Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
By chap23 Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:23 am
I'm still kinda new to the 500,but i love this machine.
I've never really owned a pro piece of equipment like this,so at first i was in awe
Still in awe..lol

I 've been able to drop some ridicules shit,that have people woundering if i really made it(that makes my day!)
having said all that, i may already be at a crossroad with my lil baby.

Is there a way to record track mutes.
I've been using the track mute function to bring certain tracks in and out of my seq
Strings,Bass,some drum parts..etc

At first it was kinda hard,cuz the interface only has little dots lined up over the number of the track, so I had to remember what sound was on what track,which if i do too many tracks I'll forget which little dot mutes what.

But my biggest Issuse is ,can I record in realtime my track mutes to a seq or song within the 500.
If so how
And while using track mutes is there a way that instead of mute being listed M
I could do B for Bass, P for Piano...etc

If the 500 cant do any of the things on my lil wish list...can the 1000 do it
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By DPM Wed Mar 31, 2010 1:31 am
you could either record your mutes live...but chances are you may mess up and it would take up a lot of time and space on your hard drive. what i think most people do, including myself, is record each track on its on. then inside your DAW, you can copy and paste, mute, etc. any of your sequences. it would take a smaller amount of time to track out your sequences with the 1000 because it has more outs than the 500, but i wouldnt upgrade just because of that reason alone man.
By chap23 Wed Mar 31, 2010 2:11 am
Thanks for the quick info,
I'm in no hurry to get rid of my 500,like I said I love it.
The not being able to record track mutes is dissapointing,but not a deal breaker.

I live in Phoenix and picked mine up for 325 on craiglist and it was in mint cond with 128 ram, and two 2 gig cf cards.
But lately I been seeing 1000"s selling for 400
So It kinda got me thinking
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By Sm0keydaBear Wed Mar 31, 2010 3:30 am
As far as recording live with track mutes, the only option is DAW. Beyond that, what I started doing was just recording each sequence of the song on its own sequence, that way I have the sounds I want, and no deal having to worry about the track mutes.
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By DPM Wed Mar 31, 2010 7:47 am
chap23 wrote:Thanks for the quick info,
I'm in no hurry to get rid of my 500,like I said I love it.
The not being able to record track mutes is dissapointing,but not a deal breaker.

I live in Phoenix and picked mine up for 325 on craiglist and it was in mint cond with 128 ram, and two 2 gig cf cards.
But lately I been seeing 1000"s selling for 400
So It kinda got me thinking


yeah, i hardly do enough traveling now to use the 500. so if i could switch it for a 1000 right now, i would probably do it.
By chap23 Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:20 pm
Sm0keydaBear wrote:As far as recording live with track mutes, the only option is DAW. Beyond that, what I started doing was just recording each sequence of the song on its own sequence, that way I have the sounds I want, and no deal having to worry about the track mutes.


So if I recorded my track mutes to different seq,then I record all that as a song?
or will I have to keep swtiching my seq...either way its better than what I've been doing
By chap23 Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:22 pm
DPM wrote:
chap23 wrote:Thanks for the quick info,
I'm in no hurry to get rid of my 500,like I said I love it.
The not being able to record track mutes is dissapointing,but not a deal breaker.

I live in Phoenix and picked mine up for 325 on craiglist and it was in mint cond with 128 ram, and two 2 gig cf cards.
But lately I been seeing 1000"s selling for 400
So It kinda got me thinking


yeah, i hardly do enough traveling now to use the 500. so if i could switch it for a 1000 right now, i would probably do it.

So for a difference of 75 bucks,you would make the change and sell the 500
User avatar
By DPM Wed Mar 31, 2010 9:59 pm
definetly. its an upgrade from the 500 for sure. dont get me wrong, i love the 500. i've had it for 3 yrs. but the only thing that makes the 500 stand out from other mpcs is its portability. so unless you travel a lot or not around your studio a lot, then for 75 bucks more, why not have the 1k?
By chap23 Thu Apr 01, 2010 12:06 am
Man.....I feel a little torn
Unlike most cat's here, I will admit that I'm a hobbist, the only place im going, is to work in the mouring..lol..I keep it real.
I know having a 1000 aint gonna turn me into Dre,J-Dilla..etc

But when i do get my studio time in
I gotta make the most out of it,and that means having the fastest work flow.

Maybe i need to embrace the features of the 500,and not cry about what I feel it's missing.
I've put in alot of time and money(instructional dvd's) to learn how to work it,and I'm not sure I wanna spend another 2-3 weeks learning the 1k,if it wont improve my work flow
By chap23 Thu Apr 01, 2010 12:22 am
quote="Sm0keydaBear"] what I started doing was just recording each sequence of the song on its own sequence, that way I have the sounds I want, and no deal having to worry about the track mutes.[/quote]


Thanks Bro,That's what's up
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By Lampdog Thu Apr 01, 2010 12:43 am
How can you learn to get that "fast workflow" if you don't take time to learn your machine?

Your forever stuck at a deadend if you don't change the way you are approaching the 1k.
By chap23 Thu Apr 01, 2010 1:41 am
Lampdog wrote:How can you learn to get that "fast workflow" if you don't take time to learn your machine?






Your forever stuck at a deadend if you don't change the way you are approaching the 1k.



I think you miss the point
I know the 500,will learning the 1k give me a faster work flow vs the 500
And I dont own a 1k, so how should i be approaching it
User avatar
By Lampdog Thu Apr 01, 2010 2:20 am
A better understanding of any the machine will give you a faster workflow.
But everyone here who has jjos can atest that it will give you a better platform to hone your workflow speed
and techniques. I don't think any of the mpc's harshly hinder any workflow. IMO it's usually the user who
impedes his/her own workflow.

Short story, the more comfortable you are with your gear the better.
By chap23 Thu Apr 01, 2010 2:39 am
Lampdog wrote:A better understanding of any the machine will give you a faster workflow.
But everyone here who has jjos can atest that it will give you a better platform to hone your workflow speed
and techniques. I don't think any of the mpc's harshly hinder any workflow. IMO it's usually the user who
impedes his/her own workflow.

Short story, the more comfortable you are with your gear the better.


Now that's Real Talk
User avatar
By Lampdog Thu Apr 01, 2010 2:55 am
Perfect example.

I've had a 2kxl forever, really fast with it.

Moved to a 4k. I KNEW it was going to slow going but I was willing to "put in work"
after all, I bought it, it's mine, and that's the natural progression of things, you learn what you have.

I stuck with it about 2 hours every night for maybe 2 weeks. Transferred my workflow over to the 4k.
Meaning I figured out the menus I used alot on the 2kxl and figure out where those same menus were on the 4k
(even though they look way different, I still know it's the same spots that I used to use on the 2kxl).
I then dove into the new features that I never had before and figured out where I could use them in my
2kxl way of thinking. Now, I'm not fast on the 4k but I'm more comfortable and I got a good feel for where
my most needed menus are. I can move around through the menus and know almost where I'm going right off the bat.