Volume Incredibly Low on MPC 500??

Hey Guys,

this is my first post so greetings to all. I am curious to know if anyone else uses the MPC 500 Live? If so have you found the output to be very low? I was playing with my band and we are using the MPC as a backing track sequencer with a click track on the left channel for the drummer a backing track on the right running into the mixer to an amp and then to the monitors in the rehearsal room. I maxed out the gain on the mixer and we could barley hear it. The samples were recorded at max volume as well so I am confused. Has anyone else noticed that the output on this kit is really low?

I have also noticed this. I have my MPC 500 running though two channels on my firestudio. The mpc is maxed out along with the sample volumes up, the phantom power on my firestudio is on and both line levels are up.
I have my ESX going through at the same time as the mpc, the mpc seems so silent compared to the esx ( esx volume is not even 20% with no tube amp )

Im thinking it has to do with recording the samples, level recorded at and making sure you switch the mic line button. Well, that and its just quiet i guess............... . . . .

hows your gain on your audio interface?

it can get loud. i have it playing though two 15 " pa speakers that are at 25 % power and its loud enough.
I guess i could just leave the mpc channels all the way up and turn down everything else, which would throw me off a bit. or just resample everything and make sure to normalize every darn samp

The output levels are definitely low... this was one of the main reasons I switched to a 1000. You can check the official Akai specs-- output level is much lower than other MPC's.

I also noticed this in Logic. I need to have my Tascam interface gain at about 75% for the waveform to look reasonable on my screen.

i noticed this aswell.. idk if you gus did this ( i just got my mpc 500 in the mail yesterday) but if u hit MODE then"other" you can turn your master level to 0 db. it helped me out alot.

beetle wrote:I also noticed this in Logic. I need to have my Tascam interface gain at about 75% for the waveform to look reasonable on my screen.

I noticed that too. not much input on that subject. But, i love logics eq , you care really micro manage the sounds that way . how you like your tascam ?

CeSektion wrote:i noticed this aswell.. idk if you gus did this ( i just got my mpc 500 in the mail yesterday) but if u hit MODE then"other" you can turn your master level to 0 db. it helped me out alot.

yea i checked that before, good call on that though ! !

@ oldboy

the Tascam is OK. to be honest, my copy of Logic is not exactly legal and I was keen to track my MPC tracks into it via a cheap/but exact way. It certainly seems to do that well and I haven't had a single problem with it. The build quality seems pretty good and the metal case matches my macbook pro. I chose the Tascam on recommendation from the local shop guy with me thinking that if I use it so much that I "outgrow it" then I won't think twice about spending a larger amount of money on a MOTU ultralite or something similar. Price was a real consideration for me. For a cost comparison for you, I ended up paying $250 (australian dollars) for the tascam whereas a MBox2 would have cost me $850 here - so the Tascam was less than a third of the price of higher-end (higher quality) interfaces. I could have bought something from M-Audio but I've got to admit I didn't really look into their range much as I'm not really looking to go down the ProTools route myself.

ii think the guy at the shop is right.. pro tools will eventually be your last stop for all your recording needs..

the sit is gr8. if u ever have the money (or if i do) i would suggest buying it aswell.

@ beetle

you got a deal on that ! it took me forever to decide on which one i got. cheers mate

oldboy wrote:I have also noticed this. I have my MPC 500 running though two channels on my firestudio. The mpc is maxed out along with the sample volumes up, the phantom power on my firestudio is on and both line levels are up.
I have my ESX going through at the same time as the mpc, the mpc seems so silent compared to the esx ( esx volume is not even 20% with no tube amp )

Im thinking it has to do with recording the samples, level recorded at and making sure you switch the mic line button. Well, that and its just quiet i guess............... . . . .

Be carefull with sending phantom power into the MPC. It could die!