I changed my mind...

After having an MPC One Retro for a short while and absolutely hating it - Felt cheap, the software was an absolute mess, it crashed all the time (this was 2021, remember that sh*tshow? ) I quickly sold it and told myself I didn't like the modern MPCs.

I still loved the MPC legacy and finally after a lot of back and forth and talking myself out of the 4000, 5000, 2500 and 1000, I finally picked up a 'fully loaded' MPC 2000XL a few weeks ago and absolutely fell in love with it. I'm super glad to have a classic MPC and a well respected one at that. The 60, 60II and 3000 are amazing, but out of my league.

I decided to sell some of my barely used and unloved gear, including my Hydrasynth 49, Digitakt, some Eurorack modules / RackBrute 6U Eurorack case (and possibly the Syntakt/Arp Odyssey - jury is still out).
All this sweet eBay money went to my head and I picked up an MPC Live II! I fully admit I did it out of impulsive curiosity, but knew I'd have 14 days to return it if I felt things hadn't improved and if maybe *I* was just wrong for the modern workflow. (I just returned an Broland RD-9 because I didn't gel with it ).

And... WOW! How things have improved since 2021! I've picked up the MPC Bible again (thanks for keeping it updated MPC Tutor!) and am beginning to click with the workflow like I never had before. The MPC Live II is still a beast after all this time. I plan to process sounds in the 2KXL and resample them unit-to-unit on the Live 2 and see how that sounds/feels. I was at the point of telling myself to await the next generation of MPC, but my impulsiveness decided it couldn't wait. I know I'd love the MPC X SE, I mean just look at it, but I love the form factor and portability of the Live II, the speakers are pretty damn good as well!

Anyone else have a turnaround on the modern MPCs like that? Anyone using legacy and modern MPCs side-by-side?

I was a little frustrated when a picked up my first MPC. I had some buyers remorse but I researched the purchase throughly before getting it and resolved in my mind that the problem was me. This was the best hardware tool I ever had as far as sequencing so I rode it out. Others were getting great results so it wasn’t broken.

Long time 2500/1000/500 user since 2006. Also had the Live MK1, sold it after a couple of months cause I didn't like it for different reasons. Gave it a second chance with a One. Sometimes I liked it, sometimes I didn't. Made a beat with it every now and then, but the 2500 was still my main piece. Lampdog told me that having the extra Q links would make a world of difference and eliminate most of the problems I had with it. When the XSE was released I gave the modern MPC's a last try. Made a ton of beats on the X by now. Went back and forth between the X and the 2500 for a while as well. Till recently I liked the sound of my 2500 beats more than my X/One beats. Now after a couple of years working with the modern MPC's I finally feel like I have control over the X, and my X beats now sound better than my 2500 beats. I still boot up the 2500 every now and then, but less and less often with every month that passes.

I could never go back to my XL or 1000. The convenience and depth of what you can do on the modern mpcs is too much to give up

But my workflow and priorities are much different than others I suspect. If I had a studio of gear with tons of resources it might be different. But since I can do whole albums on this thing I’m good.

Side note: I do agree that the one feels kinda cheap and like a toy. I didn’t have that feeling with my Live. But for the price I’m not complaining

I have a MPC One and I loved it from jump street. I recently got a Live 2 and I'm going to either sell the one or just give it to my homie. The only reason the Live 2 doesn't feel like a toy is because it has a heavy battery in it. If it didn't, it would feel just as light and airy as the One does. With that said, I do like the bigger drum pads of the Live 2 and I kind of prefer the shortcut pads to be rubberized instead of "clicky" like they are on the One. The One has more shortcuts from the face of the unit, but I don't mind going into the MENU key on the Live 2 and getting where I want to go. I've made a ton of beats on my MPC One and I'm making just as many on my Live 2. I love the modern MPCs and think they blow the old school joints out of the water in terms of the type and amount of music you can make on them. Paired with a midi keyboard you're golden... I wish I could get a MPC X SE but that's too rich for my blood right now. I DJ as well and I already have a very expensive DJ setup, plus a battery powered DJ controller. I want to get the new Pioneer CRSS12 turntables for my DJ setup before I'd get the X SE. I'm good with the Live 2 and look forward to making dope music on it!

J.O.BEATS wrote:If I had a studio of gear with tons of resources it might be different. But since I can do whole albums on this thing I’m good.

yah i think this is a very key point. i don't have tons of outboard (i'm buying my first real analog compressor in a week after years of virtual compressors) but i have a big chunky 24 channels inline studio desk with nice pres and great eqs , some real cool effects (korg stage echo, strymon magneto, spring reverbs, strymon big space,some cool distortions including a trogotronic valkyrie that can act as a valve saturarion unit) so using the multiple outputs on the mpc 1000 with the mixing desk and the outboard make things sound great and i prefer this workflow to the mpc live i still keep and use here and there. but if i didn't have some stuff in the studio i'd definitely use the live more for its great internal mixing environment and plugins.