MPC 1000/2000xl vs PC with MPD24/Padkontrol

I'm talking about a dedicated computer used only for music making. I will be sampling mainly mp3 rips of records. What would you guys go for a dedicated piece of hardware (mpc1000/2000xl) or a dedicated quadcore, high ram, extremely well mantained computer with a mpd 24/padkontrol?

I will be sampling the mp3 into a emax sampler and than back into the pc or use vsts to give samples some distortion and warmth.

30 views and no replies yet...

its apples and oranges. .. I hate hate hate computer sequencers so I need hardware

p.s dont sample into mp3, sample into WAV. . mp3 compresses sound files and quality is lost.. .

I personally go with MPC1000+computer+controller keyboard.. .

I use Reason for some sounds as well

good software sequencers exist, but i've never found one that i love. working with audiotracks seems to be the strength of software--i'd NEVER want to try to do what i do in reaper with an mpc, it'd be a nightmare.

hotkeys and mouseless editing interface is an absolute must. nothing slows you down when programming drums more than a mouse. your best bet in that regard is reaper, because its midi recording is getting improved weekly and is bound for greatness.

a better-than-mpc sequencer could be coded for PC, but what seems to happen is that people integrate the mouse far too much and start making it do more than it should.

the draw of the mpc1000 grid sequencer for me is that i can move around it so fast. i can record in a note, stop, and nudge it to the exact spot i want it to be, then listen to my edit in something like 2 seconds. muscle memory is important, learning where everything is and how to get from here to there. on software, you'd better hope there's extensive hotkey/keyboard support so you can avoid that godawful mouse trap.

anyone else?

yo,

Just did a gig with lowfish with Live 7 and it rocks with my mpc. I used live 6 at a show that impressed Mr. Herren (aka Prefuse) while I was opening for him.

You guys need to get your head into Live (and heres why):

For all of you MPC heads, Live 7 now includes a slicer/drum rack allows you to automatically slice up a sample (rex/wav/aiff) and then assign each to several slots (think pads) in the drum rack. This finally adds mpc-like functionality right into the stream-lined functionality of the program.

Now imagine this:

With Live you can (easily) assign any parameter to a control. With Live 7's drum racks you can literally throw any device or sample into a slot and have a control (think pad) trigger it. What I did for my show last night was to essentially layer samples by combining by mpc and live's drum rack by assigning the various pads to the various slots. This essentially doubles your mpc capacity. Now there are things live's drum rack isn't configured to do well yet. I haven't figured out how to get it to get a drum rack to work monophonically like the mpc can. I'm sure someone will figure out a way to do this soon.

Also, nothing tracks/records/plays loops better than Live. I track and record a DJ's scratch/samples live and manipulate more easily than in any other program (and I design in Max/MSP).

New features to Live 7, the performance/audio fidelity/midi is much improved. I experienced no jitter syncing my mpc with it last night. The compressor finally have sidechaining and sounds much better.

Also, the tempo nudge feature added actually works!

peace.

I hate to tell you this, but I think you need both. To be honest you can probably do all of the things (more or less) that you can do with an mpc in a software sequencer but it is the way that you have to go about doing it that really sucks.
You will often speak to people that say mpc's are not worth getting as you can do it all in a software sequencer. This is what I was told before I first got one which I got before getting a software sequencer. The reason people say this is because they have never used an mpc at least long enough to get to grips with it. I cant believe that anyone that has owned an mpc for years has then gone over exclusively to doing everything in a software sequencer.


What Antonym was saying basically raps it all up. There is no fun picking up a mouse all the time an clicking and highlighting area's etc. Once you get to grips with an mpc the whole process is faster and feels more organic. Its basically a lot more fun. Once the muscle memory is there you press a couple of button without even thinking about it and youlay something down quickly. Things are happening before you even know it.
The way that I use it is to get the basic skeleton down on the mpc. You can kind of sketch it all out and get the main thing together. Then once this is done I pull everything into logic for tweaking and doing all the tedious stuff. I think this is faster and a lot more fun than doing it all in software.

I found Cubase 4's sequencer works really well for non-sample based recording. It to me basically is almost the same as recording with like a Triton Ex or a Motif.

But for creating my own sounds, sample based production, and overall workflow, the 1k (or any other mpc) just can't be beat currently by any software that I have ever worked with.

if windows was able to use 2 mice simultaneously
or if touchscreen technology was better implemented...

who knows

I don't think the two are all that compatiable. It's really going to come down to how you like to work. Alot of people have talked about using a mouse. To me, it's really not any different than pressing buttons on an mpc. However, it's defineatly a different feeling. Same with sequencers. I don't think software sequencers are worse by any means, most are "technically" better than an mpc's but have a bunch of features you really don't need for sampling, making things more complicated. However, that doesn't mean you have to use those features. Honestly, i'd love to say their is an answer but it's all going to come down to how you personally like to work. I've used both, i'm comfortable with both, and for me, i like software. But, it's a totally different feeling and for some reason, i always want to go back to an mpc, even if i end up selling them every time i buy one.