By
barzin
Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:49 pm
I'm a MPC 2500 owner (fully loaded) and I spent a few trips and many hours at Guitar Center with the MV 8800. I actually had good conversations with the guy at Guitar Center and we figured out some things.
You can always fix the 1x2 midi problem with MV with 16x16 MIDI router. An extra step here and there, but once it becomes second nature, it should be easy.
With some decent/old used effects you can route all 8 outs of the MPC to different effects and presto, great effect and filters for the MPC.
Ableton Live 6 or 7 with a middle-of-the-road notebook computer and decent 8 x 8 audio interface can turn your MPC 2500 into a something out of this world. All the features of the MV 8800, plus you get better pre/post production, tons of effects, the big VGA screen, etc, etc. You get the drift. Its two pieces yes, but if you're gonna point in click anyway.... why not use some better software, plus MV 8800 + Flat Screen = 2 pieces too!
Though the MV 8800 is better all-in-box... it isn’t' exactly excellent for post production, pro-consumer post at best. I'm not interested in posting on my Beat Box. I can post in Nuendo... SOOO MUCH BETTER. I like to create and play music with real gear, but when I want to record something... I break out the recording studio ala DAW. Ya know???
The MV 8800 out of the box just sounds punchier. The same sample is bigger, fatter, just better through the MV verses the MPC 2500 (not sure about the 4000, they didn't have one, but I would guess it was very close to the 2500 sound).
After we ran a MPC 2500 through a FMR Audio RNC Compressor, the MPC sounds much better and punchier and it really opens up. It was as good or better than the MV. So their something about the stereo out of the MV that I wasn't seeing. It might be going through some sort of compressor/limiter. We checked, but no effects where on the channel path, so I'm not really sure.
It seems, though, you get a more accurate reproduction with the MPC. The MV colors the sound a bit... it sounds better, but non-the-less, that may not be what you want as some folks would prefer to color the sound in their own way. But then again, it could just be that MV has better converters, either way, a $150 FMR compressor can bring your MPC up to speed and then some.
Most deals on the MPC 2500 include max memory and a DVD drive. And as cheap as the MV 8800 is on eBay, the MPC 2500 is even cheaper.
To me it seems like the MPC are machine that one needs to build on. It's a flexible tool, that needs to be complimented with other gear. It is not stand alone instrument, this because of this it seems more Professional to me. Most All-in-one boxes seem very prosumer to me ala MC-303-MC-909, RS7000, MV-8800 (perhaps maybe a little... hmm????). When Roger Linn Designed the MPC he created a drum machine that allowed musicians to create great grooves and MIDI patterns with their own samples... a production studio was not the mission.
Finally, there is a ton of new and old gear out there, why limit yourself to a MPC or MV. How about the Spetralis? Or the new Book Chick coming out by Roger Linn and Dave Smith. Or what about Jomox Xbase, Electron MachineDrum, and tons others that I can't think of right now.
I decided against buying a MV 8800. Instead I'm going the MPC 2500 + Ableton live setup. Like I said, if you’re gonna point and click anyway... There are actually a lot of folks out there who swear by the MPC + Ableton Live setup. Yeah, it's more expensive, but it's worth it and it seems to be a decent solution to the MPC versus MV delama. (for me at least)
Lastely, Don't count on Roland or AKAI... count on yourself and be creative... lot's of mix-match options that blow away having just a MV or MPC... think about it... there is a huge universe of gear available to make music, you're only limited by your creativity, try everything and change it up often...
my 2 cents.
