Are You Using The Full Capability of Your MPC?

Menco wrote:10 tracks is more than enough for me. Rarely need more than 10 tracks.

Are you able to use the digital out, main outs and 8 outs all at the same time, giving you 14 direct independents outs?

Not using ALL of it here, I have the OG Live.. I think the last time I used the line inputs on it was over a year ago heh. I just load samples off the hard drive and go, any sampling is done on my EMU, cause that thing kills the MPC. I am using all the outputs though, would like a couple more. I use one output/channel into my mixer so the MPC gets a total of six things going, after that it's up to my synths and loading up samples on the EMU (bass tracks are always on there anyways). USB is always connected to the Mac, one of the hub ports goes to a 7 port USB hub where my network adapter is, along with all my USB synths. Before the 2.8 update, all of those synths were all chained together using the two MIDI I/Os.. Not using the MIDI ports at all anymore, all my non-USB gear is plugged into a MIDI interface that's USB, and all the USB synths are there too. CV/Gate would've been nice. Right now I control the modular using an SQ-1 as a handy but limited USB MIDI-CV interface.

CharlesRandolph wrote:

Menco wrote:10 tracks is more than enough for me. Rarely need more than 10 tracks.

Are you able to use the digital out, main outs and 8 outs all at the same time, giving you 14 direct independents outs?

Have never tried that. Interesting idea. Will look into that.

Menco wrote:Have never tried that. Interesting idea. Will look into that.

I meant 12 not 14.

Nah. At the height of my Live's use, stereo in/outs, MIDI A in/out and both USB slots. My initial goal was to have it and my Komplete Kontrol S control the MPC software. As I discovered the software's limitations, the MPC was featured less and less.

I no longer use the software except for a few things that can't be done or inconvenient to do in standalone. And the MPC is more of a sketch pad. I no longer use the USB hub. If not for my reliance on it's pads, bits of its workflow (screen, short cuts) and the keygroups I've created, I'd sell it.

Monotremata wrote:Not using ALL of it here, I have the OG Live.. I think the last time I used the line inputs on it was over a year ago heh. I just load samples off the hard drive and go, any sampling is done on my EMU, cause that thing kills the MPC. I am using all the outputs though, would like a couple more.


I use one output/channel into my mixer so the MPC gets a total of six things going, after that it's up to my synths and loading up samples on the EMU (bass tracks are always on there anyways). USB is always connected to the Mac, one of the hub ports goes to a 7 port USB hub where my network adapter is, along with all my USB synths.

Before the 2.8 update, all of those synths were all chained together using the two MIDI I/Os.. Not using the MIDI ports at all anymore, all my non-USB gear is plugged into a MIDI interface that's USB, and all the USB synths are there too. CV/Gate would've been nice. Right now I control the modular using an SQ-1 as a handy but limited USB MIDI-CV interface.

So your MPC has midi access to every synth you own? What is it about the EMU that makes it ideal for your use case.

Bezo wrote:Nah. At the height of my Live's use, stereo in/outs, MIDI A in/out and both USB slots. My initial goal was to have it and my Komplete Kontrol S control the MPC software. As I discovered the software's limitations, the MPC was featured less and less.

I no longer use the software except for a few things that can't be done or inconvenient to do in standalone. And the MPC is more of a sketch pad. I no longer use the USB hub. If not for my reliance on it's pads, bits of its workflow (screen, short cuts) and the keygroups I've created, I'd sell it.

So in your case it's become more of auxiliary machine.

CharlesRandolph wrote:So your MPC has midi access to every synth you own? What is it about the EMU that makes it ideal for your use case.

Yeah before the update, I had my AMT8 interface setup standalone to route stuff, the MPC was connected via MIDI and every MIDI device is setup with its own channel/port/etc.. Luckily my USB stuff all has MIDI I/O too so it all worked. After the update I just ran the interface directly in, left the MIDI only devices on it, and moved the USB stuff to the same hub. The ports on my interface that dont have synths now are connected to my rack gear so I can edit and store patches on my old Roland effects boxes and stuff.

The EMU is just a league of its own compared to the MPC's sampler. The filters blow it away, and the envelopes are waaaaaaaaaaay more flexible. The modulation matrix alone makes it better for sound design. The MPC gives you a simple filter sweep, and a pitch rise/fall, that's it. I use the MPC for a lot of the 'prep work' though. Its way easier to do time stretching and chopping for example on the MPC, and the effects options are killer. If I have a loop Im going to play with the EMU, Ill do all that stuff before hand on the MPC, and then sample the finished product into the EMU. From there it gets tweaked to hell on the EMU. All of my drums, and any keygroups/loops that dont need to change much are fine on the MPC though.

Monotremata wrote:
The EMU is just a league of its own compared to the MPC's sampler.

Which Emu sampler are you using? I'm assuming the emax

Louis St. wrote:Which Emu sampler are you using? I'm assuming the emax

The one to the right ----->

**** no... i have the live and i still sample everything in mono. i have a routing system on a hardware mixer so i can quickly run different gear's outputs into each other's inputs incase i want to bounce a sample around (ie: recorded a sample into the remix 16, i want the result of that in the live... so i route it through the mixer... or if i have a sound in the live but i want to send it to the remix 16 to mess with it and then send it back to the live)

CharlesRandolph wrote:

Bezo wrote:Nah. At the height of my Live's use, stereo in/outs, MIDI A in/out and both USB slots. My initial goal was to have it and my Komplete Kontrol S control the MPC software. As I discovered the software's limitations, the MPC was featured less and less.

I no longer use the software except for a few things that can't be done or inconvenient to do in standalone. And the MPC is more of a sketch pad. I no longer use the USB hub. If not for my reliance on it's pads, bits of its workflow (screen, short cuts) and the keygroups I've created, I'd sell it.

So in your case it's become more of auxiliary machine.

Basically. And probably an unnecessary one. But I was already using it in a different way than most.

Still is, but for me the MPC was primarily a sequencer and keygroup machine. I almost never sample/chop or sample/loop. It wouldn't be as fun, but I could use the Studio One sequencer and Kontakt to do the same things. And I do use the S1 sequencer when it's time to finish writing/programming. But there's something about programming drums, and even bass and lead lines, on the Live.

If I don't get more into creating my own chops & loops soon, I'll give up the Live. It's probably not the most productive tool for my workflow.

Bezo wrote:Basically. And probably an unnecessary one. But I was already using it in a different way than most.

Still is, but for me the MPC was primarily a sequencer and keygroup machine. I almost never sample/chop or sample/loop. It wouldn't be as fun, but I could use the Studio One sequencer and Kontakt to do the same things. And I do use the S1 sequencer when it's time to finish writing/programming. But there's something about programming drums, and even bass and lead lines, on the Live.

If I don't get more into creating my own chops & loops soon, I'll give up the Live. It's probably not the most productive tool for my workflow.

I mainly use it as a Keygroup/sample set machine, effects unit, a finger drumming instrument, and auto sampler. If the machine could be networked, allowing the transfer of audio back and forth in much more seamless way, had global midi learn settings that could be used with any project, then It would get much more usage from me.

These are the limits that I've run into, using it in actually sessions. It's really about productive when creating and making it easy save and archiving projects.