I have seen the future

And it is the MV-8000. Was just in Sam Ash playing with this thing for about a 1/2 hour and with the little time I spent on it, I can say for sure they are going to give Akai execs some sleepless nights.

This thing is the real deal! It has a much more user friendly interface, incredible feel, quick funtionality, and is just fun to use in general. I was able to do anything I wanted without even cracking open a manual. It has a much more graphical interface.


This could be the 4000 killer. I am considering getting one. I will need to look more into it. I'm upset that it doesnt have an MLAN option. MLAN should be the standard for audio assigns...Anyway, just played with it so I thought I would chime in.

From the little I have seen of its interface the MV-8000 reminds me of the Fantom-S. Do you have any experience with that synth? Watch out for small differences. The Fantom-S has no end loop point. I hope Roland didn't implement looping the same way in the MV-8000.

Hey, JusDFied.
I checked both out side by side at guitar center, and the mv-8000 looked like a shameless bite of the mpc. And i don't like how the screen is stuck in a fixed position. I also heard that the mv has a lower sampling rate that the 4k-that means lower quality sound.Do you like it more than the 4k?
I think the 4k is just the ultimate machine out right now, but i dont own
one yet so im not aware of all its quirks and flaws.

MPC-Pro, from what little I saw, I actually do remember there being a loop end.

And to Raven, there is no doubt that the MV-8000 is an MPC bite but that doesn't neccessarily make it inferior by any means. I'm hardly saying its a better machine, I only used it for 30 mins or so. But I REALLY enjoyed playing around on it. And this is for sure, it is at least intially easier to get around than a 4000. The GUI on it is near perfect. I found myself getting anywhere I wanted without knowing anything about the system.

The effects on it are plentiful and very manipulitable. It has a real-time time stretcher which will be an invaluable tool to any sample based editor. I don't know...Im gonna take a look at one.. When I first heard of it, I laughed at the thought of a Roland byte of an MPC, but after using it, I'm going to look further into it.

I'm not a fan of Roland synths and I hate the Fantom...I currently have a Motif ES so I am obviously more for sound over GUI but there was no denying that that MV has some potential. Go look at one yourself and you'll see...It looks like a bad mamajama.

Interesting. I'm a great fan of Roland synths, love the Fantom-S88, hate the Motif ES.

The MV-8000 GUI is very much like the Fantom-S. Did you actually get to hear the machine? Not that it would matter really as anything that costs $2,300 isn't going to sound bad. The fully expanded unit is closer to $3,000 with the additional outputs and VGA connection. This ought to put it out of the reach of a lot of MPC buyers.

I would like to buy the MV-8000, but the honest to god truth is I just do not have the time for it. This year alone I bought numerous new things, both hardware and software. At least one new item every month. With the MPC1000 on the way, I can't handle another new machine soon. It's going to have to wait at least a few months.

If you haven't used an MPC4000, don't sell it short. It is a terrific MPC, much easier to use than any of the other models because of its GUI. You can't go wrong with it.

And with Akai raising the price of the Le model. I can get mutlitrack audio recording, a cd rw, more memory, and a hard drive in the mv8000 for the same price. I am not giving up my mpc2000xl but I will be upgading to somethin new next year so i can gig with the 2000 and I am wondering...

Pro, I own an MPC 4000 so I know it, and love it. Do you own a Fantom? And if so does it have the same sequencer as that one? I am really not a fan of the Fantom as I just don't like the sounds in it. I do want to get a Virus though. The GUI is nice looking though. I did hear the MV by the way and it sounded nice...It was set ut to a pair of those crappy Samson monitors they have everything running out of at Sam Ash so who really knows but what I heard sounded tight. I was messing around with some of the demos and adding effects and changing around the sequences of the demos and stuff like that.


One draw back is the load time...Even if you are not loading a project, it still takes like 30-40 seconds for it to prepare to be used. This is all manutea to me because I could give a crap about 40 seconds but this kind of stuff seems to bother some people. The pads had a nice feel time and there are 6 banks of 16....It's the effects though, they are really sick and there are a friggen TON of them...What seemed to lack though is any real support for outputs...So you definately are going to need to spend some money on it. It pisses me off that there is no MLAN support. MLAN is the greatest advancement in audio technology since MIDI and it's not catching on fast enough for my mind. By the way, why do you hate the ES, this thing is rocking my world...It was a **** to learn but it intergrates so well with Cubase and it's got mad effects..dual insertion effects on 8 parts, not to mention chorus, and reverb effects in addition to those on every part, and a 5 band EQ on every track...What's not to like, unless you dont like the sound, but the thing is off the chain with sound...except for leads but I got a Triron for my leads....

I dunno kids, I think an 8000 might be in my future...Imma have to keep testing.

Thats a lot of money to spend if you already have a MPC. Dosn't seem worth it, 2 midi outs, 16 bit, 128 midi tracks. Seems like you should get more for your money. The 8 audio tracks are RAM tracks like the old ASR use to have, Its not like theres a VS 2480 in that thing. It records to ram and plays as a audio track. It plays a sample as audio..get it. You can do that with a MPC.
The 4000 is a monster, and The MV really isnt a fair comparison. Its like half the machine. BUt to each there own. If it right for you then do it.

About the ES...everyone has different interests. I didn't like it because it's too much work to get anything done. Push this, press that, navigate here, go there, then press this other button. There isn't enough time in the day for that kind of learning curve if you want to have a fully equipped studio and earn income from it.

The sequencer engine in the MV-8000 shares the same technology as the engine in the Fantom-S. Roland was supposed to have made improvements and extensions to it for their MV-8000. Is the project load time really that long? The MPC4000 takes a while when loading a lot of large samples, but 30 - 40 seconds is slowwwwww for new technology. Roland must have used high level tools to develop that part of the OS.

Your post has me interested enough to pursue the MV-8000 a little further. Like everyone else, I am getting tired of waiting for AKAI and the MPC1000. Not that I need it, because I already own a few MPC's. If the MV-8000 was available now, I might give it a try. The Guitar Center stores in my area don't have it in stock and they don't know when they will get any of them. I would have to buy the unit by ordering it online now or waiting months for GC. I'll check into it again over the weekend. It looks like January or later for the MPC1000 or the MV-8000 to be in stock anywhere.

Thanks aprim for clarifying some of the info. I can piss out a book on the 2000xl but the 4000 is still vague territorry for me even though my boy has one.