Sold my MPC... :(

How can you survive with 1 MIDI in and 2 MIDI out????
I was really looking at the 8000 and 8800 but that just takes the box too far backward to be usable.
I struggle for channels with with 2 MIDI in and 4 MIDI out even with a 3x 8 added.

Here's half the problem with wakai...

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/4/188/679

Not quite accurate. These are the two halves of your problem.

The direction of AKAI professional is dictated by CEO Jack O’ Donnel and Grande Holdings. Acquiring crippled companies and squeezing the last bit of life and profit from them is simply the business they are in. AKAI ran out of cash a decade ago and and ran up huge tab with creditors. Grande Holding came to the financial rescue and you have the crappy company we complain about today.

Jack O’ Donnel was recruited because of his expertise in doing what AKAI is doing right now. Ticked off off customers are collateral damage. With AKAI looking into the DAW market, the 4000 is the last of it's kind. With the 8800 from Roland and almost for certain , a new flagship poised in the next year or so, AKAI isn't about to enter pi$$ing contest with Roland. Look for more prosumer type products under Jack O’ Donnel's helm.

If the Akai hardcore put pen to paper instead complaining here, they would get the message. In this forum alone , you're really preaching to the converted.

Yeah I just started considering the 4000 lately as well. I dunno 4000 or MV??? Too many options and things to consider. I just don't much about the 4000. I've tried the MV-8800 out at GC and really liked it. I like the lay out of the linear DAW type GUI. I just don't have any access to try out a 4000. What has been intriguing me about the 4000 are the higher resolution sequencer 960 PPQN in the MPC vs. 480 TPQN in the MV (probably not a huge deal since 480TPQN is pretty high enough), Aksys seems pretty cool in terms of putting together kits on the comp (but then I've been wanting a robust machine so I can get away from the distractions of the computer and the internet). It seems at least from word of mouth that the MV basically has the same features as the 4000 but also a few other small extra goodies.

Anyone know if the 4K has a lo-fi sampling or lo-fi re-sampling option? Also what the GUI of the 4K is like? Does it have a linear DAW type sequencer GUI option? Or is it just the standard MPC sequencer view but with some extra info and places to tweak on the main screen? The MV also has more numbers that are tweakable in terms of timing and quantizing (i.e. quantizing, shuffle timing and furthermore you can tweak the quantize and shuffle strength etc.), I dunno if the 4K has similar options or if it's just the standard swing %?

As for the MIDI ports. Yeah I was thinking about that also. Roland's 1 midi in and 2 midi outs is pretty weak compared to Akai's usual 2 midi ins and 4 midi outs on most of their major machines. But one of my goals in upgrading gear is to get rid of the sound modules or at least get rid of sequencing them over midi. I wanted to streamline my studio anyway to just one major core piece (MV or MPC) and then mostly re-sampling sounds and other 12-samplers onto the MV or MPC to work with the sounds within my core machine. I was just planning on maybe just sequencing synths over midi but re-sampling 12-bit samplers onto the MV. Even with the synths I was just planning on owning 2 at most (hopefully an SE-1X sometime in the future when I get the money for it and my Novation X-Station which I mostly use as a midi keyboard anyway the synth is just an extra thing that I barely use to begin with). So tons of midi ports is not a priority. I would rather have fewer pieces of gear but very powerfuly pieces of gear to work with. I don't have a ton of modules to work with (compared to other people) anyway and I was planning on getting rid of them anyway. Just gonna keep 1 or 2 12-bit samplers and 1 synth. I find myself being unproductive with too many modules and whenever I buy them they usually just end up collecting dust anyway (gearlust is a mofukka).

Sorry for the long post. So I'm still leaning on the MV unless heads can convince me otherwise or can turn me on to the 4000.

So I finally finished a beat, well its been done for a while but i'm just posting it now. its alright, heres a link


http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=711616#711616

its the myspace link

Your Mpc Will Never Forgive You!!

Damn.

In my opinion it all comes down to what you actually need and find usefull.
Me working with DAW, system like 4K or MV would only take valuable space in the studio.
My maxed 2KXL is all I need and it surely does the job well.

I completely see your point.

The MV is a bit bulky but it still fits on my desk without being completely overwhelming.

I do see the overlap in terms of functions when you have a computer with a fully capable DAW. I just don't like USB'ing samples for editing back and forth between the MPC and the computer. Its nice having everything in one box with dedicated buttons and a fast concise way of working.

Besides in my case I got the MV real cheap barely used on eBay and actually still ended up making money by selling my MPC.

If you haven't already done so, go register at mvnation.com. I have a mpc 1000 that I haven't touched in 6 months since I bought the mv-8800. Ok, I know its unfair to compare the mv8800 to the mpc 1000 but, I got that baby hooked up to a 32 inch LCD and it's so sweet!

The mv makes it so much easier to sample, chop up sounds, or import music off CD's. I like this thing so much, my wife is starting to complain about me sleeping in my studio!

From DJ Premier's article in Sound on Sound, July 2007

Premier's preference for sticking with tried and tested working methods and gear is a recurring theme. He explains how this ties in with his quest for originality and uniqueness. "I'm in my happy comfort zone with the things I have been using, and I don't want to get caught up with having to look for things in the middle of working on songs. I tend to stick to anything that other people are not using any more, exactly because they are not using it. I still use my old Korg Trident keyboard, for instance. And I know how to use these things to enhance what I do.

"I like the difficulties of the older equipment. I don't sample with the MPC60, I just use it to trigger drums. Instead I sample in the S950 and trigger them from the MPC — everything, also my keyboards, is MIDI'd to the MPC. I can only sample 60 seconds of audio in the 950, and that also has to include kick and snare and other drum sounds, so that limits the sample time I have. This forces me to be creative with samples. If I find a sample that's longer than 60 seconds that I want to loop, the first thing I'm going to want to do is find a way to make it funky with the limited sample time I have available. I'll mentally create the idea in my mind, because the mind makes the machine do what it does. Any machine is useless without my mind making it follow my command. That's how you recognise creativity versus someone who is OK.

QUIT WORRYING ABOUT EQUIPMENT AND MAKE SOME BEATS!!!! DAMN!!

mindcontrol wrote:

indivisibleProductions wrote:For the last time, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the MV's timing.

NO, it is not the "MPC 8000" it is a MV

It works differently and has different quantize functions. If you're having timing issues it's because of one of 3 things:

1)You have no timing

2)You're using it like a MPC. It's not a MPC

3)You're an idiot.


Seriously, this shouldn't even be a debate anymore. The people that know their MV's will all tell you there's no timing issues. The ONLY people that say otherwise are people that just haven't spent enough time on the MV and gave up. It's a complex machine..especially compared to a mpc, and most people aren't learn it over night. Sorry, but there aren't menu options like "DO IT" in a MV.

Just go over to MvNation and listen to people's tracks if you're stuck on this timing thing.

they have a check waiting for you over at Roland

lol

Prophacee wrote:From DJ Premier's article in Sound on Sound, July 2007

I'll mentally create the idea in my mind, because the mind makes the machine do what it does. Any machine is useless without my mind making it follow my command. That's how you recognise creativity versus someone who is OK.

Nuff.

I don't know about the 8000 having a robotic feel, I've made some real organic sounding drum patterns on that machine. It forces you to get your groove and timing straight, **** a quantize.

i agree, these computer geeks, allways talking about slicing and dicing, sound like chefs, not musicians, i have played all of these units, and the mv 8800 is a computer toy, whats the fun of a computer, doing all the work, be creative, work the unit, think, and then you will see that the 60, 3000, 4000. are real instruments, for real musicians.