Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000

Byharlej Mon Apr 23, 2007 9:47 am
If you have the option installed, smpte is the best way, you get no timing errors then and everything goes in good sync.
Midi Clock is the most simple way of syncing and personally I wouldn't use that way when tracking everything separately. I've tried that and it did not work good.
Midi Time Code is something like equivalent of smpte, and in my opinion it works way better than Midi Clock (on the other hand it can't transmit bpm changes, just absolute time information).
Try and see how they work.

By BlazinBeats Mon Apr 23, 2007 1:19 pm
ok thanks for the reply , i do see 2 smtpe jacks on the back of the 2000, so maybe i should use smpte, does smpte have tighter sync? also what kind of cable do i need for smpte and where on the computer would i hook it up? also do you know if cubase supports smtpe ok thanks

Byharlej Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:23 pm
There are smpte jack slots in every 2000 and 2000 xl as far as I know and you have to check if you have the syncing chip inside your machine. To do that, just go to the sync screen menu in the mpc and scroll through. If somewhere between midi clock and midi time code you can see 'smpte', then you have the option installed and you can use it.
In my opinion smpte is very tight and keeps every track recorded in perfect sync. I checked it myself and spent some long hours recording via different sync options, that's why I'm so certain about it.

read some stuff about smpte here, should give you all info you need:

http://www.philrees.co.uk/articles/timecode.htm

http://www.mpc2000xl.com/smpte.htm

By the way, you can use balanced cables to record the signal, depending if your pc's soundcard has balanced ins/out. If it doesn't, I suppose that unbalaced cables will do just fine.

By BlazinBeats Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:10 pm
cool thanks for your knowlege one more quetsion, what software do you use the smpte to record with? thanks

Byharlej Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:17 pm
For recording (tracking) I'm using cool edit pro 2.1 or ableton, depending on how big project I have to record. Cool edit handles better these larger sessions and it doesn't affect mu cpu so much with it.
About recording smpte - you can record it with any program that suits you. The most important thing here is the appropriate signal level.