For discussion about setting up your studio and advice on the gear and equipment within it.
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By Danoc Thu Mar 15, 2018 7:25 pm
I have come from a big setup and out board gear, it was nice, now that I am compact with my setup, I feel great and I am making better music. The MPC Live is the center of my setup now.

What's up with your set if you would like to share. Pros and Cons.

By martel80 Fri Mar 16, 2018 12:12 pm
To compose , I believe theres absolutely no need for a complete hardware setup unless it involve a band or an orchestra.

If you're into electronic music like rap or house, a few hardware a good AD/DA and a well acousticly treated room is a must.

I also believe comfort should be put on top of anything else in this case.

I personaly dont feel comfortable surrounded by 500 000$ worth of hardware.

I prefer a couch, a TV with a video game or dvd and my corner with my samplers, 2-3 comps/EQ/preamp and my turntable.

To me, thats the perfect spot for introspection and exploration.

If you decide to have a few beers or a couple bottle of wine, you're never scared of destroying for 50 000$ worth of gear because you laughed and backed down on someone else beer on the corner of a rackmount filled with high end HW.
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By Bezo Fri Mar 23, 2018 4:21 pm
I'm in the midst of scaling back from a hardware-heavy set up to exclusively VIs with Touch & MIDI keys. I'm shedding 3 synths, a rompler, drum machine, racked keyboard & sampler, though my Minitaur & SE1-X will be very tough to let go.

I'm looking forward to conquering this learning curve. Despite being new to the Touch (limited MPC experience prior), things are moving a lot quicker than sequencing hardware via Logic, and Pro Tools prior to that. I can't imagine how much quicker this process will be once I know what I'm doing & establish a workflow.
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By richie Fri Mar 23, 2018 6:02 pm
I got tired of using 2 Mackie 1402 VLZ pro mixers so I just ordered 2 SSL XL consoles.
By SILIS101 Fri Mar 23, 2018 8:08 pm
richie wrote:I got tired of using 2 Mackie 1402 VLZ pro mixers so I just ordered 2 SSL XL consoles.


Hahaha
By terry towelling Wed Mar 28, 2018 7:58 am
i like the idea of having different sound types as they sit differently in the mix. so...a sampler (and records), an analogue synth, a digital FM synth, a microphone for recording latin hand percussion and some valve/tube EQ or pre. but i hate all the cabling and set-up.

i want to shrink things down -- i want to buy a yamaha dx reface (a small synth) and just have MV800 plus DX. trying to sell my ensoniq EPS to buy the dx reface atm.
By Christov Sun Apr 29, 2018 10:16 pm
I started making beats on a pc with a turntable and acquired some synths and samplers over the year. After getting a deskjob I ditched computer producing.

Currently use a mpc1000, a s950, a microkorg, a microbrute and a sp404 and offcourse a turntable. Probably gonna sell the 404 and the microbrute, got them both last year but also became a dad this year and since both machines have a learning curve and I aint got time to learn em and currently dont use em at all I don't see a point in keeping them. I only use my computer to sequence my tracked mpc loops and mixing. Works nice.
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By Bezo Tue May 01, 2018 3:07 pm
Update: Transition just about complete

I'm relying on VIs for 90-95% of my sound. Samples make up the rest. I haven't sold everything off yet, but I'm comfortable & happy with the sound I get, and workflow is simpler & quicker. I may keep one of my synths, but I'm OK selling everything else.

Unfortunately, because I rely so heavily on VIs, the Touch is relegated to MIDI Mode as a plugin in Logic for that 90-95% and will likely be sold. The original plan was to do creative work in/on MPC and mixing in Logic. The lack of multi-timbral plugin support was a surprise & major disappointment. Mad at myself for missing this information, but in retrospect, it's not documented by Akai in any obvious places. 1st time I've been disappointed with a musical purchase, and this experience steered me away from Akai for my MIDI keyboard needs. That Advance was looking good until.

Replace/sell Touch and other unused equipment and I'm officially in a small set up and happy with it.
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By Sharris Thu May 03, 2018 5:47 pm
I like to bounce around between small set ups & mix sounds from different sources.

I work in an office on a computer, so I couldn't spend 40 hours a week in front of a computer for work, then 40 hours a week in front of a computer in my free time. But I do feel I can benefit from using software, so I recently started incorporating it.

When first starting out I thought I wanted 1 big set up, but quickly realized I prefer multiple small set ups. I ALWAYS involve vinyl, but 1 night I might make a beat on the couch with a MPC 500 & 404sx or even just the po-33 K.O., the next night, make a beat with Maschine Mk3, guitar & guitar pedals, maybe throw in a little ms-20 mini. Then make a beat with the MPC 2500, found sounds, Proteus 2000/Mo Phatt, maybe add some scratching. I love to experiment & mix things up. I just go by feel. Listen to records, smoke a little green, get inspired, sample, chop & go from there. When I'm feelin lazy I'll just play with portable gear on the couch.
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By v00d00ppl Fri May 04, 2018 1:26 am
I have two recording rooms.

One room is a a MacBook Pro 2014 with an EPS classic working together. I use a rodec restyler for analog filtering and transient design for the output of the EPS into the MacBook Pro. Then it's MPD232 with live 10 on MacBook Pro.

The other room is imac pro with a push 2 and ssl x desk. Pretty simple.

I have a notebook in both rooms where I write thoughts, doodles, and sweet spots. Since the setup is so minimal I just keep writing throughout the week and do mix downs on the weekend.