Some questions before I buy aa MPC One

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Some questions before I buy aa MPC One

By AgoZone Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:46 am
Hi,

I am about to buy new music equipment after a LONG break without doing any music production. I would like to begin to produce pop music again in "80's style". But I am getting a bit confused when I scan the market of the new drum machines of 2020/2021. First, I do not like the analog products and I am not looking for a Hip Hop grovebox either.

I started to play this electronic pop music as a teenager in the middle of 1980's and had synths like Juno 106, D-50, ESQ-1 and the drum machine I was using was the Yamaha RX-011 and Roland TR-707. I hope to get some good advice here and I hope the Akai MPC One is a good choice for my needs.

This is what I am looking for,
• An "easy to use", hands-on drum machine which is easy to learn
• A drum machine with plenty of drum kits with sounds of the 80's
• A stand alone sequencer which can replace recording in DAW's like Logic
• I would like to record for both MIDI-tracks and audio tracks from external synhesizers

So, my mail question is, is the MPC One the right product for my needs?

Thanks in advance for your comments and recommendations

Cheers,

Anders
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Re: Some questions before I buy aa MPC One

By Lampdog Sun Jan 17, 2021 4:34 am
MPC One is everything you just mentioned.

It’s a sampler so you can sample in and/or use the included sound libraries that are already in it. The DRUM SYNTH is that old school drum machine TR series sound with LOTS OF tweaking where you can craft your own drums just like you do synths. EASY to come up with 80’s drums!

Yes it can do midi, yes it’s standalone and can be placed into controller mode.

The line in’s can be used as an active mixer, pass audio through it like an efx box if you want.

Re: Some questions before I buy aa MPC One

By AgoZone Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:54 pm
Thanks a lot for your replies, I appreciate this a lot!

Just a few more questions,

• I can read the MPC One has 8 audio tracks. I use a lot of synths in my music which makes 8 tracks sound little to me. I mean if I use Logic Pro for example there are no limits when it comes to numbers of audio tracks. Is there any way I can get more (at least 16)?

• Is there any way I can quantize the audio track recordings in the MPC?

• What is the main difference between Live 2 and One (except the speakers and the rechargeable battery)? Is it worth the extra 400-500 Euros?

Many thanks in advance :wink:

//Anders

Re: Some questions before I buy aa MPC One

By Tabletop Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:06 pm
There are a lot of reviews/videos on the topic of live(ii) vs one where you can compare the specs, or just look on the akai website...
Imo, the live(ii) is absolutely worth the extra money.
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Re: Some questions before I buy aa MPC One

By EnochLight Sun Jan 17, 2021 11:49 pm
AgoZone wrote:Thanks a lot for your replies, I appreciate this a lot!

Just a few more questions,

• I can read the MPC One has 8 audio tracks. I use a lot of synths in my music which makes 8 tracks sound little to me. I mean if I use Logic Pro for example there are no limits when it comes to numbers of audio tracks. Is there any way I can get more (at least 16)?

• Is there any way I can quantize the audio track recordings in the MPC?

• What is the main difference between Live 2 and One (except the speakers and the rechargeable battery)? Is it worth the extra 400-500 Euros?

Many thanks in advance :wink:

//Anders


  • All (current gen) MPC's in standalone mode are limited to 8 audio tracks, each with a 5 minute recording limit per track. If you record 5 minutes and 1 second, the audio track cannot be saved and you'll lose the track. That said, sampling has a 20 minute limit. But the MPC's are MIDI powerhouses, and you can sequence up to 128 tracks and 128 sequences with practically unlimited notes, and there is plenty (I mean PLENTY) of samples to work with... Sequencing with sampled Drum Programs is really the MPC's strength, IMHO. Keygroups second. Those 8 audio tracks last. Then of course there are Audio Clips (that time-stretch on the fly in time with your project BPM)....

  • There is no audio quantize on the MPC's in standalone, currently.

  • As Tabeltop said, check out YouTube as there are a plethora of videos on the subject. I was really just being cheeky with my comment earlier, but honestly - yeah - the Live 2 is far better. I prefer to work from an installed 1TB SSD in my Live 2 - something you cannot do with the MPC One (you have to rely on SD Cards and USB sticks). The built-in storage on the MPC One (really all MPC's) is laughably limited and you SHOULD NOT use it as your main storage (or any storage at all, really). Aside from the Factory Content that comes with it, that is all you should use the built-in storage for. If you don't have a problem working from an SD Card that you provide, or a USB stick that you provide, then the One is great. But the MPC Live (and X) are the only ones that you can install a proper SATA drive into.
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