mpc vs vst instruments

does the output sounds from the mpc actually sounds better than that of vst instruments? i have loaded the same wav samples into the l;kes of halion and then loaded them into the mpc, and they have in my opinion a totally different character of sound, the mpc does sound much fuller and in depth than that the vst, i know its all dependant on the sound card, i am presently running m audio 410, also native instruments battery sounds heavy as ever, the reason why i want to know is tht i am thinking of buying the 8 out card for £150, so just wanted to double check.

I guess it has to do with the MPC ad/da converters. Or perhaps the MPC responds differently to velocity changes when compared to halion or battery.

digital_bastard wrote:I guess it has to do with the MPC ad/da converters. Or perhaps the MPC responds differently to velocity changes when compared to halion or battery.

The da converters would be my bet.

I would say that the Audio Quality on your MPC is generally LOWER than HALION...

The MPC2kxl has pretty average sounding AD-DA convertors that are generally a bit too MID RANGED they are the same ones they use on the S2000, if you loaded the same sounds on a S6000 you would notice they sound much clearer with a more even emphasis...plus, if your speakers are cheap then they may reproduce the Mid Range of the sample the best so they will definately sound good from the MPC... (well better)

Also if you have cheap sound card on your PC you will not notice the difference... However I have expensive Delta 66 sound card and you can tell straight away especially on accustic instrument samples that there is much greater clarity on the HALION sounds. Halion would be the prefered option because its all in the digital domain and will not suffer from signal loss and hiss like and MPC thro! a mixing desk will... However if its mostly drums, Bass or electronic sounds you do then this could be a good thing if you have a nice Mixing Desk with quality EQ or some tube recording gear its even better yet!!!!!!!

If the mpc sounds better to you, use that. I still use hardware samplers for all my drums. I know Halion or Kontakt sounds more detailed and clear, but is that the sound you're looking for?
I'm on an RME soundcard, i think the converters on that are 4 times the price of the ones in an mpc so it's no surprise that they sound better to me. I've used Halion, Kontakt, and exs24 for a long time now, but i never use them for drums. There's no advantage for me.
To me, nothing sounds better than an old 12 bit sampler going through an analog desk.