MPC X, MPC Live, MPC One & MPC Key 61 Forum: Support and discussion for the MPC X, MPC Live, MPC Live II, MPC One & MPC Key 61; Akai's current generation of standalone MPCs.
By Michael221 Thu Dec 13, 2018 8:33 pm
Hello,

So for my current set up, I have my MPC Live running through a KP3. I improvise beats on the fly with the MPC, then scrub the beats along with my voice on the KP3.

I'm also getting a Voice Live 3 Extreme to add to the mix, to enhance the singing I do over the beats.

I mostly just do live performances.

I was curious, should I get a mixer to control the sound of all three of these devices? I want them to work in harmony together, without one aspect being too loud, i.e. the voice overpowering the beats.

I'm essentially a one man band...so wanted to get advice with how to best control the sound with these three devices.

Thanks so much for any advice you can give!

~Michael
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By Lampdog Fri Dec 14, 2018 1:40 am
Yes, A mixer or audio interface. There are also devices that can do both with usb to computer.

This one has multiple inputs, and spits out em all out via usb 2 channel stereo to computer.


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Bymember04959388 Fri Dec 14, 2018 2:01 am
Yes man you should get a mixer, it's much fun.
I use my Live like you, I also have a KP3 connected to 3/4 output and a Boss RV500 reverb to 5/6.
All outputs go to a Mackie firewire mixer and the mixer to a Mac with firewire so I can record my performances in different tracks simultaneously and edit later.
It is a very fast way to make music.
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By Lampdog Fri Dec 14, 2018 10:07 pm
This one here lets your break out 4 channels into your computer daw up to 24/94 quality via usb.

Record and play back up to four channels of 24-bit/96kHz audio via USB without the need for a separate interface.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ZEDi10--allen-and-heath-zedi-10-mixer-and-usb-audio-interface

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By Michael221 Sun Dec 16, 2018 8:10 pm
I sincerely appreciate all of this advice. Ok...I'm definitely getting a mixer then.

Right now I have a "1/4 inch to RCA cable" running from the MPC Live directly into the KP3. And the KP3 plugged into the speakers.

So just to reiterate, and I apologize for the basic question I'm about to ask...never used a mixer before. But is this set-up possible with the mixer:

Run the sound from the MPC Live into the Mixer. The Mixer then runs the sound into the speakers. I'll also have the KP3 plugged into the mixer separately. The Kp3 will also be plugged into the speakers. When I want, I can shift the sound from the mixer into the KP3 to scrub the beat. Then, I'll also have the VoiceLive 3 Extreme plugged into the mixer. From there, I can sing/rap into the Voicelive, and send that to either the speaker or KP3 as I choose.

Does the mixer and right connections make this set-up logically possible?
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By NearTao Mon Dec 17, 2018 2:51 pm
Michael221 wrote:Run the sound from the MPC Live into the Mixer. The Mixer then runs the sound into the speakers. I'll also have the KP3 plugged into the mixer separately. The Kp3 will also be plugged into the speakers. When I want, I can shift the sound from the mixer into the KP3 to scrub the beat. Then, I'll also have the VoiceLive 3 Extreme plugged into the mixer. From there, I can sing/rap into the Voicelive, and send that to either the speaker or KP3 as I choose.

Does the mixer and right connections make this set-up logically possible?


It all depends what you are trying to accomplish, with one piece of external gear you can do this pretty easily with just the Live itself. You *could* route output 3/4 to your your KP3 IN, then KP3 OUT to your MPC L/R In. From here, you can control what audio goes out from the MPC to either speakers, or to the KP3 by controlling whether the output goes to 1/2 or 3/4.

However, the reason you may not want to do this, and instead add a mixer, needs a bit more explanation. A mixer allows you to actually control the levels that are routed from one channel to another, where they fit within the L/R mix, and a lot of other fun things. There are tons of mixers, so instead of talking about specific mixer configurations, I'm just going to pretend a few things which will help highlight why you'd want a mixer.

So... let's say you have the MPC, KP3, and a mixer. What you could do is take all your outputs from the MPC, and (assuming you have enough inputs) route them all to different channels from the MPC. You'd probably route MPC L to channel 1 on the mixer, and set the mix to hard left , and you'd probably route the MPC R to channel 2 on the mixer, and set the mix to hard right. This will get you stereo separation so as you play stereo sounds from the MPC you can keep them separate. Now, you mentioned you wanted to also manage vocals. Normally you'd record these in as mono since traditionally the microphone is a mono input. Let's say you record vocals as mono, you could then set this as output 3 on your MPC, and then it would come into channel 3 on the mixer. Now, just for stereo separation, you can take your audio of channel 3 and mix it to left, right, center, or anywhere in between. Sure you can do this within the MPC as well, but you need to dig through menus and such. You can do this for each additional output on the MPC as well, so for bass sounds, drum sounds, or whatever, you can then decide which channel on the mixer you want to manage those sounds on.

Enough about mixing the audio straight. The question you had also included adding FX such as your KP3. Many mixers support what I'm familiar with being called an FX loop, which is effective an input/output for external FX gear that you can then manage how wet/dry a channel is on your mixer. Keep in mind, many FX loops are traditionally mono, so if a mixer supports 4 FX, if you want to use a stereo FX then you'll likely be using 2 FX channels. To add your KP3 to the mix, you'll want to connect it to your FX loop 1 (which would likely be mono). Once you have done this, you'll notice on your mixer an FX1 knob, this control how dry/wet each channel is that is sent to the FX1 loop. In the case of your KP3, you may only want one channel, such as vocals sent through the FX, so you'd adjust that up, while making sure the other parts of your mix are dry.

Assuming you have other FX loops, you might set loop 2 as reverb (as mentioned earlier). Often when you are mixing you want everything to sound like it is in the same room, so you may want to send everything, in varying degrees, to your reverb FX. Based on how much reverb each channel gets will change how much it sits within the mix.

Other fun things some mixers will let you do is route a channel to more than just an L/R output. It may have a switch or knob to route output to a different output. This can help make it easier for you to sample back into the MPC by controlling what output(s) you want from the mixer to go back into the MPC for sampling. Depending on the features of the mixer, this can give you some really powerful sampling capabilities, but can also start making things super complicated. You really need good memory, sticky notes, consistent process, etc... in order to keep your sanity if you start going down this way.

Anyways, this is both high level, and just a few examples. You are able to do tons of really fancy things with mixers, and I'm just outlining what is hopefully enough to elaborate what you can do here, which I think is what you are looking to do.

Good luck!
By Michael221 Mon Dec 17, 2018 3:33 pm
Holy Smokes NearTao...thank you so much for taking the time to explain all of this. Incredibly helpful!! This had made things extremely clear for me.

Ok, I'm definitely getting a mixer. Just want to make sure I get one that can do everything you described. I researched the ones people already mentioned, and they look awesome. I was also looking at this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-X1204U ... +interface

It's both a mixer and audio interface together.

And this one, which is the same one, but has 16 input instead of 12...and also has +48 V Phantom.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0036ECH1M/re ... B0039PPW60

But before I drop $200...just wanted to get a little input if one of these mixers would be what I'm looking for to do what I want.

Thank you! :D

~Michael
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By NearTao Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:56 pm
Either mixer looks pretty solid feature wise. You'll want to read the manual to see how to hook everything up, but I'm willing to bet that either the AUX or ALT 3-4 would be a good way to get audio out and back into the MPC for resampling. Though, the MUTE/ALT 3-4 is probably the better method... the manual should help hear. I am sure you can use AUX for this purpose, but you probably really want this free for your KP3.

The compressor on channels 1-4 will really help out with recording if you're having problems recording vocals and keeping a consistent level. A lot of general purpose EQ never hurt anybody... and the built in FX looks handy in a jam, though you're likely going to have better FX on the MPC.

For the X1204USB, you'd probably hook up MPC L/R to 5/6 on the mixer, MPC 3/4 to 7/8 on the mixer for a second stereo output, then MPC 5/6 to 3/4 on the mixer. Personally I'd do this so you're keeping 2 XLR inputs for mic's open, but your milage may vary. Since the numbers are different, this is where the fun can start with trying to remember what output goes to what input.

I'm also not completely sure if the FX outputs on this board need to come back into their own channel on the mixer, or if they have a loop setup for inputs to come back in. Without looking at the manual I'm not 100% sure, but I'd be willing to bet that AUX will be for your own FX processing through the KP3, and FX on the mixer is for it's own internal FX settings (such as the built in reverb and such).

Edit: One other thought... definitely read up on the tape input/output... this may be a good choice to route an unmodified signal from the MPC L/R into the mixer... with the thinking being that you want to use that to mostly process content in the box, and wouldn't send it to the KP3.

Even with this as a relatively simple mixer you can do some really crazy stuff... have fun!