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By Jaymoung Fri May 08, 2020 2:01 pm
Had to sell my live last year for financial reasons then I lucked up on a great deal for a mk3 but missed the standalone flow. Unfortunately another live isn’t in my budget and from what I see their hard to come across. I’m open to other machine I love the nostalgia that comes from sampling straight from vinyl trimming and rearranging to come up with something creative. I found a mpc 2000 for $300 that I would more then likely try to upgrade the drives to sd card or usb stick but many have said the 2000xl is the way to go. I really want a 2500 but can’t find any in my area so far the only thing I can find is a mpc 5000 but I’ve read nothing but bad reviews about bugs and what not.


Can I hear some pros and cons on the mpc 5000 or should I just keep looking?
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By NearTao Fri May 08, 2020 2:17 pm
My suggestion is to be patient and keep looking.

What is your price range? How much are you willing to invest over time?
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By Lampdog Fri May 08, 2020 4:27 pm
X/Live/One > 2500 > 2kxl > 2k
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By NearTao Fri May 08, 2020 6:34 pm
Lampdog wrote:X/Live/One > 2500 > 2kxl > 2k


But if he's only got $400 for a MPC... he's probably in the 2k or 500 range, maybe 1k.
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By Lampdog Sat May 09, 2020 1:00 am
Do not buy an MPC5000.

Do not buy an MPC2k classic.

2KXL is better (4 active programs! vs 2k classic 1 active program).
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By MPCWeapon1 Sat May 09, 2020 2:47 am
I would be patient with the MK3. Make about 50 beats with it and see if it grows on you.

I got the MK3 and it’s a different workflow than the MPC and it takes some getting used to, but the more beats I’m making on it the more I’m loving it. Except for the erratic encoders. The 2nd encoder has a mind of its own.
By JVC Sat May 09, 2020 3:03 am
Lampdog wrote:
Do not buy an MPC2k classic.

2KXL is better (4 active programs! vs 2k classic 1 active program).

I can agree on the statement above, but for different reasons;
1. File management on 2000 Classic is quite bad; you cannot make folder / directory (MPC-3000 is even worse on this matter; max partition size on MPC-3000 is 32MB! and no folder / directory support)
SCSI only, and there is no internal SCSI port in 2000 classic!
2. It is actually more pain to open 2000 Classic than XL. I WILL need to go under the hood, and it is quite time consuming to access to main board.
3. You can use inexpensive IDE Compact Flash reader to replace floppy drive. It is not hot-swappable (I don't have issue with it.) You cannot do that with 2000 classic.
4. On 2000 classic, screen is not tiltable. While it may be OK with you, I need it to be adjustable as viewing angle of the LCD screen is very narrow.
5. 2000XL is a pretty heavy unit, but 2000 classic is even more heavy.
6. Not a fan of the 2000 classic's jog wheel. (although it may not be that bad, but I couldn't get used to it)
7. I have heard the claim of 2000 classic sounds more "punchy" than 2000 XL, I'm not sure about it. (I have own 2000 classic)
8. 2000 Classic requires boot image for every boot. It is annoying!
9. (2000 Classic is still very a cool machine despite all that, but XL solves those issues, and 2000 classic is not that much cheaper than XL in used market.)
By larrybossmon Thu Jun 18, 2020 2:32 am
coming from an mpc 500 and moving to a ren

depending on your budget id try to find a ren or a studio for that price instead of a 1k or even a 5000

so my friend had a 5000, he loaned it to me for a bit to mess with once and it was **** weird lol

sort of an amazing machine but at the same time felt odd, overkilled, and not like other mpcs.

first of all its MASSIVE and i mean big. heavy as shit too. when you turn it on its like turning on an old pc tower from ur grandmas house in 1997.

but it was pretty awesome for just simplistic vinyl sampling and beatmaking. i didnt mess with the eternal synth because it was pretty awful. cool in a way but just no one would ever use it. maybe for a bassline? maybe.

but its a cool machine nonetheless

in the end i would honestly just try to find a ren or a studio. but its like lampdog said ^ ... except id put the ren/studio 2nd to the x/live/one etc