Can't decide which MPC to choose? Read these resources or post your questions here.
By d2ba Sun Oct 15, 2017 8:25 am
Anyone have both and has compared the sound quality at 44.1khz 24 bit.
Can we safety say MPC-X has dethroned the previous flagship MPC-4000?
Very curious to hear some feedback on what you think.
User avatar
By MPC-Tutor Sun Oct 15, 2017 3:01 pm
d2ba wrote:Can we safety say MPC-X has dethroned the previous flagship MPC-4000?

Not at all. The OS in the MPC Software is kind of built on the MPC5000 spec, which was very different to the Z-series sampler heritage of the 4000. The MPC X has some great features but is missing an awful lot of stuff that was present on the 4000, th MPC4000 contained a more powerful sampler at its core compared to the current MPCs.

The X is not really an 'evolution' of the 4000, it's an evolution of the MPC1000/2500/5000 which were in turn built in the MPC2000XL OS spec. These are sequencers first, samplers second. For many that wont matter, but IMO the 4000 is simply a very unique machine that has had very little, if any influence on the current generation of MPCs.

I also personally still find many workflow aspects significantly quicker on the 4000 - for example, building a 128 keygroup instrument program (assigning samples, setting root notes, adding loops etc) just goes alot quicker in that 15 year old machine due to the more efficient way everything is structured.
User avatar
By Bezo Tue Mar 06, 2018 4:35 pm
MPC-Tutor wrote:
d2ba wrote:Can we safety say MPC-X has dethroned the previous flagship MPC-4000?

Not at all. The OS in the MPC Software is kind of built on the MPC5000 spec, which was very different to the Z-series sampler heritage of the 4000. The MPC X has some great features but is missing an awful lot of stuff that was present on the 4000, th MPC4000 contained a more powerful sampler at its core compared to the current MPCs. ...
I'm only on the Touch, but I have a Z4 I've been contemplating selling.

Can you expound on some of what you say is missing? I never got close to mastering the Z4.
User avatar
By v00d00ppl Sun Sep 01, 2019 2:04 am
CharlesRandolph wrote:
Cockdiesel wrote:Should we do one? Dont have a 4000 but z8 should be about the same


I tell you right now, I couldn't tell the difference. 3000, 2000xl, mpc 60, 4000, z8, z4, s950, mpc x. :lol:



I’m running mpc 2.5 software through my Apollo twin solo gen 1. The outputs are going into Little Labs Monotor headphone amp. The headphones I used in my testing is the MDR7510. I ran the MPC 3000 émulation and now I can hear that it adds a little extra attack to the transients and maybe mid low boost. It’s different now that I have this headphone amp. I haven’t used the 60 emulation yet but I will give my review in a couple weeks, when I just used the Apollo headphone jack I couldn’t hear the 3000 emulation until I put the volume on the channel at ridiculous levels.
By CharlesRandolph Sun Sep 01, 2019 5:21 am
v00d00ppl wrote:
I’m running mpc 2.5 software through my Apollo twin solo gen 1. The outputs are going into Little Labs Monotor headphone amp. The headphones I used in my testing is the MDR7510. I ran the MPC 3000 émulation and now I can hear that it adds a little extra attack to the transients and maybe mid low boost. It’s different now that I have this headphone amp. I haven’t used the 60 emulation yet but I will give my review in a couple weeks, when I just used the Apollo headphone jack I couldn’t hear the 3000 emulation until I put the volume on the channel at ridiculous levels.


It has to be a blind test. :lol: No matter what headphones and amp we use. 99.9999999% of people cannot tell. Between a 3000, 4000, X, or MPC 60.
User avatar
By v00d00ppl Sun Sep 01, 2019 8:11 pm
CharlesRandolph wrote:
v00d00ppl wrote:
I’m running mpc 2.5 software through my Apollo twin solo gen 1. The outputs are going into Little Labs Monotor headphone amp. The headphones I used in my testing is the MDR7510. I ran the MPC 3000 émulation and now I can hear that it adds a little extra attack to the transients and maybe mid low boost. It’s different now that I have this headphone amp. I haven’t used the 60 emulation yet but I will give my review in a couple weeks, when I just used the Apollo headphone jack I couldn’t hear the 3000 emulation until I put the volume on the channel at ridiculous levels.


It has to be a blind test. :lol: No matter what headphones and amp we use. 99.9999999% of people cannot tell. Between a 3000, 4000, X, or MPC 60.


Good point. I wouldn’t really know. I could hear it better with my headphone amp but if it sounds good who am I to judge. Those blind tests fool a lot of people self included.
By CharlesRandolph Mon Sep 02, 2019 1:59 pm
v00d00ppl wrote:
Good point. I wouldn’t really know. I could hear it better with my headphone amp but if it sounds good who am I to judge. Those blind tests fool a lot of people self included.


I think the differences are more in the functions of the machine and much less in the sound quality. Not saying there isn't a small difference in sound. But many times, those differences we hear are bad caps, solder joints, etc. :lol:

Some will say it sound dirty, warm, or punchy. When it fact the machine is malfunctioning or they need to replace their audio cables and clean the audio ports. Other times it's the end user, who pushes the machine to sound a certain way, for artistic effects. Other will hear it and think it's the machine, but it's the person.

This happens in the Wine Industry all the time. People think they're tasting a 40,000 dollar of wine, when in fact it's just 2 dollar wine in an old bottle. :-D
By dryad-66 Mon Sep 02, 2019 7:46 pm
The fact that the 4000 and the X will have very different set of componants says that they will have a different sound/feel.Older samplers sound different that the newer ones.Its like every revision things change a bit.The 2000,the 4000,the5000,1000,the X/Live all sound feel a bit different.Altho they all have an 'Akai' kinda sound.Clever the way they do that.A straight sound test online i might not be able to tell the difference tho......... :smoker:

Example is my MPC 1000 and the Ren i own atm definately sound different.And i use them both to get the benefits of them.!000 is quite raw (what you put in sounds a bit different that what you get out) but clean and the Ren is nicely clean and spacious (what you put in you get out,Like a decent soundcard).For sure got different results using either.The older gear there was a lot more emphisis on the pre amping imo.The vintage modes are there way of adding a bit of that magic back in......Because there certainly not much 'pre-amp' magic in the new ones.
By CharlesRandolph Mon Sep 02, 2019 8:30 pm
"It’s easier to fool people than it is to convince them they’ve been fooled." -Mark Twain


dryad-66 wrote:The fact that the 4000 and the X will have very different set of componants says that they will have a different sound/feel.Older samplers sound different that the newer ones.Its like every revision things change a bit.The 2000,the 4000,the5000,1000,the X/Live all sound feel a bit different.Altho they all have an 'Akai' kinda sound.Clever the way they do that.A straight sound test online i might not be able to tell the difference tho......... :smoker:

Example is my MPC 1000 and the Ren i own atm definately sound different.And i use them both to get the benefits of them.!000 is quite raw (what you put in sounds a bit different that what you get out) but clean and the Ren is nicely clean and spacious (what you put in you get out,Like a decent soundcard).For sure got different results using either.The older gear there was a lot more emphisis on the pre amping imo.The vintage modes are there way of adding a bit of that magic back in......Because there certainly not much 'pre-amp' magic in the new ones.