Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
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By Dj Proces Mon Feb 12, 2007 11:04 am
I have experienced the same thing ( with distortion when playing a complete song. It's a major flaw of the 500. The input level is so low when turn the gain even to the maximum, and when you want to play back a song you have to put the master level -6 db, or you will get distortion. this totally sucks. could a OS update fix this problem?
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By Upright Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:46 pm
Contra wrote:
SimonInAustralia wrote:Why blame distorted sample playback on polyphony problems?


cuz i can do that!
:wink:

but yea it was what lampdog and others(sorry for not checkin names guys and gals) said, that the lower frequencies were fighting each other.
and also i gotta get used to the sound coming out of the mp and how to mix on there, as opposed to the sound ableton live's puttin out.

so gettin used to the sound as of tonite, mixes are comin out nicer on here.



I glad everything is working out!!1 :D
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By descry Mon Feb 12, 2007 7:18 pm
Dj Proces wrote:I have experienced the same thing ( with distortion when playing a complete song. It's a major flaw of the 500. The input level is so low when turn the gain even to the maximum, and when you want to play back a song you have to put the master level -6 db, or you will get distortion. this totally sucks. could a OS update fix this problem?



almost every mp is like that. if your frequencies are fighting each other, that's an obvious side effect.
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By Contra Mon Feb 12, 2007 8:00 pm
yea i had another problem today(or what may seem like one)

i was in erase/undo mode.

when it says erase
then says underneath "pads: ALL (or the pad u hit)"

normally when u hit a pad say b3 it says b3, but if u hit it again it says "ALL"
which is normal to me.

then today i loaded a trak wanted to do some sequence editing.
so i got to erase/undo.

when i choose what pad in particular and i hit say b3. itll show b3 then when i hit it again it says "B2B3" then when i hit it again "B2B3B12"

shits trippin out.
but thas electronics in general.

pz
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By madbeets Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:00 am
Dj Proces wrote:I have experienced the same thing ( with distortion when playing a complete song. It's a major flaw of the 500. The input level is so low when turn the gain even to the maximum, and when you want to play back a song you have to put the master level -6 db, or you will get distortion. this totally sucks. could a OS update fix this problem?


Most gear will do this. This is a headroom issue. If I have the input of all tracks at hitting 0 db and turn up all the tracks on my mixer it will distort the output...DUH!
Same thing happens in a sampler. If you output a bunch of voices at full volume there will be a point where it distorts. Think of a sampler as a 32 track mixer (for the 32 voices). If you have full volume on all the voices it will add up to too much volume and distort. The only way they could fix this would be to dummy proof it and lower the maximum possible volume for each voice. Which would suck when you are using one or two voices. They would be really quiet to account for those who don't know how to mix.

Lower all the samples so that they are properly balanced and then turn up the output or your speakers.

Lampdog is right too. If you put a bunch of stuff in a mix with the same frequencies, it is additive and will distort and also suck the sound from your mix. Sometimes the best way to get more bass is by cutting the bass frequencies from other tracks.
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By Dj Proces Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:34 am
I understand, but it seems to me that there was less distortion trouble with the 2000 and xl. . but if you guys say so, maybe it's just in my head. :wink:
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By Contra Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:22 pm
Dj Proces wrote:I understand, but it seems to me that there was less distortion trouble with the 2000 and xl. . but if you guys say so, maybe it's just in my head. :wink:


i kinda feel the same way
but thas just my opinion as we all have one.
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By peyote Tue Feb 13, 2007 8:05 pm
Contra wrote:yea i had another problem today(or what may seem like one)

i was in erase/undo mode.

when it says erase
then says underneath "pads: ALL (or the pad u hit)"

normally when u hit a pad say b3 it says b3, but if u hit it again it says "ALL"
which is normal to me.

then today i loaded a trak wanted to do some sequence editing.
so i got to erase/undo.

when i choose what pad in particular and i hit say b3. itll show b3 then when i hit it again it says "B2B3" then when i hit it again "B2B3B12"

**** trippin out.
but thas electronics in general.

pz


that is a feature. you can delete some pads or all, or just one. if you turn all the pads off, it is set to "all", otherwise you can toggle each pad to have events deleted or not