MPC 1000 HAS UNBALANCED OUTPUTS!!

Record Input (L and R): jack x 2, balanced
Stereo Output (L and R): jack x 2, unbalanced
Individual Outputs: jack x 4, unbalanced

I had no idea until now and ive been wanting to know cause im doing all my sample/drum programming in my mpc 1000 now. before i was stricly reason and fruity loops.Ive been wonderin bout this for awhile because i wanna make sure everything i record into protools sounds just the way it is in the mpc.Im outputing the mpc 1000 straight into my digi 003.The 003 has balanced inputs so how do unbalanced outputs and balanced inputs work together.I been seeing people posting about loss of punch after recordin so i guess this is the reason why.I guess put some of the punch back with plug-ins or track with a preamp which = more money.I plan on getting a SSL VHD in the future it has four preamps perfect for the mpc 1000.Im gonna track sumthin later and really see what the deally is.

What do you think that digital output is for.

people lose "punch" because once the beat's been tracked out it doesn't get hit by the master compressor on the mpc1000 anymore

unbalanced to balanced might as well be balanced to unbalanced, or unbalanced to unbalanced. it just means keep it short. i'm about to pick up an additional delta for my card and i'll use the ins strictly for the MPC1000 assignable outs. i'll make my own cables and position the whole mess real close to each other, so the cables will only be like 2 feet long.

preamps would be nice, for sure, as long as you can keep the channels separate.

you know, i have been going through a similar debate over the past year or so. and i actually talked to some recording engineers yesterday who said that as long as the unbalanced line is under 10', it really shouldnt make that much of a difference.

as far as people losing the punch in their recordings, i would say that either they didnt record it right, or they dont know how to mix, or they had the mpc louder playing than they did recording. i record from the mpc through a firebox into fl studio and dont lose anything. and if i decide i want more punch, then compression, eq, layering is essential.

i just started layering entire drum tracks, one under the other. i did a remix for some contest and i actually layered 4 tracks of drums on top of each other. one clean, one from tape, one heavily compressed and one with a low pass filter on it. the drums have plenty of punch. especially considering that they are direct from a break. no sine or square waves layered.

so until i can actually hear different, i am going to go with shorter unbalanced lines.

i actually just purchased a patchbay and a couple sets of unbalanced snake cables. and honestly, i cant hear a difference between my balanced instrument lines and the unbalanced ones.

i was priced out at $140 for cables yesterday until i started talking to these guys and i ended up copping the snakes for $20 bucks a piece.

thats just my $.02.

if you really think you´re losing quality while tracking,
(could also be the mixer as well or any other part of your signal chain)
you could resample the mainout by using the direct record tracks in jjos.
the advantage of this method is, that your loops will be cut exactly the lenght they used to be and you save time while importing.

so its just one rendering session and then uploading to your daw host and no trimming and fixing...
its an easy method to avoid signal issues.

or get some active di boxes. though they´re expensive, the will balance your signal so you could even record via high quality mic preamps if i got it right.

but sometimes i think this discussion maybe overrated unless you are recording and mixing movie scores in 5.1 or "high quality pop productions".

Antonym wrote:people lose "punch" because once the beat's been tracked out it doesn't get hit by the master compressor on the mpc1000 anymore

unbalanced to balanced might as well be balanced to unbalanced, or unbalanced to unbalanced. it just means keep it short. i'm about to pick up an additional delta for my card and i'll use the ins strictly for the MPC1000 assignable outs. i'll make my own cables and position the whole mess real close to each other, so the cables will only be like 2 feet long.

preamps would be nice, for sure, as long as you can keep the channels separate.

i never use the mpc compressor and i noticed that studios i go to people have this set and its not really a good idea unless u have a super bangin preamp and u know how to work it.

I go strait Digital into my Digi 002. Much better IMO. Plus I don't have to screw around with the main volume on the MPC when connected to digital.

master-ceo wrote:I go strait Digital into my Digi 002. Much better IMO. Plus I don't have to screw around with the main volume on the MPC when connected to digital.

that only does one track at a time it would take forever im sure the end result is great.Could i midi sync so all tracks will be on time this way??

wouldn't a DI box balance the signal?

i read an article by thes one from PUTS and he said he made a custom 10
input DI for his 2000 (i think).

if you only had one you could track each line through it though.

i've definitely noticed intereference on my recordings - not sure if it's just
because of the unbalanced cables or something else about my recording. but
the MPC sure buzzes alot and i've tried it on a few different setups.

(just saw briancares is on the DI before - nice one )

optik415 wrote:

master-ceo wrote:I go strait Digital into my Digi 002. Much better IMO. Plus I don't have to screw around with the main volume on the MPC when connected to digital.

that only does one track at a time it would take forever im sure the end result is great.Could i midi sync so all tracks will be on time this way??

What !!
Its a mirror of the main outputs.
Have you ACTUALLY tried it ?

I'm with Threlly. Unless you want to subject your tracks to outboard analog processing, there's not much reason to use the analog outs when recording into a computer. The only disadvantage with the MPC is that you'll have to do multiple passes with midi sync to record more than two separate channels at the same time.

If they had properly implemented the S/PDIF with the option to send all 6 channels instead of just the main out, you wouldn't even have to do that.

elektrik_muz wrote:I'm with Threlly. Unless you want to subject your tracks to outboard analog processing, there's not much reason to use the analog outs when recording into a computer. The only disadvantage with the MPC is that you'll have to do multiple passes with midi sync to record more than two separate channels at the same time.

If they had properly implemented the S/PDIF with the option to send all 6 channels instead of just the main out, you wouldn't even have to do that.

im just gonna use s/pdif for 2-track rough mixes to send to people.I just bought a 003 so im gonna take advantage on all the inputs it has thanks people