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By fasttrackpimp Sat Mar 20, 2010 11:56 pm
Oldskull wrote:I really don't know, what to do. The mpc 3000 is just lovely cool and that should be the real mpc. But im a lil bit stressed, to switch myself from the new one to that old one. I'm using some effects. Mainly 4 band eq and a compressor. Especially for my drums. I don't chop mainly on mpc, because it takes time and it's not so precise like in sony sound forge (which i use to chop samples and tracks). Usually i'm sampling down from digital sources and chop the samples in sony sound forge. When it comes to sample a vinyl, i just record it to sony sound forge and then cut the sample. All of them i'm converting to .wav files and drag n drop to my memory card on mpc.
I can tell, that i'm not feeling my mpc 1000. I like it, but not love it. When im looking on the mpc 3000 i feel that something. Something tells me, that i will be very happy with this machine. I like the oldschool aspects of the mpc 3000. I like, when a machine is big, build like a tank n shit. But really don't want to get an headache with this low ram and without build in usb to pc port or internal card reader.
I have a few questions, that should made my decision for an mpc 3000 user:

1. Does mpc 3000 read .wav files?
2. Can i put an internal Compact Flash card reader or a hard drive in it?
3. Is there an option in mpc 3000 to chop automatically the sample, to fit the 16 pads?
4. Are there in mpc 3000 keys, which i can switch in the samples bank quickly ?
5. Is there an option like : "Pitch shift", "Time stretch" etc.?
6. Is there a chance to convert my program files, samples, sequences and shit to fit the mpc 3000 ? (I don't want to lose my beats, that ive made on mpc 1000)
7. I heard about a rumor, that in each turning on the mpc 3000 - i have to create my own program.
8. Is there a big problem with only 32mb of ram? It causes producer to be less creative? It causes to storage less long samples in one time on different pads? Or is it only matter, when im recording some sounds from turntable to my mpc 3000 ?
9. What other options doesn't the mpc 3000 have in comparison to mpc 1000 ?

For all answers - I really thank :)
Please help me made my decision. I've never had a such dilema :D



1. No, .snd files only.

2. You can put a scsi compact flash carder in it(kits available at scsiforsamplers.com)

3.Nope. It's all manual.

4.It has 1 pad bank key that switches throught he banks each time you press it.

5.No time stretch and you can only tune the sounds like in the 1k's program params menu, no pitch shift that I know of(from reading the manual).

6.Not really. The best you'd be able to do is maybe get the sequences working and if you use mpc ediotr or mpcpgm maker you might be able to get the pgms to work with the 3000, but more than likely you'll just be able to convert the wav files to snd so the 3k can read them.

7.It doesn't save setting quite like the 1k from what I've been reading. So yes(from reading the manual again) I think you'd have to make a new pgm every time you turn the 3k on as it doesn't save anything.

8.I never found 32mb to be a problem with my 2k classic. You just have to manage a little better. For example instead of sampling a 4bar sample, chopping it and keeping the 4bar original sample. Just chop it and delete the og 4bar sample.

9.Alot, but that's just part of using older tech and I'll make a list when I have more time.
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By emptysea Sun Mar 21, 2010 12:00 am
Oldskull wrote:Hello everyone. I have my own mpc 1000, and i'm quite happy with it. But my friend offered me an akai mpc 3000. Is it worth changing from very functional mpc 1000, that i can easily hook up to my pc, and drag n drop samples to mpc 3000, that will be (i guess) not so comfortable for me, when i was force to habit with the simpleness of mine mpc 1000 ? I'm in love with mpc 3000, but dont want to downgrade my setup. What's your advice?

I've had the MPC1000 too and the only move up from there is to get Maschine in my opinion. I shudder to think of going back to MPCs now. Maschine has MPC60/SP1200 sampling modes now by the way.
By Oldskull Sun Mar 21, 2010 1:29 am
1. Hmm, so I think that there's a some kind of converter.... <thinking>
2. It's quite much for an cf reader. But it sure would help me, when ill get my hands on mpc 3000
3. Now **** a witchersbroom and call me grandma !!! I MUST DO IT ALL MANUALLY? : o
How would I know, when im not seing the sample graphically - how to make it all equal pieces n shi*, to fit all 16 pads, that i can play them in the same tempo, and not losing the loop tempo? :(
5. I can survive the pitch shift, cause it wasnt so good and precise on mpc 1000. It was distorting the sample, when used more than -2/+2. So I can do the pitch shifting in sony sound forge. But I really will be missing the timestretching. I know, that i can do it also in sound forge, but in mpc 1000 - when the sample was too shortin my opinion - i was just quickly timestretching it, and everything was just fine. I dont want a situation, to put a sample on the mpc 3000, play it, decide, that it is too short, then must go back to sound forge, timestretch it to some value, create a new program, load it up again, go back to mpc 3000 etc.
6. So everything, that i must do is just convert the used samples? All sequences, programs etc. will work fine on mpc 3000? And how about those sequences and programs, when they have effects from mpc 1000 was used? They will also work on mpc 3000?
7. Can I just make a blank program with my own settings, store it on some cf card for example and load it to mpc 3000 ? Or I must every time make a new program and set it up once again to fit my preferences?
8.Got it :). I'm usually doing things like that. Just dont like the mess in all samples. I like to keep only those, that i really need.

9. Ok, I will be waiting for that list and something, that would help me made my decision, because im still wondering - will it be the best decision ever, or the worst decision ever.

I sorry for all grammar and word mistakes. I'm a lil bit drunk...
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By fasttrackpimp Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:12 am
Oldskull wrote:1. Hmm, so I think that there's a some kind of converter.... <thinking>
2. It's quite much for an cf reader. But it sure would help me, when ill get my hands on mpc 3000
3. Now **** a witchersbroom and call me grandma !!! I MUST DO IT ALL MANUALLY? : o
How would I know, when im not seing the sample graphically - how to make it all equal pieces n shi*, to fit all 16 pads, that i can play them in the same tempo, and not losing the loop tempo? :(
5. I can survive the pitch shift, cause it wasnt so good and precise on mpc 1000. It was distorting the sample, when used more than -2/+2. So I can do the pitch shifting in sony sound forge. But I really will be missing the timestretching. I know, that i can do it also in sound forge, but in mpc 1000 - when the sample was too shortin my opinion - i was just quickly timestretching it, and everything was just fine. I dont want a situation, to put a sample on the mpc 3000, play it, decide, that it is too short, then must go back to sound forge, timestretch it to some value, create a new program, load it up again, go back to mpc 3000 etc.
6. So everything, that i must do is just convert the used samples? All sequences, programs etc. will work fine on mpc 3000? And how about those sequences and programs, when they have effects from mpc 1000 was used? They will also work on mpc 3000?
7. Can I just make a blank program with my own settings, store it on some cf card for example and load it to mpc 3000 ? Or I must every time make a new program and set it up once again to fit my preferences?
8.Got it :). I'm usually doing things like that. Just dont like the mess in all samples. I like to keep only those, that i really need.

9. Ok, I will be waiting for that list and something, that would help me made my decision, because im still wondering - will it be the best decision ever, or the worst decision ever.

I sorry for all grammar and word mistakes. I'm a lil bit drunk...


:lol: Let's try this again.

1.Yes there's a converter available and the two one's that worked for me with my 2k classic(which only read .snd files too) were mpcpgm maker(for mac) and mpc editor(for pc).

3.Yes it's all manual with numbers only. If you want it in equal parts I guess get out that calculator and figure out the proper slice points.

5. "I dont want a situation, to put a sample on the mpc 3000, play it, decide, that it is too short, then must go back to sound forge, timestretch it to some value, create a new program, load it up again, go back to mpc 3000 etc." - Remember the 3000 only let's you use 1 pgm(64 sounds) per sequence.

6. No you misunderstood. I was saying you have to use mpc editor or mpcpgm maker to convert all the mpc 1000 files you want to use on the 3000, but I doubt any of those programs or seq files are going to work. So the best you'll get is just the sounds(.wav files converted to .snd files) from those projects, no pgm's or seq's, so basically, no it really won't work like that, but maybe somebody knows a work around.

I'd really say to really read the manual. It will answer most if not all of those questions. Imo I'd say you should probably keep the 1k just cause you have projects on the 1k and I'm almost certain they aren't going to load on the 3k without alot of headaches.
By Oldskull Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:17 pm
I see, that some things are quite **** up to do on mpc 3000. I can't buy myself and mpc 3000, when I have mpc 1000, cause I don't have money for it. I just must sell mine mpc 1000 or exchange it for that mpc 3000 if i want it. 1000$ is quite much in our **** up country. In Poland - we're definetly not livin the american dream...
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By boxcutter butta Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:40 am
id make that switch just learn around it. mpc 3000 is classic piece of gear id love to own one. the 1000 is nice if you question getting it don't get it. because you'll be disappointed trying to make the 3000 a 1000 when i switched to the 60 from the 1000 i was disappointed but the 60 has its own unique quirks

and even in america i don't live the american dream
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By zbigi Mon Mar 22, 2010 5:43 pm
1000$ is not really that much that's like what 2900pln at the most which is way less than what you would have to pay for a 3k if it ever should hit Allegro which it kinda did there's a listing for one at 4,5k but it ships from the states.

That is if you a)work b)know how to put money away

nevertheless i'd encourage you to get the 3k and Mess with it if you don't like it you'll easily switch back
By Oldskull Mon Mar 22, 2010 11:52 pm
Hello fellow mpc user from the same shitty and demoralized country as I am :D. Yes, I saw that mpc 3000 thing on allegro, but was quite in shock, that the man wants about 4000 pln for it (1430$ + shipping from USA) for a piece of machine, that the backlight isnt so bright, the casing is a lil bit worn on the sides, and it has still the floppy drive. (for those, that don't know what is an "allegro" it's something like ebay.com, but it has its headquarters in europe). I was talkin to that guy and he offered me new price, which is 3700 pln (1320$), but ive said him, that i can exchange my mpc 1000 or exchange it with a lil extra money to it, cause i will be in a trouble trying to sell a sampler in a poor country. Not many people can really buy such a thing, because it's quite expensive for all in Poland. He didnt reply to me, so I think, hes not interested in my offer. Besides... I saw on ebay.com some limited editions for 1400$, and even cheaper. Also the normal editions with expanded memory and a card reader for 800$, so I think, that I'm gonna hit ebay. The only problem is, that I dont have an account, that is a trusty one (I have 0 feedback, cause i didnt bought anything ever on ebay) and no seller, that I can trust - will send me that kind of expensive machine. Another problem is, that first of all - I must sell my mpc 1000, and that's a problem, cause like I've said - no one is buying in our country such an expensive things. Everybody's dreaming about it, but not much of us have the cash to buy it. Still dunno, what I would really do.

Edit: and one thing... "nevertheless i'd encourage you to get the 3k and Mess with it if you don't like it you'll easily switch back" - People in Poland dont even buy mpc 500. I would be a lil bit naive, to think, that I can easly sell my mpc 1000 in Poland, buy from that money an used mpc 3000, and if I would not like it - just easly sell it for more, than I've paid, and go back to my old "new" setup like mpc 1000, or even better - mpc 4000, if I would have enough cash to get it from the USA.:)
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By zbigi Wed Mar 24, 2010 9:47 pm
you're overplaying the whole *poor country* thing imo like we're the only european country that didn't lose anything due to the *crisis*, it's not somalia or borat style kazachstan. i mean you're from torun, you should know, one of your priests rolls in a maybach
people jump on good deals, like there was an sp1200 for 6000pln/2000usd and that thing went in a couple days (was bought in the us for like 800$)
i mean s900/s950s go for 800-900 and people get them.
if you were to list a 3k shipped from poland for 3k pln it's a sure shot

one thing you should know, i don;t know if it was mentioned is that in order to get one with a card reader you would need to get valixi os (i may be wrong on that though) which isn't cheap either and you have to switch chips on the mainboard.

"People in Poland dont event buy mpc 500" - there's a pretty good reason for that i've only met one person using that and he switched to gameboy ds for drums (meaning he's not normal to begin with)

http://www.mpchunter.com czesto maja 3k z niemieckiego ebaya, sledz sobie tam
By juice Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:35 am
You should just ask your "friend" to temporarily trade for like 2 weeks so you can try it out. Then, if you fall in love with the 3000, ask your friend if you can do a permanent trade. Just my 2 cents.
By Oldskull Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:23 pm
juice wrote:You should just ask your "friend" to temporarily trade for like 2 weeks so you can try it out. Then, if you fall in love with the 3000, ask your friend if you can do a permanent trade. Just my 2 cents.


I can't do it cause he's from the USA, and I'm from Poland. I think, that he'll not even agree to trade for my newer model, cause he is a lil overpricing that mpc 3000 in my opinion ??? :)

dryad-66 wrote:if you want to feel real quality under you fingertip id imagine the 3 is" the one".i use the 4 and i can tell you its a very deep easy unit.and you dont have the ridiculas "shift- pad" push for editing like the new boxes!!!!!!whats up with that anyways??cheers


You mean the "mode + pad" method of getting into options? :D

Btw...
In every post that comes in this topic - i'm getting much more into that mpc 3000 :). I would just buy now mpc 3000, but i must figure out how pay less for a few things. Those things are - mpc 3000 itself (I think, that I'll get it from USA, cause from germany is much more expensive dunno why...), internal plugged or mounted Compact flash drive.
By Oldskull Tue Mar 30, 2010 1:18 am
Dunno, if "edit" will make this thread signed as "new posts", so I'm submitting a new post. Just wanted to ask 2 things. They're are about the CF card reader, that can be easly or not easly attached to the sweet mpc 3000.

First things first:

1. Do I have to get myself an upgraded os such as Valixy, to make my mpc 3000 possible to read CF card ?

2. I was just thinking now, when I was making a beat on my mpc 1000. One thing is quite unsure for me. How I will easly transport samples to my CF card, and get them even to an internal builded CF Reader, when my windows xp will make this card unbootable on my mpc 3000 and vice versa - my mpc 3000 will make that cf card unbootable on windows xp, whenever I'll put it to the pc card reader or mpc 3000 internal build card reader ?
By SV1200 Wed Apr 07, 2010 4:26 pm
Im a die hard 60 User, and Ive used most of the MPCs, but in your case I'd say just stick with you 1000, unless you are trying to make money selling the 3000.

All of your questions, from internal effects, to you not even liking to chop inside a 1000 is gonna prob make you frustrated. You seem to be somewhat embedded in the 1000 way of things. 3000 is different, better build, better sound, more rock solid MIDI timing, more outs Midi and audio, but doesn't have most of the features you use. I think most happy 60/3000 users don't even mess with a computer for making beats, or care or need autochoping, more then 32MB or ram, etc...
By Oldskull Wed Apr 07, 2010 9:18 pm
That's, why I'm so much worried about that effects. They are not perfect and mainly not precise. The timestretching or pitch shifting on sony sound forge is a way more precise, than this build in mpc 1000. I'll only miss that card reader slot. The Ram is not such a scary thing. My beats are around 15-20 mb, so I'm not worried about the ram. I would only get some card reader and a vga card extension. Both are quite expensive. The card reader - 150$ plus vga card extension - 300$. I would like to exchange my mpc to mpc 1000. Make it a straight trade or pay to it a lil bit extra, but not my mpc 1000 plus 500$ extra, because I don't have this amount. If someone is interested in trading to the newer model of mpc, which is mpc 1000, that I have - Give me a sign.