Some questions - fan noise and pics of the inside

Ok, so a little bit about me... I am a sound engineer of 15 years, been doing the studio thing for all that time. I produce my own stuff as well.

Over the years I have used loads of sequencers. I used the MPC 60 loads between 91 and 94, i used lots of drum machines, I have used Cubase on the Atari, and I am currently on Logic on the PC (A dead program for that platform).

So now I am thinking of moving back to an MPC. There has always been something stopping me from using an MPC (mostly cash) before now, but recently I have used a friends 1000 and it was fun, good to hit the pads again. When I think back to the MPC 60 plugged into an S900, I feel all warm and fuzzy

The 4000 sounds like it has fantastic features (apart from 32 note limit), like I could do so much on it, only need an external mixer (I have a 01V, going to get a 01V96).

So I just have some questions:

a) Ok, I see a fan in the back there. if there is ONE thing I hate, is noise in my studio. Des the 4000 make a noise?

b) Does anyone have a picture of the inside of a 4000? I am imagining it's just a PC in there or something...

c) Is it too big to rackmount? Even with the sides off?

If anyone can help, would be much appreciated.

Cheers.

there is no 32 note limit. It is 64 note polyphonic with 32 midi channels.

And it is not noisy at all.

MaZe

The fan is audible, but I wouldn't classify it as noisy. I forget what the combination of buttons are, but you can access a hidden page that lets you change the speed of the fan from slow to fast. When you first turn the 4k on, the fan runs for a few seconds in hi speed then defaults to slow. The hi speed mode is boderline noisy.

The 4K is essentially a pc/intel system. Don't have a photo.

I would imagine it's too big to rackmount and I don't think it has any usable rackmount screw holes. You can get a nifty Quick Lok stand at GC with rollers that the 4k fits nicely on.

the fan is like a jet it go WHHHOOOOOSSSSHHHH!!!!!!
If mah mpc was on wheels it go round and round jk

Just kiddin shyts hella quite the only problem was the hard drive spinning noise but they took care of that in OS1.60 with the "No Spin button on the load screen page. That gives you the option of turning off the hard drive. To turn it back on just simply pick something you want to load or save and it comes back on. Great huh?!?!?

nik wrote:Ok, so a little bit about me... I am a sound engineer of 15 years, been doing the studio thing for all that time. I produce my own stuff as well.

Over the years I have used loads of sequencers. I used the MPC 60 loads between 91 and 94, i used lots of drum machines, I have used Cubase on the Atari, and I am currently on Logic on the PC (A dead program for that platform).

So now I am thinking of moving back to an MPC. There has always been something stopping me from using an MPC (mostly cash) before now, but recently I have used a friends 1000 and it was fun, good to hit the pads again. When I think back to the MPC 60 plugged into an S900, I feel all warm and fuzzy

The 4000 sounds like it has fantastic features (apart from 32 note limit), like I could do so much on it, only need an external mixer (I have a 01V, going to get a 01V96).

So I just have some questions:

a) Ok, I see a fan in the back there. if there is ONE thing I hate, is noise in my studio. Des the 4000 make a noise?

b) Does anyone have a picture of the inside of a 4000? I am imagining it's just a PC in there or something...

c) Is it too big to rackmount? Even with the sides off?

If anyone can help, would be much appreciated.

Cheers.

a) it is noisy. i havent started recording yet, but i know it will be a problem.

c) nah the size is allright. they got this special weelchair thing for it, where u can roll it around the studio adjusting it at different levels, etc.

Now a question for you.
Ive just taken up an 18week level2 sound engnieering course. iama take up level 3 afterwards. Its an OCN course. Noy my question is, is it hard to find jobs in studios as an engineer?

iam in London by the way.

The 4k has a polyphony of 64 voices. The FX and polyphony will be divided by two if working with 96000 samples per second.

Thanks for the info and pic! Very informative.

To be clear, noisy means 'can I hear it?'. I cannot stand fan noise in a studio. I build my own computers to be silent, or as close as possible. I am sitting here now with all my studio turned on, and all I can hear is a very tiny hum form my pro one transformer, and a very very light blowing sound from my computer under the desk. Neither of these sounds would be a problem for a microphone in the same room, say 1 1/2 metres from the gear. If the 4000 is noisier than this, 1) WHY? It's supposed to be a pro machine! and 2) I can't see me rushing out to buy one.

DaSoof wrote:Ive just taken up an 18week level2 sound engnieering course. iama take up level 3 afterwards. Its an OCN course. Noy my question is, is it hard to find jobs in studios as an engineer?

iam in London by the way.

It's hard. I dunno about your courses, but really any qualifications don't matter, practical experence and skill count for everything. If you are really really 'into it', you will get a job, but the hours and the pay are shit. Good luck!

ikke wrote:The 4k has a polyphony of 64 voices. The FX and polyphony will be divided by two if working with 96000 samples per second.

Sorry, yeh, I was refering to the polyphony at 98kHz.

gmm04e wrote:

Hey! That's mine!

Of course

Sexy huh?

My 4000's quiet. Just a low fan hum like any normal computer.

jbplaya wrote:My 4000's quiet. Just a low fan hum like any normal computer.

Yeh, which is exactly what you don't want in a recording studio... musical instruments should be silent until asked to make music

If anyone fancies recording their MPC 4000 fan noise for me, together with another noise (say voice or something recognisable) so I can hear, would be great!

Also, is there only one fan in there? What size is it? 80mm I guess the one at the back is...