clarification on daw sync with 2000xl

I know there is alot of info about sycing mpc'sup with various daws but I just have a few questions
that I cant seem to get a clear answer to. Here goes! (forgive me for any incorrect terminology)

I have read alot about adding additional bars at the beggining to allow for mtc to play catch up. I was
wondering do you actually add these black bars to the current sequence or could you make an addition sequence
with the same tempo and play that first?

This links in to my second question depending on where I am recording I will be using either cubase of logic, once syced via mtc will these daws be able to recognise sequence changes? if so what about if the tempos of several sequences change? As I understand it mtc simply sends info about starting an stopping so would it really matter about the tempo changes?

Last question guys I promise! What is sync like with mtc when using loop mode on from the mpc? If I am coorect on the previous assumption then would that mean that sync will be kept on when loop mode if on or off?

Thanks guys I know these are pretty basic questions but I have never used my mpc in a studio environment before now all my beats up until now have been recorded from the stereo outs as I dont have the 8 outs.

To answer your questions in order;

1. You can add the blank bars any way you like, a sequence with 2 or 3 blank bars is probably easier to manage. Adding blank bars isn't always necessary, but its a common method that can help lock two sequencers together.

2. DAW's don't recognise 'sequence changes' but they can recognise tempo changes if you sync using MIDI CLOCK. Midi timecode uses absolute time as a reference (just like SMPTE) so does not recognise tempo changes. Make sure you know the difference between the two types of midi synchronisation. Also you'll usually want the MPC to be the MASTER device and your DAW the slave.

3. What I've found personally is that looping while in sync is a bit of hit and miss affair, it's easier to simply STOP the sequence and start from the beginning. For example the MPC will loop but the DAW may not. If you have the time and patience, maybe you can get it to work perfectly!

Hope that helps.

Mpc1000 jjos2 and Cubase5 in sync and looping together with MTC

Mpc as master sending MTC to C5 (30 frame rate)(ppq unknown?)
Mpc MMC set on

C5 set to follow MTC from incoming Mpc midi connection
C5 settings for "MTC slave device" left off
C5 settings for Midi Beat Clock left off
C5 frame rate set to 30
C5 ppq left default at minimum 60 ticks 240ppqbase?
C5 drop,hold,frame settings adjusted for best transport response in C5 - left at default the responsiveness of C5 when pressing stop/start was very sluggish, presumably because the MTC feature was designed with old tape machine syncing in mind.

Mpc set to loop for 2 bars after first bar is played (bar1 plays bars2+3loop)
C5 set to loop for 2 bars after first bar is played as above
Both tempo/bpm are identical

In C5 transport I select external sync, it says idle.
I press play on Mpc and both the Mpc and C5 begin playing, and looping together.
In C5 transport it now displays 30 to reflect the MTC frame rate.

Bar1.01.00(first bar) on the Mpc is set to start at 00.00.00.00 hrs min sec
Bar1.01.00(first bar) on C5 is also set to start st 00.00.00.00 hrs min sec

But! If I click Mpc cursor one bar to the right (at start of bar 2) 00.00.02.19/bar2.01.00
The C5 transport moves the same distance according to timecode ie 00.00.02.19 but the transport display of bars does not correspond and is a tick or two behind that on the Mpc, so -

Mpc start = 00.00.00.00 / bar 1.01.00.
C5 start. = 00.00.00.00 / bar 1.01.00

Mpc start of 2nd bar = 00.00.02.19 / bar 2.01.00
C5 cursor. = 00.00.02.19 / bar 1.59.04 ?

This continues so only the first "bar" positions are the same even though absolute time position reads the same. Weird. It seems like the c5 position in terms of bars and beats doesn't correspond to the Mpc. And this happens when just clicking cursor of mpc to the right.

If I play from the mpc and press stop on the mpc the values of both bars and timecode are different compared to values of C5 with cubase being a few ticks behind.

Anybody please, shed some light on this strange issue!

Thanks in advance