A few MPC2000 XL vs MPC1000 questions

I have a SP1200 and an Akai s950, but want to add a more userfriendly sampler that will boost my work flow which is slow as a snail and are killing my music at the moment. If someone could answer this questions it would be greatly appreciated:

- Is any of the MPC models able to sample/record an input (like a bass guitar, synth or record player) while it is playing what it has sequenced so far? So I can jam along to anything I have sequenced in the MPC.

- What difference will I notice between a sampler with a sequencer capacity of 100, 000 (mpc 1000) and a sequencer capacity of 300, 000 (MPC 2000 XL)?

- What do people mean when they're saying that the MPC 2000 XL is "generally a more pro machine"? (compared to the MPC 1000). I've heard this several times.

- Are any effects on any MPC worth using, or are they just cheap and crap?

- The MPC 3000 can have 32mb of memory. The MPC2000 XL can have 32mb of memory. Do they have the same sample time?

1. i think the 1000 wiht the JJOS, you are able to sampled while in the sequence mode...

2. i dont think you'll notice the difference between the 100,000 notes and the 300,000 notes seeing as your 1200 is way lower than 300000 notes, unless you're doing long compositions, i dont think you notice....

3. they say its more pro because of the build quality..

4. the effects on the 1000 are all right, they aren't the greatest they are by no means warm, they sound like toys compared to guitar pedals and effect boxes who purpose is to be dedicated to effects...

5. they both have 32mb of memory and both SAMPLE at 44.1khz at 16 bits, so yes they all have the same amount of sample time...


man i'd recommend the 2500 or the 3000 if you really want a good machine..... i really dislike the sound of the 2000xl, its not so transparent.... the 1000, imo is way more transparent and i think the same sampling engine a/d converter is in the 2500....

Thank you for your answers djobserv.

1. i think the 1000 wiht the JJOS, you are able to sampled while in the sequence mode...

Thats a big advantage. I would like my MPC to be my only recording device so I don't have to involve any computers, and if the MPC are able to record what I'm playing while playing what I have sequenced then I don't need a computer at all.

3. they say its more pro because of the build quality..

Ah, ok. So the MPC2000xl feels like better quality because it feels less "plastic"? It has nothing to do with the electronic part of the MPC, just that the chassis, buttons and faders etc. seems more quality and are less likekly to brake down?

5. they both have 32mb of memory and both SAMPLE at 44.1khz at 16 bits, so yes they all have the same amount of sample time...

I have read that the MPC2000xl has 3 minutes sampling time in stereo and 6 minutes in mono. Is this correct, and is this minutes in acceptable sound quality? It is not like my s950 when you can get several minutes if you sample only bass sounds, but only some seconds if you're trying to sample a sound with high, mids and lows?

man i'd recommend the 2500 or the 3000 if you really want a good machine..... i really dislike the sound of the 2000xl, its not so transparent.... the 1000, imo is way more transparent and i think the same sampling engine a/d converter is in the 2500....

Since I got the SP1200 and the s950 I have enough machines that gives me that old sound. I just want a sampler that can transform my ideas into songs as quick as possible before I'll start the slow process of involving my old school samplers to get the right sound.

I want a sampler where the sound that I put into it is the sound I get out of it. Is this what you call transparent? Does the MPC 2000XL colour the sound in a negative way, while the MPC 2500/1000 aren't colouring the sound at all?

I guess my thread was kind of unecessary considering all the versus threads that exists here. I am now considering the MPC 3000, the MPC2000XL, MPC1000 and the MPC2500. I will buy one of those.

I would really appreciate it if someone could give me an 100% correct ansewer to my last question:

Name all the MPC models (with or without JJOS or similar) that can sample/record while the sequenser is playing what I have sequenced so far. It is important to me to know this because I want to record my own live instruments while my samples are playing. Thank you.

the 2500 does indeed do that

http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~mpc1000/mpc ... ck510e.htm

in my opinion and from records i've sampled the 2000xl definitely colors the sound in a negative way..

the 2500/1000 are way more transparent, you get what you put into it...

i would say just go for the 2500, it has the extra midi outs that could be helpful for syncing with your other gear... it supposedly has a better build quality.... but as with the majority of all machines it does have its problems....

Thank you for your advice

MPC 2500 is leading so far, looks like the best buy for me. I am a little bit worried that it is over kill though. All I want is a sampler with as best chopping and sampling handling possibilities as possible, and it's a bonus if it can sample while the sequencer is running so I can record live instruments like the Juno 106 and other instruments.

It's weird that the MPC2000XL colours the samples in a negative way. RJD2 made the whole deadringer album on it, and it sounds dope! Thank you for warning me, I must definitely test the MPC2000XL first if I shall consider it.

Kun wrote:
It's weird that the MPC2000XL colours the samples in a negative way. RJD2 made the whole deadringer album on it, and it sounds dope! Thank you for warning me, I must definitely test the MPC2000XL first if I shall consider it.

yeah very weird, and in my opinion complete BS! the sound difference, if any, will be minor - Pete rock uses a MPC2000XL - I don't think anyone would claim his beats sound cold, thin or whatever...
just my 2 cents

pete rock also uses an engineer to get the "final result"



deadringer sounds weird in its own way.... listen to shadows private press 2 completely different sounds...

again they had different people mix it and different people master it..

if you want something to sound like such and such then cool, that can be done by using an engineer and not straight out of the box...im just saying from my experience, the 2000xl is by no means transparent... it does color the sound whereas the mpc 1000 is transparent and does not color the sound.... you definitely get what you put into the 1000 and i dont feel i can say the same about my 2000xl

I guess I must test the MPC2000XL before I will consider it. I'm moving to Paris tomorrow, so it will hopefully be a store with the 2000XL there. I'll bring some samples I know the original sound of, and test if the 2000XL sound appeal to me.

I'm pretty sure that the MPC2500 is the machine for me though. I didn't realise it had 4 (!) MIDI outs before I saw a picture of its back. That's pretty dope, especially as I have two other machines that can be controlled by MIDI (SP1200 and s950) + the Juno 106. And if it is transparent as you said, then thats perfect. The SP1200 and the s950 are already giving me the dirty sound I'm looking for.

My new MPC shall be the machine I can draw all my ideas on, sequence on etc. When my beat is finnised, I'll run all the samples through s950 and SP1200 to get the sound I want.

You're kinda going in circles.
Neither the XL or 3k have the direct sample input to record while the sequence is palying and you say that's one of your main goals????

There are only 3 MPC that allow you to do that;
MPC-4000
MPC-1000
MPC-2500

So if that is a must have feature those are your choices, unless you want to go with something like the MV8000/8800.
Also understand with the Akai samplers when people say transparent it doesn't mean what you put in is what you get back.
It's more like not coloring the sound the way the SP, ASR, MPC60 tend to do.
The closest MPC to giving you that type of return would be using the 4k with it's higher bit and freq resolution.
If your goal really is to be able to record without using a computer why not check out some of the hard disk recorders?
There are some that sound really good and are pretty straight forward?

Thats true.

Most of my music consits only of samples, but I have a Juno-106 synth and I like the idea of using more live instruments in my music. I'm not sure yet if it's a must or not for me that the MPC can sample while the sequencer is running.

The sound coloring is not that important to me, unless it does it in a very negative way. One of my friends has a BOSS SP-404 and I didn't like that one. It sounded lifeless and mechanic, and when I sampled a really hard and punchy kick from my SP1200 into it, the SP-404 killed it and made it useless. It was nothing like how it sounded in the SP1200. I hope none of the MPC will do that to my sound.

A harddisk recorder is a good idea. Can I record many times on the same track with a harddisk recorder? Like, first record what I have seqenced on the MPC, then start the recorder and record something from the Juno on top of that, and finally record some scratching on top of that again? Is that possible with a harddisk recorder?

If I can that, then the MPC2000XL and a harddisk recorder would be a great setup. The 2000XL isn't that much cheaper than the 2500...maybe I should go for the 2500 anyway (+ a harddisk recorder maybe?). The 2000XL will cost like $800 while the 2500 is just $1300.

Seriously?
Just take some time to see what your real goal may be.
With what you currently have a Roland VS (or some other HD recorder) would expanding your workflow many times over and still keep you from using a computer.

The MPC will expand your capabilities and possibly your workflow but you will still want somewhere to track your work out or combine everything together.

So, some options to consider:
1) keep what you have and add a HD recorder
2) keep what you have and add a MV8000/8800
3) keep what you have and add a MPC
4) keep what you have and add a MPC plus HD recorder

The addition of a MPC or MV would give you sequencing ability far beyond your SP and probably inspire you in new directions.

Just some food for thought.

The part in bold is the most important. You don't have to read all this

My main problem is that when I find a sample that is ok, but I think would be a killer together with the right combination of other samples, the SP1200 and s950 just kills my work flow (or maybe I am the problem?). I'm always ending up with hearing the same "just ok" sample over and over and over again untill I got it right on the SP1200 or s950, and when I'm ready to include the sample in some kind of song I've heard this sample so many times I'm sick of it and then I need a break before trying again with new samples.

And when I want to include the Juno 106, I must either start my computer, record what I have on the samplers and then start to record the Juno. OR record on the s950, but I'm most often out of memory because it's filled with other samples I want to use.

When I have an extremely dope sample, this isn't a problem. I can just listen to the sample over and over again without getting tired of it. Then I can make beats I love. Finding a really dope sample happens rarely (I must start to digg more).

So I need a MPC that will let me test my ideas right away without all the hassle of sample time limits and other things that slows me down. I guess both the 2000XL and the 2500 will do this for me.

If I add a HD recorder I obviously don't need the sample while sequencer is running function.

Can a HD recorder like Roland VS also function as a good mixer? I sold my old mixer because I'm moving to France, and need a new one. I can't afford an expensive HD recorder and an expensive mixer. One of them must be cheap, or maybe the HD recorder can do all the work?

Kun wrote:The part in bold is the most important. You don't have to read all this

My main problem is that when I find a sample that is ok, but I think would be a killer together with the right combination of other samples, the SP1200 and s950 just kills my work flow (or maybe I am the problem?). I'm always ending up with hearing the same "just ok" sample over and over and over again untill I got it right on the SP1200 or s950, and when I'm ready to include the sample in some kind of song I've heard this sample so many times I'm sick of it and then I need a break before trying again with new samples.

And when I want to include the Juno 106, I must either start my computer, record what I have on the samplers and then start to record the Juno. OR record on the s950, but I'm most often out of memory because it's filled with other samples I want to use.

When I have an extremely dope sample, this isn't a problem. I can just listen to the sample over and over again without getting tired of it. Then I can make beats I love. Finding a really dope sample happens rarely (I must start to digg more).

So I need a MPC that will let me test my ideas right away without all the hassle of sample time limits and other things that slows me down. I guess both the 2000XL and the 2500 will do this for me.

If I add a HD recorder I obviously don't need the sample while sequencer is running function.

Can a HD recorder like Roland VS also function as a good mixer? I sold my old mixer because I'm moving to France, and need a new one. I can't afford an expensive HD recorder and an expensive mixer. One of them must be cheap, or maybe the HD recorder can do all the work?

I think most HD recorders will function like a mixer as well... have you watched the kev brown vid on youtube? I think He's EQing the sample on his HD Recorder in the begging to bring out the bass. http://youtube.com/watch?v=iHOXXsu4ehc

Thank you DarkWing. I think a HD recorder might be the thing for me. It will let me work more spontaneously than a computer I think. I just have to turn the recorder and MPC on, and I can record and EQ a beat.

It's between the MPC2000XL and the MPC2500 now. I'll buy one of them the 1st of October, and can do some more research untill then. I don't think I need to do some more research actually, it is all down to the fact that; is the 2500 worth the extra $500 it will cost me? I don't know, and I guess I will never know unless I can test them for a significant amunt of time, which I don't have the opportunity to do. So I just have to go with the gut feeling. It will be a "gamble" in any case.

I don't know if the extra midi outs and sample while the sequencer is running is worth $500. Maybe I'll have to find out more about the 2500s advantages over the 2000XL. If there is more, then I'll go for the 2500.