Share your knowledge on these two classic MPCs
By Stoobysnax Wed May 25, 2016 6:52 pm
Sorry for the delay here...

Someone early on pointed out that doing what I was (and still am) doing doesn't actually sample the audio, therefore isn't adding the 12 bit digital MPC60 thing... I'm not 100% sure what is happening to the audio as it's running through the MPC... But one thing for sure is the low, mid, and hi gain switches on the back, and the software sampling level, definitely do change the incoming signal a lot, just as they do when you are sampling... so the MPC is definitely still using it's pre amp to do something to the sound, even though it's not sampling anything.

I simply have an out on my Apollo 8 running to the input on the MPC, then the out of the MPC running into my Neve / Distressor and back into my Apollo. I can simply run any channel inside Logic out to the output on the Apollo that runs to the MPC... If i have the monitoring turned on on the MPC, then voila, i hear, in real time, no delay (no noticeable delay) the audio as it sounds through the MPC / NEVE / DISTRESSOR. It's really simple.

I will say that for sure the MPC is doing something at this stage, BUT, the Neve and Distressor are probably doing more. I've had the neve a long time, but hadn't yet gotten too into really pushing it hard... now that i am and am experimenting a lot more, I can really mess with the audio coming back in. I'm sure if i simply bounced the audio out and back through the NEVE without the MPC, i'd also think it sounded awesome.

Having said all of the above, i'm only doing this once in a while, and started doing it mostly on tracks where the drums were all sequenced out already and i just wanted to see how things sounded. 99% of the time, i am using the MPC the way it was intended... sampling and sequencing on the MPC, and then tracking the audio back into Logic when it's dialled.

Also, i have done some test a/b samples from within Logic's EXS, and then the same samples sampled and sequenced on the MPC WITHOUT the neve or distressor... There is still some magic that the MPC does there, but it doesn't always win out 100% of the time... With the neve and distressor in the chain, using them to enhance whats coming out of the MPC, it almost always wins.

So, my conclusion is that the MPC is rad, but the combo of the MPC with the neve is the bomb.

The number one thing i love about the 60 though is that i can create beats/music without looking at my computer screen.
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By mr_debauch Thu May 26, 2016 8:08 pm
one of the coolest features of the 60 is the echo send return.. that is one feature they never brought back after that model unfortunately.