MPC 3000 vs. MPC 2000XL

Whatsup yall ...im tryin to decide whether to buy a 3000 or a 2000xl. jus wana know which one everyone thinks is the best and y ...thanks peace!

I have owned the mpc2000xl and just got the mpc3000le here. They both have pros and cons but to make it short. The soundquality of the 3000 is better. I find the interface easier to use and it has 4 midi outs. The mpc2000xl however can work with wav files. The graphical interface while editting samples can also be helpfull.


To see what is best for you, it is better if you could tell how you want to make your music. What soundmaterial are you going to use in what way.

did u try the MPC4k ?

thegreatmuffin wrote:The soundquality of the 3000 is better.

What dose that mean? Are you saying the MPC3000 samples at a higher bit rate? Clarify your self for us less fortunate to experience this listening comparison.

Hi Ron, both the mpc2000xl and the mpc3000 works with 16bit 44.1kHz so I always believed they would sound the same. But the first thing I noticed when I got the mpc3000le at home was when I sampled some drumkits. Somehow it sounded different. I got the feeling that my kicks were punchier, that the lower regions were stronger (I think you should find someone where you can try one out, because I'm everything but technical to explain).
The technical specs show just the same on both machines, so my only explanation for now is it has to do with quality of used components for the 2000 and 3000.

"Somehow it sounded different"

Funny since they use the same components in both machines for the audio path.

Well, in that case I am still looking for an explanation. So if anyone can shine a light on that I'd be delighted. I mean, a sampler is just a sampler. There are differences between the sounds (for example the bd) of various tr909's. but that is something I thought was easy to expain. But the mpc's are samplers and if the electronics are the same then they should sound the same. I find it hard to believe that every mpc will sound slightly different as with many real analog synthesizers. So if every 3000 sounds exactly the same, then every 2000 will sound exactly the same as a 3000.

I bought my mpc3000 for the extra midi outs and to keep the user interface extremely simple. I didn't buy it because it should sound better. If I would be hoping on a better soundquality I'd probably bought the 4000 because of it specs. The discovery that it sounded different came to me as a complete surprise.

Anyway, if all mpc's should sound exactly the same then the anwer to the question of the topic starter would be simple. If not needing the extra midi outs, then the mpc2000xl is the only right way to go. It's a hell of a lot cheaper and has got loads of extra functions that can ease your life.

And if my mpc does not sound different then just pretend I am hallucinating

But if there is any chance someone can explain it, please do.

"But if there is any chance someone can explain it, please do. "

You likely have a self induced bias since you are looking at the equipment whilst playing it. I run the 2k vs 3k test all the time but on people with their back turned to the machines. I'll load the same sample into both machines and randomly play one or the other (through a mackie mixer and mackie HR824's in a acoustically treated room. If they can correctly guess 10 out of 10 times they can have the machine of their choice. No one ever makes it past 5 and still have both machines.

TR-909's are a different story. Analog signals are susceptible to number of imperfections in the older manufacturing process of that time. Another significant matter is that the TUNE on the 909 BD is very coarse and impossible to adjust to identical amounts on two machines. A slight variation in pitch is much more perceptable than a change in volume. I owned two 909's back in the 90's.

Digital equipment pretty much undergoes an automated mass manufacturing process in which there is little room for variation. Even if there are subtle differences it does not affect the flow of 1 and 0's in discrete digital signals.

mpc3000 wrote:You likely have a self induced bias since you are looking at the equipment whilst playing it.

Hmm, could it be? Because the looks of the mpc2000xl are a hell of a lot better and apart from the two extra midi outs, it has more usefull functions, too.

TR-909's are a different story. Analog signals are susceptible to number of imperfections in the older manufacturing process of that time. Another significant matter is that the TUNE on the 909 BD is very coarse and impossible to adjust to identical amounts on two machines. A slight variation in pitch is much more perceptable than a change in volume. I owned two 909's back in the 90's.

That's the reason I was looking for an explanation. Like I said, analog stuff is easy to explain. But hey, I'll just keep it on self induced bias then, as a result of the 2 extra midi outs, something like that.

don't they use different sampling engines? like s2000 and s3000?

I bought my mpc3000 for the extra midi outs and to keep the user interface extremely simple.



why didnt you just buy a midiman midibox for the extra midi ports?

"don't they use different sampling engines? like s2000 and s3000?"

Depends on what you mean by sampling engines. Features? Hardware?

There is less of a difference between the S2000/S3000 than people realize.

Boogie Man wrote:why didnt you just buy a midiman midibox for the extra midi ports?

Because then I still can't assign more than 32 midi channels, can I?

The DAC's in the 3000 are higher quality; that's why it sounds different. They used cheaper components to build the mpc 2000/xl.
DAC's make a hell of a difference; ask anyone who swears by apogee dac's. It's debatable; software and dsp has a hand in this too.

This is why if you tweak the 2000xl on a mixer you can make it sound brilliant. Eq, compression and fx can make anything sound bright.
Str8 out of the box the mpc 3000 stands out because of the high quality DAC's.

DSP, processers make a hell of a difference; math changes everything man. But software controls the dsp right?
Poor build using similar components can screw things up too. Then there's software and os support.
A good example in the difference between cd players and sound quality is this article:
http://popularmechanics.com/technology/ ... dex3.phtml

"The DAC's in the 3000 are higher quality; "

I have both service manuals here and both models uses the same DAC's, same ADC's, and same DSP.