Am I overthinking this?

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.
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Am I overthinking this?

By ironmic716 Tue Apr 21, 2020 3:30 pm
Ive been recording all my samples from the turntable into my old mpc2500 and then transferring them to my mpcLive via compact flash reader, will i lose any audio quality or warmth if I just recorded them directly into the mpclive instead?

Re: Am I overthinking this?

By kaydigi Tue Apr 21, 2020 3:38 pm
Isn’t the 2500 and 1000 pretty neutral sounding like the Live? You may have to do a a/b comparison yourself to see. Also I think the Live converts all files to 32 bit, or something like that. I’m not sure how it affects the sound quality.

I didn’t notice a quality change when I imported a Sony I did on jjos mpc 1000 years ago.


Lamp dog or tutor will probably chime in with exact facts shortly .

Re: Am I overthinking this?

By 40Beatz Tue Apr 21, 2020 3:53 pm
Trial and Error. Its all about setting the Levels to your liking!
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Re: Am I overthinking this?

By NearTao Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:08 pm
Recording vs Mixing...

16-bit mixing can have some dithering (and I believe aliasing) issues that can create some differences in sound from 32-bit mixing.

See https://en.audiofanzine.com/getting-started/editorial/articles/don-t-spit-the-bit.html or try googling 16-bit vs 32-bit mixing. There are differences for sure, but not all will be something that a listener may appreciate.

Re: Am I overthinking this?

By CharlesRandolph Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:42 pm
ironmic716 wrote:Ive been recording all my samples from the turntable into my old mpc2500 and then transferring them to my mpcLive via compact flash reader, will i lose any audio quality or warmth if I just recorded them directly into the mpclive instead?


Just go directly into the MPC LIVE, because in a blind test, you can't tell the difference.
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Re: Am I overthinking this?

By NearTao Tue Apr 21, 2020 6:33 pm
CharlesRandolph wrote:
ironmic716 wrote:Ive been recording all my samples from the turntable into my old mpc2500 and then transferring them to my mpcLive via compact flash reader, will i lose any audio quality or warmth if I just recorded them directly into the mpclive instead?


Just go directly into the MPC LIVE, because in a blind test, you can't tell the difference.


That is certainly a fair point.
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Re: Am I overthinking this?

By Menco Tue Apr 21, 2020 6:37 pm
CharlesRandolph wrote:Just go directly into the MPC LIVE, because in a blind test, you can't tell the difference.


+1. Had them both. Never heard a difference. Declutter your workflow from unnecessary steps, go directly into the Live.
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Re: Am I overthinking this?

By Lampdog Tue Apr 21, 2020 8:16 pm
kaydigi wrote:Lamp dog or tutor will probably chime in with exact facts shortly .

Never had a 2500, but my advice would still be to go directly into Live.
You can MAKE your samples sound the way you want in there, forget all other non-sense.

Never once did I sample into my 2kxl and then take the samples to my 4k thinking I wanna keep any warmth.

Re: Am I overthinking this?

By ironmic716 Fri Apr 24, 2020 3:12 am
Lampdog wrote:
kaydigi wrote:Lamp dog or tutor will probably chime in with exact facts shortly .

Never had a 2500, but my advice would still be to go directly into Live.
You can MAKE your samples sound the way you want in there, forget all other non-sense.

Never once did I sample into my 2kxl and then take the samples to my 4k thinking I wanna keep any warmth.



Heard that. Thanks man.
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Re: Am I overthinking this?

By Lampdog Fri Apr 24, 2020 4:03 am
Yep, sample directly into Live, play with EQ effects, filters, etc. and get your samples to sound how you want them to sound. Experiment, PUT THE LIVE TO WORK!

Oh and don’t forget, you can use layering for building up samples also.

Re: Am I overthinking this?

By Fre$hBreath Fri Apr 24, 2020 6:00 am
Do you have a good analog sampling chain? If your analog sampling chain is good, then you don't have to worry about losing warmth.

Re: Am I overthinking this?

By CharlesRandolph Fri Apr 24, 2020 6:55 am
You want to keep things warm, slightly boost the low mid-range between 250 to 300 hz and roll of the high frequency. These machines can pretty much produce what ever sonic signature you want, if you know how to use the eq, filters, compression, etc.

Plus if you're using any MPC, it's a digital sampler. So the A/D an D/A is pretty hard to avoid. Unless you import a digital file and export a digital file. Or if you use the digital in and digital out, which these MPC do not have. :lol:
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This

By Lampdog Fri Apr 24, 2020 7:07 am
CharlesRandolph wrote:These machines can pretty much produce what ever sonic signature you want, if you know how to use the eq, filters, compression, etc.
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...

By Lampdog Fri Apr 24, 2020 7:09 am
Fre$hBreath wrote:Do you have a good analog sampling chain?


ironmic716 wrote:Ive been recording all my samples from the turntable into my old mpc2500 and then transferring them to my mpcLive via compact flash reader,

Re: ...

By Fre$hBreath Fri Apr 24, 2020 7:52 am
Lampdog wrote:
Fre$hBreath wrote:Do you have a good analog sampling chain?


ironmic716 wrote:Ive been recording all my samples from the turntable into my old mpc2500 and then transferring them to my mpcLive via compact flash reader,


This is my sampling chain.

All modified Behringer T-Series processors with Marinair Transformers, Burr-Brown OpAmps, and Mullard Tubes...

Image
No matter what sampler I'm using, I have a big, warm sound...
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