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Author Topic: How do voicings map to MP-1?  (Read 1886 times)

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Eric

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How do voicings map to MP-1?
« on: Time Format »

Hey guys.  I am so ingrained with the specific voices of the MP-1, I am aiming to find similar tones with my MP-2, which is new to me.
My question is: what is the mapping of MP-2 voices to the MP-1?


From the manual, I see the following ten voices.  Which ones map most to the SS, CLEAN, and DIST voices on my MP-1?
Table 1: Tube Voicings 1 Crystal Clean 2 Spanky Clean 3 Fat Clean 4 Vintage Brown 5 Warm Vintage 6 Dynamic Vintage 7 Warm Hi Gain 8 Dynamic Hi Gain 9 Ultimate Hi Gain 10 Fat Hi Gain


Thank you!
Eric AKA Plexiloud
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rnolan

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #1 on: Time Format »

Hey Eric, one of the factory MP-2 patches is MP-1, I don't remember trying it when I switched to MP-2 (many tears ago now).  So all the voices in the MP-2 are tube.  A bit hard to compare, it's quite a different animal than MP-1.  So many more options, for some too complicated, I like all the bells and whistles it has.  I haven't explored the Macros yet but plan to do it soon and will post about it.  I kicked off with patch1 Big Fat Crunch and went from there when I first got it.  It's got so much gain (way more than MP-1).  More recently I've dialed the gain back and gone for 5 Warm Vintage which has been working well for me for lead and rhythm.  I use the MXC expression pedal as a stereo master volume control and adjust between rhythm and lead vols.  Occasionally I use my old rhythm patch as an over the top lead.  My patches are posted in the MP-2 patches thread (http://adadepot.com/index.php?topic=126.0).  I've never tried to map them to MP-1 sounds, just ran up what worked for me.  I think the MP-1 is a bit darker and compressed.  I did love the tones I got with it (http://adadepot.com/index.php?topic=1090.0).
Mapping wise I spose the SS <> 1 Crystal Clean, Clean <> 3 Fat Clean  :dunno: , Dist <> maybe 8 Dynamic Hi Gain.  Try them an see what you think.  Only voices 6 to 10 have OD2 and you need to use the noise gate at least for 9 and 10 (which works quite well, as long as the noise gate chatter fix has been done (see attached)).  Also the first EPROM update included a Fast or Normal selection for patch change speed.  I'd call Fast normal, the original speed was noticeably (and irritatingly) slow.
« Last Edit: Time Format by MarshallJMP »
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Dante

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #2 on: Time Format »

I agree with Richard, they're too different to say that voice A in unit 1 equals voice B in unit 2.

Try not to get too hung up on that, because a good number of the MP-2 voices kinda overlap each other....which is nice.

Get a tone in your head, make an audible memory of that, and make it happen on the MP-2. You have more than enough tools at your disposal; 10 voices, tone controls, a massive graphic eq, and a dang ol presence knob on the front....sheesh

When setting up my initial 'classic rock' tone, I have a tone in my head of the intro to Rush, Limelite. That guitar tone is the same as the intro to Highway to Hell - very midrangy, SG type tones. That's the audible memory I'm going for...fits great in a mix...sounds a bit like a cocked wah by itself.

Harley Hexxe

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #3 on: Time Format »

Hey Eric,

     Apples and Oranges. The MP-1 has solid state and tube voicings, as opposed to the MP-2 which has no solid state voicings at all, it's 10 tube voicings.
 
     With the MP-1, no matter which voice you choose, there will always be a certain amount of SS incorporated into that voice. This is why it sounds completely different from the MP-2 and the MP-1 Classic. All three are distinctly different from each other. In my opinion, this is a good thing because they give you all the flexibility to dial in any guitar tone you can think of. If you play around with the MP-2, you'll find that you can dial in highly desirable vintage amp tones, and well as most modern high gain tones. It's a very flexible preamp. but there is a learning curve.

Harley 8)
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Eric

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #4 on: Time Format »

Gents,
Thank you SO MUCH for the feedback!   I'll be taking all your excellent advice and have fun chasing my tones as needed.  The 10 tube voicings are the fundamental reason I got the MP-2 in the first place; to be able achieve any tube preamp sound needed.  As I think I said in my intro, I play out in several bands covering everything from Prince (Crystal Clean) to Journey (Fat Clean / Warm Vintage) to White Zombie (Ultimate Hi Gain?) as well as original stuff (which is all MP-1 DIST!).   Your guidance is helping me re-direct the focus away from chasing MP-1 tones, especially since the preamp architecture is so different, as you indicated.  I had no clue.
Again - THANK YOU!
Eric
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rnolan

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #5 on: Time Format »

Hey Eric.  MP-2s MP-1 factory patch (#14) uses voice 8 Dynamic High Gain and is pretty flat from e.q. perspective.
I went through all the v1.41 factory patches (a (long) while ago) and put them in a table (attached  :) )I don't think this info is available anywhere else, took a while to do it.  Hopefully this will help you in your journey, at least give you starting points to modify to your taste/needs.  There is also a MP-2 editor program one of our members did a while ago, needs .NET and is windows only.  It's on the forum somewhere, I just had a look and couldn't find it.  I can post it if you want to try it.  It lets you edit the MP-2 from a PC (you need midi connection to PC).  Compared to MP-1, the MP-2 is a bit more work to tweak and via front panel is time consuming...
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MarshallJMP

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #6 on: Time Format »

You can find the editor here

https://github.com/ValdemarOrn/Mp2Editor
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Dante

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #7 on: Time Format »

Thanks for posting that link!

I may have to hook up a PC just to use that, been using my MP-2 more lately

Eric

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #8 on: Time Format »

Gents,
Once again: THANK YOU for the replies!  You guys really are the best.  :)
Really appreciate the Word doc, Richard.  I will likely reset my MP-2 to factory presets and copy as needed to build out my own respective banks of presets.  Very cool!
Philippe, thanks for the link to the editor.  I can see where that would be an awesome time saver; though I think I lack a USB/midi cord.  Calling eBay...
BTW - is it just me, or is the MP-2 literally the best thing ever made???
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Harley Hexxe

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #9 on: Time Format »

Hey Eric,

     I found a USB to MIDI cable on Amazon that was pretty inexpensive and decent quality. I've found as time goes on, more and more "vendors" on ebay are really not trustworthy. It's a pain in the butt dealing with that on ebay too.

    Just sayin'

Harley 8)
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rnolan

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #10 on: Time Format »

Hey Eric (BTW - is it just me, or is the MP-2 literally the best thing ever made???) that's my take on it also :thumb-up: .  Although it seems for many they were too complicated.  Then again, MP-1s were also considered too complicated when they came out.Loading the factory presets into the user banks is a good way to start.  I leave the first 39 user programs factory and build my sounds in bank 11 although if you changed them you can always switch to preset mode...  IIRC Dante likes to do a bank for each guitar, makes sense as they all sound different and then you can optimise the patch(s) to suit the various PUs etc.  The high banks work for me as then you can do a quick bank down to get to them when setting up for a gig rather than scroll (bank up) up to them.

Some of the USB MIDI connectors are better than others.  IIRC MikeB had some issues with a cheap one.  Another way to do it is buy a decent I/O device which has MIDI interfaces.  Then you have recording inputs/outputs as well.  The 2 in/out versions aren't that expensive, and I think most of the 8 in/out units (I bought a PreSonus Studio 18/24 USB) have MIDI in/out/thru, it was around $600 AUD and the AD/DA conversion sounds quite nice, a bit more "musical" than the Focusrite I tried first, it was a little "stark" and a pain to get working.
@ Harley - Hey Harley, that's why it called Evil bay these days I suspect.  Also they dumped PayPal recently, was this just a cost thing or driven by issue resolution problems  :dunno: .
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Harley Hexxe

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #11 on: Time Format »

Hey Richard,

     I didn't know they dumped Paypal. I don't see that as a good sign though. There are too many scammers on ebay lately anyway.

     I've been doing more business on Reverb the last few purchases, and have had much better transactions there.

     The last purchase I made on ebay was a couple of years ago when I found the Cyber-Twin SE, and I purchased that direct from the seller and drove down there to pick it up.

     Thanks for the heads-up though.

     As far as the MP-2 being the best preamp ever made...it certainly has it's advantages and it's pros and cons. It's good for a lot of things, but there are things I find the MP-1 and the MP-1 Classic do better. So to have all the advantages at the step of a button, I find it beneficial to have all three :thumb-up:

Harley 8)
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Kim

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #12 on: Time Format »

Just wanted to throw a "heads up" out there for you when dialing in your own sounds on an MP-2.   :wave:

The EQ could drive you mad.  ;) 

You have a regular EQ (Lo, Mid, Treb, Pres) available to use, and a Graphic EQ to boot!  Now, I never understood why both of those are located at the same place in the signal chain (Post preamp tubes) as it seemed to make more sense if one was say Pre Drive and the other was Post Drive....   For years I was using both EQs and having things all over the ranges trying to get exactly what I wanted. I never did and usually everything somehow ended up with quite radical (and unusable at loud volume) settings and I would have to start over. And over. Soo many times.....
Well, my conclusion was to just use one or the other.  As in, Zero out the regular EQ and do what I can with the Graphic, or Zero out the Graphic and use the regular EQ.  My best results came from using the regular EQ and then maybe only using the Graphic for just one or two bands that needed just a slight tweak; nothing radical.  There is such a thing as doing too much, and I seemed to have fought with that for too long!

Now, I'm not saying there's necessarily a Right Way or a Wrong Way here, but if you find it to be a real struggle to dial your own sound in then perhaps this idea will help.
 
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rnolan

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #13 on: Time Format »

Hey Kim, sage advice  :thumb-up: .  I tend to do the same with eq, I use the regular eq (as I did with MP-1) and don't do anything crazy with the graphic, maybe a little tweak here or there for a specific reason.  One of the things I used to find with both MP-1 and MP-2 tones is when do you say stop and say, that's it for that patch and move on.  The overlap with the 2 eq's could drive you crazy.  Another approach that may make sense is to use the regular eq for your tone and the graphic to adjust for different speaker cabs and/or direct recording, keeping the basic tone the same across platforms.  As you say, there's not really a right or wrong way, whatever works but obviously be mindful of the overall gain structure, particularly given how much overall gain you can add or take away with either of the eqs.

Hey Harley, Evil bay sent out an email not long ago advising that they were dumping pay-pal and you wouldn't be able to use it anymore.  It's years since I bought anything through them so apart from thinking "why are they dumping pay-pal?" I was kinda whatever, I'm not fond of where ebay has gone anyway...
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Eric

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Re: How do voicings map to MP-1?
« Reply #14 on: Time Format »

I appreciate hearing about your use of the dual EQ features in the MP-2.  Historically, I tend to keep all EQ on amps & pedals precisely at high noon AKA totally flat.  My MP-1 EQ settings were typically flat though I sometimes boosted the mid & treble for solos.

But now, I intend to exploit the graphic EQ of the MP-2 for solo settings, where the 800HZ band gets a boost of 2-6 db to get a more 'vocal' tone kinda like having a gentle half-cocked wah in the chain.  I think this sounds a little bit better than how I used the MP-1 EQ.


Richard, thanks again for the Word doc with all the preset settings.  I'm taking patch #14 ("MP-1") like you pointed out and running with it!  Cold beers are on me next time you are in Denver, Colorado.   Hey, where is the "cold beer" emoji?  Seriously, I see a bunch of dancing bananas and poop emojis but no cold beer. :facepalm: Wait, I found it!   :beer: :cheers: Hah!  Just had to click [more].



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