Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
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By mr_debauch Tue Dec 04, 2012 6:20 am
dreadnutz wrote:i have a microtech pcd47 cardreader, which should also work on the 2k classic.

is it possible to start booting from the cf card or do i need the boot floppy?


well if it is a scsi cf reader you should be fine booting from that from what I understand... the 2000 classic doesn't have an internal scsi port and it doesn't have the ide/atapi port at all... the way people traditionally got an internal scsi drive in the classic is they route the external one into the case and remove the floppy all together. I dont recommend that though..
By m56p87 Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:58 pm
I can attest to how well overdriving the 2k sounds as well, especially if you lower the sample rate/bit depth before sampling hot into the inputs you get the grittiest fuxking sample ever. It is very temperamental though, in other words sampling a snare at 0db can sound great, but it can sound like total shit at 1db. The more high frequencies you have the more fussy sampling hot can be. For those intersted in using the 2k for this it is a must you have speakers/headphones that give you accurate high frequencies because it is such a fine line your walking before it just sounds like shit.

Basically ill goto the sample screen and start monitoring the sample input, slowly turning the volume up until the input level maxes out at 0db. At most I might have to redo the sample a tiny bit lower. The only sounds I wouldn't recommend over driving are hi hats and cymbals (obviously) and electric piano type sounds or pure tones because all you hear is the bass blowing out on top of the sample..

Don't know how much of this is common knowledge for sampling hot in general or specific to overdriving the classic itself, but I wanted to share my experience! Just another reason Im a big fan of the 2000 classic. I don't know anyone that owns one and dosnt have some sort of awkward cult affection for it :-D

Edit: if people were interested I could do an A/B comparison and post the individual samples of like a 4 peice kit or something?
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By v00d00ppl Tue Dec 04, 2012 6:22 pm
I use a 60 and the way I drive the sample in is let the record in threshold hit an arrow or two before clipping on each sample. It takes practice, but the sound saturates or gets thick at that point. I remember Herman Sherman of filterbank doing the same thing with his 60 and barrage of samplers.
By m56p87 Tue Dec 04, 2012 6:27 pm
v00d00ppl wrote:I use a 60 and the way I drive the sample in is let the record in threshold hit an arrow or two before clipping on each sample. It takes practice, but the sound saturates or gets thick at that point. I remember Herman Sherman of filterbank doing the same thing with his 60 and barrage of samplers.


Its different on the 2000. It's an actual level meter. Can you explain what the arrows represent? Peaking?
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By mr_debauch Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:12 pm
m56p87 wrote:
Its different on the 2000. It's an actual level meter. Can you explain what the arrows represent? Peaking?


it's basically the same thing... the meter on the 60 isn't done graphically like the 2000... it's done with text that looks like this:

the arrows are the level.. they move to the right as it gets louder...
|>>>>>[]>-------[][][]|

|>>>>>[]>>>>>[][][]|
By m56p87 Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:16 pm
mr_debauch wrote:
m56p87 wrote:
Its different on the 2000. It's an actual level meter. Can you explain what the arrows represent? Peaking?


it's basically the same thing... the meter on the 60 isn't done graphically like the 2000... it's done with text that looks like this:

the arrows are the level.. they move to the right as it gets louder...
|>>>>>[]>-------[][][]|

|>>>>>[]>>>>>[][][]|


So when he says 1-2 arrows, he means into the three []?
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By mr_debauch Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:22 pm
m56p87 wrote:
mr_debauch wrote:
it's basically the same thing... the meter on the 60 isn't done graphically like the 2000... it's done with text that looks like this:

the arrows are the level.. they move to the right as it gets louder...
|>>>>>[]>-------[][][]|

|>>>>>[]>>>>>[][][]|


So when he says 1-2 arrows, he means into the three []?


i think so

it is like getting it right before the end on the 2000 i think...
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By v00d00ppl Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:40 pm
m56p87 wrote:^word exactly what I do on the 2000, thanks for explaining that.



Yes, Right before the end. You wanna practice your timing. It reminds me of those ticket games at amusement parks where you want to hit the light exactly. Sometimes it is one arrow shy, but the best tweak is to tamper with the threshold and your audio output.
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By Wal Martian Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:37 pm
I have 2 2000 classics, love them. I think what peeps are reffering to here is not overdriving or distorting the sounds but rather the gain knob. Turning down the master on your DJ mixer to leave 10dB (or more) of headroom then making up for that with the MPC's gain knob cranked is a great technique to 'drive' the sample using the gain from the amplification chips in the 2000. It's also 16 bit/44.1kHz sample rate which provides a nice crunch that isn't necessarily lo fidelity.
By m56p87 Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:11 pm
Wal Martian wrote:I have 2 2000 classics, love them. I think what peeps are reffering to here is not overdriving or distorting the sounds but rather the gain knob. Turning down the master on your DJ mixer to leave 10dB (or more) of headroom then making up for that with the MPC's gain knob cranked is a great technique to 'drive' the sample using the gain from the amplification chips in the 2000. It's also 16 bit/44.1kHz sample rate which provides a nice crunch that isn't necessarily lo fidelity.


If your talking about boosting the sample after you've sampled it... Then no. I don't thinks that what everyone's talking about. Granted you would get a slight coloration from the amplification. which is not a chip btw but amplifying the actual output voltage.. The only digital gain is the ability to boost the master out (6db 12db etc...). but slightly driving your sample input does a hell of lot more than cranking your master up after the fact no matter how you boost later..
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By peterpiper Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:34 pm
I think he ment using the gain knob of the 2000 more to amplify than using a strong output of a DJ mixer (or other sample sources). So you turn down the samplesource output and then raaise the recgain of the 2000. Since the amp in the 2000 have a wide range of amplification (strong enough to rec a dynamic microphone) it will raise the noise. I dont know how this can be used to "drive" the signal tho. Or its just a misunderstanding with the word "drive"

peace
By m56p87 Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:47 pm
peterpiper wrote:I think he ment using the gain knob of the 2000 more to amplify than using a strong output of a DJ mixer (or other sample sources). So you turn down the samplesource output and then raaise the recgain of the 2000. Since the amp in the 2000 have a wide range of amplification (strong enough to rec a dynamic microphone) it will raise the noise. I dont know how this can be used to "drive" the signal tho. Or its just a misunderstanding with the word "drive"

peace


Oh ok word I get it, sample source -10db then MPC gain knob +10 but still then your just using the preamps for coloring. Definitely not like the compression/overdriving effect you get from actually driving the input, I dont think much change would come from the preamps themselves, and your raising the level of noise in your samples significantly by turing the gain knob up high.
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By Wal Martian Wed Dec 05, 2012 5:42 pm
Yes I was talking about the gain knob. Yes turning it high does raise the noise floor and introduce some noise into the signal. I was experimenting with high gain sampling last night with a break off a Journey record. I turned the gain knob almost all the way up, maybe just past 3 o'clock. Then I used the gain on my DJ mixer (actually I use a KP2 for its phono input) and I brought up the signal until it was bouncing around 3/4 of the way on the MPC screen. I do like to leave headroom, but doing it this way I was utilizing as much of the MPC gain as possible without distorting or introducing too much noise. I sampled the drums at 45RPM +10 and pitched them down in the machine and bam some nice crunchy very hard drums.