MPC 2K with SPs workflow and setup swap!

Hey guys how's it going?

I'm in lockdown with too much time and I'm just thinking about how to expand my studio capabilities. I have a 2k (which is the brains of my studio) with a usb conversion and 8 outs going into my tascam model 24 (which can multitrack easily into Ableton) The mpc also controls a couple of synths and drum machines through a midi splitter box.

I love my 2k, but saving is always a longed-out pain for me and I'm looking at getting a newer mpc to just help me get more productive and maybe getting into live performances. Ideally I'd like a 2500 with jjos but everything I've seen for the last 2-3 months are priced stupid-high to the point I could just get a live (which I don't really want to do). I'd also obviously love some more features ! but I'm still pretty happy with what I can achieve with the 8 outs, routed into a good mixer with external fx.

This won't fix my saving issue, but I'd love to hear from people who use their 2k's or xls with sp 404s. it seems a lot of people use them as efx units, but are any of you guys doing anything more than that with them? I've seen some sp 404's for a few pennies, but the market doesn't seem anywhere near as ridiculous as 2500's. So SP's are looking quite inviting. The music I make ranges quite broadly. A lot of heavy beats, some kind of housey business, and just weird **** up shit my friend dubbed terrorcore. I wouldn't be buying an sp to try to emulate the LA guys or chase someone else's sound. I'm just looking for fun ways to get creative. I like the tactile nature of older sequencers and having to use my brain to come up with strange work arounds I guess! Also, is there anything comparable to a sp 404? I eyed up the elektron digitatakt quite a lot, but all the menu diving and buttons with 20 functions put me off. Also you can't get your samples out of them?!?!

I look forward to learning about how your work flows and how you run your setups!

Best,

Dan

well i think maybe looking at the live might actually be the right move before just writing it off since it is new....

the reason i say that is because the thing i find to be it's best feature is the ease of getting sound in and out of the box... the saving.. all that exact stuff you mentioned. yes, sure you can download sounds... use the sound packs... all that stuff i am not interested in.... but you can easily record any piece of hardware into it, out of it... resample.. all that, and you save it to a USB, SSD, or CF. it is really a good environment to record an abundance of audio from sample sources and then sort through it in your mpc project. you don't need to really think about how much sample time you took up... or how are you gonna fit that onto floppies... or what unique name you gonna give each sound because you are saving it into the same partition of the scsi drive as 10 other projects.

So I haven't had a 2k in a while. Is it the XL or original 2k? Do you have the cf card reader mod? If you cf card mod your 2k and get a USB card reader you are sorted. It's the cheapest option. Then if you add the sp404sx you can route a pair of the additional outs to that. I know a couple ppl that use this combo.

If you haven't tried the 2500 JJ route, my other suggestion is to try that. It will solve most your saving issues and give you a lot more creative options all while speeding up workflow. It will cost more than a 2k upgrade and an SP purchase. But I'm biased I just bought another 2500 for the last time.

Last would be the Live upgrade. It's about the same in price as a solid 2500. When the new update drops I will finally love mine.

FWIW. I have owned all these boxes at one point. If I were you I would upgrade my 2k and get an iPad with a cheap interface. The SP is cool and all and there are def ninjas out there with it but the iPad eco system and utilities pair better and offer more. The SP workflow and sequencing style is a far cry from the nuanced MPC style. It can be super fun and has some good tricks and creative workarounds. I never fully mastered it though. Using it as an fx box would be vastly under utilizing it. You could sample between both boxes which could be interesting. But like I said an iPad and interface just gives you more.
Upgrading your 2k is a no brainer anyway as it adds to it's value and usefulness. Get the card reader and you can swap files between iOS and your 2k.

Hey Jeriko,

Thanks for your reply! I have a 2k classic with a usb floppy emulator which is essentially the same as the cf reader, but much more convenient in my opinion. The 2500 with jjos would be my ideal but they all seem to float around a grand right now and at that price I could get a live. I guess the thing with the live is I'm really not a fan of the touch screen. Do you have a live? How do you feel about it?

The iPad interface option sounds really interesting though. Do you have any programs / names you could drop so I could do some research?

In regards to the sp, I was just looking at it cause it's still relatively cheap out here in the U.K. compared to the very few 2500s on offer. (I'm from the bay but live in the U.K.)

Thanks for your time man!

D