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By Anewfoundglory Fri Oct 23, 2009 7:39 am
Hi everyone, wow what a great forum, I hope some of you will be kind enough to help me out with my questions and help me decide whether to get one or not.

I'm used to using a kor triton synth and it's built in sequencer rather than relying on computers. I recently sold my studio setup but am looking at getting back into music again and am interested in trying things differently this time and using a whole new approach like an mpc. I've never really don much sampling before and I think I'll either love or hate the mpc range but with my current budget I can only afford the mpc500.

My main questions are regarding the sequencer..

1. When using the mpc500's onboard midi sequencer, does the midi data I record via an external synth count towards the polyphony use in the mpc? Or is that polyphony only applicable to the samples it holds?

2. Can I use the sequencer as a linear hardware sequencer such as a yamaha rm1x or qy70, with 16 or more tracks? If so, does that mean I can have 16 different synth parts sequenced to the mpc (playing back via my multitimbral synth) AND still have the remaining 32 tracks left for sequencing the samples I have in the mpc500?

I love the idea of having so many tracks available but am unsure of how they work, am I being too hopeful in considering the mpc500 to be a good alternative to a qy70 seq and Roland sp-404 sampler? It would be simpler for me to have a good midi seq AND good sampler within the same small unit than to have a seperate seq and sampler connected by midi. Then I can just midi my keyboard to the in and out of the mpc and use it for entire songs consisting of a few samples (possibly even a vocal track or is that asking too much?) and all my midi sequencing playing the external synth sounds without over-working the polyphony of the mpc?

Thanks in advance for any advice, I'm really excited about the mpc500 and would love it to do everything I need. Also considering getting a kaossilator so I can sample some good loops and riffs from it onto the mpc to play along with my midi sequencing!
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By Menco Fri Oct 23, 2009 5:16 pm
1 polyphony concearns only the onboard sounds of the sampler.

2 U can use the sequencer as a linear sequencer and as a pattern bassed sequencer. The mpc500 has 48 tracks but only 16 midi channels.

I don't have any experience with a sp 404 so I don't know how the 500's sample capabilities are compared to the sp.

IMO the mpc series has one of the best midi sequencers out there.
See if u can get an opportunity to test is somewhere. Or get one second hands, the price of a 500 is quite stable. Try it for a week and if u don't like it just sell it.
By Anewfoundglory Fri Oct 23, 2009 5:56 pm
Cheers buddy that's just what I wanted to hear :) I'm really excited about getting one and trying to compose some music using midi and sampling together more easily than with my old triton. I've got an old DJX on the way and a Kaossilator too, so I plan on having some fun using the djx with the midi sequencer (until I get a better synth/module) and sampling sounds/loops from the kaossilator and combining the two to create some tracks! It'll be nice and compact too, which is perfect for me now.

I will look out for one on eBay and give it a go (might have to wait til after Christmas now though!)