mpc500...one backwords interface.....does it get better?

NearTao wrote:

robthom wrote:Something is definitely complicated.

If I had my druthers it would all be much simpler.

Everything is complicated. The expectation is given enough knowledge/experience it should become less complicated.

If you know nothing about sequencing/sampling then the 500 is likely to seem like a crazy indecipherable box. If you've worked with sampling/daws it will probably seem quite limited. It just depends on your perspective.

I know plenty about sequencing/sampling and it's not that i see the 500 as indecipherable It is pretty damn easy to understand. but i really feel its just backwords.

I know it's limited, it's suppsoed to be. I think all the MPCs are limited, that's what their good points are...

the layout i feel just isn't worked out properly.

I feel almost that the mpc500 has TOO many features, and not within easy grasp.

I expected to get the mpc500 and just have it a fun TOY. and it's not very fun. I did shit out decent sounding stuff within seconds of playing with it, but i didnt' enjoy myself.

and the 60 is MUCH simpler than the 500, the 3k is probably as simple if not simpler than the 500.

tbh i haven't used the 500 much it's collecting dust, each time i use it, i feel like i'm using fruity loops and put it away...

"... it's not very fun."

^^

This is basically the only point all my endlessly verbose and circuitous exposition was trying to get to.

The end results of making tunes with the strength of the 5 is still fun. But the journey often feels like drudgery, and worst of all in many instances sadistically unnecessary.

Just the user not the box, it's as simple as that.

3001 wrote:

NearTao wrote:

robthom wrote:Something is definitely complicated.

If I had my druthers it would all be much simpler.

Everything is complicated. The expectation is given enough knowledge/experience it should become less complicated.

If you know nothing about sequencing/sampling then the 500 is likely to seem like a crazy indecipherable box. If you've worked with sampling/daws it will probably seem quite limited. It just depends on your perspective.

I know plenty about sequencing/sampling and it's not that i see the 500 as indecipherable It is pretty damn easy to understand. but i really feel its just backwords.

I know it's limited, it's suppsoed to be. I think all the MPCs are limited, that's what their good points are...

the layout i feel just isn't worked out properly.

I feel almost that the mpc500 has TOO many features, and not within easy grasp.

I expected to get the mpc500 and just have it a fun TOY. and it's not very fun. I did **** out decent sounding stuff within seconds of playing with it, but i didnt' enjoy myself.

and the 60 is MUCH simpler than the 500, the 3k is probably as simple if not simpler than the 500.

tbh i haven't used the 500 much it's collecting dust, each time i use it, i feel like i'm using fruity loops and put it away...

It's the user not the box, it's as simple as that.

robthom wrote:

Sovereign wrote:I own/ have owned EVERY MPC and the 500 doesn't stink compared to any of the other.
Wanna know why?
Because I fully understand whay it supposed to be and what it is.
I don't expect it to be the same as the 4k or 5k I expect it to be a 500.
Why would you compare it to them?
Akai's goal of a portable battery operated MPC was fully achieved.
They were not trying to make a poor man's MPC or an entry level MPC since that's what they felt they did with the 1k.
If you have dealt with something like the MPC60 then the you understand that they made the 500 more like older samplers.

It's actually a pretty straight forward unit.

I know what it is.
I dont have to "own every MPC" to know what I want from a sampling drum machine.

I expect to be able to navigate and utilize the functions that it comes with reasonably quick and easily without being hindered by convoluted menu's and hobbled or unresponsive hardware.

I dont know how much money you've got falling out of your pockets but I dont think thats too much to expect for 499 dollars.

I dont care what the 4000 or 5000 does, I never said anything about them. MPC OS's got more cramped and difficult after they fired Linn IMO.
The 60 and the 2000 do not have the same workflow, I've tried them.

robthom wrote:"... it's not very fun."

^^

This is basically the only point all my endlessly verbose and circuitous exposition was trying to get to.

The end results of making tunes with the strength of the 5 is still fun. But the journey often feels like drudgery, and worst of all in many instances sadistically unnecessary.

Love it or hate it, ultimately the 500 is what it is eh? Where I work the term "working as designed" gets thrown around a lot. It doesn't really tell you wether it was designed properly, to spec or anything else... just how the person implemented it for better or worse (and usually worse). This seems to be a lot of the attitude from Akai as well, less fussing about getting it 'perfect' and more about just getting it out the door with something that meets a feature sheet. The designs lately seem to me more about creating a market share/segment rather than refining a user experience.