Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
By pjwhite Fri Jun 12, 2009 2:50 pm
I am developing a MIDI clock to digital sync converter device and one of my customers is having trouble getting it to work with his MPC 2000XL. Can someone tell me the details about what MIDI bytes are transmitted to start and stop an external sequencer? I know that the MPC transmits MIDI clocks (0xF8) constantly, even when not playing, but apparently it is not using the MIDI start (0xFA) and MIDI stop (0xFC) real-time commands I was expecting.
His MPC is set as follows: Sync Out: MIDI CLOCK, Send MMC: OFF.

Thanks!
By gangreen Fri Jun 12, 2009 4:26 pm
In order to sync the MPC's sequencer, you must turn on the MMC option. If you are running the MPC as a master, activate it on the "out" half of the screen. If you are running it as the slave, activate MMC on the "in" portion.

Just make sure your out and in ports in the top portions of the screen "e.g. 1a or 2b" co-incide with the physical MIDI cabling you have established.
Last edited by gangreen on Fri Jun 12, 2009 4:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
By pjwhite Fri Jun 12, 2009 6:25 pm
Thanks for the replies.
Does turning on MMC enable the normal MIDI Start and Stop real time messages in addition to the MMC messages? Do you have any details on the actual MIDI data produced at start and stop times?
By pjwhite Mon Jun 29, 2009 6:44 pm
Still looking for a solution to my problem. I don't have an MPC myself, and so far have been unable to find anyone in my area with one I can borrow.
Would anyone be willing and able to make me a MIDI recording of the MPC output during the start and stop parts of a sequence playback? Preferably a 2000XL, but other models may be OK, too.
I want to find out exactly what MIDI bytes are sent to start and stop external devices. I am especially interested in the MIDI Clock mode, but if you could get me data from MMC and MTC modes as well, that would be great.
If there is anyone in the Northern Arizona area who could loan me their MPC2000XL for about an hour, that would work, too.
By pjwhite Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:51 pm
Thanks for the reply. That's what I thought, but for some reason it's not working with my customer's unit. I was thinking that maybe the MPC was using a MIDI "continue" command (FB) instead of "start" (FA).