wahhhhhhh, i want my MPC back :(

gort · Post by **gort** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 4:38 pm

please ignore/forgive me if i offend anyone here, but i've decided that anytime Akai comes up in a post, i'm gonna go ahead and say:

"AKAI SUCKS MY CHOCOLATE SALTY BALLS"

thanks for understanding...

nowtime · Post by **nowtime** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 4:47 pm

Just played one for the first time yesterday (and it was only a 500) and SHAZAM! ph-hat mofo inspiring drumming! I have _yet_ to experience such PUNCH and POW from Battery (even though their samples are amazing). Obviously a latency thing. Also played some of the drum kits on the new Korg M3 fuck! an amazing drumnbass kit on there.

I don't understand why these hardware units have such amazingly low latency, and why no one can build an uber-powerful sampler-synth with a big screen. In other words, when does a hardware unit become a computer?

leisuremuffin · Post by **leisuremuffin** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 4:56 pm

are software and hardware different?

yes.

Is one superior? no.

The mpc sounds different for sure. And it has a great workflow. But ultimately your output will have a lot more to do with you than it will with your equipment or software.

I find the insistance that the sequencer on the mpc is somehow tighter and more accurate than live to be very silly.

And the idea that the sound quality is better is also silly. Really? What audio interface are you using? What kind of processing are you applying to your material in live? The fact of the matter is that with software you can always change those things. Not so with the mpc, you're stuck with it's particular ad/da no matter what and your processing options are all after the sognal leaves the mpc anyway (unless you have one of the horrible internal FX cards).

anyway, if anyone in the central jersey area (even philly or nyc) wants to buy a 2000xl (max memory, internal FX, with external zip and a nice skb case) i'd sell mine. Never use it anymore. I dunno, maybe $700 obo.

.lm.

pabloaugustus · Post by **pabloaugustus** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:23 pm

nowtime wrote:Just played one for the first time yesterday (and it was only a 500) and SHAZAM! ph-hat mofo inspiring drumming! I have _yet_ to experience such PUNCH and POW from Battery (even though their samples are amazing). Obviously a latency thing. Also played some of the drum kits on the new Korg M3 fuck! an amazing drumnbass kit on there.
...

There have been several threads on here recently addressing the issues of how to get a bigger drum sound out of live....great thread in the tips forum, and check out the article on building a massive kick drum at http://sonictransfer.com/

I haven't checked out the M3 yet....don't want to get depressed about the triton extreme I bought a few months ago, (but with the MOSS board I just picked up the synth sounds are awesome), but I would like to check the M3 out, the triton drum sounds have never inspired me. [/b]

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:40 pm

I reckon the fundamental difference between what goes on inside computers and what goes on inside an MPC is that the MPC (at least the older ones) work in 16 bit internally, so there's no conversion going like there is in Live.

Whether or not that translates into a sonic difference, well, I dunno. I haven't used MPCs enough to know.

TITBAG · Post by **TITBAG** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:00 pm

ok here's the deal - mpc's have a mid range lift on the outs - it gives that 'knock' that rappers like

you could recreate it with eq in 3 seconds, but that doesn't stop people from perceiving that an mpc 'sounds better'

my view is, even knowing this, mpcs DO sound better, as the psychoacoustic sensation of seeing a hardware box pump out that kick and snare is so strong it almost makes you feel as if you were present at the mixdown of the Chronic and Chronic 2001

same with a minimoog and its woodcheeks etc blah

lets face it a laptop is for sending emails, no wonder its a disappointment in the hotness stakes

ok carry on with your minimal trance queerness you screen-gazing homos

JACKAL & HYDE · Post by **JACKAL & HYDE** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:06 pm

leisuremuffin wrote:are software and hardware different?

yes.

Is one superior? no.

And the idea that the sound quality is better is also silly. Really? What audio interface are you using? What kind of processing are you applying to your material in live? The fact of the matter is that with software you can always change those things.

Agreed,

If your using good converters like a Rosetta or RME and compare the same recording with a Soundblaster or Maudio and invert, your going to hear a difference. The MPC's converters probably fall somewhere in between the two sound card groups. Don't expect ableton or any other DAW coming out of a cheap sound card to knock like an mpc out of the box or high quality converters. The better the converters the better/punchier/crispier the sound.

Johnisfaster · Post by **Johnisfaster** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:34 pm

90's child wrote:Yes its so true that the people on the dancefloor will stop dancing if they hear drums coming directly from Ableton.
.

trolling? cause I've been to many a dance hall that can prove you wrong.

yourmom · Post by **yourmom** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:36 pm

Johnisfaster wrote: trolling? cause I've been to many a dance hall that can prove you wrong.

surely you can't be that dense? was it absolutly necessary for him to put a /sarcasm tag after his post?

3dot... · Post by **3dot...** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:38 pm

djadonis206 wrote:
but you know what might happen? You get the MPC again right, but some how you hit the beat yu've been looking for in the computer and next thing you know you're considering selling your MPC (again)

Kontakt and Battery can't replace an MPC - patience, talent and little hard work with the computer will

Smartest thing I heard on this post so far...

..also, if you really Do think that MPC sounds better ...then screw what I say, he says or she says...Just go for it... get that MPC back... and get inspired!!!

Cheers.

john gordon · Post by **john gordon** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:14 pm

ive used the mpc4000 and the mpc 1000,loved them both,but as soon as i picked up the roland mv 8800 i realized that i found heaven.it really is a sweet box.

3dot... · Post by **3dot...** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:54 pm

john gordon wrote:ive used the mpc4000 and the mpc 1000,loved them both,but as soon as i picked up the roland mv 8800 i realized that i found heaven.it really is a sweet box.

YES !!! I only tried the 8000... very sweet machine... I love the eq and fx on this (Space Echo is NICE+!!)
...And you know the 808 samples are bitchin' ... Bigass Color screen...it samples...it chops... and the faders are a treat... it burns...and does so much more... costs as much as an Mpc1000...(the mv8000)... very under rated ...but so is live...

3rdordertrauma · Post by **3rdordertrauma** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:06 pm

I love this thread!

So many things I want to comment on... I especially like 90's Child post... good stuff man!

@ djadonis... I agree completely what you said about patience, talent and hard work.

Greatest part about this topic is it been going on for like 10 years, and nothing has changed yet. I was arguing this point from the MPC side about 6 years ago... this of course was right after I spent 3 and half G's on the freshly released MCP4k. After a years worth of headaches and upset using one of the worlds worst publicly released OS's ever, I saw the light. I had a choice... I could spend $3k on a box that plays back samples and sequences them or I could spend $3k on a box that does everything under the sun from complete multi track recording sessions to emailing grandma. For me the decision was and easy one to make and I've never looked back.

Its like what leisuremuffin said... an MPC sounds like an MPC... a computer with a little of that patience and talent can sound like anything you make it sound like.

If you really just wanted to spend some money and its all just about a " phat " drum sound... there is always the option of popping a nice tube comp/limiter on your stereo bus + it serves a lot of other purposes in the studio... like making all the other stuff in your mix sound "phat" as well.

I'd actually be interested in running a comparison contest (for real) My bet is when the gear actually isn't sitting in front of someone they won't know MPC to computer regurgitated Casio.

dango · Post by **dango** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:32 pm

tjwett wrote:when i had my 1000 i wrote about 10 complete songs on it, in just a few months. on the computer i've never really completed a track, in like 7 or 8 years. i have about 400 eight bar ideas that never get finished. i'm more productive on hardware. i def miss my MPC.

it is strangely as if i wrote that post. me too.

dango · Post by **dango** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:37 pm

yourmom wrote:yo dango. do you mind posting those side by side comparisons? i am super curious to hear what you are hearing. much obliged.

sure when i get home i will post a track that was done entirely on the mpc then recorded into live and another i am working on now using the same sample cd but using live and kontakt. note the mpc drums will have no effects on them. the kontakt tracks i can post without effects and with the eq's and compressors i had to put on them to try and have them sound close to the mpc.

sorry to start a war here. it is just what i noticed. believe me, when i sold it i wanted to use just kontakt. don't think i have money to burn by buying and selling gear at a loss. i am buying it back because i can notice a more than obvious difference in the sound.