Initial problems

3) Gets into a state sometimes where in step mode steps are entered 1 position to the left than the pad that I select - have to reload the project to fix this - no idea how I get into this state, just happens at some point

leehu wrote:Hi, after having the MPC Live for a few days I'm seeing a few issues. I can't see anywhere to download new firmware updates so assuming 2.0.0 is the latest?

1) Bouncing clip tracks generates empty audio file

It will only bounce them down to audio if you've actually recorded the pads in the grid

Anyone else having these kind of issues?

thx

BostonGreen wrote:It will only bounce them down to audio if you've actually recorded the pads in the grid

Sam 1 day ago
It's a tough call right now. It's a real nice machine but it feels It feels like a legacy MPC with a touch-screen and some updated bits.

That's fundamentally a good thing, I was very concerned it wouldn't have that same MPC workflow, but it does. But there's also stuff missing.

Yes, the touch screen makes it easier to use, but there really isn't much new here. We're in 2017 and people expect to use hardware differently now than they did in the 90's. Ableton Live and Push for example changed how people view and use HW. Less as a studio tool, and more towards the live stuff. This is where the MPC live (ironically) fails to impress. It's still old school.

Personally I'm interested in it as a studio tool, and for the most part it gives me what I want.

However there is still a lot to be desired for a 2017 machine. The effects for example, range from passable to poor. The Roland MV-8000 had much better effects, by far, though admittedly you could only use a few at a time.

But think of the vast difference in CPU power between then and now, I expect all effects to be at least usable. There's are like 10 different delays, some with high-pass filters, some with low pass, some synced, some not. It's silly, there should be a delay with ping-pong option, sync, filters, off-set, all built in. The reverb is also really poor. I understand the CPU argument, but surely we can have something better than this, even if I can only realistically run 1 instance as a send and have to sacrifice some CPU.

The one thing I do like are the filters. There's lots of them and they sound OK. Nothing like today's hot stuff VSTi's, but they at least have a sound, like a late 90's digital sound and that's kind of cool. I'm guessing these are all are pulled from the Alesis Ion.

For creative work it's lacking too. There's no x-fade, no extra modulation envelopes, very few destinations, no free-running Lfo's. It needs a proper mod-matrix with more to work with.

There's some weird stuff that's been left out right now too. For example, the grid mode is better than ever, now you can manipulate it directly with the screen. But there's no way to copy notes around. If you make a 1 bar pattern and decide to make it 2 bars long, you can't copy your first bar in grid view. You have to go to main view, track edit, copy events. That's old school. It made sense for the older MPCs, but this is exactly the kind of background work the touch screen should be replacing!
Furthermore, say I have to use a menu and copy event's, why isn't this menu accessible from the grid page? That's where I'm working, why would I want to keep jumping back between different pages?

Also, a big issue I have with it right now is the automation. There is no way to delete, see or edit automation. Older MPC's at least have list view, so as tedious as it was you could still edit these things on a step by step basis. They gave you the control.

In short, getting the MPC Live is like getting a legacy MPC but with modern conveniences but some things feel too simplified and simply don't live up to expectations for the price in 2017.

leehu wrote: I whole heartedly agree with the automation stuff - I've managed to add some somewhere and need to figure out how to remove it (still working my way through the manual). Overall, I am happy with it - but I see the fact that something I hit pad 2 to enter a step and it puts it on step 1 as a showstopping bug that shouldn't have hit the streets...

chino wrote:How stable have you found the Live in standalone mode? Any freezes or crashes?

starmanwarz wrote:you have to scroll through them all to find what you are looking for, is that true?

leehu wrote:

starmanwarz wrote:you have to scroll through them all to find what you are looking for, is that true?

yup, so far doing alot of scrolling, but I don't know whether that's due to my lack of experience - i need a good read through the manual at some point