
By Romanp Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:19 am
I have been testing Sync of an Alesis HD24XR, MPC5000 and Motif XF.
As detailed in my other thread non of them are usable as sync masters.

The MPC5000 and Motif XF sync perfectly when slaved to Digital Performer as the MIDI beat clock master. My 8th note hi-hat references are tight like one hi-hat and I can navigate to any song position bar/measure in DP and the MPC and Motif chase/follow to the same bar. Usable!

This proves that the MPC and Motif are capable of slaving to MID beat clock.

So when I set the MPC5000 as MIDI beat clock master and the Motif XF as slave and the Motif is slightly late and the delay or sync offset is different each time I start the master, I have to conclude that the MPC5000 MIDI clock generator is not in sync with it's own timing grid. Because otherwise the Motif would have a consistent start time and latency. Because both hardware sequencers have proven they can reliably follow beat clock.

The varying delay in sync when either the MPC or Motif are MIDI clock master shows that the generation of the MIDI clock is inconsistent in start time.

My MPC60II has a 'shift early' by up to 20 ms setting when it is a MIDI clock slave. Brilliant! If the master had a consistent MIDI clock start time then the small latency of about 2-3ms could be compensated for t=with this 'shift early' feature.

I can't believe others aren't wanting to sync an MPC to another hardware sequencer with MIDI beat clock like my scenario. This unusable inconsistent MIDI clock generation from the MPC5000 and the Motif XF as well should be loudly protested and Akai and Yamaha should listen.

Imagine having these boxes that are made from precious materials of the earth actually be usable in a typical sync scenario. Surely that would make them useful enduring valuable music tools. And bolster the reputation of Akai and Yamaha.

I just want to play/program drums, switch the patterns live and have 960PPQN and quantise strength. And usable sync.
I don't need the synth or the audio tracks.
They also need to add the 'shift early' feature when slaved to MIDI clock to compensate for the latency.
By Ziemeldels Fri Apr 26, 2019 10:56 pm

You are not alone. My MPC 5000 OS2.0 worked only as slave synced with Cubase. Tried other way - unusable drift in time. Only as slave with midi clock. MTC not worked. That's one of tree reasons I sold it and bought second MPC 2000 classic to backup my old trusty workhorse. Another two reasons I didn't liked MPC5000 - step sequencer with clumsy navigating trough piano roll and white on blue display. I like vice versa.

Greetings from other side of Earth - Latvia.
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By tapedeck Fri Apr 26, 2019 11:01 pm
yea this is well documented. the innerclock systems ranked the mpc 5000 as one of the worst devices for master sync. midi is an afterthought on the more modern machines - they used to be midi sequencers first, samplers second, but i believe that has flip-flopped so midi takes a backseat to sampling / production capabilities.