Akai Mpc 2500 or MachineDrum-UW?

I am in the market for a great drum machine Could people please tell me what I would gain getting a 2500 over a MD-UW or vice versa?

I would try reading the manuals of both and reading about the differences.

it really depends on what you're looking to get outta either machine. i'm not gonna weigh in on the pro and cons until i know what you're looking to get from either box.

the MD-UW isn't a sampler in the way the MPC2500 is by any stretch of the imagination. likewise the MPC2500 can't touch the MD-UW on its turf either. ideally you'd want both or a MPC1k + MD-UW.

post up you thoughts and what you want, then you may get some 'quasi-objective' help. post this same question over at www.elektron-users.com too. there's some real knowledge cats over there and most of them on MPC's as well


p.s. is this 'P Love' from Bully?

quick thought is get MPC1k + MD-UW, then you in the best of both worlds. especially with the MPC1k's imminent os2 drop.

I am looking to do Triphop and anything that is fresh and not clone like! Thanks to all who reply.

actuel wrote:post up you thoughts and what you want, then you may get some 'quasi-objective' help.

That's what I should have said, sorry.

do you want a sound generator and the best grid programming hardware drum machine in the world? get the MD. do you want the best hardware sampler/sequencer in the world? get the MPC. they are very far from being in the same market of machines. i have both and if i had to chose one over the other i'd get the MD first and the MPC later (even though i did it in the reverse...) but they do make a perfect pair so make sure you end up with both...

I would not buy both for any reason...unless there was some particular sound I wanted in the Machinedrum. Than I would buy it just to sample the sounds into the MPC and than sell the Machinedrum.

jahrome wrote:I would not buy both for any reason...unless there was some particular sound I wanted in the Machinedrum. Than I would buy it just to sample the sounds into the MPC and than sell the Machinedrum.

...you obviously have never owned or played with the SPS-1 MD for an extended period. i'm not gonna gush here but i will tell that the MPC can't even emulate the power of MD. Sampling the MD alone is like sampling a MiniMoog and saying its the same...errr...well its not, not even close.

and like i said earlier the MD isn't an MPC either. saying you can sample an MD and actually capture the sheer sonic range is just plain ignorance.

anyway, i still say the combo. for trip hop you'll want the MPC as well the MD, imo. sure you can download or buy tons of samples from classic drum machines but you'd still be driving a Geo 'Metro' convincing yourself it was a 'Mercedese' in regards to the MD. Plus with the MD-UW you'd be getting the modern equivelent to the 12bit raw'ness of the SP-12 but with a hoard of advancement and features.

now having both, i wouldn't go without either of the units. either one will do fine and both would be optimal....and you know, it doesn't 'really' matter just make and flex music with whatever you tools can.

Good Luck!

peace
a

actuel wrote without thinking:
...you obviously have never owned or played with the SPS-1 MD for an extended period. i'm not gonna gush here but i will tell that the MPC can't even emulate the power of MD. Sampling the MD alone is like sampling a MiniMoog and saying its the same...errr...well its not, not even close.

and like i said earlier the MD isn't an MPC either. saying you can sample an MD and actually capture the sheer sonic range is just plain ignorance.

anyway, i still say the combo. for trip hop you'll want the MPC as well the MD, imo. sure you can download or buy tons of samples from classic drum machines but you'd still be driving a Geo 'Metro' convincing yourself it was a 'Mercedese' in regards to the MD. Plus with the MD-UW you'd be getting the modern equivelent to the 12bit raw'ness of the SP-12 but with a hoard of advancement and features.

now having both, i wouldn't go without either of the units. either one will do fine and both would be optimal....and you know, it doesn't 'really' matter just make and flex music with whatever you tools can.

Good Luck!

peace
a

Just the type of response I expected.

You have obviously never use any digital audio recorders

What do you think happens to the sound of the Machine Drum (or even a Moog) when you record it to a digital multitrack(or the cheap analog multitracks that most people are using)??? About the same thing that happens when you sample it into an MPC.

You may want to rephrase your ignorant comment. Your ignorance has blinded you to the fact that eventually, you will want to get your music to a CD (or other form of media). And that means recording/sampling into something..whether it is an MPC, or multi-track recorder. So now that you claim the MPC cannot capture the full sonic 'BS'..I mean sheer sonic range of the MachineDrum or a Moog...please enlighten us and let us know what will?

I look forward to your answer.

Peace.

well, i think it's safe to say that a synth. (ie, sound generating device) is completely different than a sampler. it is also safe to say that a synth will offer more sonic options than tweaking samples of said synth. a machine drum is a percussive synth and generates sounds made to sound like drums. it is much different to use the synth than to replay via the mpc samples from that synth. samples have limited possibilities within the mpc while the synth that generated them are virtually limitless. there is really no debating that fact. i'm not really sure where you've going with this j, but at the end of the day a sampler is useless without a sound generating source so it's not even worth debating or arguing about that. if you start telling people that they should just buy mpc's and samples of moog's instead of a moog from which to create your own samples i'm gonna have to call the authorities and have you commited

oh, and i'm also gonna state again that the Machinedrum is one of the best instruments that i have ever gotten my hands on. the machinedrum and the monomachine (i have both now) are two of the most inspirational, intuitive, and powerful sound generating instruments you could get. they may not be great for hip-hop or people who rock the presets but that's not the say that they couldn't be. you really can't go wrong with elektron gear.

yo listen i need to say this first and foremost, i'm not into beef'ing or baiting games...no time for that.

my comments have nothing to do with 'digital recording' or recording period. i work on a G5 now and track all my shit from the MPC/Micron/Monomachine/MDUW/and any one of my 3,000 some odd records thru the 828. i'm actually confused as to what you're trippin' on jahrome.

i'm not saying you 'can't' sample a synthesizer, piano and get a good amount of its voicings. in fact many companies spend a good amount money multisampling for both samplers/romplers. but a Bosendorf multisampled piana CDrom sample disk is not a Bosendorf. a Moog Modular sample disk or whatever won't even come near the possibilities you have when it comes working on the real thing. this isn't a tape vs. analogue argument. in fact its not an argument at all. there's often so many variables and possibilities contained within every sound source that it's impossible to capture every variable. these variables range from what your sampling with, cables you're using, sound source, etc.

now that's just one side of the equation. now you gotta factor in the instruments integration to its components. in the case of the MDUW, you couldn't capture a 'Parameter Locks, Slide, LFOs (on free or trig)' etc... its not that you can't sample it but the heart of the power of the MD is in its Sequencer and sound synthesis. you don't just have a snare you have an almost endless possibility of what you can do with that sound. now sure the MPC has its own feature set but it lacks 1/2 of the features that are specific to the MD. just as the MD doens't have 1/2 the feature set that the MPC has...why? well, becuase the machines cater to different people and different needs. hence my reasoning and others a-like that believe having them both would be optimal.

i didn't say it would be your ideal setup, nor does that even matter. i'm addressing P Love question here. again it's obvious you've never owned an Elektron SPS-1 MD(UW). so you're soliciting advice with no actual experience on the THIS particular subject. the subject wasn't 'capturing audio in whatever capacity/analogue to digital/cd pressing...blaah, blaah, blaah'

i mean why don't you just use the computer, sell you MPC, and buy the Akai mpd-16 pad, i mean isn't that the same thing? NO, no it's not...And that question is the equivelent your theory of 'just sample the MD'.

anyway this is P Love's topic, not an opportunity for us to hijack the topic. i have no problems agreeing to disagree here...its really of no revelance anyway. Simply sampling the MD-UW will not give you the MDUW. you will get a snapshot of it.

...and if that's ignorace then i live in glorius bliss!

PEACE
a

My point is that you can easily create as many drum sounds (thousands if you will) as you like on the MachineDrum and then sample them into the MPC. No, you will not have a machine drum. I didn't say that. But you will have plenty of drum kits. I simply stated that is what I would do...if you all can read. I wasn't the one to start talking about capturing the sonic ranges of anything. I had to point out that once the sounds leave the Machine Drum, thru your favorite AD/DA converter, and into your DAW of choice..it in now just a sample. Nothing more than what you would get by recording/sampling it into your MPC. Yes, sampling into the MPC will not get you a machine drum..but it will certainly get you that 'sound/sounds'. Its funny to here debates about sampling..when you are just doing that when you record into a G5 (which is just a computer) and your favorite software. You will not have a MachineDrum or a Moog once it is recorded into your G5....but a recording of it, just like sampling into your MPC

So go ahead and tweak the Machine Drum..play with the LFOs, filters, and what not to get the endless possibilities..and sample all of the sounds you create into the MPC


P Love asked 'Could people please tell me what I would gain getting a 2500 over a MD-UW or vice versa? '.

People...meaning he wanted input. No just from you and you..but anyone. My statement was attemtping to get him the closest to having both without spending alot of money..which is valid. If you disagree, that is fine. But I was giving my input to him, and not necessarily to you but if you gain something from it......fine

The MachineDrum is a drum machine/synth. Nothing more. I do not need to own one (can easily buy one if I wanted to) to give my opinion that I would sample it.


Who got next?

Hey Peeps, Thank you all for taking the time to write your thoughts on this subject! I did not intend to cause any arguments on this board, So lets all just respect eachothers opinions and add a little Love to the mix.

here is another vote for both - perfect complements to each other. but if that cannot be afforded, then do you want to work with samples or a synth? a high def. sequencer or a step sequencer? you gotta look into both cause both are equally excellent, but are two different monsters. if you have any specific questions about either - post them up and we'll try to answer. but you gotta try and play with them both if you wanna make the best decision for yourself.