MPC5000 reviews, bug reports and fellow user support on the most recent standalone, hardware MPC from Akai

By k1 Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:44 pm
Could you test how track mute to external gear works on the 5K??
On my 2.5K, track mute only works partially when muting to my Motif ES Rack...just wondering if the 5K has improved on this ;)
User avatar

By scd Thu Feb 21, 2008 9:50 pm
k1 wrote:Could you test how track mute to external gear works on the 5K??
On my 2.5K, track mute only works partially when muting to my Motif ES Rack...just wondering if the 5K has improved on this ;)

He, finally a question I can answer right away: that works fine. I know, I was song building last weekend and used it a lot.

How can muting work "partially"? Explain please.

By k1 Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:05 am
hehe...
On the 2.5k the mute via MIDI to external units only works partially.
This means it mutes most of the sound but not all...makes it sound like it's stuttering or kinda like a tremolo effect...it's not really usable.
I've heard from someone that it might get better if I configure my external unit in a certain way but I don't have a clue about it so I just don't bother...I manage to make my music anyway...hehe

By orgo Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:09 am
k1 wrote:hehe...
On the 2.5k the mute via MIDI to external units only works partially.
This means it mutes most of the sound but not all...makes it sound like it's stuttering or kinda like a tremolo effect...it's not really usable.
I've heard from someone that it might get better if I configure my external unit in a certain way but I don't have a clue about it so I just don't bother...I manage to make my music anyway...hehe



sounds very much like a wrong configuration. check if your keyboard is not set up to "omni" mode.
User avatar

By LvngDead Fri Feb 22, 2008 5:19 pm
scd, you ever work on the Roland MV series?
User avatar

By scd Fri Feb 22, 2008 5:40 pm
LvngDead wrote:scd, you ever work on the Roland MV series?


Unfortunately not (that is, it would have been good to be able to compare certain features with the MPC).

By k1 Sat Feb 23, 2008 2:31 am
orgo wrote:sounds very much like a wrong configuration. check if your keyboard is not set up to "omni" mode.


you might be right..I don't really know..but since I don't use it much I really don't care either..hehe..but I'll check it out though..it might just come in handy;)
But, should it be or not be in omni-mode??

By christiancastagno Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:50 am
hey scd, first off thanks for doing what you're doing, I for one really appreciate your taking the time...

there is something that always killed me about the q-links both on JJ's and the normal os, I was wondering if it was the same in the 5k...


lets say you setup the qlinks to control the pitch of a sample and set the destination to "pad" , you then go to the main screen, you start to adjust pitches using the slider and great, all cool... you get the pitches hooked up the way you want and you record a beat, then you stop the sequence and poof! gone! all those relationships you just created vanish and the samples revert to their original pitches. I always thought it was completely idiotic, you would get the perfect beat going and tweeked for level, pitch, pan etc. but you couldn't then stop the sequence or you would lose the changes... Does the 5k allow you to setup the qlinks with various parameters that you edit all the time like pitch level, panning, filter etc. and have them a. follow the last pad you hit so that the sliders edit that parameter on that pad and b. retain the change after the sequencer has stopped? I know you can go into program mode and use the wheel etc. I know that you can do the same thing other ways like going into the program page but I'm interested to know if it can be done that way particularly...

Also, is there any difference between what you can do with the timing correction while the sequencer is running versus when it isn't, is it all realtime all the time now? Do you have to enter the change or does it just happen as you adjust the swing or the shift?

thanks again for taking the time, it's very cool of you...
User avatar

By scd Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:46 am
Bassdrum through the filters...

OK, I've done some recordings. You hear a dry bassdrum from one of the drumprograms on the 5k
I send it through the filter with resonance turned up a little and make filtersweeps:

http://www.synthmusic.info/mpdries/LP1-8P.mp3
Lowpass filter 1 pole, 2 pole, 4pole, 6pole, 8pole

http://www.synthmusic.info/mpdries/HP1-8P.mp3
Highpass filter 1 pole, 2 pole, 4pole, 6pole, 8pole

http://www.synthmusic.info/mpdries/BP1-8P.mp3
Bandpass filter 1 pole, 2 pole, 4pole, 6pole, 8pole

http://www.synthmusic.info/mpdries/BS6-8P.mp3
Bandstop filter 6pole, 8pole Lesser poles make no sense with this bassdrum sound.

http://www.synthmusic.info/mpdries/BB1-8P.mp3
Bandboost filter 1 pole, 2 pole, 4pole, 6pole, 8pole

http://www.synthmusic.info/mpdries/model2.mp3
Sort of Moogisch filter, very nice sounding tmo.

http://www.synthmusic.info/mpdries/VocalFormant1.mp3

http://www.synthmusic.info/mpdries/VocalFormant2.mp3

Not sure why the asker for this wanted specifically a bassdrum sound as source but hey, you'll ask... I play.

No matter what, these filters on the 5k are very diverse and usable to my opinion. As a synthfreak I have heard quite some filters in my life :)

Some are very "perfect" like the LP and HP, some are very characteristic like the Model2 and the VocalFormant and also the Bandstop filters. There is juice for everyone I should say.
Last edited by scd on Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar

By scd Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:09 am
@ christian castagno:

It's even better than you ask 8)

Listen to this mp3.
I have programmed slider 1 to control the filter cutoff of the whole program (I choose a highpass filter)
The second slider controls the pitch of the snare drum
The third slider controls the FX send of the snare drum

First you hear me make changes to the filter cutoff and snare pitch settings. Than I stop the sequencer in main mode. Than I start it again. Everything still set as where I left it. So that answers your question.


But it gets better: I stop and start the sequencer again in overdub mode. On the third beat I open slider 3 so the FX send is opened for that beat. You hear the snare getting a synced delay there. I leave the sequence running in overdub mode to hear if everything goes fine. It does. The slider movement has been recorded.

In the end of the mp3 I also record movements from slider 1 (cutoff) and 2 (snare pitch).

http://www.synthmusic.info/mpdries/Qlink.mp3
Last edited by scd on Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar

By scd Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:37 am
Timing Correct parameters:
As far as I can see now, timing correct parameters work like this:
"Note Value" and "Swing" work during recording amd afterwards
"Strength", "Window" and "Shift Timing" work afterwards.
Therefore the last three parameters only make sense if you record with "Note Value" parameter set to off.
There is no undo function for the T.C. adjustments you do.
I think Akai should/could improve this particular area.

By b-righteous Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:10 pm
If I am understanding you correctly, the strength, window, and shift timming are not available during recording for input quantize. However, all quantize parameters are available after recording.

Are all these available in real time during playback? If so it would make sense that real time adjustments are non destructive and are always adjusted against the original recording.

Or are you just able to audition the changes from the T.C. screen by pressing play before committing?
User avatar

By scd Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:50 pm
b-righteous wrote:If I am understanding you correctly, the strength, window, and shift timming are not available during recording for input quantize. However, all quantize parameters are available after recording.

Are all these available in real time during playback? If so it would make sense that real time adjustments are non destructive and are always adjusted against the original recording.

Or are you just able to audition the changes from the T.C. screen by pressing play before committing?


Actually it is different from those two options.
Setting "note value" and "swing" before you start recording make those a real time feature.

When the sequence is stopped, you can call up all five parameters and make settings. After that you have to confirm those settings. You are able to apply the setting to a certain track, a certain note, a certain pad, all notes, all tracks etc. But that is destructive after you hit "do it"

However, in "play" mode it is possible to press the T.C. softbutton and then a screen comes up with "Note value" and the possibility to set it to a certain quantization value, i.e. 1/4, 1/4(3), 1/8 etc.

Edit by scd: this works only on NOTE REPEAT and not on prerecorded data.
Last edited by scd on Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

By christiancastagno Sun Feb 24, 2008 5:09 pm
hey scd, that's great about the qlinks, thanks so much for posting the mp... two last clarifications:

Can the q-links follow the last pad that you tapped as opposed to assigning them to a particular pad while you are on the main page and adjust only that one and still retain the change after you stop and start again?

The timing thing allows you to hear changes in swing and shift while the sequencer is running but not while it's recording? Is that right? I mainly want to be able to be listening to a beat and be able adjust it's shift/swing while listening as I find it difficult to be intuitive about stuff like that without being able to hear it, you seem to be saying that it's possible but but I just wanted to be clear...

thanks again for doing this, definitely way beyond the call of duty for sure...
User avatar

By scd Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:06 pm
christiancastagno wrote:Can the q-links follow the last pad that you tapped as opposed to assigning them to a particular pad while you are on the main page and adjust only that one and still retain the change after you stop and start again?

The timing thing allows you to hear changes in swing and shift while the sequencer is running but not while it's recording? Is that right? I mainly want to be able to be listening to a beat and be able adjust it's shift/swing while listening as I find it difficult to be intuitive about stuff like that without being able to hear it, you seem to be saying that it's possible but but I just wanted to be clear...


The first question: no. You can't set pad's to Q-links in main mode. However, you can, while your sequence is running, go to Q-links mode and set whatever Q link to whatever destination with whatever pad on the fly.

Your second question. (it became clearer to me this afternoon as well. T.C. is not my area so to speak)
Quote from one of the engineers: "TC doesn't affect prerecorded material unless FIX is used. This is an offline process. The TC window in PLAY affect NOTE REPEAT only, as on the MPC2500.

And in addition to this: In Record and Overdub mode, "Note value" (= quantization) and "Swing" do work.

Hope this helps.