Advice needed for gear purchase.

I've been using FL studio to make hip hop track for the last year, but as much as I like surfing the web it's just not mixing together.
So here I am trying to get some info on MPC.
I never used one in my life, but I know what it is and what it does.
I see that there's different models like the 1000, 2000, 2000XL, etc..etc.. Which model will be most suitable for future use, and for a new beginner like myself?
Also, what else is needed to have a complete beginners production setup to have the MPC running?
Some peoples have told me before to go with a workstation like the roland fantom series, or the motif series since I know how to play keys, but are there anybody here that think that is not a bad idea?
If somebody can lead me to some good options I would really appreciate it.

- mpc2000
- a good set of monitors
- mixer
- multi track recorder
- keyboard (midi compatible)
- external zip and/or cd drive
- midi cables, instrument cables

how much can you spend?

I'm looking to spend about $2000.
and for the mixer.. does it have to be a dj mixer or can I purchase a big board for later vocal recording?

you know,a DJ mixer is for....djing,it's not comparable to a real mxing desk...btw, what do you want to buy with 2000 dollars? A MPC,then what? A computer with the softs,or a hardware recorder....2000 is not very much...you'll only buy a part of what you need.....

MPCVORE: That is what I meant. I was asking you if is a better idea for me to just purchase a mixing board instead of purchasing a dj mixer since I'm eventually going to be doing recording down the road.
The reason why I asked was because when I get a turntable for sampling I will need a dj mixer to power them up, so instead of me spending the money on a dj mixer I was asking you if a mixing board will work.

Right now I have a computer loaded with cubase sx, cool edit pro, with 2.8ghz P4, 512ram, 160gig, and with XP.
What else will I need in order to have a nice recording setup after I have the production part of it straight? or will a nice mixing board do the job with a nice mic.

And as far as the production part goes.. I think I'm just going to go with a 2000xl, some sound modules like the triton trinity rack, or the roland MV5050, etc..etc.. with a nice midi controller to go along with.

What do you think of my idea?? Thanks for the help in advance.

concerning your comp+soft,you look to be well equipped.concerning the turtable,you don't need a DJ mixer just to "power" it.....you can look for a little preamp like (ie)the BELLARI one....sure that a good microphone is fine for recording smoe vocals or others acoustic gears.....BTW,do you have a PCI card (or other ) to connect your audio devices to your comp?

I was using FL a long while before I finally got the mpc.
FL is great but the fruityeq never quite did it for me.I think you will like the mpc coming from software. Its very different and provokes a different kinda creativity.
Get really good moniters that pick up a wide range cause you can sample anything and a midi keyboard a regular mixer, dj mixer won't cut it, you'll eventually need more channels then it has.

Thanks everyone for the support, but for some reason I still can't decide so I will tell you guys and gals how exactly I am trying to produce my music, and where I am trying to go with it in simple noob terms.

I want to basically use the 2000xl to sequence, and use the pads for only the drums because I can't see my self hitting the pads for guitars, strings, etc..etc..

So therefore I'm pretty sure that I will need a controller to trigger the sounds(guitars, strings, etc..) so I already purchased the M-Audio radium 61 controller.

BUT, I want to be able to control each sounds seperately so I can tweak to my liking. So I was looking at some mixers, but I don't have any idea which mixer can do this job well.

Let's say I have 1 song complete and I really like it, and I want to sing/rap over it. Maybe not anytime soon, but eventually.
How do I do this in conjunction of what I'm trying to do above?? I can't quite figure it out, but that is not important as I can probably take my finished track to a pay studio for recording session if I really wanted to.

On my FL studio it was very simple.
I could just route each sampler channel to each channels in fx, and tweak the crap out of it. Once I finished with a track then I could just transfer it to cool edit's multitrack and record vocal over it if I wanted to.

But I can't go another day in front of my computer trying to make a song. I have no problem if I was using it for recording, but making beats on a computer and surfing the internet on the computer is just not mixing together for me.

Please bare with me.
HELP

Well, he's on the forum, that shows he probably has a computer already, so invest in some multitracking software and a good sound card. Also, the MPC2000XL Studio is going for like 1399 at zzzounds.com. So, a sound card, software, mic, monitors and an mpc should do you ok. For 2000 dollars you can build a halfway decent setup, say a mpc1000, mbox, a mic, and some monitors probably would run about 2 grand. Assuming your computer is strong enough to run the pro tools software that comes with the mbox.

Man I love the MPC, to death at that...... but u play the keys, don't exclude options like the Triton, Motif, the list goes on and on.... cuz if you're not gonna be real big on sampling, then u might just wanna get one solid piece that can suit all ur needs.... The Motif always worked for me, before and during my time with the 2000xl, and just the same the triton has done wonders for otha peeps....

how much money do you got to spend???

how many times has this question been asked??? i want to produce, i want this, i want that. yall, just buy a piece of gear, preferably an mpc , and go from there. you dont want to go buy a ton of gear right off the bat, it'll end up slowing you down cuz you wont know how to use it all. plus, once you do learn it, there will some new hot piece of gear that you'll want and all your stuff will be dated. cop a 2000xl and learn that ish.