Update: I own an MPC Live ii now and it's awesome. I don't use it all the time, and i haven't fnished an entire song on it just yet. but its a great machine. still buggy, but not NEARLY as bad as this one was.
I gotta say I think you might have gotten a defective Live 1. I got the Live 1 on sale right before the Live 2 release (dec 2019). Coming from the MPC1000 15 years ago I have to say I really like the Live. I especially like that I can put all my instrumental programs through a submix and have Air Lo-Fi bring the sample rate and bit rate down to get a much crunchier, grimier sound with some aliasing (or anti-aliasing). I think the 3000, 60, etc are wonderful machines and things of beauty but their real value is to people who were original owners of them years ago because most people these days don't have a ton of floppies laying around whereas some older producers have hundreds of them. Without the ability to store samples on there it's really only valuable as a pass through machine to bring lofi samples with warmth into a different development environment.... but to me is not worth the price tag for those machines. Although I've got my eye on the rossum sp1200...very different workflow though
@@HammyHavoc I'm not as cool at Mr Tinez, but I have a Live II and love it. I will say they(Akai) might have some quality control issues, because the first unit I got had a bad output(the right side main out didn't work, no sound), the replacement had a bad touchscreen(would just... flip out every so often), but the THIRD one has been great! :) Make sure you get it from someplace that will replace any bad units, and you're good to go.
His internal hard drive is about to go out. When you start getting the grey and white screens (went thru a couple times, then Akai got tired of swapping them out so we trouble shot the hell out of it and we figured out the issue)...it is a hard drive surge issue. The live is far from not glitchy...especially stand alone. This was just a connection issue. Next time you having issues hit me up, I can help you out.
Yeah, the Live is sensitive to digital clipping. The converts are a little touchy. Play with the Lo-Fi plug in on the live also. You have waaaaaay more capability with the Live if you start incorporating the efx/plugins to sculpt the sound out the box.
So, the usual route is like this: you experience some random problems with your MPC live (pads not working, notes are skipping, whatever), then go to MPC forums to complain a and a bunch of locals there with massive stockholm syndrome tell you to be creative and overcome those issues, because one must be creative to make music. Or, alternatively, you may contact AKAI support and wait for a useless response for months.
Had my MPC Live for 3 years now and I love it still... no crashes, no freezes, sampling... drums , effects, sound, storage, SD, screen and pads all still are good! Each to there own.. sounds like that was is dead or on pad mute? Maybe and error in the mixer/ hope this situation doesn’t happen to mine. £1000 was and still is a big investment for a music tool/instrument... 💪🏽💯💛🎛
There's no way you didn't run into freezes or crashes or bugs. I keep getting those at times even now, many updates later. I wouldn't say it crashes often at all, but to suggest it never does is plain lying. And there have been LOADS of bugs un-arming tracks, muting parts of a pad bank and so on. Some of them aren't fixed even today. So, it's pretty impossible you never ran into them.
@@PHeMoX I’ve had loads of track mute issues in the latest update, usually drum tracks I’ll put in a sequence and no playback. Only problems this past year man. It’s still fun to use, I just make a new sequence or delete all midi on that track and make a new one. Wondering what 3.0 will bring!?
@@HammyHavoc haven’t had it since back then! It’s pretty solid. Do this as it’s 5 years old I get 3.5 hours now on battery but all drum and key group programs are fine for me now… no midi bugs.
i work at a repair shop. I can attest that we've seen a lot of MPC Live come in with similar issues. doesn't seem very reliable. everytime we get a 3000 its a simple psu or lcd swap.
oh wow just seeing this now. WISH YOU WERE GEAR is the name of the shop located in sunny Miami, FL. The first and only modular synthesizer store in South Florida! eyyyy
Sounds like your homie’s Live is broken bruv. I’ve had it for almost 9mo without any of those problems you had. In fact never one issue, even updating the firmware.
@@RickyTinez It's the same internal components on all the MPCs. X, Live, Live 2 and One. You have a faulty unit, that happens, you are not alone on this, but it's not usual.
I had a 3000 since 2000/01 and i found it pretty annoying, even with all the upgrades there was things that really irritated me like lack of mute groups, hpf, the only fx were delays, only 1 program plays at a time etc. I didnt really find the sound massively overwhelming like so many do, in fact I found it a bit flat and limited like it shaves off low and high. Anyway I got an mpc live and never had many problems. Yes it crashes every so often but I love it so much I sold my 3000 and havent missed it. The fact u can put any processing u want on it and sample via or resample/flatten is already great. Then theres the simple ability to load and save wavs. Honestly love my mpc live and I find the audio quality great. There are a couple of things i'd add or change but most are foreseeable firmware updates. To me the 3000 would have really benefitted from being more OS upgradeable. All this said I never put the 2 machines side by side
The very last issue where it shut down is just a power saver feature when you don't have the power supply connected. You have to click start before the bar fills up or it shuts down. Stops if from being turned on in a backpack or something. My live has been fine all these years, have never experienced problems like these. Probably just a faulty unit, have heard a lot of people struggle with those.
Your final rant made so much sense to me. I've been an old school MPC user for over 20 years and I just can't get vibe with any DAW or new gear, even the stuff from Akai.
Hey brother totally got ya at the end with the ego stuff. It is rarely a fear of the unknown that stops us, it is in actuality a fear of the known ending. Keep creating the new you even if others still carry old ideas, they'll catch up.
@@RickyTinez for a long time people have told other to dim their brightness on account of blinding them. But some people need extra light so you better not hold back man!! You and what you make has value, and being honest in a world gone crazy helps keep us all sane. Much love my friend.
I played a show with a guy who used an MPC Live and it wouldn't turn on and load projects so he had to drop off the bill last second. Yeah...not buying one of those anytime soon.
I just sent my MPC One back after two weeks of trying it out. Q overlay bugs and an awful touch screen sealed the deal for me. And, to be honest, as someone who's owned a lot of MPC's over the years ( 60/3000/2000/2000xl/1000) I just thought the timing was sloppy with the One.
@@billB101 .What do you think of the mpc studio black as a first drum machine? i prefer being connected to a computer as i was looking at it or the mpc 2000xl but the studio is cheaper on the used market?thoughts everyone?
Not sure about the glitches - sounds like that MPC Live could be a hardware issue (see suggestion below re ribbon cable). Gotta trust your equipment to be productive, especially for anything live. Love the philosophical discussion at about 13:00. I think that’s in interesting and healthy approach. I’ve got an Elektron in shipment I’m excited to try as my first DAWless box for some of the the same reasons. (Very Stoic in philosophy, BTW.) Love the voice sample - got a bit of a Q-Tip vibe.
Thankfully, I’ve never had any of those problems with my Live. I also have a 3000....i just hate that chopping on it is such a damn chore even with Valixi.
I really like how you are sharing how you question your inner struggle about identifying with the MPC. I can say from experience, being a Jazz drummer, DO NOT sell stuff that you somehow gel with. Who knows why that shit works for you and how - trust your belly instincts.Example: Look at how studios abandoned their analog gear in a heartbeat when (then subpar) digital came around. Now, 40 years later, people still trying to figure out whats missing on current mixes and companies have been selling solutions to compensate that. And to varying success - considering people gladly paying for updates of 1076 plugins to this day. TL:DR if gear works - celebrate and make music!
Still using a MPC2Kxl with S3Kxl , Z8 ,... made lots of vinyl releases with Them...Like The Groovaholics Wake up the Funk . Limitations kan be a good thing. Jorgen Veltrop. The Netherlands.
Hi Ricky, did you check your audio out cables from MPC Live, or replace them, when this problem occurred? Oxide at the jack is very common. I regularly need to push&pull XLR-cables in our conference rooms at my work. That fixes the problem most of the time, unless the cable or the microphone is faulty. Perhaps you've already tried it, since it's quick to test ;-)
Wonderful video. It is interesting how we get sucked into the rabbit hole of certain workflows or specific technology. Its good to break to the mold - as you are!
Any thoughts on Machine+? And yes, do get an MPC One to check out if you can. I’m excited to see what Elektron might have up its mad beat-scientist sleeves in the next year or two. (Such an amazing sequencer/workflow, and rock solid.)
I think they're both incredible machines, honestly. I like how on the live you can choose what type of output sound you want. I wish I had a 3000 LE.. I'd love to get lost in it
yea i think it might be a bit more fair to do it per pad? rather than it rendering as a whole. Since the samples get processed that way on the 3k? Maybe im overthinking it hahah
By the way love your videos and reviews... I use an MPC Live since 2 years and a half (and an MPC1000 before) love them both. I used it almost everyday, created complete productions, mastered track (maybe not the best but usable), etc, so I know it like you know your beautiful MPC3000. Your clipping problem happens cause the way the mixer is designed in the MPC Live, internally if your tracks have to much volume in total that clips the master (or the master of the pad program), so I always low my individual track volumes and I don't have any problems. I know these sounds like a normal thing in most machines but coming from a MPC1000, theres internal differences how the MPC Live deals with volumes internally, I don't think is bad its just that we need to use the MPC Live as it is, and after learning it I never had problems with it, cause its a way much deeper and complicated machine than the other MPC's so theres many things that might be strange and quirky from someone coming from the other MPC's. Just my 2cents....
I think ableton does the same thing. If I have two tracks that are both not clipping, but are quite loud and play them both the master can start clipping.
Hi Ricky I'm a big fan of your channel! There's a few thing you should know about some of your issues: 1. Pad issue - Something that every MPC has over time. The pad sensors usual go out and need to be replace. My MPC 2500 had that issue and once I replaced the sensors. It went away for good. 2. OS - Which version of the OS are you running? Also, there are a few bugs Apple users encounter that Windows OS don't. This is very unfortunate for the Apple gang. I'm a Windows head thankfully lol.. However, I recommend you update the firmware to get rid of the bugs. 3. Touch Screen - Yeah, it's not the best & I'd love for them to allow "drag n drop" for song mode like on the desktop/laptop software. However, I'm glad it's there since it speeds up sound design & sample chopping. 4. Distortion of the AD/DA - All the MPC's can output the same analog signal. Not many people know that but on the live. You can change the output from -24, -12, & 0DB in the options. Also, you can change your DAC to the MPC 60 algorithm (though it's nuance, it's still a viable option). You can change the sample rate via Air Lofi or in the cog wheel settings. 5. Sound comparison - At 24 bit, the new MPC sounds a tiny bit "cleaner" than the MPC 3000 (though the charm of the 3000 is 16 bit 44.1Khz). You can change the settings to meet that requirement. Sample rate isn't much of a difference if any at all. Also, in your sound comparison, IDK you noticed the pad curve of the MPC 3000 is set differently than the Live. That's why the MPC 3000 seems to have more "thud". There are few other things I want to touch up on but those stuck out the most.. I'll save those opinions for discussion. I personally wouldn't buy the original MPC Live. I'd recommend someone to buy an MPC One or the Live ii (definitely the MPC ONE for the price point, build quality, & extra buttons if you're a new guy).
I am really curious about the 1. Appreciate you not only for taking the time to write this out but for being one of the OGs on the channel! I always look out for your comment haha. The live II and I think on the force they fix the touchscreen as well didn’t they? 1. Yea I’ve replaced the pads on a few MPCs but this seemed software related since it went onto banks that weren’t even active! 2.latest OS
@@RickyTinez Thanks!!! Well, my guess is since it has the custom skin. The externals might be messed up.. I saw some people modifying the motherboard (AKAI bought out a company for all their 2GB ram & 16gig HD boards kind of like what NI did with the 4GB ram & 32GB motherboards for the plus).. Also, I'm guessing the OS update was done via Apple computer.. All my producer friends that are Apple based are having issues with the new update. Meanwhile, I haven't had an issue yet.. IDK, I hoping AKAI will fix it soon (and add hype synth, drum synth, etc.). Either way, I'll let them know about it since people keep telling me lol.
Wow I would suggest that there is definitely a hardware issue or seven happening with that particular unit. I haven't taken mine out on gigs yet but I have several friends that use them and none of us have had any technical issues like what you're experiencing. I bet there might be a ribbon cable or something that needs to be re-seated inside. I believe there's also a global reset in the Settings menu. I dig if you dig the workflow on the OG more, especially with the dedicated controls and the simplified work environment. One thing I have found handy is when you press and hold the Menu button and press one of the 16 pads, it will take you directly to the corresponding function as they appear on the screen. I find sample editing easy with the screen, but specific note editing a bit of a pain so far, though TBH that side of things is still new to me. Sound quality wise, I like the Live but I look forward to getting a 2000xl once gigs and money are a thing again haha...
mpc x owner here and I confidently report the screens are easier to work on and my workflow is superfast now .. no more shift button and way less menu divin,no glitches on boot or any errors.
That last bit about creating music differently is a great point, using different methods to create music, or creating different music, or both, can be a great exercise to expand one's musicianship.
I dig it but to be fair, it's hard to know that it was janky ahead of time because it looks to be in good physical shape. Doesn't look like it was beaten up in any way.
It will take time to get a feel for whether the current generation of MPC's are as reliable as some of the older ones. This particular device is clearly knackered. Many of the older MPC's need tact switches replacing. I have a 500, with a load of switches to replace. I wouldn't do a video with that against my MPC Live (which has worked fine for years, btw) and say that the MPC500 has a janky button feel, and you never know whether it's going to do anything. On his previous video (MPC60?) he said that it had just come back from repair. He didn't do the comparison before it want to repair. That would have made no sense. Many of the older MPC's had crap pads that needed to be replaced or modified. The new gen feels great out of the box.
Getting on really well with my live, (had it a year and updated firmware a couple times I think) been a solid workhorse so far man! Looks like the one you had there is simply broken.
You know Illa J!? Thats so cool! Seen him sing, rap and play keyboard at jam here in germany. He's mad cool and talented. Thanks for all your vids really helps a lot! Nice sample btw!
I might have missed the beginning, but regarding the distortion you are hearing, pull the bass and the piano levels down about half to a full db each and see if it distorts less or at all. I also didn't notice whether you sampled those yourself or whether you used samples from some sort of collection. If you used samples from a collection, make sure the effects are turned off for those pads and see if you still experience distortion. In the main screen, click the tiny eyeball in the upper left corner, then tap the per pad view (the solid square icon), then toggle the piano pad. In the big black box, are there any effects showing? If so, tap the box and disable them (the box on the far right of each effect toggles the effect on and off). Do the same for the bass pad. You might also check if you have any global effects on (the screen with the eyeball, one of the icons at the top next to the solid square icon will show global effects). As to buggyness, factory reset. Go into the settings and in the about screen, there is a factory reset button. I would also recommend obtaining the factory content image from Akai, I had to actually call them on the phone to get the file, you put it on an sdcard and it will automatically reinstall the internal content. The content on the MPC Live is the same as the MPC Live II FYI. The one and the X are uniquely different. Make sure the external drive you are using is a good drive. Lots of great utilities for verifying the integrity of a hard drive, I use something called Spinrite ($90) by Steve Gibson. It is a bit of a pain to use as you have to boot into a dos environment, but it is one of the best out there for maintenance and recovery (just a word of caution, run it on level 2 for SSD's, run it on level 5 for spinning HDD's. Do NOT use anything higher than level 2 for SSD's).
Having MPC envy, this makes me appreciate my Korg Electribe 2 Sampler more. Solid build, SIMPLE, mostly text based OS (probably even simpler than the MPC3000). Ok, so you can't turn quantise off, although there are two ways around this, best way I think is use the excellent groove templates to add some groove back into the sequence (can be applied individually to each pad). Most importantly, its rock solid and has never crashed on me! I've even solved the note stealing issue, so I'm pretty happy! The way around the note stealing issue, for anyone who has a 'Tribe, set all pads to Mono (unless you need poly) trim factory samples (man they have a lot of silence on the end of many!) and be careful with FX, or resample with FX.
I noticed that the pad velocity / sensitivity setting was giving me certain clipping issues at the beginning once I got my Live. Once I lowered it a bit it seemed to play samples at a much more consistent rate. That said - I have very little experience in music making.
Ricky, something is wrong with your unit, i have my mov live almist from begining and always outdoor and so on... bad condition with my baby... and never even one issue.... no luck man, thats all
It seems based on the same chip / API the HeadRush PedalBoard and Gigboard are made. i can recognize the UI. These seem hard to program as the guys from the Headrush had some bugs in the past.
C'mon, man. You have a faulty unit, that can happen with any piece of equipment ever made, and that's a reason people shouldn't buy it? And yes, we get it, you prefer the MPC 3000 that you have been using and love for years. I'm not surprised. But that's no reason to diminish these new MPCs.
Alt Del Exactly ! Besides, the majority doesn’t care anymore as the 3000 is by no means a device that people can still buy. Yeah, at a major premium because of it’s collectors value. It’s NOT about gear but what you do with it. And 99% is not spending 3000 dollars on an used MPC 3000. These days at less than 700 bucks you can have a standalone MPC One and do pretty much everything with it. Use it as a controller if you like and hook it up to a computer and it is pretty limitless. Oldskool MPC’s are great, everybody knows that but they are not portable, they are expensive, and very VERY limited when you want to go beyond regular Boombap.
right. this felt like saying all Telecasters are garbage because you played one that had tuning problems haha. the MPC Live is a beautiful instrument when you don't hate them bc it's different than the 60/3000
Akai has had major quality issues and constant bugs in most of their products since they were purchased by InMusic. They are deserving of the scrutiny. They also notoriously delete posts about bugs from their own forums to hide their problems and issues.
Hes not saying no one should ever buy or use the live and thats final. Hes saying hes had bad experiences with several units, and that so far in his experience the live doesnt function as well as the 3k. How many times does he say "if you have had a different experience please let me know in the comments" at least 4 or 5 times from what I saw. If you see a problem with new mpcs you SHOULD point it out because it forces companies to respond. The whole video, like all of ricky's videos, is calm/measured/honest. Sometimes its like im watching an entirely different video than people in the comments. if someone wants to put this to rest they should send him a fully functioning live. Obviously not an option for many or most people but you know theres someone with the extra kit laying around that could lend it for a review people would deem more "balanced" or whatever. Companies need people like ricky and also super fans of the new products to keep them on their toes on one hand and spread the love and knowledge on the other.
@@espermoves5409 the whole thing is that companies are, and can be, a lot more sloppy as they can fix things with updates ... Back in the day there was a lot of time and they took their time to make it fault proof or as close as they could. These days they have deadlines and are pushed to release new hardware and most of the time the software is still an advanced beta. We see this all the time with electronic equipment. Also keep in mind that modern kit does a LOT more than 20 years ago, so programming it is a LOT more complex.
Im having the same problem with a song im trying to mix and master. Im using an iPad but now I’m mixing it on my Mac. I think it’s digital distortion caused by competing frequencies caused by the reverb. Even thought it’s not clipping on my faders. I fixed it with gain staging on Studio One. My input sound was hitting my inserts hot but it didn’t show up on my fader. Maybe it’s hitting the effects HOT and distorting the sound that’s why your not seeing it in the meter.
I'm stumped by the issue with the pads. I bought one as soon as it came out, and I've never had that problem. The clipping, though? Yea. That's been driving me insane. I just thought I was doing something wrong for a minute. Engineered a bit to get some of the clipping out, but then the music doesn't hit right.
I'm glad I waited til where it is today to get mine, because the only issues i've encountered was with the pads I installed from mpc stuff. I like them, but I can't get them installed right. Went back to stock pads and haven't looked back. The double tapping is annoying though
Self-identity is a wonderful thing, it is how we know ourselves. But it can also be a cage. If you want to be an old-school MPC user, be that. If not, don't. It's only a cage if it is holding you back.
Hi Ricky I was playing my electric kit into the live today. I went output of kit to audio input 1 and 2. This is the first time I ever tried recording audio into the live. Well there is latency in the audio recording. They really need to fix it because it's very noticeable when your playing drums. I am using version 2.10.1 seriously akai needs to have near zero latency audio recording. I am disappointed in this discovery 😔
you have to hold the start button for the MPC LIVE to boot up dude. I dont have any of those problems on my LIVE 2. Update the firmware and then take another look at it! What version is it on?
Did you have a limiter or other on the program channel / pad channel / master bus by mistake (clipping) ? Rare issue - many MPC owners as you know have had no problems like this - also why I wouldn’t custom colour the hardware - is it customised? - I only trust 1 guy who the pro’s use - but never seen these issues before dude.
to be fair, the new ones are basically bespoke MIDI controllers and audio interfaces wrapped around mid-range smartphone guts from several years ago, with a custom operating system. A very well-built MIDI controller that doesn't feel cheap, but they're basically just mini computers these days.
@@Emily_M81 i agree with the mini computer comment. Felt like a very nicely built controller rather than an instrument when i messed with the mpc x a little bit. Maybe I'm one of those who would enjoy the mpc 60 and 3000 more than later models.
have had two mpc lives.. it's so tedious! got rid of them and selling my maschine mk3 now to get the + to go with a few elektron boxes. gotta say I made a lot more music on my old mpc 1000 than i ever managed with my lives..
Damn that’s weird you had issues. I never had an issue with my one ever. I always go crazy on effects n everything. Must of just been a situation on that machine.
I use the digital outs on my MPC 1000 with a Zoom U 44 into a Midas MR 18 to eliminate distortion caused by corrosion in volume pots and devices with low headroom electronics that clip first. The climate where I live in Canada is hard on cheep gear. I managed to solve that type of distortion by using the SP/Diff digital outs instead of the scratchy pots. It's very common still, even Apple still uses this protocol and makes the iOS instruments as loud and clear as the MPC going into the mixer. The improvements are quite dramatic, especially live. Try it out. I'm sure you have components with RCA Sp/diff I/O and a 75 ohm digital cable in your kit. While I'm on the subject, Using 32 bit converters when recording will get you plenty of headroom when importing these slamming mixes into a DAW. The cleanest tracks I've heard came from a QSC Touchmix recording direct to disk using digital outs from my MPC and DBX preamp. I expect similar results with the new ZOOM recorders that use 32 converters. Just discovered your channel. it's teaching me so many new things as I transition out of live sound and back into making music. Hopefully this helps, Thanks for putting this out.
I'd love to hear some more side by side comparisons with Maschine. There is one online where the SP1200 emulation is actually pretty close on the aliasing.
That's what I was thinking. I can't deal with problems like that. It'll drive me nuts til I figure out why it's doing it. Usually after a little digging I figure it out. Most likely because he doesn't own or use a newer standalone MPC regularly, it's probably something he just hasn't thought of checking yet. Kind of happens every time you try to use a new piece of gear or software. Different ways of doing things and different terminologies is a mofo in music production. Lol
I agree. Just a few updates for the modern world would be nice though. Keep the same guts and just update the screen to the larger colour touch screen for easier navigation. Also, I like USB connectivity so it can easily work within a DAW and transfer files into a session for mixing. Then just replace the floppy drives with USB drive ports for storing sessions, samples, etc. and you would have a 3000 with modern conveniences and the sound that everybody wants in a sampler.
I bought a force around February when the price dropped on them. Wanted something that could sample and sequence pretty well (as opposed to picking up something like a pyramid and a dedicated drum machine), and they'd announced that a drum synth and song mode would be coming I think at NAMM this year, so it seemed like it would grow into the right machine for me. I've had glimpses of greatness, but also a lot of experiences like this. Since I installed a hard drive with all my samples on it, it won't boot if I have headphones plugged in when I hit the power button. WTF? Song mode is here, but there's no instructions on how to use it, and as someone coming from FL studio, I know nothing about the ableton workflow. So who can teach me how to use it? I've been able to stumble my way through making a few really cool projects (no songs though), but I fear each firmware update because cool new features are being dropped and I cannot figure out how to use them to save my life. Now, it's been off my desk sitting in the corner of my room gathering dust for 6 of the 8 months I've owned it. Probably should just sell it and get the Pyramid and a TR8-S if I'm being honest with myself, but I've honestly gotten a lot done just being ITB most of this year.
I just purchased an MPC One. From years of using multiple retro MPC's it slowed down my workflow because i'm so accustomed to using the cursor which the One doesn't have! As you know this is also true with the Live. I guess Akai just wants us to rely solely on touch screen navigation. Would be nicer to have the best of both worlds don't ya think?
its sounding kinda like the live applies a compression to samples but its just not good lol like its adding gain on its own, and then compressing the samples with the threshold at like dead 0db. like the 3000 to me just sounds really clean in comparison. also, any chance that the pad issue is a software related bug? or would you say that like the pads maybe just need a good cleaning? any patches released for the live as of late?
Gated compression problems... Can you edit those settings or are they fixed in the LIVE? This is a classic hardware vs software issue. It's the same reason why people in commercial studios still have massive collections of analog hardware even though the out product will end up digital.
The original MPC is an instrument... The new MPC is an interface. How many people had a home computer when the original MPC came out?... There's the issue mainly.
It would be more fair to compare the vintage to the modern stand alone professional version. Either way the capacitation of the hardware is going to effect the sound. The modern versions are going to sound like their being digitally squeezed... And the only way you could make the vintage sound any better is if they had an older version with tubes. 😂
I think the big thing - the elephant in the room here - is that a clean, functioning MPC 3000 is far more expensive and rare than one of the new MPCs. I have both an MPC 3000 and the MPC Live, and I haven't experienced that behavior ever from my Live. But yes, it's troubling that maybe that could start happening, and the summing on that sample/bass causing a distortion is like "wowwwww...." However: I really warmed up to the Live. It's fun to use and it's updated often with features, etc.There are very compelling, modern features which the 3000 can't touch (Export to an Ableton LIVE file? Yes, please - and one way to avoid that distortion on output? hahaa). So really this comparison is to make people feel comfortable with going with a LIVE/LIVE II/One instead of spending 3-4 times the money to experience the fantasy of using the same 3000 series that Dr. Dre/Dilla/etc used. The 3000 comes from an era when Akai would offer a single, expensive machine for years, all the components are top-end, individual outs, bulletproof build, etc. Serious professional gear with professional high prices. Introduced later, in a more competitive market, the MPCs 2000/2500/etc were not the same, I've been told by techs the D/A converters weren't as good as the outs on the 3000, "lacked the punch," cheaper components, pay-to-upgrade outputs, expansions, etc. but there is NO disputing that the 2000/2500/XL devices are still quality units that were priced to be more obtainable, letting more people get them, and consequently thousands of classic songs were made on them. The MPC Live/One range now occupies that space. Bottom line, TL;DR: We are lucky to have all this capability at the price today, more important than getting finicky about it all is to put in time making beats on the machine you can afford.
Hey same problem with the AKAI FORCE, having huge trouble with importing my own loops into Clip-Mode. Everytime I start a loop with WARP activated I can hear a short double-click (very fast repeating of the first transient), which is annoying. This double-click is repeated everytime the SEQUENCE loop starts over. I can lend you AkairForce for a video, but I'm in Chile !! . Saludos.
Dawg I'm right there with you. Trying to switch old programs from the 1000. It doesn't tell me what programs are missing from a sequence! and the MIDI for each track has to be turned on. I dunno if I'm going to keep it. No wonder there are 3 of these on craigslist. I wished some would have warned me. It's just not like "real" MPC's.. I don't get it
I don't know what kind of stuff people are doing to their MPC Live's. I hear about stuff all the time but I've had literally 1 issue since I got the Live 2 in June. It locked up when I was moving the marker around when it was playing a bunch of sounds. I've made at least one beat everyday since June. Mostly with Roland Fantom 6.
I've had my MPC for two years only time I've had crashes was with early firmware and even then sparingly. The issue was my fault I had an old faulty harddrive in the machine that was starting to fail the MPC did not like that. Once I replaced the drive with an SSD it's been rock solid. As for the whole clipping thing. Are you sure you are not clipping on the Master? What you are seeing is the program channel bu you don't have it expanded so you can't actually see if it's clipping. It may actually be clipping on the master channel for some reason. If you want the MPC3K or 60 sound on the program you should be putting the effect on the Program channel not on each pad in the drum group, you are compounding the effect. If you want a more MPC3k workflow put the effect on the Master Channel.
Great video. Have you tried the new Live MK2? Do you think they figured out the ghosts in the machine for this version? Really hoping so... I am thinking of trading in my Pioneer DJS1000 for a Live MK2.
yeah i've had mine for about a year and a half pushing it pretty hard with no issues. it crashed one time,, but every sampler can crash including vintage akais. never even heard of the issues in the video, so don't worry before you have to.
Don't worry, it'll probably be fine. I've had mine for 3 years and I've had a fantastic experience with it. It's the center of my studio and I use it to record all my synths into tracks and songs.
thanks for the great comparisons! i have a question: have you tried combining the two samples on the live without the mpc 3000 emulation? does it clip anyway? thanks!
I had a lots of issues with missing functions on earlier live os versions, but reliability has never been an issue. I love my 1000 with big screen and jjos 128xl, but live with os 2.8 has a lot of cool features and then hook up to computer and add your plugins... i’d love to get an X with all the q links and cv outputs... also all the automation possible on new machines is awsome
I ended up sending my 1st one back for a replacement. It's worked pretty well since then (although each firmware update cleans up bugs and introduces a few new ones lol). I can understand how this would frustrate you...but its the BEST sampler i've used. I previously used an Octatrack and a MV8000...mileage will vary haha
Lol "so how the hell d'yah turn this thing off??!!" Not what you want to be saying about a machine you create stuff on, right? I tried the MPC One and Live, but ended up with a 1000. Something about doing everything with a touch screen bummed me out.
I upgraded to an MPC Live from a 1000 and so far no regrets. Still have the 1000 and I'll probably keep it but the more I work on the Live the more i get used to the new features. That's actually my main issue with the Live, I try not to rely too heavily in the new features and memory, just in case I really need to go old school. The touch screen is kind of addicting but in reality you don't have to use it more than you used the screen on the old ones, it just wasn't a large touch screen. The sound, to my ears, is better than the 1000. Can't speak for the older ones. IMO, the biggest selling points on the new MPCs are: loads of memory, processing power (effects, plugins, routing) and the way projects work. The battery is a bonus but I wouldn’t advise relying on it for a live show.
Realllly interesting series of videos your doing here man the converters on older samplers just sound better somehow - not necessarily in terms of accuracy but like you said just beefier and crisper sounding. The mpc live has all the hallmarks of a classic compact creations video but looks like we may have to wait for that one 😅
Just came aware that it seems that your hands operate the Launchkey Mk3 in Novations promo clip here on yt. I would bet that it is even your place. I mean you mentioned a couple of times that you work for Novation, right?
So lemme get this straight. You have one borrowed unit with a problem that could be a unique defect/malf or something and made a video titled "Why you SHOULDN'T buy an MPC Live"?? That's extra click-bait-esque. I genuinely wouldn't expect this from this chan. I would have thought twice about this TBH (also considering you work for Novation which I'm a massive fan of too). C'mon bro. I'm not a big fan of the Live series but this is a wild blanket video/title.
The best would be the knobs/fonction and the battery + storage from the live. But i’ve had the live (mk1) for 2 years and no problems... and if i have pad problems in like 2-3 years i guess that’s an easy fix. And yeah... old school mpc are cool af. Love the side by side sound comparison though! 👌🏻
Record the output and do a null test. That's really the only way to see if there is a real difference between the two. This is for the sound comparison. You are definitely right there is clipping and even then it is random where it occurs, which would lead me to believe this is a processor or memory issue. Might check out the Live II and the One.
