Share your knowledge on these two classic MPCs
By JohnMiller1991 Sun Nov 13, 2011 2:16 am
Hello, I always liked the sound of the MPC 60. But they are a little difficult to find in Portugal, and always at very high prices. I already have an mpc2000 and I'm gonna buy the 500 because i need something portable right now. There is much difference between the S950 and the sound of Mpc60.

John Miller
By fooddude Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:27 pm
Yes it is. It's not digital. It's not a typical analog "chip" either. This misconception/rumor/misinformation/myth about the S950 being not analog has been told so many times over and dug into people's minds for the past 30 years, that people actually think it is a fact that it really is not-analog, that people only believe that myth now. People most likely started this myth years and years ago, maybe by opening the S950 up back in the day, and couldn't physically locate/see a typical silicon filter chip.

They have Switched-Capacitor IC filters, but under digital control. So maybe more "modern" than typical silicon chip filters, since it is digitally controlled; though for sure very unique. IC circuits instead of a typical silicon analog chip (ie: ssm, curtis, cem, etc)..so maybe a DCF? lol, no such thing as that term/acronym I guess (kinda like a DCO synth in terms of control, which has analog oscillators but under digital control and more stable than VCO). Also, they are 6-pole, which in itself, is another very unique feature/design.

Start messing more with the cut-off, freq, env, velocity and see how phat it really sounds :) ...maybe even smashes harder than an emax/sp1200 :X
Last edited by fooddude on Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By gertie Sun Nov 13, 2011 8:54 pm
makes you wonder why akai themselve promoted the ax60, ax73 and vx90 synths as having an input port for the s950 so you could use the synths Analog filter :D
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By peterpiper Mon Nov 14, 2011 9:35 am
I don't know for sure. I will have a look at the service manual. But if its really an analog chip it should be relative easy to mod it to control it analog too. This would be a good workaround of the IMO stepped cutoff of the 950s "filter controller".

peace
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By tapedeck Tue Jan 31, 2012 6:48 pm
what's the polyphony on a 950?

if the filter is analog wouldn't that mean there needs to be one filter for each voice - meaning that there a number of analog filters in there = to the machines max polyphony?

or does the filter only work on the output, or in some other limited respect (i have never used a 950)?
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By tapedeck Tue Jan 31, 2012 6:53 pm
gertie wrote:you can use different filter settings on each keygroup within a given program

8-voice polyphony

thanks.

that's not unreasonable then. :shock:
cool to know.
By fooddude Tue Jan 31, 2012 7:26 pm
I only used my recently bought S950 for 2 songs so far (one still being finished up); I can say that I am starting to love the 950 much more. Sounds better, way more sound sculpting features and versatile, cant live without the lovely filter now, really a perfectly simple powerful machine. Only 8 voice, so maybe not the best for a grip of drums at the same time, but really great for synth patch samples, vinyl samples, a couple drum hits, anything like chopped up samples.
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By DJ Supreme Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:15 pm
Love my S950! cant make music without it.

either midid to my sp1200 or mpc60

Maual sates the filter is digital, dont matter though

Greatest filter on the planet for the hip hop that i like to make. :mrgreen:

Mpc 60 and S950 DO NOT sound the same at all.
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By mr_debauch Wed Feb 01, 2012 5:13 am
DJ Supreme wrote:Mpc 60 and S950 DO NOT sound the same at all.


... but, probably as close as two different samplers could sound to each other.. cause, probably the main things that differentiate the sound is the post sampling feature differences I think.. between the s900/950 and the mpc 60.