Is the battery in the MPC worth it?

Battery was one of the main reasons that motivated me to buy the Live. But rarely used it actually. I need my setup to be (partly) mobile, but I am always in power outlet reach.

CharlesRandolph wrote:Just trying to make it constructive. That's all! What were you using prior to it?

I was using Reason. I let go the 2000XL , Protools, hardware and Yamaha O2R in 2012. Then l got the LPD8.

Monotremata wrote:I still would've bought it for the size really. I wanted an X of course, but couldn't spend that much, and my space here was arranged around the Studio, so I literally didn't have any room to get an even bigger MPC. Still wish I had one, really for the I/O, but the Live is just perfect on the desktop. I thought the battery was going to be the most awesome thing in the world. I could wander around the house and work on ****, play the Nintendo out in the living room and make some patches, etc..

Thing hasn't left the 'studio' once. Ive used the battery a few times, in here on the desk, just to run it down and keep it from getting wasted. If the headphone output gave you a mix of everything Id use it more outside here, but I use all six outputs so its a pain in the ass switching them all back and forth just to go from headphones back to the mixer/monitors. I think you mentioned it in the One thread Charles, I also just prefer sitting here in front of my monitors when Im using it.

Yes, headphone always felt like leash. I stand up, walk around, lay down, but always focused on my monitor. Not to mention, once I patch something in, I don't like to remove it.

mr_debauch wrote:i think it would have been great to have a way to link the main stereo outputs wirelessly (maybe via bluetooth) ... imagine having a bluetooth reviever connected to a channel on the mixer or speakers (or bluetooth headphones) and it is fully wireless. that might have been cool. It is cool being able to take the thing anywhere in the house or even in the studio room itself to sample stuff quick without having to rearrange an entire existing setup.

So you like to have a module type of setup, instead of a fixed one?

Danoc wrote:

CharlesRandolph wrote:Just trying to make it constructive. That's all! What were you using prior to it?

I was using Reason. I let go the 2000XL , Protools, hardware and Yamaha O2R in 2012. Then l got the LPD8.

Why did you have such a long drought between MPC'S. Did your flow really change that much?

The battery was a factor for me. I needed (wanted) a more portable solution than being tethered to a laptop & a controller. Plus it's nice to be able to make beats sat on the sofa!!!

MaScHiNeHeAd wrote:The battery was a factor for me. I needed (wanted) a more portable solution than being tethered to a laptop & a controller. Plus it's nice to be able to make beats sat on the sofa!!!

So without the battery, you would've gotten something else? If so, what did you have your eye on?

CharlesRandolph wrote:

Eyalc wrote:It’s cool to have it. Use it once in a while. But wasn’t a buying factor at all. Would have bought a Live with or without it, because I wanted a newer generation stand alone MPC.

I can understand that. What did it replace for you?

Was using a 5000 heavy, then when the software was released, I sold the 5000 and bought an MPC Studio - but couldn’t go from the 5000 screen size back to that small screen again, so sold the Studio and used Logic solely. Then bought a Touch, and realized it wasn’t just the smaller screen of the Studio I didn’t like - it was the software that I didn’t like either, so I sold the Touch.

Bought a Live because of standalone, exporting stems and could put an internal SSD in it. The battery wasn’t a factor. It’s been convenient a couple times, but most of the time when I’m in front of the Live, I’m there for a few hours - never tried to use it that long on battery.

Eyalc wrote:
Was using a 5000 heavy, then when the software was released, I sold the 5000 and bought an MPC Studio - but couldn’t go from the 5000 screen size back to that small screen again, so sold the Studio and used Logic solely. Then bought a Touch, and realized it wasn’t just the smaller screen of the Studio I didn’t like - it was the software that I didn’t like either, so I sold the Touch.

Bought a Live because of standalone, exporting stems and could put an internal SSD in it. The battery wasn’t a factor. It’s been convenient a couple times, but most of the time when I’m in front of the Live, I’m there for a few hours - never tried to use it that long on battery.

Are you rendering stems or tracking? Have you setup the LIVE to control Logic?

There are rumors that MK2 will have a solar battery, a new design that also works when it's cloudy.
And other rumors say mk2 will be waterproof.
This means you will be able to use mk2 under the rain.

Menco wrote:Battery was one of the main reasons that motivated me to buy the Live. But rarely used it actually. I need my setup to be (partly) mobile, but I am always in power outlet reach.

What kept you from using it? It seems that for a mobile setup, it would be ideal. What changed?

I love the battery on my MPC. Honestly it's nice even in the studio, sit on the couch in those late smoking night, I found myself make more music because of that.
Sometimes me and my girl take the MPC and a Korg Monologue to the park, I might do every now and then but it's nice.

Professional speaking it can be handy when you go to your label studio, you can easily hook up 6 out, wifi ableton link, jam and export.
For a live situation you don't have the hassle of cables. If you do club stuff, MPC Live+battery mono synth with the clip program you're done!

Overall is not a necessity because it won't change much bring and extra cable but even if somebody make fun of the forest jam guy or the DAWless one, at the end the portability inspire those people, it inspire me when I sit on my couch. Music comes from inspiration.

I have the Live for not a long time, does anyone with an intensive use notice any drop on the battery after years?

TheDoctor wrote:I love the battery on my MPC. Honestly it's nice even in the studio, sit on the couch in those late smoking night, I found myself make more music because of that.
Sometimes me and my girl take the MPC and a Korg Monologue to the park, I might do every now and then but it's nice.

Professional speaking it can be handy when you go to your label studio, you can easily hook up 6 out, wifi ableton link, jam and export.
For a live situation you don't have the hassle of cables. If you do club stuff, MPC Live+battery mono synth with the clip program you're done!

Overall is not a necessity because it won't change much bring and extra cable but even if somebody make fun of the forest jam guy or the DAWless one, at the end the portability inspire those people, it inspire me when I sit on my couch. Music comes from inspiration.

I have the Live for not a long time, does anyone with an intensive use notice any drop on the battery after years?

I have it since 3 years and it's still going good, maybe it lost a 10%.
Now seriously, battery is not indispensable but good to have.
Is good for example when after hours of working on the table, you just sit on the sofa and make some editing or reordering or just listen to sketches and ideas you put on Mpc before and forget them.
My next serious question is: what will happen when the battery will be exhausted? Will we have to remove it and change it? Where we will get a new one? How will we change it?

Not sure what you mean exactly by "worth it" since when I bought my live it was the cheaper option vs X.
I'll put it this way, had there been two live models one w battery, and one without.. I would have paid up $100-150 for the battery option. My only other MPC is a 500, so yeah I like being able to pick up and go.. not to mention where I live hurricanes, thunderstorms, and power outages are a fact of life during the summer. Would I buy an MPC without a battery? Maybe but I wouldn't use it nearly as much.

I'm honestly 50/50 on what would have happened without a battery. The battery was the deciding factor for me, but the standalone nature is what attracted me to it - I had only used one MPC before, and struggled to wrap my head around how to use it at the time compared to my other tools (MPC 1000 vs Reason 4), the Live made sense to me, felt like I could just "make music", and I could (much better after Bible though, much better - shot out to Tutor).

My biggest issue with making music is always time, always. Its a huge priority, but trying to juggle my fulltime, my wife fighting depression, dealing with my own actualized depression, while trying to raise to hyperactive kids - makes time hard to come by, I've always been most productive when I can consistently escape it all and work away from my family - namely during lunch at work...I used to bring my laptop in but it was so slow and struggled to keep up, that it took roughly 7 minutes to load Ableton.

So this standalone device that didn't need any cords, and would boot quickly, and would [i[just work[/i] looked like a godsend, I was trying to cut as much out as possible.

Its a little different now, I rotate what devices I bring to work to work on depending on my goal for the day, improving my piano skills, learning Ableton, learning FL Studio, just trying to get something done, practicing finger drumming, they all sort of have different equipment that mostly needs power, so its not as big a deal as it felt, but I do use the battery and love having it, there is a reason my Digitakt never comes to work...
- Unreall