MPC X, MPC Live, MPC One & MPC Key 61 Forum: Support and discussion for the MPC X, MPC Live, MPC Live II, MPC One & MPC Key 61; Akai's current generation of standalone MPCs.
By d2ba Thu May 25, 2017 7:58 am
MPCLive CPU is apparently used in high end mobile phones and embedded devices? so I'm wondering what the feel of the sequencer is like compared to older standalone MPC's. like MPC1000/2500 ? Would the generic OS
Linux cause any timing jitter?
Amy concerns?
Thanks
By pulsefrequenz Wed May 31, 2017 7:37 am
so far, the timing feels stable. i had a small issue when starting the gear for the first time. the sequencer was delayed for like 1 second and i thought "o my god" :-)... just restarted it and since then its rock stable
By analoguebubblebath Mon Aug 14, 2017 10:54 pm
I've had my MPC Live for 2 weeks, over the weekend I ran some timing tests and found the MPC Live's sequencer timing to be VERY inconsistent. Here's my post straight from the Akai Professional community forums:

"I've been integrating my new MPC Live into my analog hardware setup, where I am syncing the MPC to other sequencers and drum machines. On first adding the MPC to the setup, I started to hear a bit of timing discrepancy between the MPC's drum patterns I had made and other hardware.

I did a bit of research/testing and ended up recording clicks from all of the devices simultaneously. In my DAW I then went and measured the distance between clicks from each device in milliseconds. The 2 main pieces of gear I use are the Cirklon Sequencer, and the Analog RYTM. Both of these devices showed very consistent click distances. At 150bpm the distance between the start of the click waveforms was consistently 400ms with both of those machines. Very solid timing.

The distance between the MPC clicks however varied between 396ms and 408ms, without any sort of patten as to when the shorter or longer distances appeared.

12 milliseconds is VERY Noticeable in this case, which is why I was hearing my MPC drum patterns sounding a bit sloppy when played alongside some tight sequenced synth lines from the Cirklon.

To prove the accuracy of this test, I did the "waveform start measuring test" again recording audio of 3 different MPC Metronome types, and 2 different drum programs. The tests were done zooming in on each waveform start to make sure I was getting a highly accurate reading.

I first did this test with the MPC receiving MIDI clock data from the Cirklon, but I ended up getting identical results when I recorded and measured all the clicks again by turning of MIDI clock receive and running the MPC separately by itself."
User avatar
By richie Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:50 am
You cannot fairly compare the timing of the Cirklon to anything else on the planet. Maybe the MPC 60/3000 or 4000.

Either way, you're saying that the Live has the worse timing out of every MPC ever released then.
By Cockdiesel Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:39 am
I think the issue is when people slave the mpc to something. I have a digitakt, kp3, analog heat, h9, oto bim, 2 synths, and a 555 all slaved to it. I haven't done anything scientific, but it's all setup in a way I thought I would have issue and I have never seen more than a .1 drift. Mostly on the down beat of the sequencer for some reason.

With the exception of the the synths and the delay pedal there's a read out on every other piece of equipment that measures to two decimal places to the right of the bpm number like 85.33 bpm or whatever. I see it drift subtly and every now and then .1 and have never noticed anything out of sync unless the digitakt locked up which is no longer an issue.

I use it just like I would have my 4000 and tbh no difference sync wise that is noticeable, plus a lot of other features the 4K was lacking. But it's unfair to even compare those two even. Maybe a live to a 1k, maybe.
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By Danoc Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:44 am
I got the Live for the rock solid squencer.

I am good! Live Squencer solid!

If you use the drum sounds tha Akai gave us they are not hitting on the one, there is space between the first hit and transient. Its very noticeable. You have to edit them.


d2ba wrote:MPCLive CPU is apparently used in high end mobile phones and embedded devices? so I'm wondering what the feel of the sequencer is like compared to older standalone MPC's. like MPC1000/2500 ? Would the generic OS
Linux cause any timing jitter?
Amy concerns?
Thanks
User avatar
By richie Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:27 am
@Danoc that's just the thing - "analoguebubblebath" has made clear mention that the actual midi clock timing is off on the Live.

I'm not discounting that the sequencer is solid from what you're saying but the timing is a totally different issue. For such example, if you were to take a sequence on your Live, record it on the analog out to your DAW and try to do it again to the grid, you'd have a huge chance of it phasing. Where as if you did it on the MPC 60, 3000, 4000 the chance of that happening is almost non existent as the jitter on those machines is so little.

http://www.innerclocksystems.com/New%20 ... itmus.html

http://www.innerclocksystems.com/New%20 ... itmus.html

I'm hoping that analogbubblebath cat is misreading his results because 12ms is f*cking insanity.
By Cockdiesel Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:01 am
I kind of see what you are saying. It may be tight but it's not the same every time while trying to reproduce. not sure if this is an easy firmware fix but the sound of it akai may have some work to do. interesting to say the least.
User avatar
By Lampdog Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:14 pm
4-5ms is when the normal human ear starts to notice delay.

12ms is alot.
By analoguebubblebath Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:43 pm
Hey everyone. Im not excited to say but the results are real, I highly recommend anyone try the same test out. Just make sure to zoom in deep on the waveform startpoint so you have an accurate measuring point. Accuracy is highly important as every millisecond matters here.

To be clear, I ran this clock timing test 6 different ways: In Standlone mode with no external MIDI sync using MPC metronome(s) audio only, triggering audio sample only, using MIDI out only, and then ran the same 3 tests again when sync'd to an external MIDI clock. The clock drift is constant regardless of what type of testing I do. I can literally make a youtube video of the entire process done in well under 10 minutes.
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By Danoc Wed Aug 16, 2017 1:32 am
Well thats the thing l don't wanna do is record out analog into a DAW. My2000XL use to mess up on midi in PT after the 4th bar.
I don't plan on recording out. EXPORT/BOUNCE all day baby!

richie wrote:@Danoc that's just the thing - "analoguebubblebath" has made clear mention that the actual midi clock timing is off on the Live.

I'm not discounting that the sequencer is solid from what you're saying but the timing is a totally different issue. For such example, if you were to take a sequence on your Live, record it on the analog out to your DAW and try to do it again to the grid, you'd have a huge chance of it phasing. Where as if you did it on the MPC 60, 3000, 4000 the chance of that happening is almost non existent as the jitter on those machines is so little.

http://www.innerclocksystems.com/New%20 ... itmus.html

http://www.innerclocksystems.com/New%20 ... itmus.html

I'm hoping that analogbubblebath cat is misreading his results because 12ms is f*cking insanity.
By U3 Thu Aug 17, 2017 1:50 pm
analoguebubblebath wrote:To be clear, I ran this clock timing test 6 different ways: In Standlone mode with no external MIDI sync using MPC metronome(s) audio only, triggering audio sample only, using MIDI out only, and then ran the same 3 tests again when sync'd to an external MIDI clock. The clock drift is constant regardless of what type of testing I do. I can literally make a youtube video of the entire process done in well under 10 minutes.

Hey Analoguebubblebath,

Was very curious about this and not very happy to hear your results..
Really wanting to buy an X to replace my 4000.
Jitter Timing is very important. (Im guessing this will apply to the X too?)

Anyway, i think you should go ahead with a video under 10 mins like you said, so at least AKAI knows about it asap and can try and improve the timing/jitter soon for us.

Thanks for the info bro
Last edited by U3 on Thu Aug 17, 2017 2:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.