Hi guys. Thinking of buying a piece of gear that can record automation of midi cc from my Digi boxes and was looking at two options, MPC one and oxi one mk2. Obviously one costs more and does more but my question is specifically about the midi cc sequencing and recording capabilities.
Does anyone know if the MPC one can record incoming midi cc without manually having to map each one I want to record? And can it do it over USB with Digitakt/digitone? And Is the USB midi 2 way (ie: recorded automation on MPC can then be sent back to automate digitone).
And same questions for the automation lanes on Oxi One mk2. Can it do all of the above? Is manual cc mapping required?
I just want to set the channels on automation lanes, press record and record knob tweaks to send back to the synth without having to map every single one. Is it possible on either?
MPC records all incoming MIDI, be it notes, velocity or CC. It’s just another CC-lane for the sequencer, which to my knowlege will be created automatically, if the CC is incoming. But check the manual first - I’m not absolutely sure.
OXI One (MK I)) manual’s section recording is not clear, wheather CC can be recorded live from external gear.
Consider that on the OXI the number of CC-lanes per track is limited.
I use my OXI One for typical step sequencing tasks only and use the CCs from there to control external gear.
If I want to record all MIDI note-parameters and CCs during a live situation I prefer to work with MPC.
If this has not been changed with OXI One II there is a difference, which is important for my workflow.
- MPC: All MIDI data can be exported to standard MIDI files and be used/imported in DAWs
- OXI One was/is a closed environment. No export option available. In case of need a re-recording is possible playing back the OXI and recording in the DAW.
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My experience with sending modulation to the mpc from my keystep pro is that I didn’t have to set anything up and the midi tracking, be it notes or modulation, is very good. I’ve sent a stream of live notes from the KSP arpeggiator into my Live 2 and it tracked it without any issues. I don’t know much about the Oxi to compare but this is one feature where I think the MPC is quite useful. I’d have to try it in the way that you mentioned sending midi cc back and forth to track the CC and sequence the elektron from the MPC. My feeling though, is that most of the point of having an elektron device is the sequencer so I would not personally choose to sequence an elektron with an MPC, maybe the other way around in fact.
The cc recording of the sequencer in the MPC is much smoother than elektron though. The elektron motion recording is a bit stepped in comparison.
I’ll let you know if I can think of anything else useful.
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Thanks for the detailed explanation. Does oxi record knob movements done on the oxi though, is it precise recording or does it interpolated between automation points? I’m certainly more enticed by the MPC, but the oxi will take up less space and costs less.
Thanks for explaining. I’m thinking of using the MPC to record smooth knob performances as automation from the elektrons, since they don’t have parameter slides. I’m more the kind of person that likes to record stuff to midi rather than audio, so I can tweak it later.
What do you mean elektron motion recording is stepped? Or do you just mean it’s all quantized to the steps?
You mentioned MPC recording is smoother? You mean it can record non-stepped automation? That’s what I assumed. Or is it still kind of steppy despite that?
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I understand what you’re saying. I mean that it seems like the elektron motion recording for CC is at a lower resolution than the MPC so like, it feels like the step to step distance is in larger chunks where the MPC feels like it records in smaller increments. So it’s like if you were walking up a big staircase, sometimes the elektron sequencer feels like it’s taking 2 stairs at a time, the mpc feels more like you’re walking up and hitting every stair.
It’s still not going to be as smooth as live playing a sequence and twisting a knob, but with MPC I don’t notice that stepped behavior as much, occasionally with elektron I do. That’s what I’m referring to specifically.
This is talking about internal sequencing, not external so I don’t know how bouncing that back to the elektron from the MPC would be. That is limited by midi vs the internal sequencer playback of these devices should not be limited to a midi resolution, I can’t confirm that, but it stands to reason because it’s not forced to communicate between ports on different devices so they’re running on their own engines when sequencing internally.
The elektron internal sequencer just has a more stepped character to it, in my experience. The MPC records modulation in a way which feels more linear, I guess.
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Yes.
I think it’s precise and there should be an interpolation as well, but I can’t tell you about the time-resolution.
Yes for the size - but the cost between OXI One II and MPC One in the EU are about < 900 OXI vs < 680 MPC One
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Oh wow, for some reason I thought the oxi would be cheaper
. Then it’s really a no-brainer between the two for my needs
Thanks for answering everything 
Ah I understand, thanks for clarifying. And if I were to use parameter slides on MPC (if it even has them) would it be less stepped?
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I don’t know what the equivalent of parameter slides is on MPC, I’ve never even tried sorry.
Not saying that it can’t, I just honestly don’t know the answer.
I think all automation is a bit tighter though. Independent of the sequencing, just the automation of volume and effects etc. Like when you look at the visual feedback for the performance curve, the graphic representation is very rounded and seems accurate to me.
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