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 KaoticShock Tue Jun 28, 2022 1:14 am
MurkyFreddery wrote:Has anyone compared the new electric piano plugin with the older free one yet?



Yes, I have, I did a comprehensive A/B Comparison and I will be posting video reviews/overviews at some point. Stage EP is definitely better and more dynamic than Electric, but I actually agree with Straker that it's still not 100% that Rhodes sound. The cool thing about the new plugins is honestly just more options and more parameters to automate or change per patch. I need to A/B Stage EP to my MC-101, Straker said he preferred the Roland Rhodes, I personally think the best and most realistic Rhodes patch is the "Vintage Case" from the Yamaha Motif .

Stage EP and Fabric EP at least have more options and sound better than Electric, it's nice to be able to add some noise/flutter/distortion to create a more unique sound . The age and formant features are solid, definitely welcome additions for more dynamic sounds.
By Wul Tue Jun 28, 2022 10:19 am
They are both sample players at the end of the day , most of the parameters and fx are available in a keygroup.
It’s all smoke and mirrors.
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By kja Tue Jun 28, 2022 5:08 pm
Wul wrote:They are both sample players at the end of the day , most of the parameters and fx are available in a keygroup.
It’s all smoke and mirrors.

There is a layer of modeling on top of the samples with the stage series, that why you have parameters for formant and lid etc. But at the root they are just the same samples.. but they do sound much better with the modeling. Plus you get a fm layer on the Rhodes too
By KaoticShock Tue Jun 28, 2022 5:59 pm
kja wrote:
Wul wrote:They are both sample players at the end of the day , most of the parameters and fx are available in a keygroup.
It’s all smoke and mirrors.

There is a layer of modeling on top of the samples with the stage series, that why you have parameters for formant and lid etc. But at the root they are just the same samples.. but they do sound much better with the modeling. Plus you get a fm layer on the Rhodes too


There's also the "Key-offs" parameters in the Stage series that makes it sound more realistic imo. No key-offs in Fabric or Electric.
By KaoticShock Tue Jun 28, 2022 6:11 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote:
KaoticShock wrote:There's also the "Key-offs" parameters in the Stage series that makes it sound more realistic imo. No key-offs in Fabric or Electric.


You can configure note off samples in Fabric using the third (percussion) layer.


Thanks! Very interesting!
By KaoticShock Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:33 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote:Yeah, Fabric is nice, I spent a lot of time with this and have built a lot of presets (a lot made from the sampled oscillators). I might do a tutorial for it, although not sure how many people actually have it yet!


A tutorial would be great! Even for free trial users.
By KaoticShock Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:35 pm
Straker wrote:Same same but different


Yep, definitely. I just A/Bed a lot of the new plugins to my MC-101 and it's very interesting they both just have different characteristics. What are your favorite EP Presets on the 707? I like the Vintage EP better than I liked the Rhodes in Stage EP, just me.
By MurkyFreddery Wed Jun 29, 2022 2:49 pm
KaoticShock wrote:
MurkyFreddery wrote:Has anyone compared the new electric piano plugin with the older free one yet?



Yes, I have, I did a comprehensive A/B Comparison and I will be posting video reviews/overviews at some point. Stage EP is definitely better and more dynamic than Electric, but I actually agree with Straker that it's still not 100% that Rhodes sound. The cool thing about the new plugins is honestly just more options and more parameters to automate or change per patch. I need to A/B Stage EP to my MC-101, Straker said he preferred the Roland Rhodes, I personally think the best and most realistic Rhodes patch is the "Vintage Case" from the Yamaha Motif .

Stage EP and Fabric EP at least have more options and sound better than Electric, it's nice to be able to add some noise/flutter/distortion to create a more unique sound . The age and formant features are solid, definitely welcome additions for more dynamic sounds.


That's really cool. Do you have a Youtube channel?

I did struggle to get a sound I liked out of Air Electric, but I'm running it back through a guitar amp now and getting some nice tones.