MPC2500 --> Apogee Duet 2 (2 track)

i already posted this in the your music, but i needed some production help, so i thought this was suitable.


quick q, just copped the apogee duet 2. im going stereo out of the mpc's into my apogee, how hot should the mpc main volume be? i have it around 2 o clock on the mpc main, and then adjust the gain on the apogee. im just asking because im assuming a guitar player would have his volume on the electric all the way up and adjust accordingly


goodlooks fam

Try it out and see what gives better results in your own opinion. Personally i turn up the source and only turn up the gain on the apogee if the source signal is too weak.

source as in the mpc? what do you set your level at? i understand every situation is its own, but i feel like the mpc's level should be the constant and the apogee's gain should be adjusted around that

Source as in whatever the source is... for me it varies... MPC, mixer or tape machine... nowadays it's usually the tape machine.

With the tape machine i never use the gain on the apogee, i even have to turn down the outputs of the tape machine, depending on how hot i record onto the tape.

Generally i try to have the source as loud as possible, much like an MPC that would play at full velocity. I think it really doesn't matter too much with the apogee tho, since the preamps won't really color the sound if you turn up the gain. Think of it as a helper in case your source isn't loud enough.

I said try it yourself so you could compare the results. I believe it makes no difference (or almost none) if you turn up the gain (and have your MPC turned down) or not (and have your MPC turned up more)... but why don't you try it for yourself?

If you are looking for a "golden rule", i guess there's none. From what i've learned, when recording a signal, you should always have a good strong signal and turn up gain only if needed (unless we are talking about preamps that color the sound and you want that coloration)... but opinions may differ.