Support and discussion for all of Akai’s modern standalone MPCs including the MPC X / X SE, MPC Live 1, 2 & 3, MPC One / One+, MPC Key 37/61.
By lih Fri Jan 25, 2019 5:22 pm
alexbuga wrote:Anybody knows what the "user requested features" are?

I mean besides the effects, do we get anything else? I really hope that mixer is coming. I find it really hard to toggle between Track Mutes / Pad Mutes / Track mixer

the noise gate id say is one, I've personally been requesting that since I bought this thing
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By IMAKEMADBEATS Sun Jan 27, 2019 2:40 am
I took think the added standalone plugins/effects are to dodge reformatting everything on top of PDC.

Unless these being available in standalone mode doesn't remove plugin delay issues. That'd be the ultimate insult... to be given plugins you can't even use due to lack of PDC.
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By quietizkept Sun Jan 27, 2019 6:57 am
I wonder if they've fixed MMC from the plugin. In 1.9.6.1 as a plugin you could set the MIDI out to AkaiPro Internal MIDI, and set your DAW to respond to MMC on the same device and boom - the MPC hardware controlled transport.
2.0 broke this. You can select any MIDI out but it just disconnects or returns to <DAW> and either way the plugin isn't sending MMC.
Support told me the fix was in the pipeline a year ago. 2.4 seems to be standalone-centric (as in not a plugin) though so my hopes aren't too high. Curious if with 2.4 if it will finally have an acceptable mixer but again I doubt it. Looking forward to trying the new FX, especially MotherDucker. I'd love to ditch my DAW but you currently can't even do proper parallel processing because of no PDC. :popcorn:
I have a sneaking suspicion that MotherDucker is like BeatRig Sidekick, adding side chaining with a plugin without really supporting it in the mixer.
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By Fanu Sun Jan 27, 2019 7:52 am
CharlesRandolph wrote:Mother Ducker Saga 1.

User: Can you make my song louder.
Mastering Engineer: No
User: Why?
Mastering Engineer: :WTF:

Image


Sidechain doesn't have to do with song loudness, or loudness in general.

Getting new plugins is a good look for sure, if they're good. Got no experience of Air plugins, but I'm willing to rock them and give them a test drive.
Being an audio engineer by nature, I always want to get my mix as close to where I want it to be when working with the MPC, so those are a welcome addition. Good to see a maximizer/limiter there, too; MPC has never had one, and I've always used a third party one, and they always cause a big-ish latency, depending on the limiter.
For some reason DAW's own plugins are often very low-latency, so I'm expecting these to be, too.
We'll see how they work in software; esp. decent limiters never seem to be zero-latency.

I get the vibe these circumvent the lack of PDC a bit, BUT if they're good, it means the need for 3rd party stuff can get smaller, depending on the user.
By CharlesRandolph Sun Jan 27, 2019 10:25 am
Fanu wrote:
CharlesRandolph wrote:Mother Ducker Saga 1.

User: Can you make my song louder.
Mastering Engineer: No
User: Why?
Mastering Engineer: :WTF:

Image


Sidechain doesn't have to do with song loudness, or loudness in general.


The issue with any compression is that will always effects the dynamics and perceived loudness. Also due to the way that most use Side-chain Compression, it will allows people to boost the levels. This is the reason people have that smashed sound, they have gone compression crazy.

This is not just in the music, it's the video games, movies, TV shows, Radio, Podcast, etc. Honestly it should be illegal to push levels that loud. They are damaging the listener hearing. However, it's good that Akai Pro added more tool, for those who know what they are doing.
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By Fanu Sun Jan 27, 2019 10:57 am
CharlesRandolph wrote:The issue with any compression is that will always effects the dynamics and perceived loudness. Also due to the way that most use Side-chain Compression, it will allows people to boost the levels. This is the reason people have that smashed sound, they have gone compression crazy.

This is not just in the music, it's the video games, movies, TV shows, Radio, Podcast, etc. Honestly it should be illegal to push levels that loud. They are damaging the listener hearing. However, it's good that Akai Pro added more tool, for those who know what they are doing.


As always, can't blame the tools…can only blame the people using them. Same with salt, sugar, spice, etc.

Compression is one of the most misunderstood topics in audio. It barely has to do with loudness.
Limiters/maximizers are the tools to blame in that regard.
I swear every time someone asks, "How do I make my song louder?" with the first 3 replies someone is saying "You gotta compress your song"...which is not exactly true...and when I say that, someone points out that a limiter is technically a compressor with an infinite ratio, but I'll dare anyone to try and make a song loud with a traditional comp without smashing the life out of it.

Sidechain comp allows for one sound to make room for another, and unless you're talking about a bassline making room for a kick that clashes with the bass freq-wise, it barely has to do with loudness.

I'm not saying loud is good, but loud can be good. E.g., I make my living as an audio engineer, and when my clients want it loud, I give them loud, and I can make it clean and loud…many can't, and it sounds bad.
By kaydigi Sun Jan 27, 2019 3:50 pm
Fanu wrote:
CharlesRandolph wrote:Mother Ducker Saga 1.

User: Can you make my song louder.
Mastering Engineer: No
User: Why?
Mastering Engineer: :WTF:

Image


Sidechain doesn't have to do with song loudness, or loudness in general.

Getting new plugins is a good look for sure, if they're good. Got no experience of Air plugins, but I'm willing to rock them and give them a test drive.
Being an audio engineer by nature, I always want to get my mix as close to where I want it to be when working with the MPC, so those are a welcome addition. Good to see a maximizer/limiter there, too; MPC has never had one, and I've always used a third party one, and they always cause a big-ish latency, depending on the limiter.
For some reason DAW's own plugins are often very low-latency, so I'm expecting these to be, too.
We'll see how they work in software; esp. decent limiters never seem to be zero-latency.

I get the vibe these circumvent the lack of PDC a bit, BUT if they're good, it means the need for 3rd party stuff can get smaller, depending on the user.


Look at Fanu being positive about that lack of pdc... it’s time to play the lotto.
By Elektrobolt Sun Jan 27, 2019 4:02 pm
Yeah, there used to (probably still there) a site that showed, in general, the progression of music recording over time and how the dynamics has changed in recorded music. There was a frequency graph that showed how essentially all frequencies more or less have been maximized in modern recording, compared to older material. I recall it interesting, but I cannot recall the site. :)

Just because you have something, doesn't mean you have to use it. Or, just because one has a hammer, does not mean everything needs to be nailed down. ;)
Bymember04959388 Sun Jan 27, 2019 4:37 pm
Fanu wrote:
CharlesRandolph wrote:Mother Ducker Saga 1.

User: Can you make my song louder.
Mastering Engineer: No
User: Why?
Mastering Engineer: :WTF:

Image


Sidechain doesn't have to do with song loudness, or loudness in general.

Getting new plugins is a good look for sure, if they're good. Got no experience of Air plugins, but I'm willing to rock them and give them a test drive.
Being an audio engineer by nature, I always want to get my mix as close to where I want it to be when working with the MPC, so those are a welcome addition. Good to see a maximizer/limiter there, too; MPC has never had one, and I've always used a third party one, and they always cause a big-ish latency, depending on the limiter.
For some reason DAW's own plugins are often very low-latency, so I'm expecting these to be, too.
We'll see how they work in software; esp. decent limiters never seem to be zero-latency.

I get the vibe these circumvent the lack of PDC a bit, BUT if they're good, it means the need for 3rd party stuff can get smaller, depending on the user.

I have experience with Air fx on Pro Tools.
They are basic, nothing fancy or complicated like other companies, they are not cpu hungry, zero latency and exactly what you expect from a professional tool, easy to tweak and detailed.
I used to like eq a lot, filters and phaser.
Compressions are standard, they do their job well and finally we have a GR meter.
I don't know about Maximizer, I never used Air one and I am not sure I am gonna use it on Mpc. Air reverb is ok, I don't love it as I love my external Boss Rv500, but honestly I never find a good plugin reverb because I am used to use hardware ones.
I think it's crazy I already see people complaining about them.
The duty of a company is to give all the tools you need to produce music, then if you use them just to pump the sound and kill the dynamics, well, it's your problem.
I think we should all say a big THANK YOU for this wonderful present.
Come on.
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By Menco Sun Jan 27, 2019 5:41 pm
Frisbi wrote:I think we should all say a big l THANK YOU for this wonderful present.
Come on.


+1

Last couple of months I’ve seen more support from Akai for the X and Live than for the 1000/2500 during their entire production run.
Bymember04959388 Sun Jan 27, 2019 5:48 pm
Menco wrote:
Frisbi wrote:I think we should all say a big l THANK YOU for this wonderful present.
Come on.


+1

Last couple of months I’ve seen more support from Akai for the X and Live than for the 1000/2500 during their entire production run.

Yes I think the partnership with Air is the winner choice for Akai
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By pspsounds Sun Jan 27, 2019 6:07 pm
This is GREAT news. Just having the compressor “Mother Ducker” is great. But having all the other new effects is a plus too. Hopefully it’s not cpu hungry but if it is you can resample and flatten pads that have those effects. Looking forward to testing these out.
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By Fanu Sun Jan 27, 2019 7:23 pm
Menco wrote:
Frisbi wrote:I think we should all say a big l THANK YOU for this wonderful present.
Come on.


+1

Last couple of months I’ve seen more support from Akai for the X and Live than for the 1000/2500 during their entire production run.


The last update with the synths and now this…honestly, it's a pretty dang good look.
If they address the few remaining critical wishes…it'll be a really killer MPC. We're not far.