Worth swapping my MPC500 for the 2000(non XL)

Worth swapping my MPC500 for the 2000(non XL)???

I know the MPC500 well, had it about 6months or so now, it is a ridiculously buggy machine but i have lernt to work with it and continued to produce music with it.

The main things i'm not happy with are that it can be difficult to 'slightly' downgrade/color/distort the sound of a sample in a plesent way, the build quality of the 500 is questionable and i have had minnor parts break (and had to fix them) but whats most annoying is that the MPC500 OS is really really very poor, there are a lot of essential things it lacks (which i have had to find workarounds for), i wouldnt mind it that much if the OS was solid but it is not, it often frezzes, crashes and so on, which is a big dampener on my creativity.

So since i'm pritty broke my only real option if i wish to swop my MPC500 for anover model is the 2000 original(non XL) as both go for a simalar price 2nd hand.

I'm willing to give up the portability (which i love) of my MPC500 if the MPC2000 is solid as a rock?

I understand i will need external FX with the MPC2000 but a few guitar pedals should do the trick (i already have 1 pritty digital nice one with reverb, distortion, com, Eq and so on, which i use with my rackmount sampler) and a few guitar pedals wont hurt my pocket to much (and possibly could offer better FX then even the legendary EB16).

I could compare the 2 MPCs in question (the MPC500/MPC2000) on wiki or whatever but from experience with gear in the past (both Akai and non Akai) i have realised it really means nothing, what matters more is how the machine actually funtions in the real world (rather then what Akai claim it can do, because Akai are not always 100% honest).


So could anyone with real world experience with the MPC2000 or even better it and the 500 give me some realistist feed back as to weather or not you think it would be in my intrest to switch up my set up?

OH. Just one more thing, i may want to use my MPC to sequence my Akai rackmout sampler (S3000XL) the MPC500 is actually quite good at doing this so any feedback on how good the 2000 is at playin back recorded midi/sending to an external device and also live triggering of its pads mid'd out to an external device or midi in from a midi keyboard going through the MPC2000 and out to external devices, would be GOLDEN!!!

As you said, you know the 500 well.

The 2000 holds no secrets at this stage, read this forum and decide for yourself.

Or ask these guys, you'll still end up having to read.

500 shouldn't freeze are you using a generic power adapter?
If anything hold on to it get your money right and get a used 1k.

At this stage in the game the 2k and 2kxl are the worst MP's.
Not old enough to be classic and not new enough for modern workflow.

After all these years of owning MP's here's how I rank them.

1. Maschine (w/ Komplete and Miroslav )
2. 5k v2
3. 1k w/ JJ and new pads
4. 2500 w/ JJ
5. 500
6. 3k
7. 4k
8. 60
9. 2kxl
10. 2k

Sovereign wrote:500 shouldn't freeze are you using a generic power adapter?
If anything hold on to it get your money right and get a used 1k.

At this stage in the game the 2k and 2kxl are the worst MP's.
Not old enough to be classic and not new enough for modern workflow.

After all these years of owning MP's here's how I rank them.

1. Maschine (w/ Komplete and Miroslav )
2. 5k v2
3. 1k w/ JJ and new pads
4. 2500 w/ JJ
5. 500
6. 3k
7. 4k
8. 60
9. 2kxl
10. 2k

You our outta your **** mind You think a 1k with jj is better than a 2500 with jj???? um that makes no sense at all......You can't start your list of best mpc's with a non mpc, they don't compare sure its workflow is cool for computer users but the pads arent the same and i make beats not wanting to ever look at a pc screen or click a mouse. And to top it off you think a 500 is better the 4k Get your head checked, 500 is made for portability PERIOD, if i was doing studio work it would be the last one i bought,

Cee the 2k has a more solid body, is stable in the os now and has the classic pads. The cons are you are going back in time with the os but the 500 doesn't really have that much anyways so i would trade if the screen is good, you'll fall in love with the sound of the a/d converters the first time you play drums out of it

Some of the 2500's have ghost pad problems that makes them select and change functions and that's a real problem.
Makes it a nightmare dealing with any functions selected or adjusted by the shift to pad functions.
Lots of us had this problem.

The 500 beats the 4k because it's a specialty machine that serves a specific niche.

Maschine was listed because it's the first thing to come along that allows you to work like the MP but gets rid of the biggest problem all MP's have which is tracking to a DAW or recorder.

The 2k has just too many missing functions no matter how you look at it and I still laugh every time someone tried to say the 2k or 2kxl has a desirable sound.

Anyone who has been fortunate enough to own multiple MP's and compare them will understand.

I have owned multiple mpc's the a/d converters do make a difference since numark bought out akai, and i have yet to come across any ghost pad issues with my 2500

Pad problems

http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=120940

http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php ... 6f252466a0

http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=73283

http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=552273

http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=520177

http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php ... sc&start=0

Dude these were all on the Akai os, and most the treads were from 06-07, your argument is not valid, show me pad issues with the jj on the 2500

"You our outta your **** mind "
Co-sign! MPC1000 JJ with new pads is better than a MPC4000?

"and I still laugh every time someone tried to say the 2k or 2kxl has a desirable sound."
I do agree with you on this though..

I wouldn't trade the MPC500 for a 2000, but the XL is a very stable machine, has folder support, and most importantly, doesn't need a boot disk! The bad thing about anything older than the 2000XL is its age. SCSI in 2011 is wack, and trying to find parts for them old machines (scsi HD's, floppies, etc) is getting harder by the year.
Personally, I would go the software route but if you absolutely need an MPC, sell the 500 but put a few dollars towards a cheap 1000 or a 2500.

Sovereign wrote:500 shouldn't freeze are you using a generic power adapter?
If anything hold on to it get your money right and get a used 1k.

At this stage in the game the 2k and 2kxl are the worst MP's.
Not old enough to be classic and not new enough for modern workflow.

After all these years of owning MP's here's how I rank them.

1. Maschine (w/ Komplete and Miroslav )
2. 5k v2
3. 1k w/ JJ and new pads
4. 2500 w/ JJ
5. 500
6. 3k
7. 4k
8. 60
9. 2kxl
10. 2k

YES the 500s do freeze and crash, these are known 500 errors, you also get ghost pads to! And sometimes the 500 flips bank by it's self. If you own a 500 and this has not happened to you then you really have not pushed the machine to anything near it's full capability, some of the fault are only triggered by use of the 500s more advanced features.
I HAVE TESTED SEVERAL MPC500S INCLUDING ONES FROM SHOPS ON DISPLAY AND I HAVE TRIGGERED THE FREEZE FAULT VERY EASY IN EVERY 500 I HAVE TESTED.

As for your comments about the 2k/2kxl i could not disagree more and no offense but your top ten is questionable to say the least.

I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT I AM NOT REALLY INTERESTED IN ANY OF THE NEWER MODEL MPCS (1000,2500,500), I FEEL THEY ARE VERY POORLY BUILD, THEY ALSO LACK ANY COLORING OF SOUND/SAMPLES, WHICH FOR ME IS A BIG PART OF WHAT MADE THE MPCS GREAT.

PS, also no offence but i am not at all interested in NI maschine and never will be, i have tested out display units many times for hours at a time at several stores, its build quality is poor, the pads are poor, in stand alone mode it is poor, the VST that only works in conjunction with the maschine hardware is not that bad but i do not see how it is better then FXpansion Geist used in conjunction with any decent midi pad controller? And the reason i want an MPC is to NOT use a DAW so NI maschine really makes no sense to me at all. All in all i found it overall to be very poor and not worth whatever NI are asking for it.

Sovereign wrote:500 shouldn't freeze are you using a generic power adapter?
If anything hold on to it get your money right and get a used 1k.

At this stage in the game the 2k and 2kxl are the worst MP's.
Not old enough to be classic and not new enough for modern workflow.

After all these years of owning MP's here's how I rank them.

1. Maschine (w/ Komplete and Miroslav )
2. 5k v2
3. 1k w/ JJ and new pads
4. 2500 w/ JJ
5. 500
6. 3k
7. 4k
8. 60
9. 2kxl
10. 2k

Yo, read up man... Mpc 4000 is a 'real' sampler, literally. so there is no way that a 500 is better. Everything you said is pretty much irrelevant, no offense. The 2k and 2kxl are more than enough for modern work flow. It's a damn beat machine to chop your samples, sequence your drums. The rest of the ish is for the daw to do. And how are the 2000 and 2xl not good enough for "modern workflow" but the 3000 is above the 4k and it doesn't even have waveform?! I don't know man... Don't get caught up into all that crap, it's not the machine but the person using it.

i need a mpc wrote: it's not the machine but the person using it.

+1

i need a mpc wrote:

Sovereign wrote:it's not the machine but the person using it.

I agree very much so, to a degree yes, aslong as were talking within reason here (but i do here that qwote and simalar ones a lot and i although it sounds good, i don't think for a second it is the whole picture).

Because lets face it a guy with a computer from 30 years ago thats the size of a room with 1bite of ram and a max sample time of half a second sample time, is never ever going to be a match for the guy with a modern day computer running a top of the range DAW with all the latest a VSTs and a few good quality MIDI controlers, even if 30year old computer guy is more tallented, its very unlightly he could compete.

That was a rather extreme example but i'm sure if you gave 1 identical twin a Yamaha DJX and the other an MPC4000, i would bet money that if you returned in 1 year the twin with the MPC4000 will of made considerably more 'good' tracks.

In other words, somtimes the machine can actually play a huge part in bringing out a persons true potential.

Sovereign wrote:At this stage in the game the 2k and 2kxl are the worst MP's.
Not old enough to be classic and not new enough for modern workflow.

Is this fact or opinion.

My 3000LE is a certified classic, released in 2000. When were the 2k's released?

Audio comes out of the outputs and you have midi ports, thats all you need. WTF is 'modern workflow'?

2k's have midi, multiple outs, SCSI, digital I/O, zip drives, card readers, 16 pads. Who needs USB to make music?

Misguided opinion, but thanks for sharing.

Let's get back to the OP's topic 500 v. 2000. I know there is already info available through searching but I am interested in everyone's feedback on this too. I have a 2000XL and 2000. I got the 2000 cheap off Ebay and might be going to trade my friend for his 500.

Anyway, from my experience with the 2000 and 2000XL I would say to save that little extra to make up the difference in a trade for an XL. There are so many features I take for granted going from knowing the XL to trying to mess around with the 2000.