MPC Software & MPC Beats Forum: Bug reports, feature suggestions and discussion for the MPC Software and the free 'MPC Beats' application for Mac/PC. If you have hardware-specific questions, please post in the relevant MPC sub-forum.
By ZoneVortex Wed Mar 24, 2021 10:13 pm
Hello MPC community!

I just got an Akai MPK mini 3 a few days ago, which means I also installed MPC beats along with it. I have no prior experience using any digital music production hardware/software. Plugging the mpk mini into my girlfriend's mac and using GarageBand led to easy, problem free beat making. However, using the mpk mini on my laptop running windows has not been so easy. Here are the problems I've encountered, and what I'm looking for are any tips on how to remedy the issues. I have scoured the internet for probably 15 or 20 hours already looking for solutions but have come up empty handed, and that's why I'm here.

My relevant computer specs are:
Asus ROG G14 Zephyrus laptop (6 months old) running windows 10
RAM: 16 gb
Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 3 Ghz (3rd generation)

Problem 1: As soon as I installed MPC beats and plugged in my mpk mini, I found that there was huge delay between the time I hit a pad and the time the sound came out of the speakers. I learned this is called latency, and was likely due to my using the integrated realtek supporting sound card in my laptop. I downloaded ASIO4ALL, installed it, and set it up in MPC beats. However, every time I set my device to ASIO4ALL, I'd lose all sound output and could no longer hear any sound from my speakers from MPC beats. Re-installed 3 or 4 times, tried different versions of ASIO4ALL, but could never get any sound to come out of my speakers. I know it disables audio output from all other programs, but I'm talking no sound output from MPC beats. Eventually I gave up and was close to returning the MPK mini, but then I noticed I had another ASIO option called "Realtek ASIO." I set Realtek ASIO as my sound device in MPC beats and voila, no more latency issues. Problem solved, right?

Problem 2: Now that I have no latency issues and I actually have sound coming out of my speaks, I've now started noticing constant crackling and popping coming from my speakers when using MPC beats with my ASIO realtek driver. I learned this is due to the buffer size being too low. However, with my Realtek ASIO driver, I have no ability to change buffer size, so I'm screwed. The crackling is constant and basically I can't do anything with MPC beats or my MPK mini because all I hear is loud crackling.

My questions:
1) Does anyone have any idea on how to solve my ASIO4ALL problem? I installed, selected it as the sound device in MPC beats, but once I do I can no longer hear any sound. I've tried closing MPC beats and re-opening, restarting my computer, closing everything else that's running, etc. Perhaps if I can stop using the realtek ASIO driver and use ASIO4ALL I'll be able to adjust my buffer size to remove the artifact while maintaining good latency.

2) I would be happy to drop some extra money on one of those external audio interfaces that runs on a dedicated ASIO driver, but I can't find one that would allow me to plug my MPK mini 3 into it, as the mpk mini connects to the computer via USB-B to USB-C cable. All the dedicated ASIO audio interfaces seem to only have MIDI in, but no USB in. Does anyone know if I might be able to resolve my problem by purchasing a mid-level ASIO ready audio interface and then using a USB-A to MIDI adapter to plug in the MPK mini 3 to the MIDI in?

Thank you to anyone who reads this!
By SakisX Thu Mar 25, 2021 11:38 pm
Post a screenshot (upload it on other site and link it here as image) of your Asio4All "advanced" settings

Assuming your laptop has only Usb-C ports , all you need is a usb-C to usb3 hub

PS. audio interfaces have usb2 (they work fine on usb3 port)
By ZoneVortex Fri Mar 26, 2021 6:26 pm
I've given up on trying to get ASIO4all to work and instead I'm interested in buying an external interface that I can plug the mpk mini 3 into. I've looked at dozens of different ones online however and I can't find any interfaces that have USB-in. I know lots of them use USB out to plug into your laptop, but I'm looking for one that allows USB-in so I can plug the mpk mini into the interface. Do you happen to know of an interface that has USB inputs rather than only outputs? Thanks!
By SakisX Sat Mar 27, 2021 2:02 pm
ZoneVortex wrote:I've given up on trying to get ASIO4all to work and instead I'm interested in buying an external interface that I can plug the mpk mini 3 into. I've looked at dozens of different ones online however and I can't find any interfaces that have USB-in. I know lots of them use USB out to plug into your laptop, but I'm looking for one that allows USB-in so I can plug the mpk mini into the interface. Do you happen to know of an interface that has USB inputs rather than only outputs? Thanks!


It's not hard to set up Asio4All ,but a dedicated card always give better latency
I don't get why you are looking for audio card with additional usb slots , you can simply use a usb hub instead . One slot for the Audio Interface , other for the Mpk mini
By ZoneVortex Mon Mar 29, 2021 8:11 pm
SakisX wrote:It's not hard to set up Asio4All ,but a dedicated card always give better latency
I don't get why you are looking for audio card with additional usb slots , you can simply use a usb hub instead . One slot for the Audio Interface , other for the Mpk mini


It's because I want to plug the mpk mini into the audio interface so that the input will be directed through the audio interface's ASIO driver, not my laptop's sound card.
By SakisX Tue Mar 30, 2021 5:37 pm
ZoneVortex wrote:It's because I want to plug the mpk mini into the audio interface so that the input will be directed through the audio interface's ASIO driver, not my laptop's sound card.


Midi devices and routing is irrelevant with the audio driver/device , they don't produce any sound . You simply plug the midi device on your computer and select it via the software you use , regardless which audio driver/device you use

For example , I found
Image
this interface simply has a usb hub build in , like the Ren
Image

it's only a usb hub and has nothing to do with "audio connection" (there is no such a thing)