sampling ipod

hey guys. so i just got my mpcxl on wed. im probably not going to get a table for another cuopole of months because i need to save up for that but i was wondering how i sample off my ipod or something? I bought the audio cables that connects to the ipod and another separate couple where the red and white hook to another cable to connect directoly to record In on my MPC, but i only put it on record in left side do i need another type of chord?

If you are splitting from a stereo 1/8"(ipod) to rca I assume, then back to one 1/4"(mpc) plug then you will lose one side of the audio signal, usually the left I think.

My advice is - don't sample mp3's...I tried that and the results you get are not so good.Of course for the start it's a good and affordable idea,but don't expect that sound quality will be ok.With further processing of each sample you will hear the difference.Maybe try ordinary cds...?

harlej wrote:My advice is - don't sample mp3's...

It depends on what kbps rate the mp3 is recorded which results in the quality of mp3 you have, mp3's are fine to sample from. You must have had a loq quality one to begin with. People that understand the kbps' do it all the time with higher quality mp3's and you would never know it unless they told you so.

Well,I used to sample 192 kbps mp3s with constant bitrate...maybe that's where lack of quality came from.The problem with sampling (and listening) 320 kbps ones was always some distorted sounds at high frequencies,especially in vocal tracks.Never understood why it happened with such high bitrate.Lamp,any ideas ?

Lampdog wrote:

harlej wrote:My advice is - don't sample mp3's...

It depends on what kbps rate the mp3 is recorded which results in the quality of mp3 you have, mp3's are fine to sample from. You must have had a loq quality one to begin with. People that understand the kbps' do it all the time with higher quality mp3's and you would never know it unless they told you so.

my problem is that once i have the sample in the mpc its jus ONE big FLAT line...even normalize does nothing wether i do it on the mpc or on the computer... any ideas on that? makes for choppin to be mad difficult but makes my ear drum stay on which can't be bad.....

be eaZy

harlej wrote:Lamp,any ideas ?

mp3's in itself is a compressed format, it will never match the quality of an uncompressed wave. You gotta be picky and choosy what you sample from mp3, not everything will sound good. I would never do vocals on mp3 cause I know what you are talking about with the high frequencies being lost/distorted, it sounds like very bad noise reduction artifacts. Also creative effects can SOMETIMES mask mp3 imperfections and make samples very useable.

bizzzla wrote:my problem is that once i have the sample in the mpc its jus ONE big FLAT line

That seems very odd to have a flat line like that.
Trouble shoot.

1. When you plug up the headphones to the iPod do you hear sound?

2. The cable that you are using, the side connected to the iPod should have 3 metal peices on the plug, meaning it's stereo, if you have 2 metal peices it's a mono cable and you should be using a stereo cable like the one I posted in the pic.

3. The other side of that cable should have 2 metal peices on each plug just like the pic I posted. Mono for each big 1/4 plug.

4. After you've checked your iPod output and the plug is new, plug up the cable to iPod and MPC and do your sampling, make sure the iPod is at a loud volume, you should hear iPod audio in your MPC.

Now Sample.

You getting a flat line, right now I can only think of a bad cable.

i appreciate the response but my bad i should have sed i'm usin an mp3 sample i chopped it in soundforge 4.0 and saved to my card i tried normalizei n soundforge then takin to mpc still flat.. i tried normalize in the mpc and it comes out to the same..

but i'ma try to burn that mp3 into a cd and then sample that way.. see if it makes a difference..

TUNE is not the same as pitch change is it?

well aight i'm at the library and jus sittin here all day told my self NOT gon go home till i finish readin this manual...


oNe

yeah, you can't just transfer an mp3 across to the mpc and expect it to work. the mpc will only take wav files.

For me,tuning is the same option as pitch shifting,it works just as slowing down or speeding up record on a turntable (and making the sample longer or shorter accordingly to the amount of tuning/pitch)...Sometimes you can find function like pitch shifting (I think it's one of the effects on the mpc 1000),which allows you to change the pitch without altering the length of a sample.
There is a pitch shifting effect on the 2kxl as well,but this one just adds the changed pitch sound to the original source and doesn't give as clean results as on the mpc1k.

Mr modnaR wrote:yeah, you can't just transfer an mp3 across to the mpc and expect it to work. the mpc will only take wav files.

And here I am thinking everything was wav, that was time wasted.

it's the effort that counts, Lamp.

your medal's in the post......

lol i saw that. that's crazy lol. you and your lil buddy coocoo1 nut, heh heh.

he doest need the sample to be wave does he since hes sampling from an audio source???