This was kinda deep!
00:00 Intro 01:29 Global Controls 04:03 Pitch Effect / Module 07:09 Distortion Effect / Module 08:59 Digital Effect / Module 11:55 Vinyl Effect / Module 13:33 Volume Effect / Module 15:02 Timbre Effect / Module 15:45 Outro
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The whole converter discussion shows the deep-seated insecurity of those involved that their music is no good.
Instead of tackling this, they would rather blame Akai and the converters than themselves. Pathetic.
The converters are fine. They are not the problem, your attitude is.
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That & deep-seated nostalgia can make people hate the modern replacement of the thing they loved for so long.
Also, not knowing how to gain stage for these new MPC & that a 32-bit float sampler can play sounds way louder without distorting. These are some videos that helped out:
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I am not looking for a discussion about the topic.
If you want to know where I am coming from read this article.
It sums up what is on my mind regarding the topic of fear of missing out and conformity instead of creating and being creative.
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There is something a bit amiss about the ultimate in/out sound tho.i like to think people at least can hear its not exactly untouched.almost a grainy,dry texture.some top end missing.but maybe thatās my terrible recording techniques and gainstaging ehā¦.
Audio integrity is everything.if it donāt sound flattering to your ears gotta move on.if the sounds coming out donāt intermingle interestingly and gel together and become more that the sum of there parts,you have to do more work in the box.i believe (and always have) that the samplers of old had some magic/personality which led to the overall experience.and some say they banged harder tooā¦ā¦ā¦))
Product A : good sound
Updated product : not as good without tweaking
Internet : āyeah you donāt know how to use your sampler blablablaā
Itās important to restate that the argument is that Akai are selling there flagship new product at 2500 dollars and it has the same sound as there lowest consumer model after 5 or so years.Just that they have no interest in at least listening and developing that side of it further.Thatās fine consumer can look elsewhere.if not satisfied //
Iām wondering if this issues with converters are really important these days. They became so advanced. Even converters from 2010 onwards are up with the task for modern production. And who can hear differences at all. Sometimes Iām listening to electronic music productions from the nineties and they sound magnificent ā¦ maybe my ears arenāt as good anymore which is given my age more than possibleā¦
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I dunno.some machines I had and got here atm (MV8800) just sound majestic and huge.with lots of personality.its a different eraā¦admittedly itās often the flagship machines that have that epic overall largeness.MPC 4000,Ensoniq ASR10,the EMU rack samplers.Even the MPC5000 sounded bigger and more spacious that the 2500/1000ā¦.what they all had and is missing somewhat now is some texture/weight to the overall tone.i guess its the analog side.weāre living in a very exact digital world.Iām just old fashionedā¦.my eardrums vibrate different;y to sound wavesā¦ā¦
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To be honest, Iāve never found anything āmagicalā about Akai 16 bit converters, on any MPC or S series sampler Iāve owned thru the years. To my ears itās always been a pretty clean and transparent sound. Some people like that, some donāt. Iād rather look for color and character thru processing and filtering, than in the converter itself.
Kurzweil, Roland, Emu and Ensoniq, for example, always had a more pronounced sound to my ears. Depending on the application, sometimes it was great, sometimes it was a bit too much of a good thing, if you know what I mean.
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Yes, the thing about the MPC 3000 is (or isnāt ?!) the swing
They arenāt. For most of us. And thatās the point.
The price point where converters nowadays would make a difference is an area professional audio engineers with a lot of experience can tell, not Joe Shmoe.
Maybe that hurts, but why keep feeding the illusion there is an audible difference when most recording situations include major flaws that lead to mixing and recording mistakes and have no professional background that would justify an argument over converter quality.
Or to formulate a more postive and point of view, let me quote the article that I linked above:
Your Sampler & Your Self-Esteem
Now onto your samplers. The same principle applies here as well. Theyāre not that important in the grand scheme of things. Itās better to regard yourself as the ultimate instrument played by creativity. In this light, you can view creativity as your conscience. Your intuition. Your gut feeling. Your soul. Whichever term youād like, as long as the emphasis is placed on your intelligence. Unless you feel that your sampler is a more complex and intelligent being than you; Why then, would you hold an instrument in higher esteem than yourself? Youāre the real standalone. Not your vintage sampler.
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Brah,even the Akai S3000xl sounds incredible.clean,precise,even sterileā¦.but man that thing is a sonic dream compared to now.if that was in the X I would be all over it all day long.i would go out and buy it right now at full price.No jokeā¦ā¦ā¦
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You missed the point of the discussion if thatās your understanding and conclusion. The question is āhow good does the sampler sound?ā not āhow good can I make the sampler sound?ā
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Product A : good sound
Updated product : not as good without tweaking
Internet : āyeah, maybe the problem is your self esteemā
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During the past 3 decades Iāve definitely noticed a recurring pattern on Internet forums, when itās about Akai samplers sound.
The previous model always sounded/swung better than the current one.
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Also true. There is no denying though that thereās something special to the sound of the MPC60 and MPC3000. After that Iād say not so much.
In particular the 1000 and 2500 I feel sounded ok at best and I think the modern lineup sounds better (more pristine of course but also just better sound signature) than those two.
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That was a great article. Iāve know TDS from YouTube for years now, shame he doesnāt have more subscribers, but I can also see why.
Anyway, Iāve very aware of this obsessive need in music artist or maybe itās better to say music makers to comform to the current norm & not to long into making music in 2002 Iāve had the mentality of fuck what everybody else is doing, I need to focus on what Iām doing. The world doesnāt need another Dilla or whoever is considered a standard of greatness, it need your unique greatness. Many Hip-Hop beats maker are stuck in the 90ās which is my favorite era too, but a true artist is a creator of novelty.
My artistic philosophy is that in order to stand out like a 3-D picture, your music needs to contain the 3-Dās of great art: Dope, Different & Deep. This is an oversimplification of it, but the point is itās something that I focus more on then the quality of convertors, as if thatās gonna matter if your music didnāt have those 3-Dās. Making dope beat aināt enough if it sounds just like all the dope beats. Your style needs to be different in your own unique way & deep technically, so itās not easy for others to know how you did what you do & copy you exactly.
Do anyone else have an artistic philosophy or are interested in that kind of stuff?
A great book that got me thinking more like this was actually a photography book called āThe Art of Photographyā Bruce Barnbaum. This help me form & my musical vision or at started me think about creating in a certain way.
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Product A releases:
Product B releases after Product A:
Internet: āMuh product A sounds better because it released before product Bā, incapable of explaining how Product A sounds better at first place.
āitās the swingā, so if I play my music unquantized the MPC3000 is not better than a MPC Live?.. Itās not the āswingā, the MPC3000 and the MPC Live have the exact same swing.
The MPC 3000 was never renowned for its ābetter soundā. Itās only recently that some people are trying to hype it up (as well as the MPC2000 and the 2500), in order to hype up used prices. As I said many times in fact, AKAI sampler were deemed ācold soundingā aside from the S950 compared to anything EMU or Ensoniq.
There are reasons to prefer older devices (look, simplicity,no touch screenā¦) but āsoundā is considerations are what they are, completely subjective.
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I got MPC 1k/2500 & think they sound transparent but the Force sound more better. But itās seems like multiple people are having different arguments at the same time about the sound quality of the different units. Let me just clarify my position. I think all the MPC sound great & wouldnāt think you gonna use a vintage model to make a dope beat. Iām only interested the sound comparisons just to hear any unique differences so I donāt care whoās the ābestā. My first sampler was a SP-505 so maybe I have low standards but Iām OK with that.
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