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 analoguebubblebath Fri Aug 18, 2017 10:10 pm
quick update, I posted on muffwiggler (Analog Synth Forum) and a product rep from Akai chimed in with an answer:

"there were some minor fixes in 2.0.3 re: midi timing, but not enough. We're releasing an update soon (IE within a week or two) which is a much more comprehensive fix. It will be 2.0.5"

Excellent news!
By Cockdiesel Sat Aug 19, 2017 3:50 am
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^This is as close up as I could get on ableton with using 32nd note metronome @ 120 bpm with two clicks in the same shot.

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^This is the is as close as I could get on a 32nd with one click.

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^ The very next click on 32nds @ 120 bpm.

I have more lined up but wanted to know if I am doing this wrong. It looks like alot of guesswork to me and I wouldnt know what this was saying. I used the 32nds because I couldnt get 1/4 notes in the same frame zoomed in with any sort of good zooming. This is all stand alone from the live coming into my soundcard with 1/4" and into ableton. If you let me know a better way to to this I can do more.
By analoguebubblebath Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:41 pm
Ok I have some fairly valuable research to share after extensively testing the brand new MPC Live unit Akai sent me (after sending back my old one due to apparent hardware issues).

On both 2.0.3, and the latest firmware 2.0.5 I found the exact same timing results when testing at 120bpm:

-The standalone internal sequencer timing is rock solid. Not even 1ms of clock jitter. (The previous internal clock jitter I was experiencing must have been from a bad unit, hence why Akai replaced mine).

-This is the big one: When slaving the MPC to an external clock (I used a Cirklon), the clock jitter is HORRIBLE. I measured up to 15ms clock jitter, which anyone can notice. This renders the MPC completely unusable in musical production for me when slaving it to an external clock. You can easily hear when comparing metronome clicks with other gear the MPC is all over the place. Very disappointing performance.

-Slaving the Cirklon to the MPC, however, the timing is absolutely rock solid. I tested the metronome clicks on my Analog RYTM which were sync'd to the Cirklon, and they were dead accurate with not even 1ms of clock jitter. **Funny note here is that the BPM display readings on the RYTM and Cirk were constantly shuffling, of course making you think the timing is not accurate. When I recorded and measured the clock jitter here, the displays were wrong (they must be rounding up or something). The bpm displays would shuffle back and forth from 119.9 to 120.1, while the performance timing was perfect.

So overall its incredibly disappointing to see the MPC's timing instability when slaving to an external clock, which i'm sure is how a lot of others setups are arranged. It's slightly redeeming that slaving other gear to the MPC works properly, though I will have to change a bit of my setup now in order to make this work.
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By Quickstrike2.0 Tue Nov 14, 2017 9:14 pm
:hmmm: :hmmm: :hmmm: :hmmm: Interesting finds you got there. I notice on my Mpc x that the input timing is not as tight as the renaissance running latest firmware. Even in standalone mode. it has to be firmware. I had a post about this timing issues before as well and didn't get far with the answers. I wonder why there is not more complaints. i initially noticed this just by ear and feel.

Well thats whats us paid beta testers are here for huh... To fix there problems smh :WTF:
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By Danoc Tue Nov 14, 2017 9:32 pm
Peace Quick, what do you have your X midi up to?

Quickstrike2.0 wrote::hmmm: :hmmm: :hmmm: :hmmm: Interesting finds you got there. I notice on my Mpc x that the input timing is not as tight as the renaissance running latest firmware. Even in standalone mode. it has to be firmware. I had a post about this timing issues before as well and didn't get far with the answers. I wonder why there is not more complaints. i initially noticed this just by ear and feel.

Well thats whats us paid beta testers are here for huh... To fix there problems smh :WTF:
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By Quickstrike2.0 Tue Nov 14, 2017 9:40 pm
it would be nice to just match the timing of the mpc 2500 if thats not to much to ask.

Akai: MPC-4000 - Pattern Sequencer





> Audio Out - Max. Jitter between 16ths: 1 sample (0.02ms)

> MIDI TX - Max. Jitter between 16ths: 3 samples (0.06ms)





Source: MIDI Clock

> Audio Out: Max. Jitter between 16ths: 29 samples (0.60ms)

> MIDI TX - Max. Jitter between 16ths: 29 samples (0.60ms)



Akai: MPC-2500 - Pattern Sequencer





> Audio Out - Max. Jitter between 16ths: 104 Samples (2.16ms)

> MIDI TX - Max. Jitter between 16ths: 44 samples (0.92ms)





Source: MIDI Clock

> Audio Out - Max. Jitter between 16ths: 69 samples (1.43ms)

> MIDI TX - Max. Jitter between 16ths: 44 samples (0.92ms)
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By Quickstrike2.0 Tue Nov 14, 2017 9:43 pm
Danoc wrote:Peace Quick, what do you have your X midi up to?

Quickstrike2.0 wrote::hmmm: :hmmm: :hmmm: :hmmm: Interesting finds you got there. I notice on my Mpc x that the input timing is not as tight as the renaissance running latest firmware. Even in standalone mode. it has to be firmware. I had a post about this timing issues before as well and didn't get far with the answers. I wonder why there is not more complaints. i initially noticed this just by ear and feel.

Well thats whats us paid beta testers are here for huh... To fix there problems smh :WTF:



just a Korg triton extreme and Roland Integra 7 at the moment.
By analoguebubblebath Tue Nov 14, 2017 11:36 pm
Yorgos Arabatzis wrote:Have you made sure your samples inside MPC are properly chopped at the starting zero point..Made that mistake once where the sample had a few milliseconds of silence at the beginning and thought like you..Make sure you zoom in enough


Yup i'm recording only the metronome click audio for measuring these timing tests (MPC Click Sound which has a very defined waveform measurement point).
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By Danoc Wed Nov 15, 2017 12:17 am
Ok. I love that Triton and that RI7 is something serious.

Quickstrike2.0 wrote:just a Korg triton extreme and Roland Integra 7 at the moment.
By trashman Fri Nov 17, 2017 6:25 am
I started using the MPC Live in place of my RS7000 and the BPM shuffle around on all of my DSI synths and the timing sounds sloppy.

I plug them into my RS and the BPM stays matched and fixed.

Another strange thing is that the MPC doesn’t send clock when it isn’t playing. My RS does.

I tried sync’ing the MPC to the RS7000 “midi clock” but it didn’t respond to any BPM changes.

It’s pretty well unusable as a centerpiece sequencer.

I’m beyond my return grace period and I spent $1000 on this thing.

:lol: :fku: :hmmm:
By ChrisMPC Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:04 am
In general Midi Clock is a rather annoying issue with MPC live (standalone) even with Firmware 2.0.5 !
If used as masterclock it is not stabile enough and sends only clock while it is running.
If used as midi clock slave important features like audio-recording and looper will not work at all.

Akai is aware of this since June but does not do anything about it.

I've now a setup (see my previous forum-posting further down) where I can live with this bugs but it is a pain in the butt....
By lobit Thu Dec 14, 2017 7:07 pm
no scientific testing yet, but I moved my mpc4000 out of the way to try out the mpc X in my rig. have had no luck slaving it at all.. its like a drunken sailor. as a master clock its only barely usable sending sync to all my old drum machines etc ..like it works, but sometimes it will just feel out of sync , and I have to stop it and re sync it, happens quite alot. needs improvement for sure
Bymember04959388 Thu Dec 14, 2017 8:41 pm
I could say that every time I used midi clock to sync different machines i had some problems, issues and latencies.
I think it's something related to midi protocol, which is a really old technology.
I never had a completely stable clocking, I tried with mac and ableton as master, then with electribe and a micro Korg and it was always the same. Sometimes stable, sometimes not with every machine as a master clock.
When I bounce tracks to my mac audio card, using ableton or electribe as master, I always have to work hard on track latency to fix fluctuations and sometimes I have to delay some tracks to 30 or even 40 ms.
That's it, I think It's midi protocol that sucks, apart from any device you use a master clock.