Upgraded from 2500 to 4000 and never want to back already.

Maybe my 2500 had a defect on a "sound" perspective, I don't know but:

Just had a cat over swapping me his maxed out 4K for my Juno-106. I'm a 2500 user and have to let you guys know the 2500 is a toy. I mean the features (JJOS) are awesome and it's a great machine but the 4K is sounding so much better, the 2500 never satisfied me in it's sound. On my 25 the pot meters **** up, the dip switches are faulty.. I can write you 10 lines of defects. I have to get in to the differences in OS now and a new learning curve will come up but MAN, I'm in **** love already!

I know this is a post without a concrete message but my enthusiasm is so great I had to go downstairs and post this to you guys.

Going upstairs as we speak and spending the night with my new girlfriend! I love my 4K man! It's great and I recommend all MPC 2500 users to consider this upgrade man.

Sorry 25, you will leave my studio! Sorry Juno-106.

Whatever you do, don't go into the Ren/Studio forum and tell them how great the 4K is. They will lambaste you and laugh you out of the forum by telling you that you are crazy and that the 4K is a huge piece of garbage.

Hey Cases, Make sure you get the free samples floating around in the 4000 forum. The Juno is in that sample group. You will be pleased with the sound. Having the 4000 and that group of quality samples is going to change your whole approach to music creation.


Cheers,
Ian

Whatever you do, don't go into the Ren/Studio forum and tell them how great the 4K is. They will lambaste you and laugh you out of the forum by telling you that you are crazy and that the 4K is a huge piece of garbage.

I will never talk to people with Ren/Studio's Whatever they will tell me, they will be the piece of garbage lol. Nah no offence but I dont consider a Ren or a Studio as a actual MPC man.. it's like a PadKontrol lol.

Never tried it but also never will, just **** around.

Hey Cases, Make sure you get the free samples floating around in the 4000 forum. The Juno is in that sample group. You will be pleased with the sound. Having the 4000 and that group of quality samples is going to change your whole approach to music creation.


Cheers,
Ian

Thanks Ian, I def will check that out.

Another thing though, I figured the inputs are a bit loose/cracky. It's working fine but when I "pull/move" the cable it disconnects or distorts, I think I need to repair it cuz I dont like that, always thinking I spoil quality when such things happen. Works and sounds fine though, just does'nt feel rite.

What should I do?

Gotta love the workaround man I like to try the 3K and 5K also but I think I found my main machine rite here. Lovin it man, what a boost on inspiration. My 2500 will go for $400.

Its a damn fine machine. As someone else mentioned, once you get in to the Matrix (which sounds much more complicated than it is) you can come up with all sorts of very cool stuff. Think of it as highly musical automation. Sometimes when I mess around with it I dont get anything particularly good - and others Im like WOW. Those good musical accidents can happen a lot with that section.

The 4000 sampling engine is a true playback - what you put in is what you get back. SOme have said its cold - and really that is utter nonsense. Its simply accurate. Its not a 12 bit sampler which obviously changes the sound. But you can of course change the sound of anything you throw at the 4k using its filters and FX.

Its sequencer is the tightest hardware Sequencer there is out there - on a par with the Cirklon and even a couple of samples more accurate than the 3000, not that you could really hear that. But you can be ultra confident that your MPC 4000 sequencer is bang on so any notes you micro shift around to get the feel you want will always be played back at the exact time you intended. I have an innerclock Sync Gen which I use to Sync the MPC to a Daw using the Sync Gens sample accurate midi clock and its all bang on sync 100% of the time. Thats not to say you cant get good results from a Daw midi clock. Im just saying you can be sure your 4ks timing clock is bang on so if you ever have any sync issues the problem is not with the 4k.

Something i think is cool is the 1/96 sequencer engine option. Those original Akai chaps knew what they were doing. Its basically changing the sequencer to have the same resolution as the MPC60 and I think the MPC3000 as well as many old midi sequencers including the Atari running cubase. So basically if someone likes how they get the feel on their MPC60 and wondered why they can't quite get the same feel on the 4000 then switching to 96ppq should fix that.

Oh and do get some synth sounds in there. Whilst FX and filters on drums is cool you can experiment more easily, getting musical results whilst learning the machines abilities using synth/keys sounds. Dont worry to much about multi sampled stuff. Just throw in one note, span across the keyboard and play around with parameters.

As for the Juno 106. Its my least favourite Roland analog. Its been hyped up way above its ability. The Juno 60 is another matter - its V good. You have a far more useful (understatement) piece of kit now.

4000 sound better had both side by side and is better unit than 2500 hands down. Chopping samples on it is pAinful tho once you had did it on jj. I really liked 4k n wanted to keep it. Ak.sys is nice too

I'm happy you enjoy it. Welcome!

Congrats on your 4000! My first MPC was an MPC60. Sold it years ago & my next wasn't till I bought a new 4000. It's what I wanted LONG ago. Mine is maxed out and I don't ever plan on selling it. I think it's crazy how inexpensive they've become on ebay. I hope they stay that way in case I ever want to buy a backup!

Pilotwings wrote:Congrats on your 4000! My first MPC was an MPC60. Sold it years ago & my next wasn't till I bought a new 4000. It's what I wanted LONG ago. Mine is maxed out and I don't ever plan on selling it. I think it's crazy how inexpensive they've become on ebay. I hope they stay that way in case I ever want to buy a backup!

I'm glad people don't know what the 4k can really do. I hope they stay economical as well until I cop my back up 4k.

Yeah, the 4K is tight!
Congrats!

I owned the 500, 1000/jjos'd, and 2000(my first one) but the 4000 is the only MPC I need.
I find it funny that it's not mentioned in the mpc reviews of Vintage synth explorers... All good though!

Yeah, the 4000 is an absolute beast and it sounds killer.
Also, I'm glad the filters still sound like on the good old Akais....you can do mad filter sweeps with insane resonance. Check the triple filter...w000t!
Also, menu-wise, knob-wise etc., it definitely has the same vibe as all earlier Akais, which I love...I'm an old Akai lover.

I was making music with my 4000 last night after a long break; I've been using the Ren a lot this year. I've also used the 2500 and 2000 XL, and with the perspective I have, I must say the 4000 is by far the dopest, illest MPC there is, and the workflow is great.
One of those machines that really make you love working on music without a computer.

Wow, didn't check this thread any longer.... thanks.

Some have said its cold - and really that is utter nonsense. Its simply accurate. Its not a 12 bit sampler which obviously changes the sound. But you can of course change the sound of anything you throw at the 4k using its filters and FX.

Well I think it just doesnt add anything, not cold at all. What you put in is what you squeeze out.. IMO. Yeah well, filter and FX. I don't use them ATM, I like to fvck up some samples, you know. But effects and shit, I use 8 outs to my mackie and from there into my DAW, where the FX will jump right in.

Its sequencer is the tightest hardware Sequencer there is out there - on a par with the Cirklon and even a couple of samples more accurate than the 3000, not that you could really hear that. But you can be ultra confident that your MPC 4000 sequencer is bang on so any notes you micro shift around to get the feel you want will always be played back at the exact time you intended. I have an innerclock Sync Gen which I use to Sync the MPC to a Daw using the Sync Gens sample accurate midi clock and its all bang on sync 100% of the time. Thats not to say you cant get good results from a Daw midi clock. Im just saying you can be sure your 4ks timing clock is bang on so if you ever have any sync issues the problem is not with the 4k.

Never considered using it as sequencer :$.

Something i think is cool is the 1/96 sequencer engine option. Those original Akai chaps knew what they were doing. Its basically changing the sequencer to have the same resolution as the MPC60 and I think the MPC3000 as well as many old midi sequencers including the Atari running cubase. So basically if someone likes how they get the feel on their MPC60 and wondered why they can't quite get the same feel on the 4000 then switching to 96ppq should fix that.

I never use quantize so this is a big step up.

Oh and do get some synth sounds in there. Whilst FX and filters on drums is cool you can experiment more easily, getting musical results whilst learning the machines abilities using synth/keys sounds. Dont worry to much about multi sampled stuff. Just throw in one note, span across the keyboard and play around with parameters.

Please, explain the synth/keys part? Didn't get it.

As for the Juno 106. Its my least favourite Roland analog. Its been hyped up way above its ability. The Juno 60 is another matter - its V good. You have a far more useful (understatement) piece of kit now.

Well, actually I loved the 106 very much, it's character is insane IMO. But it was G.A.S. (the syndrom, I love to buy everything) and I never really made it useful as I love sampling and MPC shit.. THE 4000 MAN! what a machine.

Also, I'm glad the filters still sound like on the good old Akais....you can do mad filter sweeps with insane resonance. Check the triple filter...w000t!

Never used it, will try man thx.

and the workflow is great.
One of those machines that really make you love working on music without a computer.

Pff such a difference man, really it's boosting my inspiration big time.

I'm glad people don't know what the 4k can really do. I hope they stay economical as well until I cop my back up 4k.

Deffie copping a spare one when possible man I know this machine will get a price boost once people really find out. Deffie.

4000 sound better had both side by side and is better unit than 2500 hands down. Chopping samples on it is pAinful tho once you had did it on jj. I really liked 4k n wanted to keep it. Ak.sys is nice too

Didnt miss the JJ once but.. had to learn the OS a lil bit. I think It's OS rocks. On a workflow perspective, it's more logical to me.

Fanu wrote:I've also used the 2500 and 2000 XL, and with the perspective I have, I must say the 4000 is by far the dopest, illest MPC there is, and the workflow is great.

Definitely.

The layout, screen size, sequencer, filters etc, all make it a killer MPC. It's the top of the pile.

The most slept on feature is the way it can be a potent workstation though. The Akai S series libraries (some of which are amazing) all load perfectly in the 4K, and with its ability to stack, layer and split Keygroups, it makes for some potent sound combinations.

It's like the best of ALL the keygroup samplers combined with the best of the MPCs. Brilliant machine.

I have both (2500 JJOS2Xl/OS 3) and while I use software more, the two machines are the most fully featured MPC's and the 4k does kind of eek out a win with the 24 bit/96kHz and the keygroup ease of use as Coz mentioned.

It's a nice world where either machine is moving for $600-$900 maxed.

But yeah the 4k was a prophet in plastic and metal form.

One of first things I noticed is how it sounds too. I come from the a 2KXL background so the difference for me was huge.