Ren vs MPC 60 sound

There is a sound difference - it is most obvious to people coming from a hardware MPC to the Ren.

The Ren is missing the crucial bump in the 60hz-90hz range, and instead emphasizes the highs. The result is a metallic/highly sibilant sound, instead of a warm and organic sound. This is especially true on kick drums that seem to 'smack' rather than 'boom' as they would on a hardware mpc. I have tried several VST's, but they only mask the sound. The vintage modes fall short of recreating the harmonics of the MPC 60/3000.

To me, this is the only drawback on the MPC software - the workflow and additional features are excellent, but the overall sound lacks the character of the previous hardware models.

try motu bpm in sp mode
which is a bit similar in sound and groove

or use impc, impc pro app -with ios 7 on iphone 5 or ipad 2 with their jitter
is a bit overloaded in the high frequencies
their sequencers sounded like in midi timing

c ' Mon guys it's 2016. there many ways to get some decent punch or lofi sound.
I still own my emu emax which has a decent sound. but do I use it in the regular ? nope ...it is really collecting dust. I m using decimort for lofi sounds and it's more than enough for me.

I would love to hear different experiments with these vintage MPC's and the Ren and Touch.

Like sampling a record directly into each machine and comparing the recorded file.
Saving that file and loading it into each machine then comparing the comversion in sound.
Playing a track recorded in the Ren/Touch and just straight up sampling the whole track with a 60/60MK2/3000/2000XL/4000/5000 and comparing the different colourations.
Also attempts to shape the Ren/Touch sound into something similar to the vintage MPC Sound (bumping,thick and warm mids with reductions in high frequencies)

I can get quite nerdy over such comparisons

btw, I have resigned myself to slapping the mpc60 plug in over everything when producing in the Ren. Definitely helps the sound although it's not perfect (what is?)

@Fanu: Glad to hear you're enjoying your MPC60. MPC3000 next perhaps??

i like the sound of a real comparison like nubian mind mentioned.. from a nerd perspective...


but actually looking at this info to help choose the gear that i'm going to use on the next beat simply will no be the case. I use the 60 when i feel like using the 60... same for what ever other piece of gear or daw or etc.. honestly, workflow and the capability of the machine in my opinion is more responsible for the 60's sound than the damn frequency range of the converters and that kind of stuff... yeah it adds colour, but how about the inability to have 30 second stereo pad sounds? how about having to loop little half second long samples to fill gaps between samples because you only have the sample time for 2 or 3 chops that are multiple seconds long? How about (if you are using an old OS) having to chop precisely because there are no pad mutes or chokes? How about (again, on the older OS versions) only being able to have 35 samples loaded at a time? Now with all those things in mind when you are digging through records... it shapes the way you are listening to sample material and considering what to record. That is the real difference between the 60 and the mpc software on a PC with 32 gigs of ram and VST plug ins.

That's why I like using different devices: because they have different workflows which make you do different things, and switching it up can be nice, too (on a rational level, only using one DAW/sampler/synth makes a helluva lot of sense but I can't do that...I like different flavors).
Last night, was working on the MPC 60 doing an 8-bar loop; sounds very nineties, just like I want it, but it took me 1.5–2 hours to come up with a basic beat but a bassline that took a lot of editing...and I'm not complaining. I love getting into that zone sometimes; honestly, as funny as it sounds, I don't always want to work fast. I know this sounds kind of stupid and I dont expect everybody to understand it as i cant even explain it, but sometimes working really fast doesnt feel good. I mean, I couldve done the loop I did last night with Ableton Live in probably 5 minutes if that. But it's not the same. Working with different machines puts you into a different mood, partly because of its history.
Me, I use Ableton Live a lot, but – for no reason that makes sense – I always use it for electronic stuff, mostly, and MPC for hip hop. That's how it works well for me.

And today I got the MPC Touch and am ready for the mindstate and workflow it'll offer me.

Nubian Mindz wrote:@Fanu: Glad to hear you're enjoying your MPC60. MPC3000 next perhaps??

Gotta make it happen one day and you know it!

exactly... for more effect heavy stuff (electronic, downtempo... stuff i dont know the genre) there might be some elements I might record that I did on the mpc or boss SP... but those recordings are a component to the sound designing that is going on in that music when I make it. Doing that on the mpc alone wont allow it to happen with the equipment I have... and if I did have all of it... I wouldn't have the time and patience to chain it all together and midi sequence (or motion control) all the **** parameters when on a daw I could get better results in a 50th of the time.

That being said, once in a while I need to take a step back, play some old music on the turntable or what ever medium.... and record some straight up sample... and make some straight to the point gritty music that isn't too overly complicated... or maybe im wrong and deep down, the mpc 60 is just a physical bit reduction plug in on the master channel.

Nubian Mindz wrote:I would love to hear different experiments with these vintage MPC's and the Ren and Touch.

It might not be so easy to tell because its done through youtube, but Marley Marl has got a 'Classic Recipes' show on youtube where he remakes some of his classics on the Ren....