MPC X: busses & re-sampling?

Hi guys,

Couple of quick questions about the MPC X:

I have a lot of analog FX (Eurorack). Is it easy to resample stuff on the MPC X?
By this i mean, trigger a sample, output it to an output that's not your master out, and then at the same time re-record it back into the MPC X?

And what about monitoring? In that scenario you don't want to hear the signal your sending to the analog FX, only the return that's being re-recorded.

Are these sorts of things child's play like it would be in Cubase or Ableton or whatever, or are there limitations in this regard?

And secondly, does the MPC X have any submix busses? And if so, how many? Can they have FX? Are there any other kinds of busses?

And sorry, one more bonus question: does the MPC X, in standalone mode, have any way to bounce down a track with FX, to free up FX power? Actually, how many tracks do you have to play with?

Cheers!

Dazzer1234567 wrote:Hi guys,

Couple of quick questions about the MPC X:

Howdy... answers inline... though honestly... you should read the manual.

Dazzer1234567 wrote:I have a lot of analog FX (Eurorack). Is it easy to resample stuff on the MPC X?

Yeah... it's easy.

Dazzer1234567 wrote:By this i mean, trigger a sample, output it to an output that's not your master out, and then at the same time re-record it back into the MPC X?

You've got 8 outputs on the X... so choose your poison of output 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 3/4, 5/6, 7/8.

Similarly, the MPC X has 4 inputs... 1, 2, 3, 4, 1/2, 3/4. You can only record off of one of those at a time, but you can monitor all 4... so you can get pretty nutty.

Dazzer1234567 wrote:And what about monitoring? In that scenario you don't want to hear the signal your sending to the analog FX, only the return that's being re-recorded.

You only monitor off of 1/2 (otherwise known as L/R)... so send audio to output 3/4, dump it to your euro gear, bring it back through in 1/2... and adjust levels/monitoring to taste.

Dazzer1234567 wrote:Are these sorts of things child's play like it would be in Cubase or Ableton or whatever, or are there limitations in this regard?

It's far less complicated than what you can do in Ableton, so simpler, but in general just as competent.

Dazzer1234567 wrote:And secondly, does the MPC X have any submix busses? And if so, how many? Can they have FX? Are there any other kinds of busses?

Yes, there are 8 submix busses and 4 send/return busses. Each can have up to 4 FX.

All the bus types are:
* Midi Tracks
* Audio Tracks
* Programs
* Returns
* Submixes
* Master

Dazzer1234567 wrote:And sorry, one more bonus question: does the MPC X, in standalone mode, have any way to bounce down a track with FX, to free up FX power? Actually, how many tracks do you have to play with?

Short answer yes... you can bounce tracks... but you have to do it by hand.

There is no freeze like you get in Ableton or other similar DAW products. You'll either need to track out to one of the 8 audio tracks, or resample a loop in looper and export it as a sample or clip. You can do this, but it's a smidge manual.

You can have as many tracks as the CPU can handle... up to 128. You're not going to be able to load 4 FX on each of those tracks in standalone mode though... you'll run out of CPU.

Dazzer1234567 wrote:Cheers!

Cheers.

Sources
* Been using Ableton since version 1.1...
* I have owned an MPC X, Live, and currently own a Live mk2
* I have a hefty eurorack setup myself
* I frequently use the MPC and eurorack together

Thanks dude! ........... may i just pick your brains for a few seconds more?

Does it have a fan? If so, is it audible?

Imagine you've got a song that's using around say GB of samples. How much time (roughly) does it take to move to PC mode. Or from PC to standalone. Are we talking about seconds? Or minutes? (i'm guessing somewhere in between.

And say you want to also incorporate some PC recording with standalone mode. When in standalone mode, can you access files on a PC across the network (WIFI) and copy them over to the Akai? (i mean from within the standalones interface)

And one thing that i think i asked before but wasn't quite clear to me: you can install extra plugins on the standalone unti, right? Like Tubesytnh. Are these paid? And then they must also be available on PC mode. So the PC versions are VST or AAX or whatever, right?

Dazzer1234567 wrote:Thanks dude! ........... may i just pick your brains for a few seconds more?

Does it have a fan? If so, is it audible?

I believe it is passive cooling... I don't recall seeing any fans in it from teardown photos.

Dazzer1234567 wrote:Imagine you've got a song that's using around say GB of samples. How much time (roughly) does it take to move to PC mode. Or from PC to standalone. Are we talking about seconds? Or minutes? (i'm guessing somewhere in between.

It's above seconds, but under a minute... also highly dependent if you're using SSD, USB drive, or SD Card... You're probably talking between 30-90 seconds depending on a bunch of factors.

Dazzer1234567 wrote:And say you want to also incorporate some PC recording with standalone mode. When in standalone mode, can you access files on a PC across the network (WIFI) and copy them over to the Akai? (i mean from within the standalones interface)

You can *technically* get stuff over to it if you hack the firmware on the MPC... but for most non invasive intents and purposes the way you'd do this is to just dump content onto an SD card or USB drive on the PC and then load it up on the PC. Honestly though... you've got 4 inputs... just hook up the PC outputs to the MPC and sample your heart out. It's often much faster, more intuitive in your workflow, and will add some opportunities for chaos into the processs.

Dazzer1234567 wrote:And one thing that i think i asked before but wasn't quite clear to me: you can install extra plugins on the standalone unti, right? Like Tubesytnh. Are these paid? And then they must also be available on PC mode. So the PC versions are VST or AAX or whatever, right?

Read the manual, there are included FX and instruments for standalone, and they are not paid.

The PC versions of those plugins... no idea if they are VST or baked into the MPC Software... I hardly use the software. But just to be clear, you cannot install additional plugins into the MPC in standalone... you've got what you've got. If you want more sounds you just sample off of VSTs through autosampler, looper, or other methods.