Any of you guys use an MPC?

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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

Post by WOLF! »

innovine wrote:
Críoch wrote:Hi Guys,

Just wondering if the mpc1000 can do stuff like this.. twisting up midi patterns on the fly? Similar to the Yamaha RS7000?

youtu.be/qGPATvP5ylw

No. Despite it's excellent sequencer and editing abilities, it is kinda sucky as a live performance tool, (apart from jamming on the pads). It has an arp, you can get it to play chords when you hit a pad, and you can have pre-made midipatterns of different lengths targetting the same program or midi channel which can give surprising results, but it's not really about mixing things up live.
I've just bought a RS7000 a few weeks ago; very nice sequencer that I already knew because I'm coming from the RM1X.
The sampler is very slow because it uses a slow cpu combined with old technology to save and load data .
I'm currently looking to make a SCSI2SD mod for the RS7000 to speed up things.
It's a old beast but I certainly like it... . As already mentioned the CPU is a bit slow so when U use a lot of automation the sequencer slows down. It has a decent large screen which can't be told of some newer gear that some brands release nowadays for quite high prices. The 2 pads on the RS7000 seem to be less sensitive then the MPC pads (I don't have experience with mpc pads).

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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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Wolf! can you enlighten me on the differences between the RS7000 and the RM1X?
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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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RM1X:
Steel chassis; smaller then a RS7000.
has more lo-fi sounds in the rom although they are definitely usable.
32 note polyphony.
1 midi out.
1 stereo out.
Onboard fx are dated.
same screen size then RS7000.
Not possible to go from play to record mode in grid record mode (x0x style recording).
Works with floppy disks to store songs (styles).
No sampler inside.
Stores everything directly in the onboard memory without saving.
You need OS 1.13 (upgrade by playing a new chip inside) to get rid of OS bugs.

RS7000:
Plastic casing with metal base plate; big mothaf*cker sized unit.
More and better quality sounding rom sounds.
64 note polyphony.
2 midi outs.
1 stereo out but expandable with a card that gives you 6 extra outputs
More and better onboard fx then with the RM1X.
Possible to go from play to record mode in grid record mode (x0x style recording) with the latest OS installed via flashing the os ship
Works with smartmedia cards to store songs (styles) and samples and also has a SCSI port.
Sampler inside with maximum 64mb ram (standard is 4mb but upgradable with 64mb EDO ram)
You need to save to SM card or scsi device otherwise you work is lost.
Has more dedicated knobs on the unit the RM1X.

Both Yamaha's have a nice learning curve but it's certainly doable. The manual is written in back and forth style (for extra info go to page 37, when arrived at page37 there's a link to page 69 and so on). Also the Yamaha units use some special Yamaha terms like Styles, Phrases, ... .
Both units use oldschool storage systems (floppy, smartmedia and scsi).
Also when you want to go to the job menu (for quantising, velocity adjustments and so on) you need to stop the sequencer.
These units are quite old and the problem with Yamaha gear is often that the push buttons are worn out. Also encoders can be sloppy but encoders are often shit when they go old (with modern gear the sometimes are shit when the new unit leaves the factory.
No problem when you can handle a solder iron and have the time for it. Parts can be obtained on ebay.
When loading big sample banks it can take some time (I've been told that a 64mb project takes about 6 minutes but I don't have projects that use 64mb of samples). I think the maximum size of loaded samples is 128 but I've not reached that limit also.
Also the screens are like a cinema screen in comparison with the Elektron gear sized screens.
Both units are old and not perfect but certainly workable and enjoyable.

I've also looked for a MPC but decided to go for the RS7000 because I have a thing with X0X style sequencing.

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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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WOLF! wrote:I think the maximum size of loaded samples is 128 but I've not reached that limit also.
I did mean maximum amount of loadable samples is 128 (128 mono samples or 64 stereo samples).

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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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How do you like it for Midi? I have heard that they are pretty serious as sequencers.
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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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The midi sequencing capability's are the reason why I bought a RS7000; the sampler is a nice extra.
It's a very powerful sequencer and it has rock solid clock!
I learnt, tried and tested the Yamaha sequencer style with the RM1X and decided to go for a RS7000 because I like it.
It's a option that you could try as well; I see the RM1X's pop up a lot more often for sale then the RS7000's.

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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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You forgot to mention the big deal-breaker of a dnifference: in xox mode the rm1x only can play the instrument you are editing. So if you're working on step sequencing the kick, all you hear is the kick. When you switch to the snare, all you can hear is the snare. It's absolutely retarded, and the kind of crap that makes you swear to never purchase gear from that manufacturer again.

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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

Post by Críoch »

Well that's shite. Haha!

That sounds familiar. I may have heard that a long time ago & forgot. Very good to know. Cheers Innovine!
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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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Críoch wrote:Well that's shite. Haha!
That sounds familiar. I may have heard that a long time ago & forgot. Very good to know. Cheers Innovine!
Thx for mentioning it Innovine. I don't want to give false hope to people.
It's indeed a real shame that it works that way. Therefore I got a RS7000; it's not the case then.
In real-time recoding (not grid) it works okay but as mentioned by Innovine the grid mode mutes all other tracks.
I think that there is also a difference in auto quantize as well; the RS7000 has that function but I think the RM1X has not (so you need to do it with the job menu; and also stop the sequencer).

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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

Post by Críoch »

Ah ok.. so it's rm1x? I've read lots of stuff about them both over the years, but never had the pleasure of using either. Thanks Wolf :)
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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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RS7000
Those things have such a janky working method, worse than elektron.
How do you cope with it?
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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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The innerCystem lads use an RS7000. The thing sounds fucking mental on a soundsystem. Heard them at Resonance when i played and i was very impressed by them tbh.

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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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Yeah, way back when I was out playing live as Dirty Bass, one of my mates on the same distrib as me was playing live too, and he was using the RS7000 and it was driving him nuts, he went through the working method with me once and I couldn`t believe how fucking unintuitive it was, and just generally awkward, typically Yamaha I suppose. He got rid of it as soon as he found an alternative. I mean there was less choice then, but these days, with so much choice.
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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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I got it cheap (previous owner left it for dead and I was looking for a project to fire up my solder iron again), and don't have any money for something better at the moment so it is what it is.
Currently planing to upgrade my adat converter in the studio so no money for a more expensive sequencer/sampler.
As you might know I did a major upgrade in acoustic treatment of my room so my budget for this year (or what's left of this year) is gone.
I also feel that this upgrade was the best of the year (and the one before this one).
I've noticed that you need to put in some time but it's actually a nice device.
It's indeed a typical Yamaha way of working but I kinda like it (because I knew the rm1x).
I have a thing with x0x sequencing and the RS work perfect in that way.
I'm dreaming of some Elektron gear (or something similar) but it's very expensive and the display is so retarded small for such a expensive device.
The digitakt is in my budget range but there are to many bugs in there and for a bit more money I can get a secondhand Octatrack.
Time will tell what it's gonna be... .
It's actually nice that I'm not buying more gear because I'm currently learning to use the gear I have in a much deeper way and I can overthink my next steps better.

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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

Post by innovine »

The buttons feel very nice for step sequencing, and the midi mangling fx are really very creative, a huge plus for the machines. Remixing midi clips reminds a lot of abletons session view, but fuck me, its worse than the typical yamaha awkwardness trying to manage the patterns. you basically need a notebook or excel to compose anything on it. even copy-pasting a pattern requires pen and paper to note the destination locations and shit. It's absolutely brutal to compose from scratch on it. BUT, when you have the patterns for a song set up, you can jam like a crazy motherfucker on it like nothing else. I had like 5-6 full drum n bass/techstep songs in mine, and I'd play a full hour set just mashing those together and improvising changes and transitions. its just a big witches cauldron for riffs and licks and you just throw shit in and stir and stir and great smells pour out. It just keeps on banging all night. But in the end I couldn't take any more of the song construction side, and sold it with mixed feelings.
Can also say that it's pretty good for sequencing external gear. I dont think I even had the audio outputs of my rm1x connected to the mixer. I was always curious about the rs7000 but never found one for sale

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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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Man.. this is revealing stuff. Sounds like an attractive machine, but it's got issues. Why does everything nearly always Come with an Achilles heel? The more I hear about tjis RS7000, the more caveats are being revealed

I think I'll be staying well clear.. even if it was just to just to give it a spin.
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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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Looks like I might be jumping on MPC Live bandwagon soon, as I got octatrack to share it with my girlfriend, and after nearly a year of working on it... Well, I'm fine playing live sets with it, and sequence other synths, while she needs to go through basic tutorial every time she tries to make something. :D
So it looks like MPC Live has easier flow, with more visual guidance, over octatrack.

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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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Only thing that raises a question is the sample playback memory, and (at least at the moment) the fact, that you can't play the samples straight from the drive, but you need to load them into the ram. Steve, did you had any problems with maxing it out, by using long samples for live sets?

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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

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P0607r0n wrote:Only thing that raises a question is the sample playback memory, and (at least at the moment) the fact, that you can't play the samples straight from the drive, but you need to load them into the ram. Steve, did you had any problems with maxing it out, by using long samples for live sets?
Yeah you have about 1.8 gig live memory (though audio tracks are different). I`ve not hit that limit so far on any projects, though I might when I start using long textures maybe....
Disk Streaming is on the cards, Akai Devs have stated, so it will be enabled in a future OS update.
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Re: Any of you guys use an MPC?

Post by P0607r0n »

Ok sounds like I might give it a try.
And yeah, difference between "normal" and audio track is very confusing for me. Actually more than flex vs static machines on elektron.


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