Share your knowledge on these two classic MPCs
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By mesh Mon Sep 15, 2003 8:21 pm
i've been toying around with the idea of gettin a 3000. i have the 2000xl. never played with the 3, just heard a lot of good stuff, really not too much negative about it at all. sooooo, i aint gonna get rid of the 2, just thinkin if the 3 would be even worth adding to the arsenal. would i be able to do a whole lot more with it. my 2 is stock cept for max ram. i know bout 8 outs on the 3, effects, digital in. will i fall in love with this thing and want to sell the 2? i also just got a s5000, not really super excited about it but it was free, so maybe i can trade it and some cash for a 3? i searched the forum but nothing really like this came up. plus i wanted your opinion specifically, you know your ish. thanks.
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By DOVESKI Mon Sep 15, 2003 10:04 pm
All I can say is give it a try. There isnt a whole lot more you can do with a 3000 that you cant do with a 2000XL. The things I didnt like about the 3000 was the stiff pads, the snares sounded weak for some reason, and the effects which is only a really digital sounding delayat best doesnt work in 8 out mode. I had 16 megs of RAM which equalled something like 124 seconds of sampling time, I use about 20 per song anyhow. Using zip disks is sort of a waste, because the disk has to be partitioned into 4 parts and there is no folder organization so shit gets hella sloppy, I prefer the folders in the 2000XL or working 1 song per floppy disk on the MPC60.

What I did like was the resonant filters, especially on the kicks, it gives you that old Tribe sounding kick from Midnight Marauders era. And although MPC Mike Goins will disagree I do think the 3000 sounds slightly better than the 2000XL but the 60 kills em all.

Besides that I much prefer the 2000XL and I found my perfect change of pace machine in the MPC60. Way better value than the 3000, people seem to hate it around here only cos its old.
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By keepintouch2004 Tue Sep 16, 2003 3:19 am
mesh what are you talking?? the 3000 snares sound weak? are you crazy, the 3000 has the hardest punch than all the drum machines in the world.

the 60 doesnt have that mighty punch like the 3000 but if you're doing an R&B beat its great to have warm drum sounds so it doesnt sound to popish.

By CrOwNPRinCe60 Wed Sep 17, 2003 5:37 pm
DOVESKI-"60 kills em all."

FO REAL, FO REAL!!! I usually sign on as schedge ii but, I'm at work and forgot my password. Since there's a firewall, we can't access our personal e-mail!
ANYHOW, as far as the MPCs, I started off with a 2000xl. It has the 32 megs and zip drive. I am going to get the 8-out board as soon as I can find it. My man works at guitarcenter and he'll hook me up but, they're never in stock. I heard the efffects board is nice but, I haven't heard it yet. I was always satisfied with the wayt the 2000xl sounds ( I used to use cubase, still use soundforge) People always seem to sh*t on the sampler of the 2000xl but, I think it sounds nice. It doesn't sound weak like these software programs do! I mean, the snares are thick, the kiks kick! I love it!
So, after I bought the 2000xl, I automatically became a citizen of planet MPC. I started learning about the 3000, 60, Roger Linn, just everything about the fam. So, of course I became interested in the 60. The 3000 to me, just wasn't as appealing, due to the fact that it was so expensive. Besides, it was 16-bit just like my 2000xl and, although it had roger linn's signature on it, I didn't really see how it would be that much better than my 2000xl. I know that there's the whole " Groove Theory" behind the Roger Linn/nonRoger Linn MPCs. Well, anyhow, I just became drawn to the 60. I loved the way it looked, the fact that it was completly revolutionary considering when it came out and what was out before it. To me, the 3000 was just building on top of the foundation that the 60 had put down to begin with! I figured if I was gonna go with another MPC, it was gonna be the 60. So, for about 6 months I was searching one out. I almost bought one so many times. Finally, I saw one on ebay and got in touch with the owner. It had the exp memory, o.s.3.10, SCSI and, it was practically flawless! It barely had any signs of use, unlike the ones I had seen prior tht had looked like they had been through a war. And, on top of everything, it was cheaper than alot of those.
Conclusion, the thing is SICK! I love every aspect of it. even the 26 second are ill. I use it to trigger my 2kXL and my a3000. If I want my drums to sound grimey, I'll sample them into the 60, for that 12-bit sickness! I don't know if it would be sufficiant as the only peice in a studio but, it's the best center peice I've ever known of.