Is there a difference between 2k classic and the xl...

Lampdog wrote:

mr_debauch wrote:...the XL was always more classic than the 2000...

I'm not believing that right there, gonna have to plug up midi
headphones to confirm your story dude.

man, i still wonder how some people left these forums and had a list of shit like that they "needed" for their studio...

by the way, that midi to balanced quarter inch pic i posted was taken from a website that sells them.. how they are wired are anyone's guess... what they do is an even bigger mystery.

richie wrote:Is this going to turn into a thing where people start saying the S2000 sounds different than the S3000XL ?

That wouldn't be too farfetched to me tho. My S2K is made in China, my S3KXL is made in Japan, there's definitely some different components in there. I never compared them side by side (don't have access to my S2K at the moment) but if I did I'm sure I'd find a bit of difference.

And FWIW I did a project back in 2003 with a buddy of mine who had the MPC2KXL (I had the classic) and we put them side-by-side and preferred the sound of the classic. A completely unscientific test to be sure, and we both liked the features of the XL, but strictly speaking sound-wise, the Classic was our preference.

But on the real, we're REALLY splitting hairs here. All these machines are dope and will get you a good result.

@SEMS you hit the nail on the head with that - we do seem to be splitting hairs at this point. And to throw this into the mix -is your classic made in China or Japan?

i wish i had a japanese 2000 classic... but mine is china. It's early china though before they changed the sound.

I had the idea that all MPC 2k's and 2kXL's were made in China. Am I wrong about this? I've read that online a bunch of places that Akai stopped production in Japan and moved to China for cheaper production after the whole Roger Linn thing.

yes.. and that happened midway through the 2000 classic life span so you have some japanese and most of them from china.

Interesting, I'd love to hear an A/B test between 2000 China and Japanese makes.

MrDismal wrote:I had the idea that all MPC 2k's and 2kXL's were made in China. Am I wrong about this? I've read that online a bunch of places that Akai stopped production in Japan and moved to China for cheaper production after the whole Roger Linn thing.

I'm pretty sure that all of MPC-2000 and MPC-2000XL were manufactured in China. By mid 90s' Akai was not doing great business, because the whole consumer audio market was shrinking (only sampler business was successful for them, but it was niche market for Akai, considering how big Akai was in the 80s'.)

Just checked and both my 2000 and XL say made in China on the case. Thing is, I swapped the motherboard on the XL so if I can prove that the motherboard I have is made in Japan then I technically have the Made in Japan swag going on. Now, 3000XL's are made in Japan which was interesting because I read people on here or gearslutz that insisted 3000XL's are only made in China.

But I heard rumors the Made in China 2000 and XL use these Chinese knockoff quartz crystals which is why there are some minor timing inconsistencies when going past 120bpm. The Japanese ones use a Swiss quartz crystal mined in Babylon and cut down to size by a Korean fellow by the name of Tae A Kcid (the K is silent, so it sounds like sid). The same crystals were used in the MPC 60 and first run of the MPC 3000 which is why the timing is better and more soulful.

Bonus: Also, the MPC 1000 with the black faceplate has "better bass" and is more "soulful" than the blue versions.

richie wrote:Just checked and both my 2000 and XL say made in China on the case. Thing is, I swapped the motherboard on the XL so if I can prove that the motherboard I have is made in Japan then I technically have the Made in Japan swag going on. Now, 3000XL's are made in Japan which was interesting because I read people on here or gearslutz that insisted 3000XL's are only made in China.

But I heard rumors the Made in China 2000 and XL use these Chinese knockoff quartz crystals which is why there are some minor timing inconsistencies when going past 120bpm. The Japanese ones use a Swiss quartz crystal mined in Babylon and cut down to size by a Korean fellow by the name of Tae A Kcid (the K is silent, so it sounds like sid). The same crystals were used in the MPC 60 and first run of the MPC 3000 which is why the timing is better and more soulful.

Bonus: Also, the MPC 1000 with the black faceplate has "better bass" and is more "soulful" than the blue versions.

LOL!
Oh yes, I also I heard that MPC 1000 with the black faceplate is suited for black music, and MPC 1000 with Blue case is suited for blues.

well on a non trolling bit.. actually some people posted pics of the back of their 2000 classics... most (like mine) are chinese... some people had ones with made in japan. I dont know the thread.

@mr_debauch I don't think you're trolling man. It makes sense, the old china had more soul when they were poorer, now they're all sidechain compression on sinewaves.

Yooooo what kind of can of worms did I open?

For the record, I don't think any of the MPC2Ks were made in Japan. I dunno what model exactly was the last made in Japan, all I know is that my S3KXL says "Made In Japan". I didn't even know there was made in China SK3XLs until I saw it on the internet.

@SEM same. I don't even think there is an actual difference. I mean, how varied could the parts be. Aren't they all using the same DAC's anyway? Maybe people are drawing comparison from the 1980's SP1200's vs the 1998 re-release that used non SSM filters? (not trolling).

I think we should make a "Show your 3000XL made in Japan" thread where we artificially inflate the price on the samplers. One of my MPC's uses an 8 out card from the 3000XL which is Made in Japan which means that when I use the multi out on my XL, it has more "soul" and "analog" than the "studio expanded" XL's with the sticker on it. So what I'm going to do is spray paint the front plate and change the led lights on my XL, and put "limited edition" on it like 16squarez. Starting bid, $2500 USD for this special 2000XL people. (trolling)