Q & A: Audio interface basics

There has been many questions regarding the Ren's audio interface as well as using your own audio interface with the MPC software. I would like to get this information all in once place for new users to help them get up and running quickly.

In my personal set-up, I am using the MPC Ren on primarily a Mac but also run it on Windows 7. I use both the Ren's audio interface as well as my UAD Apollo Firewall interface (Mac only).

Please feel free to ask any questions. Hopefully I or one of the other MPC Ren users will be able to answer your questions.


Question: Can the Ren output audio through 3rd party audio interface?

Answer: Yes. The Ren supports 16 channels of audio grouped as stereo pairs. In The Audio Preference Menu, the MPC Ren driver is the default Output. If your sound card is properly installed, you can click the Output drop-down and select your audio device. In my case, I select the UA Apollo driver. Immediately, the MPC software will show all the Output Channels available. My Apollo has 24 channels grouped in 12 pairs. The MPC software will activate the first 8 stereo pairs by default. These will always be activated. Clicking an additional pair of outs will deactivate another pair. Once this is set, you can route any MPC pad to the outputs. By default, the MPC software has all Mixer channels set to Output 1 + 2. In a traditional hardware MPC this is the ST (Stereo Out). You can route the individual drum program sounds to any output of your audio interface. You can also route the outputs of tracks to the outputs of your audio interface.

Please note that the Ren, in this set-up, is sending audio OUT your interface. The practical reason to use this is if you want to mix on an outboard analog or digital mixer.

Ok, so let's imagine that i'm using the outputs of my soundcard in the MPC Software.
How will the "Vintage Sound Emulation" be applied ?
That is have something to do with the hardware or not ?

This is the default setting. The outputs are hidden. Input 1 + 2 are for analog. 3 + 4 are for digital.

This is a nice feature I like. You can use two audio devices....one for output and the other for input. In this photo, my MPC 2500 is routed to the inputs of my Apollo interface. I can add some salt-n-peppa by running my MPC 2.5K (or any connected audio device) through UAD plugins when sampling into the Ren's software. Hell yeah!

And then you can bypass the Ren's audio interface altogether and use the interface of your choice. In October, I will forgo firewire and install Thunderbolt expansion in the Apollo. I am curious to see if there are any increases in performance.

kejlabal wrote:Ok, so let's imagine that i'm using the outputs of my soundcard in the MPC Software.
How will the "Vintage Sound Emulation" be applied ?
That is have something to do with the hardware or not ?

I can only tell you what I am sure you have heard many times. The Vintage Mode is software and hardware from what I hear.

I can confirm the software emulation part as I can use my Apollo and hear the Vintage Mode applied. The hardware is reported to have the same circuitry of the legendary MPC 3000. The Ren sounds great without the vintage mode. Whether this circuitry significantly impacts the sound is anyone's guess.

For the first time today I tried setting it up with my Digi 003 outs, which on my patchbay are normalled to the first 8 channels in my Neve 8816 Summing Mixer.

Really fresh man. Really fresh.

Is it possible to change the routing of multiple samples at a time? for example, I have 16 chops of a sample on 16 pads, do I have to route them individually?

And is there a way to route the send effects?

IMAKEMADBEATS wrote:Is it possible to change the routing of multiple samples at a time? for example, I have 16 chops of a sample on 16 pads, do I have to route them individually?

And is there a way to route the send effects?

In a Drum Program, you can only route the individual outs of your chops one at a time.

The Ren's Send Effects are route to Stereo buss.

JAH wrote:

IMAKEMADBEATS wrote:Is it possible to change the routing of multiple samples at a time? for example, I have 16 chops of a sample on 16 pads, do I have to route them individually?

And is there a way to route the send effects?

In a Drum Program, you can only route the individual outs of your chops one at a time. If that Drum Program is assigned to a track, your can route the entire track to any available output.

The Ren's Send Effects are route to Stereo buss.

cool

What is the "latency adjust" feature?

JAH wrote: The hardware is reported to have the same circuitry of the legendary MPC 3000.

The day when a manufacturer will bring back the good old electronic parts he was using back in the 80's, i'll sell my old MPCs.

sensei wrote:What is the "latency adjust" feature?

Its an offset to be used if you have any latency when using the Ren. You would use it after you set your buffer settings. You basically play with it until you get the performance that you are after.

I have not needed to touch this. I normally have the Ren at 512 samples. No latency issues.

JAH wrote:

sensei wrote:I have not needed to touch this. I normally have the Ren at 512 samples. No latency issues.

Thanks for the answer. I want to give it a first hand try.

Myself would definitely have latency issues at 512, but we all work differently and have different needs. I'm usually setting Ableton (if I use it anymore) at about 64 samples to get the feel I want, but I know this isn't ableton. Keen to see how it performs.

Have you loaded an MPC3000 session yet? I'm also interested in this.

sensei wrote:

JAH wrote:

sensei wrote:I have not needed to touch this. I normally have the Ren at 512 samples. No latency issues.

Thanks for the answer. I want to give it a first hand try.

Myself would definitely have latency issues at 512, but we all work differently and have different needs. I'm usually setting Ableton (if I use it anymore) at about 64 samples to get the feel I want, but I know this isn't ableton. Keen to see how it performs.

Have you loaded an MPC3000 session yet? I'm also interested in this.

Heard that many times before. But you will have to see for yourself.

MPC users that use T/C during recording can virtually use any buffer setting. If your an MPC user that turns timing off, even a buffer setting of 512 is great. I can take my buffer down to 64 but I feel no need to do that. Using the Ren, it feels no different to me than using a hardware MPC.