Looking for some Beginners Luck.

Hey guys,

so i've just sold my Akai MPK61 keyboard with intentions of copping an MPC, something I love about these things. Yet I'm new to the whole thing.

What i would really like to know is what MPC would be most suited for beginners?(If one) and what are the differences between each of them?

appreciate your time if anyones got any feedback

peace&love

Lots depends on budget and application. What's your budget and what are you planning to do with it? Once you add that info you'll get a swarm of suggestions. Good Luck

thanks bro, that makes sense. i'll be sitting on £300-£350 budget wise & I'm looking to chop samples an take it back to that authentic hip hop. Let me know if you need to know anything else, appreciate ya time!

For that budget and flow. You got the MPC2000, MPC 1000 and MPC 500.

The 500 is the smallest but master it and its supreme to all other MPCs. None will be able to stand when you got a 500 in your hand.

Ill-Green wrote:For that budget and flow. You got the MPC2000, MPC 1000 and MPC 500.

The 500 is the smallest but master it and its supreme to all other MPCs. None will be able to stand when you got a 500 in your hand.

Thank you ill green, could i ask the difference between those 3? also, in your opinion, what makes you rate the 500 so highly?

I owned a 500. Really pissed off that I sold mine as I find myself yearning for one almost daily

It can do almost everything the 1000 can do and I'm sure everything a 2000 can do. It has the advantage of CF card over the 2000 and less can go wrong, 2000s have screen issues which is expensive to replace.

The 1000 has a few more features that I know of which the 500 lacks. Mainly for me 16 levels decay and attack. With JJOS it might add a lot more that I'm not aware of. The extra 4 pads of the 1000 didn't bother me but depends on your workflow it might benefit you to have 16. I will say that you'd be lucky to get a 1000 for less than £350, most the ones I see go for more as they're normally kitted out.

For me it would be between the 1000 and 2000 even though I love the look of the 2000. The working with floppy disks would piss me off eventually and it would cost a lot more to install CF reader (don't quote me on that it's just they normally sell for £400+ On eBay when CF ready.

Check out these custom 500s and that should make your mind up. Especially inflict's!!!


http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=110908&start=300

You cannot go wrong with a 1K or the 500.

WARNING ABOUT THE 500:
If you are 100% new to MPCs the 500 may be more of a hindrance than a game-changer for you. If you have not used an MPC before (or are very unfamiliar in general) then I would suggest an MPC 1000 at first. If you find you're comfortable with it, maybe down the road add a 500 to your arsenal.

But yeah - no way you can't rock out with a 1K or 500. I'd skip the 2000 just because of the limitations & screen issues. A 2000XL w/ new screen and a CF/SD reader would be dope though, but I think that is a bit outta the budget!

I consider myself a beginner and have only used my 1000 w/ JJOS OS1. I'd like to get a 500 but to supplement the 1K, not in lieu of. From what I understand, medaris is right about the 500 being harder to learn on, one reason being that you cannot view waveforms when chopping. It's all done by ear, which is a good skill to have but may slow up the progress a bit. I don't think you can go wrong with either but I personally chose to go a bit bigger and grow into it.

If you're coming from a DAW environment then the 500 might be bit harder to get your head around because of the small screen. But it forces you really to focus on the basics and there are not too many bells and whistles that will distract you.

Like Ill Green said, once you've mastered it you can learn yourself a great workflow and be very lethal with it. I've had several 500's, buying and selling them every now and then when I need to be mobile or need cash. Like a Swiss army knife it can be all you need to survive and always good to have one laying around the house.

You guys are great. learning a lot. appreciate the help. Think i may just head into the deep end an grab the 500. price wise works for me also will force me to get my head down & learn. blessings people

IMstubborn wrote:You guys are great. learning a lot. appreciate the help. Think i may just head into the deep end an grab the 500. price wise works for me also will force me to get my head down & learn. blessings people

If you do get the 500, I and almost every other 500 owner on this forum would recommend you to get the MPC 500 bible from the MPC-samples sister site. For the price, the info and workflow is invaluable. A lot more informative than the manual.

Good luck

Definitely the 1000, which with JJOS is as good as the MPC2500 bar a few hardware differences like less outputs and slightly smaller pads.

The 2000 is a great MPC too and I loved mine but floppies and SCSI are not for me anymore unless the machine really offers something unique.

The 1000 is modern enough not to get on your nerves.