mpc1000 with ext. gear

Hi guys,

i'm having some major troubles choosing between mpc 1000 and 5000.
I'm done with pc based producing, because i can't finish my tunes.
Main reason for this is that either my pc is broken or i just adjust the
sounds and can't do good arrangements. Only daw i'm happy with is FL studio,
since it is pretty quick for sketching ideas. I've also had mac mini and tried with
reason, ableton and logic. Ableton mayde would be suitable for me, but i can't
stand working with computers, because there is always something distracting me
(especially IRC).

I'm making loop based dubby triphop-ish music with few synths. Think of beastie
boys instrumentals, tricky, kaliyuga pro, madlib and lee perry meeting in
bombshelter.

I was thinking of buying mpc 1000, so i could make drumbeats and record
bass/guitarlines with it for looping. For synths i thought of Korg EMX-1 and for
some piano/string sounds Roland JV-1010. (Also i have LSDJ, and i'm about to build midibox SID)
Korg is great little piece of gear since it has five synth parts and even
somekind of crappy(?) drum machine. Roland in the other hand is very cheap and
has amazing strings and some synths for its pricerange (so i've heard and read).
Also i was about to get a multitrack recorder later (akai dps16/24/32)

I was pretty sure for this setup, but then somebody introduced me with mpc 5000.
Okay, it has pretty swell synth and internal HDD recorder which seems really
nice.
The whole machine looks good on paper, but i've read some pretty awful rewiews
about it (from 2008, now it has OS2 whick should be better?).
I guess it would fill my needs, but still..
I'm into doing lives, so i'd need mobile gear which i could put in bagback and
take with my guitar/mixer/pa amp rack to where ever i go.

I tend to do my own drum/perc loops with mixture of samples AND real instruments
and household stuff like bottles etc, so i guess i would be better to have ext.
multitrack recorder? I could just hit play from mpc and record new tracks until
i'm finished. Then record ready loop back to mpc and chop it. (yes, i like to
climb ass backwards to the tree)

My budget is around 1500 euros/ $2000 (?), so both of those setups would fit in it
(mpc 1000 around 600e/used from 350e, emx around 500e, jv 1010 about 100e), also i
need mixer for live dubbing, propably mackie vlz 1402, souncraft epm-something or
some uber old used thingy.
Or just mpc 5000 and ext. mixer.

At first i think i would record from mixer to minidisk live. Also to use it for
making my own loops, unless i got that mpc 5000.

I need help choosing, please give me pros and cons of both mpcs.
I really do hate sub menus and things like that, so that would be big pro for
1000/emx based thing.
Also would be great if i could record "real music" with various different ways,
but more than just two tracks at time (not necessary yet).

I'm lookin for a good sequencer with enough HDD
to store my recorded loops, possibility to record sound with a "overdub" style (another pattern is playing as a backing track)
and pretty simple synth at least four sounds simultaneously.



Here is few videos about what kind of sound i'm after and what way i'd like to achieve it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKe4Jkf6Oy4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe7T0AdF9f8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dtwk2ouGz-U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r01vQR9s6sc

hang around mpc5000 section of the forum and monitor the topics...see if you still want a 5000 after

maximum robot wrote:Hi guys,

i'm having some major troubles choosing between mpc 1000 and 5000.
I'm done with pc based producing, because i can't finish my tunes.
Main reason for this is that either my pc is broken or i just adjust the
sounds and can't do good arrangements. Only daw i'm happy with is FL studio,
since it is pretty quick for sketching ideas. I've also had mac mini and tried with
reason, ableton and logic. Ableton mayde would be suitable for me, but i can't
stand working with computers, because there is always something distracting me
(especially IRC).

I'm making loop based dubby triphop-ish music with few synths. Think of beastie
boys instrumentals, tricky, kaliyuga pro, madlib and lee perry meeting in
bombshelter.

I was thinking of buying mpc 1000, so i could make drumbeats and record
bass/guitarlines with it for looping. For synths i thought of Korg EMX-1 and for
some piano/string sounds Roland JV-1010. (Also i have LSDJ, and i'm about to build midibox SID)
Korg is great little piece of gear since it has five synth parts and even
somekind of crappy(?) drum machine. Roland in the other hand is very cheap and
has amazing strings and some synths for its pricerange (so i've heard and read).
Also i was about to get a multitrack recorder later (akai dps16/24/32)

I was pretty sure for this setup, but then somebody introduced me with mpc 5000.
Okay, it has pretty swell synth and internal HDD recorder which seems really
nice.
The whole machine looks good on paper, but i've read some pretty awful rewiews
about it (from 2008, now it has OS2 whick should be better?).
I guess it would fill my needs, but still..
I'm into doing lives, so i'd need mobile gear which i could put in bagback and
take with my guitar/mixer/pa amp rack to where ever i go.

I tend to do my own drum/perc loops with mixture of samples AND real instruments
and household stuff like bottles etc, so i guess i would be better to have ext.
multitrack recorder? I could just hit play from mpc and record new tracks until
i'm finished. Then record ready loop back to mpc and chop it. (yes, i like to
climb ass backwards to the tree)

My budget is around 1500 euros/ $2000 (?), so both of those setups would fit in it
(mpc 1000 around 600e/used from 350e, emx around 500e, jv 1010 about 100e), also i
need mixer for live dubbing, propably mackie vlz 1402, souncraft epm-something or
some uber old used thingy.
Or just mpc 5000 and ext. mixer.

At first i think i would record from mixer to minidisk live. Also to use it for
making my own loops, unless i got that mpc 5000.

I need help choosing, please give me pros and cons of both mpcs.
I really do hate sub menus and things like that, so that would be big pro for
1000/emx based thing.
Also would be great if i could record "real music" with various different ways,
but more than just two tracks at time (not necessary yet).

I'm lookin for a good sequencer with enough HDD
to store my recorded loops, possibility to record sound with a "overdub" style (another pattern is playing as a backing track)
and pretty simple synth at least four sounds simultaneously.



Here is few videos about what kind of sound i'm after and what way i'd like to achieve it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKe4Jkf6Oy4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe7T0AdF9f8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dtwk2ouGz-U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r01vQR9s6sc

I have both (1k & 5k). I like both a lot. After about a year with my 5k, I'm not bumping into many of the problems people talk about. Maybe I'm just not a power user, I don't know. Sampling from Vinyl is better on my 5000 because it has a built in preamp and my turntable sounds like shit on line out.

I do know that I'm using my 1000 the most these days simply because I'm limited on space, and I sometimes just like to work while I'm sitting on the couch. I don't use my 1000 with Korg ESX that much though. I intended to, and maybe still will, but I really can do pretty much everything I need to directly from the 1k.

Finally, I think the 1k has longer legs than the 5k, simply because of the JJOS updates. A lot of 1Ks have been sold too. Cheap parts should be available for years and years. I can see the 5k being expensive to maintain down the road.

If you listen to the first two videos, and compare the sound with the emx videos, you'll probably notice the emx is very bright and digital sounding. It's impossible to escape this, and as an emx owner I recognise every blip and bloop in those two tracks (almost), especially the first one. Despite the fact that it has 5 synth parts and lots of effects, it is not really all that flexible in its sound, and I think you'll end up with something sounding quite like those two videos. And that's with a bit of work trying to smooth the sounds out. Although its a great machine for playing live, its synth engine is just not up to delicate sounds. Works pretty good for aggressive trance and techno styles, but dub, I dunno.
By the way, the drums in it are probably its best feature. There is a good selection and they are pretty punchy with loads of bottom end. Pity you cant run them through the filter like in the esx but they are good all round stock drum sounds and the sequencer is fast and easy to use.

All in all though I found the emx frustrating and limiting for softer styles, as I always wanted a little bit more depth and sublety from it. If you are thinking of getting one, be sure you like it's distinctive sound.

what are you planning to use for delay/reverb?

innovine wrote:If you listen to the first two videos, and compare the sound with the emx videos, you'll probably notice the emx is very bright and digital sounding. It's impossible to escape this, and as an emx owner I recognise every blip and bloop in those two tracks (almost), especially the first one. Despite the fact that it has 5 synth parts and lots of effects, it is not really all that flexible in its sound, and I think you'll end up with something sounding quite like those two videos. And that's with a bit of work trying to smooth the sounds out. Although its a great machine for playing live, its synth engine is just not up to delicate sounds. Works pretty good for aggressive trance and techno styles, but dub, I dunno.
By the way, the drums in it are probably its best feature. There is a good selection and they are pretty punchy with loads of bottom end. Pity you cant run them through the filter like in the esx but they are good all round stock drum sounds and the sequencer is fast and easy to use.

All in all though I found the emx frustrating and limiting for softer styles, as I always wanted a little bit more depth and sublety from it. If you are thinking of getting one, be sure you like it's distinctive sound.

I would mainly use it for basses, some leads and those weird bleeppy effects with massive (external) echoes.
(Back in my FLstudio era I mainly used 3*OSC for all my sounds except pads.)

Big pro for EMX is those part mutes and 2*stereo outs (four mono if i'm correct?). Both of those features would benefit me big time.
Also it would be nice to be able to sketch songs without mpc.

terry towelling wrote:what are you planning to use for delay/reverb?

I have Lexicon Alex and Boss GT-PRO and i'm getting Boss re-20 or Danelectro DTE-1 reel echo soon. Also i'm buying back Line6 DL-4.

Little update

My friend is selling his mpc1000 to me in january, so i'm waiting for that.
Guess i need to buy better pads and do the ssd modification. Also i'm definitely getting JJOS2xl.

For pads, rhodes, hammonds and synth strings i'm buying Roland JV-1080 with two expansion cards sr-jv80-04 and sr-jv80-08.
It has more outputs than JV-1010 which is always better for my purposes.

Now i'm struggling between Korg EMX-1 and Elektron Monomachine.
Korg is "cheap", but on eBay i could get MM with about 700e at cheapest.
They both have enough outputs, but MM has way better effects and more of them.

Somebody with MM, convince me to buy one ;--)

ps. my sound somewhere in ambience/downtempo/dnb/trip hop/techno. Dubbing 5h!t up is just the melting pot.
I suppose this is the ultimate setup for doing those bad deeds.

There's four outs on the EMX; but the tubes only work on the first pair, and I think the effects only work on the first too but I dont have the machine on front of me to double check.