MPD32 questions

How's going Everyone,
first post here.. so i apologize in advance if the questions i'm about to ask have been asked before or sound stupid to more experienced users or are in the wrong section of the forum . Basically I was wondering if the MPD32 would give me the "legendary mpc swing".The Akai webiste says: MIDI-synced MPC Note Repeat and MPC Swing. So far so good, but i couldn't figure out(i was checking the online manual) how one can apply the swing to the whole beat. From my understanding it's only possible to apply the swing from the note repeat tab. So.. Does this means that i have to apply the same amount of swing to each drum sound? I've been using logic 8 for a while but i understand that MPD comes with AL lite version. I've heard good things about that software.. Is possible to slice a loop with it and assign it chromatically to the mpc(playing the slice on the MPD like on a keyboard). Also, is possible to assign say 4 different slices to 4 different pads on the MPD? It might sound like a stupid question but isn't the a MPD32 a midi controller? So i was wondering if it was possible to assign audio slices to the pads. Finally can i slave logic to the MPD timing in order to apply the mpc swing to any of my logic VIs?

PS:I know is a different matter, but have you guys seen NI maschine?Looks pretty damn hot . I wonder if the swing/slicing is as good as the mpc..

Sorry for the long post. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Check this thread and maybe post a reply to it if you dont find your answer there already.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=89127

deempc .....


Just one crucial bit of advice for you : don't you do it !! The MPD32 is a blo.dy nightmare to sync up with your system _ I speak from bitter experience.

I tried to use it with Cubase and got nowhere with it. It didn't sync properly at any time and the Tap Tempo and Note Repeat buttons ( some of it's main marketing hype ) were next to utterly useless !!

Don't waste $400 on it when you can have a real MPC for near on the same money - and the real MPCs sync perfectly with all manner of daws out there. I got myself an MPC1000 and I am chuffed to bits with how smoothly it all works and integrates into my software studio, especially after my MPD nightmare.

Honestly, bro, don't you dare waste your money on that bit of trash .... If you want MPC functionality, buy yourself an MPC, simple really.

Hope this helps you out ....

Damn it Akai..! Are you sure that isn't a OS-Drivers-version of cubase specific issue?
Anyway thanks for the head up.I appreciate the help bro

clint246clint wrote:Check this thread and maybe post a reply to it if you dont find your answer there already.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=89127

Thanks for the link but i didn't really find what i was looking for

I would just 'hate' to see anyone suffer with that unit in the way that I did ! I think what compounded my misery was the dreaful aftersales support that I got - or rather, didn't get - from Akai themselves. Basically, they just gave up trying to offer any real, contstructive helpful advice ( cause they didn't know shi.te about their own product, basically... ). It was a case of 'well, we gots your money, so now you are on your own' ... no joke !! Terrible and unforgivable, really.

As regards problems being software specific, that is a given, being that the unit is designed to work with various softwares. However, here in lays the sting .... what Akai don't tell you is that the unit comes with all these sup wonderful template presets to work with all the major DAWs out there in a plug n play manner ( Cubase, Live, Sonar, Reason, Logic et al ) .... but, by and large, they don't work in such a manner at all ... you have to tweak the shish out of everything in order to get the unit to even remotely control anything in a workable way. I guess the worst of eveything, at least for those buying the unit with the intention of having an MPC style drum controller, is that the main functions of Note Repeat and Tap Tempo cannot be used hardly at all, and never together in an active program ( WTF !! ). You just try and get the Note Repeat to sync with your daw software in a way that it triggers in time with your project tempo ? Ha, it won't happen !
I did read that the unit did seem to hook up ok with Logic and Live, although there were a few that reported similar probs to me with Note Repeat triggering in Live. Cubase users, such as myself, seemed to regularly have suffered with the unit ... so, I think it is best to avoid using it with Cubase, at least anything before Cubase 4. there were very mixed reviews from Reason users at the time I sold the unit. I think a quick flit through recent posts on google about the 32 will tell you much of what you really need to know.
Hint : Seems that the MPD32 was such a success that Akai have already replaced it with the more DAW controller based APC40 - ommitting the drum pads entirely - infer what you will ?!!

Just, seriously, buy yourself a real MPC. Even the baby of the series, the 500, will utterly ar.e-fcuk the MPD32 !

I BOUGHT THE MPD THINKING IT WAS JUST LIKE DA MPC..HA!! I RECENTLY TRADED MY MPD TO GUITAR CENTER FOR A MPC1000 THEY ONLY GAVE ME 125 FOR IT WHICH WAS BULLSHIT BUT I GOT WHAT I WANTED.ONE OF THE THINGS I HATED ABOUT THE MPD WAS THAT THEY TRICKED ME ABOUT THE 16 LEVEL FUNCTION(IT DOESNT WORK DA SAME AS THE MPC!!!) ON DA MPD IT ONLY CHANGES THE VELOCITY THE MPC ACTUALLY CHANGES THE TUNE OF DA NOTE FOR EXAMPLE ON THE MPC YOU CAN DO A BASS DROP ON DA MPD IT JUST GETS LOUDER.TRUST ME..INVEST IN A MPC U WILL BE SATISFIED