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 kyoki Fri Mar 26, 2021 6:43 am
Hi friends,
I have a quick question. Does anybody knows how to connect or link two MPC Ones? I have a friend of mine who is also having a MPC One and we want to jam together. I know how to make it using the computer but I was wondering if there is a way to do it without a computer only with the two machines.

Thanks in advance!
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By 83dude Fri Mar 26, 2021 7:56 am
There are several ways, but supposing you only have those devices and some cables, I'd do it like this:

1. Define one device as MASTER, one device as SLAVE.
2. Connect your slave's output to your master's input.
3. Create an audio track with the same input selected and monitoring set to IN. See manual p. 46. Now you can hear your slave's audio output through your master device.
4. Set up sync: Put a MIDI cable from your master's MIDI Out to your slave's MIDI In .
5. In preferences, next to the respective MIDI IN (slave) and OUT (master), select the SYNC button to send or recieve sync signals over that. Make sure that under SYNC SEND or SYNC RECIEVE both have the respective SEND (master) or RECIEVE (slave) tickboxes selected and your master's sync type is set to MC / MIDI Clock. See manual p. 78. Your master also could send MMC.
6. In your slave device set SYNC mode (under MENU) to MIDI CLOCK. See manual p. 84.

Voilà - now you should be good to go, with your master's tempo synced to your slave's device. Remember, your slave device might lose some functions (e.g. not being able to start playback, losing sampling capabilities) due to it not being "master in its own house". I am not on a two machine setup ATM, but that should set you up. To "break" the connection and retain full capabilities just set #6 sync mode back to OFF. Your slave device will now handle its own tempo and clock again.
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By 83dude Fri Mar 26, 2021 11:07 am
SakisX wrote:Or connect via ethernet , assign manually static IPs and enable Link (haven't tried it!)


Didn‘t think of it, I am probably too old school for that. :-D
Might be a wee bit easier to setup, but in my experience it’s occasionally confusing since there is no definite master device. Last play = master and similar mockups.

This won‘t save you audio cabling though, you‘d still need to perform steps 1-3, but you could replace steps 4-6 with Ableton Link respectively. Depends on what suits your style / workflow / available cables.
By kaydigi Fri Mar 26, 2021 4:09 pm
Didn’t know that the slave device loses sampling capability when in slave mode. I have to test that out one day.

You can also use ableton link to connect both devices together. Without a PC you need a phone as a hotspot.

The most devices I had together via link were 7. Two Mpcs, reason 10 on windows desktop, iMPC 2 on a iPhone, iMaschine on a iPad, ableton live 10 on a windows laptop, and mpc software on a surface pro

It all synced well for the time I was testing it
By SakisX Fri Mar 26, 2021 4:34 pm
kaydigi wrote:Without a PC you need a phone as a hotspot.


Wifi is not supported on MPC One , only Ehternet cable
By SakisX Fri Mar 26, 2021 4:35 pm
@Lampdog haven't tried it my self ,but others have reported bad results sending clock via bluetooth
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By Lampdog Fri Mar 26, 2021 4:54 pm
And others have reported good results with this one product. I don’t like or use BT for midi
But I’ve seen good reviews of this one thing. I’ve tried BT midi once, from ipad to mpc X, latency kills it for me, Someone here likes it, I forget who.
By BogdanOctav Sun Mar 28, 2021 3:05 pm
How do you avoid the pads from one MPC triggering the other one's programs? I tried that simple setup with two MPCs and one MIDI cable, and the master MPC would constantly trigger the other one. Didn't find any other solution than putting a MIDI filter device in between. Is there another workaround?
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By 83dude Sun Mar 28, 2021 3:58 pm
BogdanOctav wrote:How do you avoid the pads from one MPC triggering the other one's programs? I tried that simple setup with two MPCs and one MIDI cable, and the master MPC would constantly trigger the other one. Didn't find any other solution than putting a MIDI filter device in between. Is there another workaround?


Deactivate TRACK for that output under Preferences > MIDI/SYNC.
By Subaudio Mon Mar 21, 2022 12:03 am
Hi all.

My first post here. May I add a question to this on the same lines?

I have an MPC one which is the centre of my DAWless rig. It's running midi sequencing to various synths & drum machines and also playing samples, mainly Foley.

I have a Roland MC 707 slaves to the MPC one which isn't capable of handling what I expected it to so need another sound source to do drums, bass and pads. Another, 2nd MPC one fits the bill perfectly.

The first response to the OP said a 2nd MPC would have issues with sampling.

I'd like to have my original MPC ONE do all the sequencing as it excels at this for me, and a 2nd to handle samples and plug in synths etc. For drums, bass and pads.
I do a lot of strings and busy arrangements of drums, Foley samples etc so my hope is to have the samples and plugins from a 2nd MPC one handle that while my original one does the sequencing.

Is this possible and how? It kind of hurts my brain to think of it :)