Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000
By kiwi Fri Sep 03, 2004 12:47 am
I was just programming some beats on the 4000, when I noticed that on a deep 808 sub kick, that there were kinda squeaky resonant overtones. I'm only monitoring on headphones which are pretty old, so the fault could lay there. Could someone do a similar test to put me outta my misery. Thanks.
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By binger0 Fri Sep 03, 2004 2:05 am
i think u are distorting or clipping. Thats whats makin that noise. Lower it a lil

By boywithpez007 Fri Sep 03, 2004 5:36 am
yeah I had same probs, check te misc page and lower the master level... I was trippin cos I had it running at +6 and my mixer is -10Db
I dont understand it all but it fixes the problem.
Pez
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By Krux Fri Sep 03, 2004 1:26 pm
boywithpez007 wrote:yeah I had same probs, check te misc page and lower the master level... I was trippin cos I had it running at +6 and my mixer is -10Db
I dont understand it all but it fixes the problem.
Pez

Could you break that down, bro? What exactly were you doing and how did you fix it?
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By ikke Sat Sep 04, 2004 2:34 am
when his mixer receives signals above -10db, the mixer starts clipping. He had to decrease his main out on the MPC to -10db to avoid clipping on his mixer

By Altopiano Sat Sep 04, 2004 4:41 pm
hy there

boywithpez could you please explain a lil bit more?

you mean the master level in global page? (no master level in misc page here at my 4k :lol: ) - and i guess at -12 (-10 ain't possible here either, max is 0, then -6, than -12)? or are you adjusting the levels somewhere else ie in multis (-10 at the multi)?

and is the clipping related to your mixer (btw: which one are u using?) or is it caused by the 4k?

i m still looking for an ideal settng for that master level - i always used to have it at 0 (global page) and recently switched it back - now i m messing somewhere between -6 db to -12 db - atm -12 seems best to me ... dunno

thanx

By boywithpez007 Sat Sep 04, 2004 10:59 pm
yo yeah global, didnt have it in front of me and my memory is shot : )
Thats what im talking about the master level, my mixer would always clip the **** til I tyrned it down... sorry for the messy post^^^^

Im using a vestax pmc-06, so yeah I think its gotta be at -10
Pez.

By jonespnice Sun Sep 05, 2004 3:45 am
Could you break that down, bro? What exactly were you doing and how did you fix it?


When you have a digital signal the highest it can go is 0db, now say you have a kick drum that is peaking at -6, and a snare that might reach peak level at -4, hi hats -8, etc., now when all these signals are summed together the total output may be reaching 0db( distorting level ), so that's why you set the mpc to -6db so that you will have some headroom to make sure that the total peak level doesn't reach 0db.
peace.
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By Krux Sun Sep 05, 2004 4:30 am
boywithpez007 wrote:yo yeah global, didnt have it in front of me and my memory is shot : )
Thats what im talking about the master level, my mixer would always clip the **** til I tyrned it down... sorry for the messy post^^^^

Im using a vestax pmc-06, so yeah I think its gotta be at -10
Pez.

Yo so you sample from vinyl (through your 06) at -10db? Does that work well? See, I'm trying to figure out the best levels for sample into a xl and I would've thought -10db would be to low. Maybe you could check my thread in the newbie section and tell me what you think?...

Peace
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By ikke Sun Sep 05, 2004 3:07 pm
I think its best if u use your ears. Some tracks need some clipping!
And if you sample too loud, overdrive. can be sweet on drums or basses.
[This was a great feature on the 60]

By Altopiano Sun Sep 05, 2004 7:08 pm
allright ... thanx to ya all for info and opinions ... nice thread