MPC 5000 Mixdown

So I have a production question I was hoping somebody could help me out with. I make beats on the MPC 5000, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to mix down my beats to get the clearest and loudest sound. For a while there, I would simply go to hd record and mixdown to 16 bits, load the beat as a sample and then normalize it and call it a day. But lately I've been trying to get better quality with my music, so I've been experimenting with mixing down to 24 bits and then normalizing it on Audacity. The only thing is that Audacity exports to 16 bits anyway, so I don't know if recording in 24 bits really makes a difference. I've made really nice sounding beats using both methods, but I just need to figure out which is better and more reliable for quality and loudness. I've also been playing around with the output volume on my MPC, even turning it up to 0db, but it seems like this muddies the quality a little bit or maybe that's just my ears, who knows. Well I think I've rambled on long enough. Any tips or tutorials would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Matthematic

I know you have a 5000, but your question is not specific to that machine. I've moved this thread to the forum you could have searched for answers. The 16 bit Vs 24 bit question will always be subjective and draw a range of opinions.

Obviously there are some benefits to working in 24 bit resolution, and downsides to using bit reduction algorithms. And of course 24 bit files are not supported by older samplers so compatibility could become an issue at some stage.

I don't think the choice of bit rate should fundamentally affect your mixing technique too much, though you get more headroom with 24 bit and a better signal to noise ratio.

Oh, and don't normalise complete tracks, use compression. Normalising everything can kill the balance of relative levels, leaving you with a unbalanced mix void of dynamics. Normalising is done according to the peak signal or RMS (average) signal level, each method provides ddifferent results. Best used on individual samples as and when necessary IMHO.

Thanks for the tips! How do you recommend that I compress my finished beats? On the MPC itself, or on a software program. In my experience, compression on Audacity makes the overall mix quieter which is not what I'm looking to do at all. What do you think about the output levels? Would having it turned up negatively affect my sound quality?

MatthewMatthematic wrote:Thanks for the tips! How do you recommend that I compress my finished beats? On the MPC itself, or on a software program. In my experience, compression on Audacity makes the overall mix quieter which is not what I'm looking to do at all. What do you think about the output levels? Would having it turned up negatively affect my sound quality?

Try to keep your levels under 0db, even at around -3db to leave yourself your self enough headroom so compression can be applied at the mastering stage. More often than not that would be a quality AU/VST compressor or outboard gear. Compression can be tricky so many leave it to a pro at the mastering stage of things. But there's plenty of stuff on the web if you want to learn how to do it yourself.

Okay thanks! So that means I'll need to set my output at -6db, since the MPC 5000 uses multiples of sixes. Ideally I would like to have someone else do the mixing and mastering for me. The only issue I guess is when I want to send a beat to another artist. They might think its a low quality beat just because it's not mastered yet. The artist I usually work with is fairly good with the engineering side of things. I'm really creative when it comes to making beats, but it's the technical stuff that gets me.

MatthewMatthematic wrote:.....I'm really creative when it comes to making beats, but it's the technical stuff that gets me.

Today we're the producer, arranger, composer, writer, mixer, engineer, distributer, master...er etc. etc. Don''t know if that's such a good thing.

I'll do some basic mixing, but leave the proper mixing to professionals. Reason is they know how to dynamically mix: you don't need EQ or a comp on every stage in your track or the same settings. Fun to do it like that yourself, but I don't have the time. Same goes for mastering.

Well thanks, that's pretty much how I feel about it too. I have a passion for creating music, but not so much for the recording aspect. Basically I can get an awesome sounding beat on my MPC, but I just need to learn the proper way to record. There's just so many options. How do you typically record your beats? Just export in 24 bit or what?

If i were you i would invest in a real DAW like Reaper (my personal favorite), pro tools or cubase and just track out your beats in a real daw. You could even record your tracks seperately inside the 5000, save them as wavs on your hard drive and then import all your tracks into your daw, bypassing your soundcard altogether. I used to do it that way when i was doing all mg sequencing in my 4000. I recently switched to all software and do all my sequencing in Reaper now

Thanks for the tip. I'm pretty that's what I wanna do. Either that or have someone else mix my beats for me, but I'd rather do it myself if I can. How much is Reaper?

*pretty sure

Metatron72 wrote:

MatthewMatthematic wrote:Thanks for the tips! How do you recommend that I compress my finished beats? On the MPC itself, or on a software program. In my experience, compression on Audacity makes the overall mix quieter which is not what I'm looking to do at all. What do you think about the output levels? Would having it turned up negatively affect my sound quality?

Try to keep your levels under 0db, even at around -3db to leave yourself your self enough headroom so compression can be applied at the mastering stage. More often than not that would be a quality AU/VST compressor or outboard gear. Compression can be tricky so many leave it to a pro at the mastering stage of things. But there's plenty of stuff on the web if you want to learn how to do it yourself.

I am only scratching the surface with the MPC5000 but know a fair amount about quality recording and mixing. This is where I really obsess. Always be aware of transients redlining even though your meters don't tell you such. Every time you convert digital to analog you get degradation. The quality of your converters can be huge. 24 bit vs 16 bit is a huge topic and it boils down to your system-- converters as well as dithering software. I can't speak to normalizing on the MPC but elsewhere I never use it. I recommend you experiment and use your ears to tell you what is good. Under stand gain staging and your analog audio pathways. Improper gain management will introduce distortion. Try using SPFIF for exporting to a DAW where you can then experiment with dithering, gain, and mixing. Good luck.

Thanks for your response! Sounds like I have a lot learn.