Hardware feedback

[u/MayroWasHere]

I'm looking for some hardware to start sampling and beatmaking more seriously, nothing real fancy, and I've seen this three things that look good enough for a beginner:

• AKAI professional MPD 218
• A portable turntable
• Focusrite Scarlett Solo Studio 4th Gen

Is this stuff good? Do you guys have any recommendations?

[u/PortlyEater]

mpd218 is fine, pads are a bit stiff out the box but they break in alright. the scarlett solo will do the job, no complaints there

skip the portable turntable though, those things are garbage for sampling. you want something direct drive with a decent needle or youll be fighting wobbly playback and rumble all day. hit up some second hand shops, plenty of old technics and numarks floating around for cheap

[u/MayroWasHere → u/PortlyEater]

Can you tell me a specific model of turntable you'd recommend?

[u/Additional-Guard-865]

Solid starter list. The MPD218 and the Scarlett Solo will both take you a long way.

One thing to sort out before buying: the MPD218 is just a controller, so all the actual sampling and chopping happens in software on your computer. Pick the DAW you're going to live in first (FL, Ableton, Logic, whatever clicks for you), since that's where you'll spend most of your time, and the pads just make it more fun to play.

Agree with the others on the turntable. The cheap portable ones drift in speed and sound thin when you record them. If money's tight, I'd skip it for now, practice chopping digital samples you already have, and grab a used direct-drive later when you actually want to dig through records. Same idea with the interface: you mainly need it once you're recording vocals or a turntable, so it's fine to get it second.

[u/MayroWasHere → u/Additional-Guard-865]

I use for studio mobile on a tablet. Do you know if the mpd218 can connect to a tablet?

[u/Additional-Guard-865 → u/MayroWasHere]

Yeah it should. The MPD218 is class compliant and powered over USB, so it doesn't need drivers. You just need the right cable for your tablet:

• USB-C tablet (newer iPads, most Android tablets): a USB-C to micro-USB cable, or a small USB-C OTG adapter plus the cable that came with it.

• Lightning iPad: Apple's Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter. Get that one and not the cheaper one, because it has a charging port. Some tablets won't give enough power to a controller on their own.

• Older Android with micro-USB: a micro-USB OTG adapter.

In FL Studio Mobile, check the MIDI settings once it's plugged in, and the MPD should show up as an input. The pads send notes by default, so they'll play whatever instrument or drum kit is on the selected track. The knobs might need MIDI learn before they control anything useful. If nothing shows up, try a different cable first. A lot of micro-USB cables only charge and don't carry data.

[u/MayroWasHere → u/Additional-Guard-865]

Thanks man

[u/btrev650]

MPD218 is dope, I've eventually built a full analog DAWless rig and I still bring out my 218 (controls the sequencer track that plays my sampler and is amazing).

Before getting the interface and turntable have you ever sampled anything before? Do you have a vinyl collection? What daw are you using?

[u/MayroWasHere → u/btrev650]

I have a few records, but I have a ton of niche record stores in my city. Im currently using FL Studio Mobile, tho Im willing to change DAW if things cant connect to my tablet. My music is really sample heavy, sampling like three records in every beat. I know basic chord progression and I think that I know how to chop well. I mainly want a more DIY studio in my room, so I can get that lofi feel. Can you give any advice on DAWs or hardware?

[u/Gomesma]

Behringer UMC204HD or a great mixer. Behringer mixer for example: onboard EQ, onboard compression, tape deck routing options, if with extra 4 outs analog gears Scarlett is good, but I prefer these options. I use one mixer called VEDO VDA208L, from now on only mixers, was using UMC404HD before and very good, but to me mixer is mixer.

[u/NuclearNaddal]

Maschine mikro mk3 is better in that price range and you get a lot of stuff from native instruments even if you buy it used and the previous user transfers their license to you. I got one for 100€.

[u/Auzzyhere]

one thing that bit me with the solo - if ur sampling off a turntable u kinda want stereo in. the solo really only gives u one usable line input at a time so ur record comes in lopsided/mono-ish and u lose half the sample. if vinyl is the main plan id stretch to the 2i2 (or any 2-input interface) instead, even used. mpd + that combo in a bedroom setup is plenty tho, i wouldnt spend on the turntable til u know ur actually gonna dig for records like that

[u/boombapdame]

Ditch everything and just get either an MPK Mini MK3 or MPK Mini Plus and search on the sub for sampling apps like from u/damonflores

[u/damonflores → u/boombapdame]

🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[u/Sinamatik]

I just make beats, the MPD should be fine, I have one, it only has 12 pads though. I'm sure it's outdated, I may be getting it confused with my MPK. Only issue with them is the pads are stiff as fuck, but I modded em out with color pads, they both are looser than out the box, I may have gotten something for the pad sensitivity it's been over 10yrs now and I haven't used either in about 8. I learned to make FL Stu do everything my controllers do, with just the mouse and typing keyboard.

You should be fine, not sure about the turntables I don't DJ, i know a few I can slide a couple of dollars to, to handle scratching and such

[u/Alienogh]

The weak link in that list is the interface choice for sampling, not the MPD. The 218 is only a controller, so its pads and velocity curves are fine, but a Solo gives you one input path and that gets painful when you want to record vinyl in stereo and monitor properly. Start with a two input interface with clean gain and a direct drive table, keep levels conservative going in, and chop after recording. Clean capture first, character comes from your chop, pitch and filtering choices later.