mpc v2.4 is coming

Fanu wrote:
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.

Yep.. Automation lanes being one of them..

Troll of the day

All presets of the upcoming 2.4 new effects were already present in 2.3. Just check out the following path (on Windows) :

C:\Program Files\Akai Pro\MPC\Plugin Presets\Insert Effects

Seems no one has noticed it

c-real wrote:Troll of the day

All presets of the upcoming 2.4 new effects were already present in 2.3. Just check out the following path (on Windows) :

C:\Program Files\Akai Pro\MPC\Plugin Presets\Insert Effects

Seems no one has noticed it

Ah. So they were just preparing the next update. That's a good thing, it means there is a clear roadmap.
Did you also notice also that the midi mode on menu has something that looks like it will be implemented one day?

No, I can't see what element from midi control mode could be obviously optimised. What do you have in mind?

c-real wrote:No, I can't see what element from midi control mode could be obviously optimised. What do you have in mind?

If you go from menu to midi control mode, there is a sort of midi matrix and it's not clear what is it for.
At least, its not clear for me.

Fanu wrote: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.

If your clients want it loud, tell them to turn the Volume Knob up. Side chain is a useful tool and can be used to create a certain kind of effect. I've always found good song writing, arrangement, musicianship, good selections of instruments, and recording technique, is the key to having a good song. With all those in place the song will mix themselves and mastering is easy.

I feel Brick Wall Limiting, EQ'ing, Maximizer, and Compression are good tools if used very very very lightly. Unless they're used as some kind of sonic effect. But honestly, people need to learn how to use their ears and faders. A song is as loud, as it is soft.

I don't understand why you correlate sidechain with loudness.
Sidechain can make some sounds get out on the mix and yes, maybe in that sense it can help to raise the level of a mix.
But it has nothing to do with loudness.

Frisbi wrote:I don't understand why you correlate sidechain with loudness.
Sidechain can make some sounds get out on the mix and yes, maybe in that sense it can help to raise the level of a mix.
But it has nothing to do with loudness.

Any amount of compression will effect the makeup of a song. Be it positive or negative. Also I said perceived loudness. But I'm not against the tools, I think it's a good addition to the MPC.

CharlesRandolph wrote:

Frisbi wrote:I don't understand why you correlate sidechain with loudness.
Sidechain can make some sounds get out on the mix and yes, maybe in that sense it can help to raise the level of a mix.
But it has nothing to do with loudness.

Any amount of compression will effect the makeup of a song. Be it positive or negative. Also I said perceived loudness. But I'm not against the tools, I think it's a good addition to the MPC.

There is much confusion about compression.
The perceived loudness is more related to a balanced mix, if you make a good mix you can then go upper with loudness, if its not well balanced you raise the level but loudness is gone into mud.
I know you are not against sidechain, as me you think its good to have it but, well, it doesn't change so much, isn't it?
I am more happy with finally having a meter on compressor, maybe it sounds silly but I found it a bit hard to compress without a GR reference.
But actually I like Akai compressors, especially the master one. let's see how this Air compressor will be. And also channel strip looks intersting.
And then maybe we will have a real phaser at the end, the Akai one was very bad.
And I am very very curious about the gate, i wonder if it can be used a like a rythm or trance gate somehow.
So nice we will have some new tools to test now.

I’ve been using the vintage compressor. Tweaking the knee and threshold parameters give some good results.

Frisbi wrote:There is much confusion about compression. The perceived loudness is more related to a balanced mix, if you make a good mix you can then go upper with loudness, if its not well balanced you raise the level but loudness is gone into mud.I know you are not against sidechain, as me you think its good to have it but, well, it doesn't change so much, isn't it?

I am more happy with finally having a meter on compressor, maybe it sounds silly but I found it a bit hard to compress without a GR reference. But actually I like Akai compressors, especially the master one. let's see how this Air compressor will be. And also channel strip looks intersting. And then maybe we will have a real phaser at the end, the Akai one was very bad.

And I am very very curious about the gate, i wonder if it can be used a like a rythm or trance gate somehow.
So nice we will have some new tools to test now.

The perceived loudness depends on sound pressure level and the frequency spectrum, among other things. It's all psycho acoustics. I forget how many db it takes for us, to perceive an increase, but it's somewhere between 7db and 10db.

But this is the issue we run into. If 0 is the limit, that means everything below 0, must be compressed and then raised in order to increase that perceptions. That's why we have the loudness war and why lots of music sound smashed.

All we have to do is listen to soundcloud or most radio songs. Then we get new producer, who grew up listening to that music. When they buy gear, they try to make their music, sound like the stuff they listen too.
It's the deaf, mixing for the deaf.

Charlesrandolph you are crazy for this one

CharlesRandolph wrote:The perceived loudness depends on sound pressure level and the frequency spectrum, among other things. It's all psycho acoustics. I forget how many db it takes for us, to perceive an increase, but it's somewhere between 7db and 10db.

I don't want to offend you, but if it takes you 7 dB or more till you hear an increase, you have a problem.
Just insert a gain plugin on a track and give it, say, 2 dB increase and flick it on and off…you will hear it.
It's like, UAD Pultec plugin adds 1 dB of gain when you turn it on (as does the hardware)…many users thought it adds "some magic" and then someone pointed out it was 1 dB gain. Point? People were hearing that 1 dB gain increase.

Was trying to delete this post but... I'm useless

Anyways I added the actual post next.

Frisbi wrote:
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.

So how exactly do you route your Boss rv500 into the MPC? I wanted to do this with my MPCX and my GFI tempus reverb/delay the other day but didn't have much time on the session and felt it would take me some time to figure it out. I would like to record a guitar or keyboard dry and then bring in the effect through a send to try different settings. I'm guessing you re-record the effect + track onto a new track or sample to marry the two? Thanks for the info in advance!