the Voice Trans, C. Canceler, Subsonic, and at least one of those (admittedly bizarre) pitch algorithms, though somewhat less useful, are also unique to the 404, love 'em or hate 'em. Never mind that several of the more common FX, like the Overdrive, Bitcrusher, Isolator, and what have you, are comparable to what youā€™d find on any other box, only youā€™ve got them all under one roof with dedicated knobs to turn.

Again, to each their own. We like what we like. Iā€™m just sayingā€¦

For the record, I think youā€™d probably get along just fine without the 404; especially since you donā€™t seem to be a fan of its FX anyway. But again, I canā€™t speak for you there.

As for p-locks, you can record automation for some parameters on the MPC Live, but other than that, yaā€¦ Elektron!

Cheers!

1 Like

Thanks for sharing all that, mate!

1 Like