Is the MPC Studio a well intergrated experience?

I've been thinking about getting a groovebox for a long time. I've flipped flopped between choosing a MPC or Machine for a few years and haven't pulled the trigger on anything as I get along fine on Reason and couldn't justify the purchase as I know I can do the same shyt with my program of choice..But as a Reason user for 10 years now I have been going through stints of boredom with the whole beatmaking process and it's always felt a bit "disjointed" to say the least. I crave a new experience and want the ability to switch things up whenever I feel to combat the stagnant process of doing the same shit over and over. Anyways I'd love to get a Maschine mk2 but my budget won't allow for that. Basically the most I could spend would be about $500 CAD. In that price range my options are the Machine Mikro or the MPC Studio Black. I've worked with MPC's in the past (1000/2500) liked them just fine but the fast efficient workflow of software like Reason led me to leave them behind. I found the MPC workflow to be tedious and long-winded.

So my question is, is that still the case? or is the MPC Software fast and efficient? AND specifically is the MPC Studio a well integrated system? If it's disjointed like using reason with a midi controller that would defeat the purpose lol I wouldn't be leaving Reason or anything but maybe start beats with the MPC take'em as far as possible in stand alone mode then export to Reason/S1 for additional production,edits,mixing,etc Just looking to spice things up workflow wise..

One of the fundamental 'goals' of the new MPCs is to retain the classic MPC workflow, which IMO the MPC1000 had, so if you found the workflow of the 1000 tedious and long winded then the MPC Studio isn't going to do much to improve that for you IMO. Some things will be quicker, and obviously you have the computer GUI to fall back on, but if the whole 'buttons + data wheel' way of working doesn't suit you then have a good think about what it is about the MPC workflow that actually appeals to you.

Stay with what you have. If you must try something else, download the Mpc 1.9.6 demo when Akai s site comes back up. Since you can use vst in reason now you can even try the tandem combo.

Yeah hard to say if I would benefit from using a mpc..I guess I'm just craving something new and tactile lol The alternative would be to purchase some new plugins or save my money..kinda undecided still. My money would go farther..that's always a factor for me. I dunno.