MPC 2500: Q&A

elmacaco wrote:
Wow, that is sick, just move the start point after the end point and it plays in reverse. Damn that's sick.

loop point modulation would be a great feature for any mpc.

Maybe...but I don't believe you can do that with this MPC.

jahrome wrote:

lank wrote:
- i can definitely understand the problem in figuring out the midi CC info without a proper manual (or if that's not something you use much to begin with). any subscreen where you can assign parameters to different midi CCs? how are Q-link controls assigned to CCs?

You can enter MIDI CCs directly in the sequence Step Edit mode. I'm looking to test the ability of the Q-link sliders controlling external MIDI modules.

yep, i'm guessing entering midi CC info into the sequencer is the same. i was wondering though which (if any) of the internal sample parameters could be controlled via midi CC (pitch, attack/decay, cutoff, res, start/end?).

ahh, too bad you can't modulate the start/end points in realtime. it really is an interesting feature for doing more experimental stuff. maybe tack it onto a wishlist for a future update? but yeah, modulating sample s/e or loop points via midi CCs is a great feature. not very useful to some people though.

sample editing:
can u select a range in a sound and apply an fx or edit to that selection? for example, u select 1 beat in a 1 bar loop and apply some overdrive to that part
is this possible? no mpc does this


Is there eq per sound/part?

drumtrackwrote:
sample editing:
can u select a range in a sound and apply an fx or edit to that selection? for example, u select 1 beat in a 1 bar loop and apply some overdrive to that part
is this possible? no mpc does this


Is there eq per sound/part?

I would answer your question by saying no.

However, the MPC records mixer data so if you make changes in real-time, it will be recorded. But as I see so far, Reverb is the only FX that will be effected by mixer change data. The other FX can be sync'd to the sequencer, but I am looking into that more.

There is no EQ per part If I am not mistaken, only the MPC 4000 does. Each part/sample does has its own filter and LFO setting.

jahrome wrote:
Maybe...but I don't believe you can do that with this MPC.

yeah it's never really been an MPC thing and it may never be, it isn;t something most people would use, and few samplers do it at all.

Thanks for the answer tho.

man I gotta check out an s612 once just to try that loop end before loop start reverse technique, I've never even heard of that kind of implementation of reverse. maybe even the machine drum...

What about a CF card? Has anyone bought one yet that works in the 2500? I want to order a CF card that I know is going to be compatible. The AKAI website only says that it has to be a Type II card. I'm thinking about getting something that is a maximum of 1 GB. I would rather have several small cards dedicated to projects instead of one huge card with the potential of losing a lot of my work.

Cowbell wrote:
Jahrome, i appreciate your testdrive.
I would like to know about the timing of the 2500. The MPC1000 had bad timing in the beginning (has been solved with last OS). Could you please run the following test:
- Select a sound for all 16 pads
- Play a simple 4/4 beat with all 16 (or more, the more the better cause it's got 32 voices) of them on the same place
- Then take a short sound (hihat) and program this in 16th on top of that
- Now listen to the 16th hihat SOLO ON YOUR MIXER (all the other sounds should still be played inside your MPC)

Hopefully the 16th hihat will run perfect in time no matter how many sounds are triggered simultaneously.
If the 2500 has bad (midi) timing the 16th hihat wil not sound tight at the moment the other sounds are triggered. It will have s slight 'hic-up' effect to it.

I ran it through this test. I found no timing issues.

How Many Tracks of Audio can you record?


I watched the samplekings video a few times, and he recorded audio from the Micron. I wanna know if there a certain level of tracks you can record.

jahrome wrote:

Cowbell wrote:
Jahrome, i appreciate your testdrive.
I would like to know about the timing of the 2500. The MPC1000 had bad timing in the beginning (has been solved with last OS). Could you please run the following test:
- Select a sound for all 16 pads
- Play a simple 4/4 beat with all 16 (or more, the more the better cause it's got 32 voices) of them on the same place
- Then take a short sound (hihat) and program this in 16th on top of that
- Now listen to the 16th hihat SOLO ON YOUR MIXER (all the other sounds should still be played inside your MPC)

Hopefully the 16th hihat will run perfect in time no matter how many sounds are triggered simultaneously.
If the 2500 has bad (midi) timing the 16th hihat wil not sound tight at the moment the other sounds are triggered. It will have s slight 'hic-up' effect to it.

I ran it through this test. I found no timing issues.

good! i hated the unstable timing on the 1000 before O.S. 1.0.7

jahrome wrote:

jocks wrote:
hi jahrome!
have you seen any velocity modulation of sample start point? mpc1k miss it along with a separate filter envelope.

Can you tell me exactly what you would do with this function so I can give you a complete answer?

this function exists in mpc60, 2kxl & 3k. by playing with different velocityes on a pad, you move the sample start point so that different amount of the sounds attack is heard. combine that with velocity switch of sample layers, and you get more realistic drum beats. the sample start is modulated by velocity, just like when you use q-link fader to change sample start. it's an old trick that was used when samplers only had 1meg of memory, but it's very effective!
/jocks

jocks wrote:
this function exists in mpc60, 2kxl & 3k. by playing with different velocityes on a pad, you move the sample start point so that different amount of the sounds attack is heard. combine that with velocity switch of sample layers, and you get more realistic drum beats. the sample start is modulated by velocity, just like when you use q-link fader to change sample start. it's an old trick that was used when samplers only had 1meg of memory, but it's very effective!

I must have missed that function of the MPC 2KXL and 3K. I didn't know they had the ability to velocity switch between sample layers??? Am I misunderstanding something here?

The 4K also has powerful velocity switching. You can layer additonal samples to be activated within a restricted range of velocities! I remember learning this feature was there only by exploring the 4K and its great user interface. I can't remember if velocity switching is covered in the operator manual or not because I haven't looked at that chapter in a long time. Even if it is there the subject gets so complicated that a lot of cats won't understand it.

Hurricane Producer
The 4K also has powerful velocity switching. You can layer additonal samples to be activated within a restricted range of velocities! I remember learning this feature was there only by exploring the 4K and its great user interface. I can't remember if velocity switching is covered in the operator manual or not because I haven't looked at that chapter in a long time. Even if it is there the subject gets so complicated that a lot of cats won't understand it.

The MPC 4000 is the only MPC that it is a complete sampler..I wouldn't really call that feature power because most full samplers have that today.

But it was implied that the older MPCs can do this as well.

[/quote]

I must have missed that function of the MPC 2KXL and 3K. I didn't know they had the ability to velocity switch between sample layers??? Am I misunderstanding something here?[/quote]

you'll find it under pad assign folder in mpc2kxl. you select different mode: normal (one sound) simultaneous (three sounds) or velocity switch ( three sounds switching depending on the midi velocity). mpc1k call it sample layers.
back to the velocity-to-start-point issue: you should find it somewhere around amp envelope or filter envelope, if it's there. hopefully akai will add vel-to-sample-start function in the next upgrade of my mpc1k...
/jocks

jocks wrote:
you'll find it under pad assign folder in mpc2kxl. you select different mode: normal (one sound) simultaneous (three sounds) or velocity switch ( three sounds switching depending on the midi velocity). mpc1k call it sample layers.
back to the velocity-to-start-point issue: you should find it somewhere around amp envelope or filter envelope, if it's there. hopefully akai will add vel-to-sample-start function in the next upgrade of my mpc1k...

Ok..I see where you are heading. When the word layer was mentioned, it sounded like you can stack sounds directly on top of eachother like what the MPC 4000 and 2500 has. It is not quite the same thing that the XL has. But I will do what I can to look into it.