Meru wrote:I've been looking to purchase a midi hardware controller recently & through my research I realized that for just a bit more money I could pick up a used MPC Live which could meet my need for a controller and alot more. Then I started thinking that if I did purchase one it would make some of my current gear obsolete.
It is fair that the MPC Live (or One, or X) can replace a lot of gear. Especially with Akai's push into adding in paid for synths and effects. I don't think enough people give credit to how much this has changed the ecosystem from previous MPC iterations. Akai is now more actively invested in bug fixes, for a longer period of time, and delivering frequent (albeit usually minor) updates. Without a doubt, you *can* make full tracks, solely on the MPC, and its ability to export audio out as stems allows you to, when you choose, work in a DAW.
Meru wrote:I do like Tracker it for it's atypical workflow and quirkiness and I like capturing samples from my other synths and running them through the Trackers Wavetable and Granular engines. But I don't use it for much else at this point.
If you don't mind the workflow and quirkiness of the Polyend, you'll likely not mind the same on the MPC. I only brought it up because I've seen people rage at one device for being quirky, only to jump to another device and also hate it for being quirky. At some point the problem becomes a "just learn the damn thing" instead of just hopping from device to device.
Honestly, this makes me feel like you'd likely spend the time on the MPC to get something out of it. I'm aware of, but personally not familiar with the Polyend wavetable or granular engines... if you enjoyed those, you'll probably find the MPC's offering in those spaces... lacking
. Plenty of other things to use and learn, and who knows what the future holds, but for now, there's a synth that has wavetables (Hype), and a granular FX (Granulator)... both are nice, but not going to do what the Polyend is doing.
Meru wrote:My only complaint with Bluebox is that it's a little noisy. But again, I don't dislike it. I love that I can run the AUX output to my Tracker and capture a sample from any of my synths without rearranging cables. I love its size and it's easy to use & I'm eager to see what 1010 brings with future firmware.
I have no experience with the Bluebox either... so can only say that it *might* pair well with the MPC Live... so more of a "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater" than anything I do or do not know about it.
Meru wrote:What I don't like is that I have to transfer my recordings from the mini SD to a computer to assemble/clean up the tracks. It's clunky and I'd really like to only use my laptop for updating gear and backing up samples and tracks. One intention I had while building my little home studio is to avoid using a DAW entirely.
Well Yorgos on the forums put together a pretty nice mastering fx chain
https://www.yorgosarabatzis.space/store. It's not magic obviously, but it will help you find issues in your mix, and it can get you 60-80% of the way through the mastering process without much a) knowledge and b) time investment. Frequently it's good enough with the basic settings. I will endorse this, as I do tend to use it frequently when I'm working on the MPC and staying in the box.
Meru wrote:I know one aspect of MPCs is that they are a DAW in hardware form, or atleast that's the way I perceive them, but having some of the functionality of a DAW in a hardware instrument feels to me like it would be a more linear work flow.
So I personally wouldn't call the MPC a DAW in hardware form. For me it is an easy device to have as the center of a studio, and it is also an easy device to be the only thing in your studio. If you're a bedroom producer, doing it for fun, or otherwise it's not your full-time job, then it can function as a DAW "in the box" just fine, but I think for anybody who's serious about making music, it's probably not going to cut it as your end of chain/DAW since you're likely reaching to the computer for a number of other synths/libraries/fx and such. Running the MPC in controller mode with the software can help bridge the gap(s) a bit here, but it's not going to convince anybody to move off of their preferred DAW.
All that said, as long as you're willing to live within the parameters of the MPC, you're likely going to find a *lot* to love.
Meru wrote:*edit Did you mean the Behringer UMC 1820? I'm not finding the RX.
You are correct.
Err... Rx1820 is what I have as a label on my patch bay lol... Rx for Receive and Tx for Transmit... brain disengaged when I looked for the model number really quick and just copy/pasted what the patch bay sticker says.
EDIT: Just one last thought... you *might* consider checking out the Akai Force... it's not portable in the same way the Live/Live mk2 is though...