1st things 1st, get a turntable get some wax earn ur stripes, this whole thing we call hiphoip is a culture, not just music, most of us had turntables and vinyl way before we ever thought we'd have an MPC...You dont know what ur missin-Diggin is fun and its an art, The vinyl sound is much thicker and fuller and warmer and way easier to sample from----If u get a turntable(unless it has a built in preamp or a line in/phono in switch) u'll need a DJ mixer a 2ch(u can cop one new or used 4 as little as $40 us)... To sample from cd's if u got a component system(every piece of ur stereo is its own seperate unit) connect the line outs to the mpc's stereo in( u'll need a pair of RCA to 1/4" cable(whatever length u need u can get)--If u have a discman get a 1/8" to dual 1/4" cable( make sure the 1/8" end is STEREO---NOT MONO)... If u have a dvd player or a cd player with a coaxial DIGITAL OUT- get a coaxial cable and connect that directly to the MPC's DIGITAL IN. Anyway yo get a table and some wax.Its the only i gets down(unless i cant find a specific joint on wax {either i cant find it or i cant afford it--cuz some joints is mad expensive like the OG Skull Snaps record} i.e.a certain drum break or sample i either download it off the net and burn it to a cd and then sample it or i use wavepad and edit the sample down to the small piece i need and save it to the memory card and load it up into my MPC. Hope this helps u.