I just got my MPC LIve a few weeks ago, with the intent of doing everything "in the box" as much as possible. I've recorded three albums and a couple EPs using my DAW, but I wanted something really portable where I could record, edit, mix, etc. easily. So, far I'm really pleased with this machine. I haven't even installed the MPC Software yet.
Here's the first project I recorded on it, to teach myself how to use the machine. I make steampunk-inspired music, so I write a lot about airships, adventures, and such, and cross a lot of musical genres. This one has more of a straight-up rock sound to it and is in 3/4 time.
Here are the elements.
- Guitar: Two guitar tracks, recorded with absolutely no effects. All distortion/etc. is from the MPC Live.
- Vocals: Two tracks, recorded clean as well, except for the background vocal track, which was recorded using a TC Helicon harmonizer to get the differently pitched harmonies.
- Bass: I created a Keygroup instrument by sampling my Kala Ubass (ukulele bass, which, when plugged in, sounds like an upright bass).
- Drums: A heavily tweaked version of the MPC-Samples Pro Studio Kit.
- Piano: Stock MPC Live piano sound, tweaked a little bit.
- Synth stutter: Keygroup instrument made by sampling my Korg Volca Keys.
Everything was mixed inside the machine, using headphones and exported as a single WAV file inside the box. No track explosion. The only after-processing I did was putting the single exported raw .WAV file through a Hard Limiter in Adobe Audition.
To answer if you can mix entirely in the MPC Live/X, I think it's a definite "yes". Getting decent results takes some trial and error and the occasional workaround, but it can be done.