Hey, It's been awhile since I posted here so I figga I'd add my .02. As a recording engineer and the proud owner of a MK1 60 and an Emax who has also used PC software in the past and played with a 2000, I have come to the conclusion that the choice of gear you use is important for getting the specific sound that YOU THE PRODUCER are looking for. The reason I own the gear I do is because it offered the sound I was looking for. I had tried to imitate it in FL when I first started out and it just wasn't the same so I got what I needed to get the results I was lookin for and am very pleased because of it. Another thing is that you can make good music on anything just as you can still make shyte on an SP, 60, Emax etc. What makes the music good is well chosen samples, a good groove, and good melody and some on some occasions a lack of melody works real well too. Next, a decent final mix helps alot as it is hard to listen to an exceptionally poor recording and still pay full attention to its musical content.
As far as Pete Rock usin the 2KXL, maybe thats the sound he's now lookin for, or he could just possibly enjoy it better in terms of workflow. Another producer I chill with uses an O.G. 2K and I must say, compared to the 60 and the Emax, the sample chopping with the option to lay the chops across the 16 pads makes it a breeze to work with. Couple that with the XLs timestretch feature and PR is prob havin a blast. He may have just found the SP to be too much of a headache to continue workin with after tryin out the XL with all those features. In his mind they may have outweighed the importance of the grimy gritty sound. Or as I said before he might have just grown tired of that sound, which doesn't make him a sellout as artists are constantly reinventing themselves.
To wrap this up what gear you use is up to you and solely depends on the sound and feel of the music you are trying to make. If your music is shyte, no sampler is gonna save it. I happen to like the sound of the 2000, it has its own character, IMO much more so than the modern equipment, it's just not the sound I'm looking for in my music. Bottom line: use what works for you, and artists change all the time, some for the better and others for the worse. Wow that was long winded.
PEACE