Share your knowledge on these two classic MPCs
By DustParticle Mon Jan 30, 2017 8:24 pm
... but more of a "what should I keep" question.
I'm in the process of down-sizing my home studio (HW for writing, SW for post) and would like to get your thoughts on what to keep and what to unload. I make everything from boom bap to goa so that's a lot of grounds to cover but my goal is to keep 2 out of the 4 samplers, find the sweet spot between sound vs. features and stick to what I've got, than chasing the next best all-in-one box, e.g. MPC4k/live/x, etc.

Here's my dilemma:
Octatrack - stock. Great for live and it's still a very special piece of gear after all these years. Can't see it being THE centerpiece of my studio. Had it for a few years.
MPC 1000 - free JJ OS, maxed out memory. OK sound but great features. I use it everyday for chopping samples, sketching out new ideas, etc. and it's been a great companion to my 60II. Had it for a few years.
MPC 60 - 3.10 OS, maxed out memory, SCSI, floppy emulator. Sounds great but with limited memory. Been using it for drums/chops with its sequencer running points on everything else. Had it for a couple of years.
MPC 3000 - 3.11 OS, maxed out memory, SCSI, zip drive. Got it cheap recently and has replaced the 60II as the centerpiece in no time. Great sound with enough memory.
Other gears: Minimoog, TR909, OP-1, Volca Beat/Bass/Synth, outboard efx, etc.

I don't have a clue on the two to keep but I feel like either the 60II or the 3k got to go :(
Thoughts?
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By Ian Canefire Mon Jan 30, 2017 10:16 pm
Hi had the octatrack when it first came out. I got rid of it after about 8 months. I was not feeling the work flow. Some people seem to dig it. I did not find myself making music with it. The sound is nothing special. I thought the trigger lock concept was cool, but didn't end up doing it.
So to me you keep the 3000 simply for the value. In a few years it will be worth even more money. It's easy to use and fun.
To me the 60 is a real relic and I am not sure about the value going forward. Though it has some cache.
The 1000 is every where. No big deal there. You can always get one of those JJOS or not.
Too bad you don't have the 4000. Its awesome.

CHeers,
Ian
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By JUKE 179r Mon Jan 30, 2017 10:44 pm
Ian Canefire wrote:... So to me you keep the 3000 simply for the value. In a few years it will be worth even more money. It's easy to use and fun.
To me the 60 is a real relic and I am not sure about the value going forward. Though it has some cache.
The 1000 is every where. No big deal there. You can always get one of those JJOS or not.
Too bad you don't have the 4000. Its awesome.

CHeers,
Ian

I never **** with an Octatrack but I totally agree with what Ian stated.
By DustParticle Tue Jan 31, 2017 12:36 am
JUKE 179r wrote:
Ian Canefire wrote:... So to me you keep the 3000 simply for the value. In a few years it will be worth even more money. It's easy to use and fun.
To me the 60 is a real relic and I am not sure about the value going forward. Though it has some cache.
The 1000 is every where. No big deal there. You can always get one of those JJOS or not.
Too bad you don't have the 4000. Its awesome.

CHeers,
Ian

I never **** with an Octatrack but I totally agree with what Ian stated.


Thx for the inputs! Yes I'm leaning towards keeping the 3K. It's def more of a pragmatic approach, especially when unloading a piece of gear you love.

That's the easy part. The hard part is deciding between the OT and the 1k...
It's strange but OT's workflow reminds me of how I used to make tunes on Sonic Foundry Acid back in the days. Everything is lined up nicely and I can spend all day messing with a single loop. YT makes the OT look easy but it does take time to prep. So far I've got my go-to trigs/scenes/parts figured out for playing live. I just bounce the tracks made on MPC to loop it on OT. It also allows me to trig rec my bass player on the fly.
On the other hand, I prefer to write on my 1K but I haven't used it live so I can't tell if it can replace the OT in the "features" category.
By vout Tue Jan 31, 2017 1:12 am
Definitely keep the 3k. I would probably keep the 60 as well but that's just me. The 1k with jj is great for getting ideas together, but the sound is nothing compared to the other two. As for the Octatrack - I've had every piece of Elektron gear over the years and sold them all - the Octatrack has the same problems as everything Elektron - very focused but arbitrary feature set, bizzare limitations and ultimately a bland sound. The biggest problem though is I have found that everything you make on an Elektron box tends to sound just like everything everybody else makes on them (though again maybe that's just me). I much prefer Reaktor for that sort of thing.

Keep the classics, sell the 1k and the Octatrack and buy a new MPC Live, that should cover everything.
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By mr_debauch Tue Jan 31, 2017 3:06 am
Ian Canefire wrote: To me the 60 is a real relic and I am not sure about the value going forward.



who knows but the going price has quadrupled in the last 5 years on the 60/60ii .... I expect it will continue to do the same even if it is an artificial bubble instigated by armens.
By DustParticle Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:28 pm
A pair of Glasses wrote:Pfoe.... Choices B-) ,,
But mostly depends on your workflow I guess??
I am using the 60 for drums, and the octa for all other stereo things and putting an tb303 thru it, i like it how the octa almost can do everything with his sequencer running.

Greets

Good to see someone is making it work w/ MPC + OT.
Current workflow: sketching (1K) -> tracking (60II/3K) -> mixing/mastering (laptop) or live (OT).
By A pair of Glasses Fri Feb 03, 2017 5:30 pm
I like the setup that I am using so far,, I must say that writing out an track is what I do on the mpc60 (I think the same on the 3000) its quicker that way in my opinion.. I don't think that an octatrack is needed in someone's workflow if its just used as an sample player, .... Hmmmm bit tricky to explain :-)