iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

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iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By iggychop Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:03 pm
I have an hour-long commute to the city every day from BK and I need something to keep me busy. If you DIDN'T own and iPad, would you rather cop an MPC500 or iPad and iMPC for the bus ride? Is there even any comparing the two? I have an MPC Ren at home.

Thoughts? Is the iMPC too limited?
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Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By Metatron72 Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:15 pm
iMPC is very limited. There's some fun to be had, but the feature set compared to similar apps and certainly a hardware MPC comes up lacking.

I would recommend an iPad + Beatmaker 2 over an mpc 500 if portable/commute use is the reason for use. Longer battery life, ability to have more samples/memory, ability to use up to 24bit/96khz samples compared to the 500's 16bit/44khz limitation and the list goes on.

Plus you'd have an internet device, e-reader, video player, game machine built into the same device, as well as the 100's of quality iOS music apps that are available.

I did get iMPC (I was using Tabletop already so I thought I'd get it mainly as a module for the app) but it's really not up to par at all with Beatmaker 2 or Nanostudio or even some .99 cent drum apps that are available. If you do get an iPad I say use beatmaker for all your main work but maybe get iMPC as well as you might use the export feature and load things in the Ren. (I believe it takes the 4 tracks you use in iMPC and puts them in 4 banks.)
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Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By inflict3 Wed Jan 09, 2013 1:41 am
u know i use bm2 and nanostudio and alot of these apps on my ipod touch, and have been torn as to getting a ipad, but i decided,. I have a mpc500, i like using it better then my 1000, bm2 is kinda like1000jjos2xl, but the feel aint like the 500. the fly aint even out yet, so u dont know how good it will feel,. but think about it, u gotta buy a ipad, u gotta buy the mpcfly and they are gonna charge hella for that, the apps are cheap. but u can find a second hand mpc500 for cheap, and u aint gotta have 2 things like the pad and the fly.. battery life on my ipod touch while running an app like beatmaker 2 sucks, i barely get an hour or 2. on my 500 i dont have to charge the batteries for days, i tend to keep the screen backlight turned off on my 500 to conserve power, i have some energizer rechargables... also a plus about taking the 500 around with u is all it does is make beats, this way u are not wasting ur time on the net,playing games, or doing anything else on it except making music.. its a toss up, but I say with the 500 :) its easier and feels a lil more ol`school.. just my 2 cents :smoker:
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Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By Metatron72 Wed Jan 09, 2013 1:52 am
I've seen 500's for as cheap as $225-$250 lately. Get both if you can swing it. :nod:

But yeah inflict3 makes some great points about what the 500 brings. My iPod Touch and now my phone don't do so well on battery life, but iPad Hd (3) and iPad 4 have beast sized batteries in them. I can get 6-8 hours on apps with brightness up, and push the full 9-11 hours you can use these batteries for with lower brightness settings.

I think the Fly for what it will cost is not even worth considering. Better off with a $60 Korg nanopad and the CCK Kit for $25. Less elegant yeah but way cheaper and actually on the market now. At $150 I'd consider the fly but it's gonna twice that and who knows when it drops.
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Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By Sm0keydaBear Wed Jan 09, 2013 8:25 am
iPad is a really powerful platform for production now. There's many apps in which you can dive into and get into the nitty gritty of the sounds, really great tools. The MPC500 is good, but carrying it with you everywhere is not the exact purpose of having an MPC anyways. Possibility that the MPC is actually worse moving around than anything else in my opinion. I always have to bang the pads when I'm in the mood for a good beat, but on a bus people will look at you crazy
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Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By MPC-Tutor Wed Jan 09, 2013 9:06 am
Not entirely sure I ever understood the concept of 'beat making on the go', especially in terms of commuting - if I pulled out my MPC500 on a train or bus and started bashing away, I think people would be looking at me thinking 'Hmm, what a dik'. Hardly conducive to creativity!

I normally take the ipad with me when I'm on a train for a while, but I'll normally just catch up on email or write a draft for a tutorial or article etc.
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Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By Lampdog Wed Jan 09, 2013 6:03 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote:Not entirely sure I ever understood the concept of 'beat making on the go', especially in terms of commuting

Me neither, always seemed like a sales pitch. The concentration for beats can't be done on the go while paying attention to the outside world imo.
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Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By inflict3 Thu Jan 10, 2013 6:41 am
yea, u will never get shit done on the bus with a mpc, u will get peeps asking u questions and stuff, it never fails, i mainly just chop on the go, and work on samples, the fact is if u pull out an mpc people will look at you and want to know all about it and you will get nothing done, ive used my 500 on many plane flights, only one guy stopped tapped me on the sholder and gave me a thumbs up.. i really could give a shit what anyone thinks of me though, i think i proved that tonight when i pulled up "fisting" at the apple store infront of hella people and a apple tech as i told him his favorite song was playing over the intercom,,,, hahahahha!!!! moderate that!!!! lolololol

Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By Sabotage Thu Jan 10, 2013 11:18 am
The iPad is hands down the better option if versatility is of any concern. However, beatmaking on the go is tricky business. It's all fine and dandy in theory, but when you start trying to chop ish up on a touchgreen in a moving buss that jostles around, you will quickly loose interest. It will end up being more of a excersize in trying to hit the right pixel then a creative moment.

In that respect the hardware controller would be a better option.

I find making beats on the go is more of airport waiting for a flight or at work on your lunch break type of thing. And when summer rolls around again, It much rather be out in the free then snuggled up in the lab all day. As long as you can find a secluded area without any distractions.

Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By coolderb Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:22 pm
Metatron72 wrote:I've seen 500's for as cheap as $225-$250 lately. Get both if you can swing it. :nod:

But yeah inflict3 makes some great points about what the 500 brings. My iPod Touch and now my phone don't do so well on battery life, but iPad Hd (3) and iPad 4 have beast sized batteries in them. I can get 6-8 hours on apps with brightness up, and push the full 9-11 hours you can use these batteries for with lower brightness settings.

I think the Fly for what it will cost is not even worth considering. Better off with a $60 Korg nanopad and the CCK Kit for $25. Less elegant yeah but way cheaper and actually on the market now. At $150 I'd consider the fly but it's gonna twice that and who knows when it drops.


I agree Metatron,I picked up a used 500 for $250 from GC in Manhatten.I use it with the Ipad as an intelligent controller that has standalone capabilities.It makes a neat portable studio which can be thrown in a backpack and quickly setup when I arrive at my destination.I even discovered that I can access the files on the CF card in the 500 from the Ipad using iFile.I can now chop on the Ipad and copy the files to the 500 without needing a computer!
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Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By MeSoHordey Fri Jan 11, 2013 7:30 pm
coolderb wrote:
Metatron72 wrote:I've seen 500's for as cheap as $225-$250 lately. Get both if you can swing it. :nod:

But yeah inflict3 makes some great points about what the 500 brings. My iPod Touch and now my phone don't do so well on battery life, but iPad Hd (3) and iPad 4 have beast sized batteries in them. I can get 6-8 hours on apps with brightness up, and push the full 9-11 hours you can use these batteries for with lower brightness settings.

I think the Fly for what it will cost is not even worth considering. Better off with a $60 Korg nanopad and the CCK Kit for $25. Less elegant yeah but way cheaper and actually on the market now. At $150 I'd consider the fly but it's gonna twice that and who knows when it drops.


I agree Metatron,I picked up a used 500 for $250 from GC in Manhatten.I use it with the Ipad as an intelligent controller that has standalone capabilities.It makes a neat portable studio which can be thrown in a backpack and quickly setup when I arrive at my destination.I even discovered that I can access the files on the CF card in the 500 from the Ipad using iFile.I can now chop on the Ipad and copy the files to the 500 without needing a computer!


:shock: :shock: :shock:

What is this file transfer black magic that you speak of my friend?
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Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By Metatron72 Fri Jan 11, 2013 8:04 pm
MeSoHordey wrote:
coolderb wrote:I even discovered that I can access the files on the CF card in the 500 from the Ipad using iFile.I can now chop on the Ipad and copy the files to the 500 without needing a computer!


:shock: :shock: :shock:

What is this file transfer black magic that you speak of my friend?


:shock: over here as well.

I googled it it's a jailbreak only thing but whoa it's exactly the :shock: :shock: :shock: you thought.

http://www.ijailbreak.com/cydia/ifile-1 ... pdate-ios/

"● Added support for auto mounting harddisks (MSDOS and HFS file systems) on iPad via Camera Connection Kit."

I'm assuming that includes FAT formatting if coolderb is already doing it.

I may have to jailbreak an iPad today. :-D
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Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By inflict3 Sat Jan 12, 2013 1:57 am
u can always chop on the ipad and sample ur chops into the 500, its hella fast that way too..i dont mind choppin on the 500 though, its like therapy

Re: iMPC vs. MPC500 for daily bus commute

By coolderb Mon Jan 14, 2013 5:09 pm
Metatron72 wrote:
MeSoHordey wrote:
coolderb wrote:I even discovered that I can access the files on the CF card in the 500 from the Ipad using iFile.I can now chop on the Ipad and copy the files to the 500 without needing a computer!


:shock: :shock: :shock:

What is this file transfer black magic that you speak of my friend?


:shock: over here as well.

I googled it it's a jailbreak only thing but whoa it's exactly the :shock: :shock: :shock: you thought.

http://www.ijailbreak.com/cydia/ifile-1 ... pdate-ios/

"● Added support for auto mounting harddisks (MSDOS and HFS file systems) on iPad via Camera Connection Kit."

I'm assuming that includes FAT formatting if coolderb is already doing it.

I may have to jailbreak an iPad today. :-D


iFile is really handy for not only moving samples between different devices (such as the MPC and OP-1) but also between different apps such as iMPC,Beatmaker,nanostudio,SamplR (which now has Audiobus:)
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