KVR Audio

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:29 pm

disturb wrote: Which particular OS version is the one you're talking about ? The site i found is a bit confusing.

You want the 4.x versions. The new "OS2" looks promising but won't be done for another few months.

Also, in terms of sampling capabilities where would you guys say it stands, compared to the dedicated boxes already mentionned ?

The MPC is primarily designed for percussion, so it's a fairly stripped-down engine. Limited multisampling, basic filters, simple envelopes, limited but useful effects. The upside is that it's very quick and easy to use. For the kinds of sounds you say you want out of a sampler I think you'd get good results faster with an MPC than with a fullblown sampler like a high end Akai or E-Mu.

fac · Post by **fac** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:50 pm

Pad fix? Fatal OS load/save issue? Having to install a 3rd-party, non-Akai-supported OS, which costs more money?

And you guys *are* recommending these things?

Man, as much as I love my Akai S2800 and would like an MPC, I think this is BS. Why charge users $180 for a fix which they have admitted comes from a faulty design?

I think I'll be looking for a Korg ESX. There's also the Roland stuff but for some reason I've never kept any Roland gear.

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:58 pm

fac wrote:Pad fix? Fatal OS load/save issue? Having to install a 3rd-party, non-Akai-supported OS, which costs more money?

And you guys *are* recommending these things?

My MPC has caused me about 1/10th of the grief that all my various software setups have. It will still be a fun & useful musical tool ten years from now exactly as it is today, without a single extra upgrade or patch. You can easily work around the save bug in the stock OS if you don't feel like running the "JJ" os but honestly you'll have a hard time finding a better way to invest $30 in music than JJ.

And, if you buy a new machine, you don't have to worry about the pads, although I have an older one and the pads are fine after quite a bit of use.

I think I'll be looking for a Korg ESX. There's also the Roland stuff but for some reason I've never kept any Roland gear.

The ESX is nice in many ways but the sequencer is primitive, dealing with samples on a little, non-visual lcd screen is painful, and the smartmedia cards it uses are hard to find and aren't readable on most new computers. I enjoyed the ESX but it eventually found its way to craigslist, like every other hardware drum box I've used except the MPC.

fac · Post by **fac** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:08 am

Yeah, it's too bad about the smartmedia thing on the ESX/ES1. I don't know why Korg doesn't just put an USB port in these boxes.

Given the advice in this thread, I will still consider the MPC's. I'm not planning to get one until later this year, or even 2009. Maybe by then the MPC500 bugs will be fixed.

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:11 am

fac wrote: Given the advice in this thread, I will still consider the MPC's. I'm not planning to get one until later this year, or even 2009. Maybe by then the MPC500 bugs will be fixed.

Keep in mind that all gear has problems. You're just hearing about the MPC's all upfront. The problems we've mentioned in this thread are really just about it. The MPC's are pretty simple machines really, which can be limiting at times, but also means they're reliable and easy to use.

I'd also discourage you from getting a 500 instead of a 1000. The *much* bigger screen and the option of the JJ os make it more than worth the price difference.

Richard Lichten · Post by **Richard Lichten** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 10:37 pm

You also may consider the Yamaha Phrase Smaplers, the Rs 7000 and the slightly older SU700. Basically one-shot sampler with 64 MB based on the A series and SCSI.The RS is a full midi sequencer and synth also, has more effects, and can save on Smartmedia. The SU is a closed unit (only MTC for syncing) resembling Acid as phraze samplers, has a very good 40 tracks sample sequencer, good effects and nearly everything is accesible realtime.
Fantastic machine, sounds great as well and is immensly intuitive; looks good also.

DevonB · Post by **DevonB** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:40 pm

I've gone from all hardware to all software back to a mix of hardware and software. The one thing I will NEVER go back in hardware to is a sampler. I owned an Ensoniq ASR-10 in 1995, then got an EMu E64 in 1996. I sold the EMu like in 2002 I think, and haven't missed it for a minute. It crashed any time you started any type of mildly intensive editing. That was after multiple OS upgrades that I paid for with the unit, it still crashed with a bug check.

Load times? Horrid. 64 megabyte piano off of a 6x SCSI CDROM drive would take 3.5 minutes to load. It was better off of a SCSI hard drive at least, but still, nothing compared to loading on the PC.

Editing? If lots of button mashing, flipping through menus, huddled and cramped leaning over the unit is your thing, then I guess it's nice on a hardware unit. It's so much easier on the PC. If it's got a USB port with a PC editor, that should be easier, but then arne't we defeating the purpose of going with hardware in the first place?

Personally, I wouldn't recommend the old EMu units. Once I switched to GigaStudio around 2001 I think it was, I could never go back. I love hardware synthesizers, but hardware samplers are just too slow and cumbersome to work with, for me. I never used an Akai unit though.

Devon

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 3:25 pm

Devon - I agree with you when it comes to the big multitimbral samplers like the old E-Mu and Akais. As much as I like them in many ways there are a lot of serious downsides to them too.

The MPC is a different story though. Easy to use and to integrate and not completely replaceable with software, even with a properly pimped-out Ableton Live.

DevonB · Post by **DevonB** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 6:39 pm

kuniklo wrote:The MPC is a different story though. Easy to use and to integrate and not completely replaceable with software, even with a properly pimped-out Ableton Live.

Which is why I stated that I never used the Akai units.

the whole MIDI pad things intrgies me, and I drooled over the S5000-S6000 units at the time, but I remember they were buggy as hell too, if memory serves me right. Then again, you can buy midi drum pad triggers like the Akai's I believe that are just MIDI units?

Devon

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:01 pm

DevonB wrote: Then again, you can buy midi drum pad triggers like the Akai's I believe that are just MIDI units?

Yeah. It's not the same as having an integrated instrument though. I've tried to replace the MPC with a Korg pad kontrol and Live but no dice.

lowkey · Post by **lowkey** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 9:35 pm

If your music or musical influences are beat based get the mpc1000 with the JJ OS. You can use your computer for all the mundane stuff. I don't have one but if it was my money that's what I'd buy.

Oh yeah, get the black one. They have better pads apperently...

http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php ... aad71d6836

Richard Lichten · Post by **Richard Lichten** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:16 pm

Loading times are awfull on HW, thats true. But they just sound better; i did an 64MB EMU version of a well-known Kontakt-based Piano (1GB) and A/B; EMU clearly won. Now every time i switch from my hw samplers to VST i have a small monent of wonder how flat VSTi just sounds, even good samplers or synths (and yes, i have a good soundcard, its not the converters).
IMO we all here have lost a bit reality in our joy about whats possible with a cheap grey box with a plastic keyboard.

Mr. Tunes · Post by **Mr. Tunes** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:54 am

i rented a used mpc 2000XL today. to get samples onto the thing is a real pain. how does 2000 compare to 1000? i'm thinking about taking it back soon and trying to get my hands on a 1000. i'm also not sure if this thing will have any use for me at all but i think it would be cool to make some sounds not looking at a computer screen.

kuniklo · Post by **kuniklo** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:19 pm

Mr. Tunes wrote:i rented a used mpc 2000XL today. to get samples onto the thing is a real pain. how does 2000 compare to 1000? i'm thinking about taking it back soon and trying to get my hands on a 1000. i'm also not sure if this thing will have any use for me at all but i think it would be cool to make some sounds not looking at a computer screen.

Don't know about the 2000, but the 1000 just plugs into your computer like a usb drive and you can drag & drop samples over.

Sampling into the MPC's inputs can be fun too though.

lowkey · Post by **lowkey** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 5:51 pm

Mr. Tunes wrote:i rented a used mpc 2000XL today. to get samples onto the thing is a real pain. how does 2000 compare to 1000? i'm thinking about taking it back soon and trying to get my hands on a 1000. i'm also not sure if this thing will have any use for me at all but i think it would be cool to make some sounds not looking at a computer screen.

I haven't got one but I'll get one soon. As you said your not looking at a screen. I remember reading an interview in Sound on Sound with Autechre. They said they turn their screens off sometimes. I didn't think it was very significant at the time until I tried it. It forces you to listen to your music like your audience does. I don't know about anyone else but I find it hard to switching brain hemisphere's lol. When I finish my set up I'm only going to turn on my screen on when I'm editing. So everytime I turn my monitor on Im going straight to what needs to be sorted out then the screen is going off.

The JJ os makes it possible to leave the usb connected so you can swop wavs back and forth making it very, very useful.

Sampler recommendations ?