Renaissance sound quality?

Hi there! New member here.

Let me do a little intro before getting to my question.

I'm an old Akai head: I was using Akai samplers s2000 and s5000 extensively from around 2000 to 2009, then went all digital, and when 2013 kicked off, it really hit me that I need to get back to the Akai thing as I was missing the good old button-pushin'-and-jog-wheelin' action, so I got myself an MPC 2500 and now that I'm super "high on Akai" again (really feels like being home again), I'm also considering getting the Ren.

I always loved the way how s2000 and s5000 sounded, and even today, though my mixing has got better than what it was some years ago, I realize that the tracks produced on my old s2000 and s5000 sound kind of "raw", punchy and very pleasant to the ear (I'm guessing that's partly because of I didn't do much digital mixing back then but I do believe Akai has a certain sound right out of the box).

Also, "my own Akai sound" has always been partly due to the fact that I sample everything really loud into the Akai – always just below the point where it'd distort a bit too much.

The stuff I've been coming up with MPC2500 is fat, straight out of the machine, and even though it's a "relatively new" machine, I'm absolutely convinced its sound is just great.

So the question is, now, does the Ren sound as good as the other Akais / MPCs?
In terms of what's coming out and how it sounds in terms of sampling.
I was discussing Akais with another old Akai-minded producer, Danny Breaks (if you happen to know the dude; awesome beats since the 90s), and his opinion was that they had changed the AD/DA converters at some point and that they didn't sound the same anymore.
I know the Ren is sort of a hybrid, but as I've always loved the sound coming out of an Akai, I'm planning to use mine (if/when I get it) with its dedicated outputs instead of routing audio out of the soundcard of my Mac.
I'd love to hear thoughts on this from those who have been using Akais for a while and who have a bit of a perspective into the subject.

Thank you!

coming from a hardware guy...

the Ren sounds good man. u wont be disappointed.

He said he's got a 2500 cracking and that's a neutral sounding machine. I'm sure it's the OP's skills and good samples and mixing. He'll murder it on the Ren you'd think.

IMAKEMADBEATS, was that you in an older thread that considered the possibility that the Ren's output may have a "hidden" buss compressor or limiter?

In another thread today a guy posted he switched to the Studio from Ren and preferred the Ren's output (from the built in interface) to the Apogee he is using with his Studio. And I was kinda like...pause.

I have to read it again to see if he preferred it because he was using vintage mode a lot, or if he preferred it over the Apogee vintage mode or not. But my first thought was "secret" compression/limiting on the outs.

Metatron72 wrote:IMAKEMADBEATS, was that you in an older thread that considered the possibility that the Ren's output may have a "hidden" buss compressor or limiter?

Yeah I said something like that...when a/b'ing the stereo outs of the ren with using 2 other sound cards, I did notice a difference. But when I take a beat from my 2kxl and use it in the Ren, it sounds the same.

I haven't done enough testing to make any definitive claim on whether it was the hardware or my settings...but when I keep things relatively midleveled in the Ren, it sounded great.

Honestly lately though, I've used the 003 outs more often, just to be able to go out 8 outputs to the Neve Summing mixer.

Neve summing, very nice.

IMAKEMADBEATS wrote:coming from a hardware guy...
the Ren sounds good man. u wont be disappointed.

IMAKEMADBEATS wrote:But when I take a beat from my 2kxl and use it in the Ren, it sounds the same.

Hell + yeah! That's what I like to hear.
Thank you.

Metatron72 wrote:Neve summing

I am envious.

I keep it in MPC60 mode most of the time. Sounds really good.

83dude wrote:

Metatron72 wrote:Neve summing

I am envious.

Metatron72 wrote:Neve summing, very nice.

Haha. Yeah mixing without it vs with it is Night and Day. Def my fav piece in the studio.

Without trying to start another debate, I think that the differences you hear that any modern hardware (except things like tube equipment and equipment specifically made to color the sound) The differences in things like punch, bass, clarity, fullness, etc... can all be easily re-created or taken away with simple mix engineering tasks.

It's really about quality of samples/sounds and the skill of the artist creating it.

Good quality stuff happens when you come full circle from noob through over produced engineer back to less is more with minimal engineering because the sound has become quality from the get go.

That said ....


I'm getting very good quality stuff from the Renaissance; very punchy sounding; good clarity; etc... (disclaimer, I haven't used old MPC's so I can't compare)

Airyck wrote:Good quality stuff happens when you come full circle from noob through over produced engineer back to less is more with minimal engineering because the sound has become quality from the get go.

Very well said, and I agree 100%

I have had or still have a 2XL, a 4K, ASR-10 and all the leading drum software.

Converters: Digi 192, Apogee 800, Digi 002.......

Sound wise: The Ren is clean, and neutral. I use the MPC 60 mode most of the time as there is a boost in the bass that I like.

Sound examples:

Trap track: http://www.datpiff.com/Zany-GR-Volume-1 ... 50482.html
(#'s 2, and 18 where made on the Ren)

Sample track: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDBXx5iSsDs


Disclaimer: I mixed both of these songs using Pro Tools, after exporting separate tracks from the Ren software.

YMMV, but I believe "commercial releases" can be made on any of the tools available in 2013.


Peace.


P.S. Sure wish the bugs where squashed on this thing!

it's all about the sampling engine & converters... even old school akai japan models have different sounds to them s950, s1000, 2000, 3000, Z etc etc.. it's got to do with frequency bit rates obviously (12/16/24 bit) and just the overall quality of the converters. the 950 is kind of unique in that it has a analog LPF giving it a stronger identity imo... the rest of the akai series is pretty much just clean and transparent compared to ensoniq/e-mu samplers. i will say i wasn't a fan of recent MPC's sound (especially the 1000) but Ren is a step up, no issues with its sound..

I like the sound a lot, and the vintage modes are really a very good addition to it. Without any vintage mode on, it colours the sound a wee bit more in the higher frequencies than my Focusrite, but this is nigh unhearable.

I haven't fooled around with the built-in mic preamps so far, so no info on that.

No surprises on the RCA inputs.

Ah, it seems SOS say the following in their review:
In addition, the analog output circuitry in MPC Renaissance is identical to the highly regarded MPC3000.

http://www.soundonsound.com/news?NewsID=14683