500 vs. 2000xl

hi there!

i currently own a mpc 500 and now have the opportunity to change it for a 2000xl (the orange one).
i worked with the 500 now for quite a while and have no problems with it so far.

could you tell my why to change my mpc (or why not)?

i think it's nice to stick in the memory flash card in the 500 and skip through my drums without loading them..
as far as i know you have the floppy drive on the 2kxl with very limited space + you have to load every drum to pre-listen..

am i right?

what about the ram? is the 2kxl memory full after 58 (or something like that) seconds of sampling and can't handle no more?

what about the sound quality? i heard that the 500 sounds very sterile and the 2kxl got a way waremer & authentic sound... ?


you see, questions over questions...

please share your reasoned opportunities!

thanks ya'll!

If you want a 2kxl, get one but don't get rid of your 500 for the 2kxl


sound difference is not even an issue they are both digital with same sample rate and bit depth of CD


Your 500 has more ram= more sampling time

your 500 is portable and able to run on batteries



the 2kxl is a great mahine too it represents the technology available 1999- 2004.



I have a 1000(with flash card drive and 120gb hard drive) a 2000 classic(w/floppy drive and a 2kxl(zip drive)

(where I base my own opinions on the machines)

your 500 is the little brother of the 1000 & the portability is probably the biggest plus of your 500

you are pretty much right...

except:

you can have a compact flash card reader in the XL also

it can take 32 megs of ram which is way more then 50 seconds...



however you cant just scroll through sounds on the CF card... you have to load it first yeah.

aight, thanks so far!

so is there even one reason to change to 2kxl?

4 pads more and this auto-chop function?

FreshLab wrote:aight, thanks so far!

so is there even one reason to change to 2kxl?

4 pads more and this auto-chop function?

well I dont know if you are willing to go down the oldschool gear road. if the screen goes it costs like 300 to replace if you can find a spare screen. you want 8 outs it costs extra, you want the mediocre effects of the EB16 expansion... there is another 2 or 3 bills. I personally like the 2000xl. I think it does everything it does very well. it is solid and reliable. It is made tough... but it is limited compared to say the 1000 when it comes to features. But you know, the thing about the older mpcs is you connect your turn table up to it, you got your monitors or desktop speakers hooked up to it and you sit back with a stack of records and cut pieces... within a minute it is flipped into a melody.... no saving importing resampling... you just record, trim, and assign. It takes a step back and just does.

Two things: Stabillity and workflow.

thank you for your answers!

well, since i don't have to buy a new screen or some, i'm good with oldschool work flavor.
effects are not rly neccessary, since i record every track to cubase 5 in order to give them extra steez over there (fatten up drums etc)
so it ain't about the features, its about workflow.
i connect the 500 to the 1210 right now too and keep those samples coming, but trimming them is a real pain in the ass!

@eimer:
what would be the improvement in workflow and stabillity?

I've been at the same point where you are now. I've started out with the 500 and eventually felt like "hey, those 2000xl's have such a warm sound, and more pads, bigger screen, etc... i think i want one!".

Some users who had a 2000xl (on youtube) started to ask me why i want another mpc. I told them because i like the warm sound the 2000 seems to provide, and how it has more pads, etc. Workflow was also an issue for me (trimming samples on the 500 takes more time, and so on).

The people kept telling me "you don't need another mpc, you should learn to tweak the sound of your 500", etc.
What struck me the most was when some of those people told me to stop and think... if i would be looking for a better workflow, why i wanted a 2000xl? Where i had to deal with less memory, floppy disks or zip drives...

Think about it. You now have a pretty modern device which can be connected to a computer, has 128MB RAM, etc. The only thing that hinders your workflow is the small screen of the 500 and less pads. If you get a 2000, you'll have more pads, a bigger screen and maybe a little better sound. On the other hand, you'll have to deal with less sample space, not being able to connect it to your computer to copy files to and from it, etc. Is it really the better solution?

Personally, i would get an MPC2000xl for the nostalgic factor... as a machine to play around with sometimes. But that's about it. There's too many features on modern MPC's that make them easier to work with.

I'd get a 2500 if i were you. You'll have everything good from the 2000xl, plus all the modern features. I got this instead of an 2000xl, and i couldn't be happier with my decision.

PS: Trimming samples on the 500 has teached me a lot actually (because you have to do it by ear). And as far as the warm sound of older MPC's goes, i still think they have a nicer sound compared to the modern ones, but i've learned to tweak my drums and samples and most of the sound isn't the machine you are using, it's how you make it sound... and that's the same on every mpc. Or in other words, any MPC will sound good... if you make it sound good.

There is a reason modern day producers usually use the newer models from Akai.

okay, so i'm going to go this way:

i'ma check out the 2kxl (with cd drive and upgraded ram) and test it.
i'm really hot for the auto-chop function and the 4 pads more..

and when it sucks and slows down my workflow, i just swap it back.


thank's y'all for your opinions and tips for me!

"you can connect the 500 to the computer"

why is this even mentioned.. it isn't like it multi tracks via USB... it just turns your mpc into a usb card reader. with the 2000xl why would you even be using floppies or zips when a card reader can be bought on ebay for $1.25 including shipping... then you take the card out and pop it into the card reader your computer most likely already has. it is the same thing... or even you can buy a usb multi card reader on ebay for like a dollar.

as for workflow.. that is subjective. if you are good chopping with numbers then the 500 with 128 megs of ram is the way to go. if you like visual chopping, the 2000xl, 4000, or higher is where it makes a difference. the warm sound is basically a who cares thing since tracks get mastered in the end anyways. if you have an 8 input interface, the 2000xl is better then the 500, but the 2500 is better then the 2000xl. if you will never do any multi tracking and you plan to attempt a mix on board the mpc then you wont likely care about any type of 8 output expansion.

every mpc pretty much can have a card reader... the 2000xl has an atapi port so those readers can be bought like I said... for for around a dollar.

so i just received the 2kxl.

and i played around a little and gotta say:

DO IT!

the pads are smooth as hell, the filters are the pure shit, the zone mode is next level, the sound is somehow better.

just make sure to upgrade the ram and get yourself a zip drive for a little selfmade drum library to store on and you're good to go.

And now go and buy your 500 back for half the price and have them both!!!!

How come I'm always reading that 32 mb is more then like 50 seconds of sample time. Yet my 16 mb is like 10 second sample time.

Cheapstak wrote:How come I'm always reading that 32 mb is more then like 50 seconds of sample time. Yet my 16 mb is like 10 second sample time.

really? that is odd... 1mb is like 5 or 6 second of stereo sample time I believe... I could be wrong but from what I remember.