How To Sync MPC 2500 To Cubase

I know a lot of people ask this question so I decided to post some pictures of my setup.
Im not exactly sure if my setup is 100% correct but it gets the job done.

I have noticed that my sync is about 0.05 seconds off. Not sure how to fix that or wats the issue.

Heres some pics for people to see.







Make sure to set Precount on here...




Make sure to set MIDI TIMECODE SOURCE to your interface


Hopefully this thread helps out people and maybe gets me setup 100%.

Keep in mind that Im also using the JJOS2 and not the Akai OS

Would there be a difference in accuracy if you set MPC as the Master and Cubase as slave over MTC?

Over MTC its way off...

Explicit- wrote:Over MTC its way off...

Use MTC and just figure it out! Sounds like a latency issue. Find out what setting in Cubase controls latency. In Pro Tools, it's the hardware buffer setting. Should be similar in Cubase. It will be in MB. Usually, the settings are 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB...etc and it just keeps doubling. Use the lowest setting your computer can handle. The lower the better! Oh and check Midi Time Code follows project. And you need to find the frame rate setting and set it to 30 (not 30D).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG4Nzjc0tRY

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_t ... =cubase+mp

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/rap-hip- ... ubase.html

Thanks man, still out a fraction but alot better than it was

DJ Hellfire wrote:

Explicit- wrote:Over MTC its way off...

Use MTC and just figure it out! Sounds like a latency issue. Find out what setting in Cubase controls latency. In Pro Tools, it's the hardware buffer setting. Should be similar in Cubase. It will be in MB. Usually, the settings are 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB...etc and it just keeps doubling. Use the lowest setting your computer can handle. The lower the better! Oh and check Midi Time Code follows project. And you need to find the frame rate setting and set it to 30 (not 30D).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG4Nzjc0tRY

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_t ... =cubase+mp

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/rap-hip- ... ubase.html

Thanks for all the info. Im gonna look into this right now... Hopefully I can get it exactly on point.

Oh and Im actually 0.04 seconds off...

DJ Hellfire wrote:

Explicit- wrote:Over MTC its way off...

Use MTC and just figure it out! Sounds like a latency issue. Find out what setting in Cubase controls latency. In Pro Tools, it's the hardware buffer setting. Should be similar in Cubase. It will be in MB. Usually, the settings are 32MB, 64MB, 128MB, 256MB...etc and it just keeps doubling. Use the lowest setting your computer can handle. The lower the better! Oh and check Midi Time Code follows project. And you need to find the frame rate setting and set it to 30 (not 30D).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG4Nzjc0tRY

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_t ... =cubase+mp

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/rap-hip- ... ubase.html

I just checked those links and I have seen them before. They are actually no help since they dont really go into depth. The first one was made by Lithion (dude used to be from the Forums till he got banned) and that video is okay but never mentions anything about Frame Rates,Latency or MTC.

I got a question... Is "Hardware Buffer" under a different tab? If so what is it under? I dont see it on Cubase.

I found LATENCY but it was not in Cubase.
It was on the software for my interface. I got it down to 64 but still dont see a difference. It still records at about 0.04 seconds in.

Are you letting it loop play for 8 bars or giving 8 blank bars to give it time to sync before you actually start recording? Also, if you are using a blank sequence at the start, make sure it's the same tempo!

DJ Hellfire wrote:Are you letting it loop play for 8 bars or giving 8 blank bars to give it time to sync before you actually start recording? Also, if you are using a blank sequence at the start, make sure it's the same tempo!

So your say I should record lets say TRACK 1 on the MPC for over 8 bars before I even consider it to be recording at the correct time? Thats what Im understanding...

As if the first 8 bars recorded will be slightly off and the ones after 8 bars should be on point. Yes or No?

Explicit- wrote:

DJ Hellfire wrote:Are you letting it loop play for 8 bars or giving 8 blank bars to give it time to sync before you actually start recording? Also, if you are using a blank sequence at the start, make sure it's the same tempo!

So your say I should record lets say TRACK 1 on the MPC for over 8 bars before I even consider it to be recording at the correct time? Thats what Im understanding...

As if the first 8 bars recorded will be slightly off and the ones after 8 bars should be on point. Yes or No?

No, don't even record the first 8 bars. In Lithions video, he says it's takes 8 bars for the shit to syn properly (which is ridiculous since Pro Tools only takes 1 bar on MTC and 0 bars with midi clock). Anyway, create a blank 8 bar sequence with the same tempo as your first, then switch to your main sequences. Pro Tools has this feature called pre roll where you can set the session to play a certain amount of bars before it actually starts recording. So in your case, if you had this feature, you would want to set your cursor to bar 9 on the timeline and set your pre roll to 8 bars. This way, Cubase will only play bars 1-8 and start recording the instance it gets to bar 9. During that pre roll time, your blank sequence will be playing!

DJ Hellfire wrote:

Explicit- wrote:

DJ Hellfire wrote:Are you letting it loop play for 8 bars or giving 8 blank bars to give it time to sync before you actually start recording? Also, if you are using a blank sequence at the start, make sure it's the same tempo!

So your say I should record lets say TRACK 1 on the MPC for over 8 bars before I even consider it to be recording at the correct time? Thats what Im understanding...

As if the first 8 bars recorded will be slightly off and the ones after 8 bars should be on point. Yes or No?

No, don't even record the first 8 bars. In Lithions video, he says it's takes 8 bars for the shit to syn properly (which is ridiculous since Pro Tools only takes 1 bar and MTC and 0 bars with midi clock). Anyway, create a blank 8 bar sequence with the same tempo as your first, then switch to your main sequences. Pro Tools has this feature called pre roll where you can set the session to play a certain amount of bars before it actually starts recording. So in your case, if you had this feature, you would want to set your cursor to bar 9 on the timeline and set your pre roll to 8 bars. This way, Cubase will only play bars 1-8 and start recording the instance it gets to bar 9. During that pre roll time, your blank sequence will be playing!

Cubase does have Pre Roll and Post Roll. I will mess around with that and see if theres a difference.

Thanks for all the help Hellfire. Hopefully I can get this setup perfect and then move from there... Its annoying when I record a hot beat I got on my 2500 then once it goes to cubase its slighlty off. Honestly for the passed couple months I just dealt with it.

Let me know if you get it!

Maybe you can also try the MIDI Timestamp function.

Try checking Use MIDI Timestamp and see if its more accurate. If not, then try checking off Use MIDI Timestamp.