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 Bigheaded Sun Jan 23, 2022 8:10 pm
I'm new here, and new to anything besides using an MPD or Trigger Finger Pro Midi controller in Reason, so please take it easy with me here. I did read what I could find on Google, but I'm still not sure so I'll ask. I ordered a Maschine Mk3 last week, and somehow Fedex lost the package. Where I ordered it from said they'd send another after they worked out with Fedex that the package was lost and just not stuck somewhere and not reporting. That could take a week to get fixed, then the shipping time. I thought about it and decided I didn't want to wait so I'm going a different route.

Anyways, I took it as sign from God I should have ordered an MPC One in the 1st place. So I'm ordering one tomorrow. Before Fedex lost my damn package I had bought the DJ Khalil expansion in anticipation. When I decided to go the MPC One route I Googled if you could get Maschine expansions loaded into an MPC One and Kit Maker popped up. Looks great, and costs almost nothing. Here's my question, what's lost in the conversion process? The Khalil pack lists kits for Maschine, Battery & Monark. Now I know with Kit Maker you can manually drop in wavs. Am I correct that the Battery kits are just samples that are organized into kits to make things easier? I know Battery has a ton of FX's and stuff, I'm just wondering about if the kits actually do anything besides group samples? And since Monark are synths I'll lose those - correct? I did Google both of these, but found nothing helpful.

I'm asking because there are a few other NI expansions I really want to buy, but before I do that I want to figure out what can't be converted. This will help me decide if I should buy Battery and or Monark and just use them in the MPC One's controller mode in my DAW (Reason) But I'm asking because I'm still foggy here.

please forgive me if this is a dumb question, I'm still trying to wrap my head around Battery & Monarch.

If anyone knows and feels like educating me here, thank you very much in advanced.
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By MPC-Tutor Sun Jan 23, 2022 8:40 pm
kitmaker converts Maschine groups into MPC 'drum' programs, but I assume only sample-to-pad assignments and there has to be limitations as the two formats are not like for like. For example, a Maschine 'pad' supports 127 layers, MPC supports 4. MPC has round robin support, Maschine doesn't (or didn't last I looked, which was years ago!).

Similarly I seriously doubt they are trying to recreate/approximate FX, filters, LFO or envelope settings, so if the expansion relies on these to create the sounds, you'll lose this and just have the basic raw samples. TBH I would say that the obvious people to ask for the full lowdown are the guys who make Kitmaker.

But generally speaking, decent expansions (Machine or MPC) are unlikely to just be 'raw samples', there's going to be plenty of FX, filter and envelope action going on, plus all sorts of other platform specific goodness, so don't expect to be able to replicate things perfectly.

As for Battery (or whatever xyz plugin), if it's VST, VST2 or AU, then it should work in the MPC Software, although sometimes some plugins just don't play nicely.
By Bigheaded Sun Jan 23, 2022 9:20 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote:kitmaker converts Maschine groups into MPC 'drum' programs, but I assume only sample-to-pad assignments and there has to be limitations as the two formats are not like for like. For example, a Maschine 'pad' supports 127 layers, MPC supports 4. MPC has round robin support, Maschine doesn't (or didn't last I looked, which was years ago!).

Similarly I seriously doubt they are trying to recreate/approximate FX, filters, LFO or envelope settings, so if the expansion relies on these to create the sounds, you'll lose this and just have the basic raw samples. TBH I would say that the obvious people to ask for the full lowdown are the guys who make Kitmaker.

But generally speaking, decent expansions (Machine or MPC) are unlikely to just be 'raw samples', there's going to be plenty of FX, filter and envelope action going on, plus all sorts of other platform specific goodness, so don't expect to be able to replicate things perfectly.

As for Battery (or whatever xyz plugin), if it's VST, VST2 or AU, then it should work in the MPC Software, although sometimes some plugins just don't play nicely.



Thank you for the reply, even with the reading I did, I wasn't 100% on if the kits did more than just grouping the wavs to make things easier to find. But you mentioning the adding of FX's totally makes sense to me now. I could do a lot of the post sample enhancing in the MPC software or Reason. I guess if I'm only going to be buying a few of NI's expansions I shouldn't overthink things here. I could even just import the WAVs manually without Kit Maker and play with the FX settings in MPC software. I did download the One's manual to read up before I get the hardware. At 400 pages it obviously can do a lot lot.

I appreciate the reply, I know I sound like a n00b, I still have a ton of learning to do.
By SuperKonquer Mon Jan 24, 2022 7:28 am
In Maschine you can create a pattern with a note on the 1st beat for every pad then export the kit altogether as separate stems. You'll have all the fx included in those samples. You'll have a tail of silence that you'll need use to remove the silent tails. Or you can do it manually in the Mpc but that's tedious. Cant say how this method would work with battery as I never seriously used it.
By Bigheaded Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:04 am
SuperKonquer wrote:In Maschine you can create a pattern with a note on the 1st beat for every pad then export the kit altogether as separate stems. You'll have all the fx included in those samples. You'll have a tail of silence that you'll need use to remove the silent tails. Or you can do it manually in the Mpc but that's tedious. Cant say how this method would work with battery as I never seriously used it.


Thanks for the explanation, the more I think about it, me buying Battery to maybe get some benefit from maybe 3 expansions, 2 of which I might not even buy seems pretty dumb. Seeing how I won't even have the MPC until sometime later this week. And I know zero about how to do anything on it. I'd probably be best off too not even think about anything except it and learning the basics. Anything that has a book you can buy for it with the word Bible in it is gonna require full attention for a good while. lol And I know the built in MPC library will be plenty for me to start with.
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By MPC-Tutor Mon Jan 24, 2022 10:32 am
BTW regarding buying Battery and other NI products, it might be worth looking at Komplete, it's not normally particularly cost effective to buy individual plugins from them. I already had a free komplete select license from buying a Maschine Micro and the upgrade to the full Komplete was something like £150, which is less the price of just buying a Battery license and you get almost all their plugins, loads of Kontakt instruments, and a bunch of expansions.

But I suspect you'll probably lose interest in Maschine expansions once you immerse yourself in the MPC ecosystem. TBH I'm not a fan of those types of 'genre' expansions, but software like Battery and Kontakt and all the NI synths are pretty much essential purchases IMO (assuming you don't just stay in standalone mode).
By bra10 Mon Jan 24, 2022 4:41 pm
I own a dozen NI expansions which I purchased on sales, 8 for 99EU or something like that. I like the quality of the NI samples more than the extreme processed AKAI sample packs.
I didn´t convert the Maschine Kits to MPC Kits. I simply copied the sample folder on my sd card and created my own expansion-overlapping drum kits on my MPC.
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By EnochLight Mon Jan 24, 2022 7:42 pm
Bigheaded wrote:Thanks for the explanation, the more I think about it, me buying Battery to maybe get some benefit from maybe 3 expansions, 2 of which I might not even buy seems pretty dumb. Seeing how I won't even have the MPC until sometime later this week. And I know zero about how to do anything on it. I'd probably be best off too not even think about anything except it and learning the basics. Anything that has a book you can buy for it with the word Bible in it is gonna require full attention for a good while. lol And I know the built in MPC library will be plenty for me to start with.


* raises hand *

I'm only chiming in because I was a lifelong Reason user as well as had a Trigger Finger Pro at one point, so I know where you're coming from. Believe me, the MPC One will come with enough stock content to get you started - including built-in synths/plugins and effects. Don't spend a dime on any Expansions or any other sample content until you learn the ropes of using your MPC, feel comfortable with building sequences and songs, and then - AND ONLY THEN - start looking at other Expansions and content if you feel like you've outgrown the factory content. Also, you'll get a free Splice trial with your MPC, so you can always curate your own content for a bit if you get bored.

MPC One is a powerhouse on its own and comes with some good content. Also, make sure you check your Akai account after you register it, because that gives you access to a lot of content as well (including the MPC Software, which is a great utility app).
By Bigheaded Mon Jan 24, 2022 9:16 pm
EnochLight wrote:
Bigheaded wrote:Thanks for the explanation, the more I think about it, me buying Battery to maybe get some benefit from maybe 3 expansions, 2 of which I might not even buy seems pretty dumb. Seeing how I won't even have the MPC until sometime later this week. And I know zero about how to do anything on it. I'd probably be best off too not even think about anything except it and learning the basics. Anything that has a book you can buy for it with the word Bible in it is gonna require full attention for a good while. lol And I know the built in MPC library will be plenty for me to start with.


* raises hand *

I'm only chiming in because I was a lifelong Reason user as well as had a Trigger Finger Pro at one point, so I know where you're coming from. Believe me, the MPC One will come with enough stock content to get you started - including built-in synths/plugins and effects. Don't spend a dime on any Expansions or any other sample content until you learn the ropes of using your MPC, feel comfortable with building sequences and songs, and then - AND ONLY THEN - start looking at other Expansions and content if you feel like you've outgrown the factory content. Also, you'll get a free Splice trial with your MPC, so you can always curate your own content for a bit if you get bored.

MPC One is a powerhouse on its own and comes with some good content. Also, make sure you check your Akai account after you register it, because that gives you access to a lot of content as well (including the MPC Software, which is a great utility app).


I appreciate you speaking sensible to me, I tend to jump into something new and overdo it lol. I did already buy one NI expansion, which is ironic because I'm not even getting the Maschine anymore. So your advice is very sound. For some reason my brain was telling me "it only comes with 2 gigs of content" But logically, that's 2 more than I have now, and 2 gigs is a lot to start with. And the PC software has uh, 8 more? A far cry from the 580 gigs of Komplete Ultimate, but that's crazy even in my mind lol.

Good to see another TFP person, I loved mine, but as with every M Audio thing I owned it was nice but they didn't seem to care about supporting it for long. I honestly was about to buy a used one off Reverb but went MPC. I'm hoping with some tinkering the One will work smoothly in Reason. I'm still on 9.5 but it works for me.
By Bigheaded Tue Jan 25, 2022 1:03 am
Thanks to everyone who replied, I placed the order about 4 hours ago. They've had 2 Retros with small blemishes marked down to $769 that I've been eyeballing since Friday. I just checked now and somebody snagged the other since I got mine, so looks like maybe I got lucky. I'm so excited that I paid $30 to get overnight shipping. I've wanted an MPC since high school when the MP60 came out so I couldn't even stand to think about waiting 3 whole days (free shipping) I got almost 30 years of wishing I had MPC to make up for. The 2 MPD's I've owned were pretty neat, but they were a midi controller so it wasn't the same. I'm glad I didn't cheap out and get the Studio. Now I can do the battery pack mod and go make beats everywhere.

Sorry, I'm like a damn kid on Christmas lol. And I have FedEx losing my Maschine Mk3 25th anniversary edition to thank for this. If they had delivered it last Tuesday like they were supposed to, 100% I would have ripped it open without a second thought. And probably been uber happy too, but I have a feeling sitting outside on a warm'ish and sunny So-Cali winter day (75 today) making a beat will just be #$%^&# amazing.

*EDIT*

Welp, I jinxed things by posting I ordered it, I found out a bit ago out they didn't actually have the blemish one in stock so my order was canceled. And stupid me, I told my lady "don't worry, I got a sweet deal on a new open box one" nope... So my only options were a new non-factory sealed black one for $719 or a retro for $899. The retro's calling my name, so yeah, boy my lady's gonna be super happy with me lol.
By Bigheaded Thu Jan 27, 2022 5:04 pm
Was SUPPOSED to come yesterday. but of course it didn't. And FedEx said it was SUPPOSED to be here by noon today. But it just got on the truck for delivery a few minutes ago. Which means I'm probably not going to get it until closer to when the sun goes down, or maybe it will even already be dark!

And 1st I should update it 2.10.1 and load the new synths and register it so I can download and load the F9 expansion. It might be 9 damn o'clock before I can start to make a beat. Oh, and probably most important, I don't even know how to make a beat on it lol. So I'm just going to be pressing buttons and turning the data knob randomly.

#1STWORLDPROBLEMS
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By MPC-Tutor Thu Jan 27, 2022 7:17 pm
Bigheaded wrote:Oh, and probably most important, I don't even know how to make a beat on it lol. So I'm just going to be pressing buttons and turning the data knob randomly.


Grab a copy of the MPC Bible to get acquainted with the workflow :)

https://www.mpc-samples.com/product.php/268/mpc-bible/
By Bigheaded Fri Jan 28, 2022 4:39 am
MPC-Tutor wrote:
Bigheaded wrote:Oh, and probably most important, I don't even know how to make a beat on it lol. So I'm just going to be pressing buttons and turning the data knob randomly.


Grab a copy of the MPC Bible to get acquainted with the workflow :)

https://www.mpc-samples.com/product.php/268/mpc-bible/


That's going to be my 1st purchase, unfortunately my lady knows the exact amount I spent and I'm on a "absolutely zero spending budget" for the next 30 days. She won't even let me go buy a $10 cable so I can hook my turntable up to it so I can sample off some vinyl :( But your book will be bought as soon as I'm out of no money jail.

which leads me to a question I have, I read bits of the manual, and watched a few YT videos on sampling. I have a 1/8th to 1/8th headphone cable. I plugged 1 end into my phones headphone out and the other into 1 of the 2 inputs on the MPC using a 1/8th to 1/4th adapter. Since this is for headphones it doesn't have L/R just 1 connector, but shouldn't this still work with it just sampling in mono or something? I did everything you'd do with a normal 1/8th cable but the One's just not receiving any signal. I'm assuming this should work for no other reason than it's what my brain's telling me. Obviously it doesn't work, or it would be working. lol

I have the record volume turned up on the back and IN on the sampler turned on. But that's just for monitoring so that shouldn't matter. No sound and nothing shows up on the level meter. I was thinking maybe my phone's screwy, So I hooked the out to the headphone jack on my Numark mixer, with no luck. I know the cable works when plugged into my headphones so I'm at a loss. I have 30 days until I can get the proper cable so I gotta figure out a way to sample in the meantime. I'm sitting here staring at a stack of vinyl and it's driving me nuts.

Any ideas?
By Bigheaded Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:13 am
Welp, that was a stupid question to ask, I rebooted and it magically started working go figure. Also it's crashed 3 times while I was loading factory kits. I wasn't doing anything fancy, just trying to make a simple drum pattern. Had 1 sequence and the 1 track. And it was an expansion pack I downloaded off Akai's website. I need go to Google and see if this is common or just my wonderful luck. But I'm not risking it and will be quick saving very often lol.

This this is @#$%^& dope! I'm so glad Fedex lost the Maschine I ordered - nobody still has any idea where it is lol. Once I do the battery mod on this it will be going with me everywhere. Surpringly getting my 1st basic beat wasn't too bad. TC instead of quantize threw me off and a few other things didn't make sense. But overall it's pretty intuitive.