Drum samples/ xl or 1000

TWO PART QUESTION:

Been out of commission for awhile and I'm debating how to revamp a drum library since all of my vinyl is out of state and I can't get to it. Are the drum kits I see on MPC sights listed for a few bucks able to give me the "CRACK" I'm sure you guys know I'm looking for in a snare? And the "THUD" I'm looking for in a kick.

(I see all the ads for Dilla, Premo, Just Blaze etc. drums but I'm not a dik ryder like that....want to build my own isht).

Also; with the upcoming MPC studio soon to be released, is it worth it to reach back and cop an old XL? I lean toward it because i have a little experience with it and price is an issue. Like I said "been out of commission for awhile, so I don't know much about jjos. I do remember the storage issue with the XL, but I also remember the hard ass frequencies that came out of it.

Appreciate any feedback I can get:

i have xl and 1000. the xl is a FAR better sounding machine.

If you want a sampler that improves the drum sounds that are fed into it, the xl is not what I'd recommend.
The best bet is to pair up an mpc with a rack sampler like:

asr10r, eps16 rack

s900,s950 [Amazing on bassdrums, overdriving the inputs sounds awesome]

S1000,S1100 [As above, but much cleaner sound, also don't sound as nice when overdriven, still
one of the best machines for cleaner, sweet, but punchy as hell drums)

emax 1 [Lacks the bassend of the sp12/1200, otherwise excellent)

Did a big sampler shootout here that might help, pick the one that sounds best to you:
http://soundcloud.com/fromafarawayplace ... -shootout/

To me the only MPC that works as a drum sound improver is the 60, the S3200 in the shootout has the same sound engine as the MPC3000, personallly I don't like it, although it does make sounds punchier.

The shootout was a good sound comparison; almost like audio school. But keep in mind price is an issue for me and I want to keep a little headroom when purchasing old gear as I would like to be able to purchase the new studio also if it lives up to the Akai lineage.

I can tell you that MPC-2000XL would color the samples when it plays sample. I think it sound a but different even with the samples that are imported from my computer. It sounds different when I play it on my computer (even with a audio interface) and play the same sample on XL. XL does have its sound character.
I know some people like the way how 2000 play back samples (and some people don't), but I didn't like it initially (Now I like it though.)

I've never tried MPC-1000 & 2500 yet, but if they don't color sound, I don't think it is a bad thing. Like Lampdog suggests, you can use outboard effects to reshape the sound you are looking for.

I think music composition is far more important to focus, than collect all the classic samplers. If go into that route, you'll just end up with bunch of old hardware without producing anything with it.

You can color the samples later, or trigger the samples from other samplers of your choice, if you want. Most of the time I use sample from my vinyl collection, and I haven't used drum sound library. Maybe you are not liking the sound library you are using.

Of course, if the sound of MPC-1000 is too uninspiring for you, maybe you should move on from MPC-1000.

I totally agree that composition is far more important.. But the question was about drum colouring and sample packs.

As no one answered your question about sample packs.... it's nice to have a few of them, even if only to layer with drum hits you've sampled from vinyl and then stick them into samplers that improve the sound further.... I like to use samples from old drum machines to layer up/grunge up with samplers... I find 808 kicks as useful as ever, even if only to low pass filter and blend the tail of with other kicks.
And to that effect... Here's one of the best free 808 packs I've come across.
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/6389735-post62.html

Although the xl does colour the sound. it's not in the same league as something like the 900/950 ... which can still be bought for a good price if you shop around. Eq'ing alone will never give the same sound... Not that I'm saying that I haven't heard lots of songs recorded from the stereo outs of an xl that sounded awesome.

I agree, XL doen't sound punchy like, say, S900, but it doesn't have to be "S900/950 sound" to be punchy drum sound.

Akai S900 and S950 have become sought after machine. You won't find it cheap easily, although it is much more affordable than SP-1200. (If I can find it around us $150 or less, I'd buy it.)
By the way, I've heard good thing about E-mu ESI Series (16 bit sampler, nice, warm sounding, offer a lot of build-in effects), and they are much cheaper than Akai S series on ebay.

OK, for sample packs, I've found a lot of very good classic drum machine sample libraries on Internet.
There are a lot of garbage floating on the net as well, so make sure to check each free samples.

I use 808, 909, DMX, Sequential Circuit Drumtraks (I like the tambourine), and Linndrum samples, which were all free on Internet. I usually take samples from vinyls, but those free samples are very useful. I'd layer those drum samples.

Anyway, I sample from vinyls for drums usually, which, I think, is the easiest method to get nice punchy drum sample, regardless of sampler you are using. I've never used sample packs, except those free ones that I mentioned above.

Wave Alchemy's free samples are amazing. Free 24 bit, 98KHz samples, Get your MPC-4000 ready!
http://www.wavealchemy.co.uk/free-samples

Old site, but a lot of useful samples
http://machines.hyperreal.org/manufacturers/

Good DMX sample here:
http://www.dubsounds.com/samples-drums-index.htm

JVC wrote:I've heard good thing about E-mu ESI Series (16 bit sampler, nice, warm sounding, offer a lot of build-in effects), and they are much cheaper than Akai S series on ebay.

I have my reservations, friend of mine has owned about every sampler made, sold all his newer emu samplers, also the midi timing on the S900/950 is unbeatable. The newer emu line are not very tight in that area from what I've heard.

szr wrote:

JVC wrote:I've heard good thing about E-mu ESI Series (16 bit sampler, nice, warm sounding, offer a lot of build-in effects), and they are much cheaper than Akai S series on ebay.

I have my reservations, friend of mine has owned about every sampler made, sold all his newer emu samplers, also the midi timing on the S900/950 is unbeatable. The newer emu line are not very tight in that area from what I've heard.

Yeah, I do hear that Emu samplers are a bit loose on MIDI triggering. Akai samplers are known for super solid MIDI timing.

all of this is good information an I appreciate the feedback. I'm new to this site but it's cool being able to talk to a bunch of gear heads who know their s#!t. Look forward to talking to you kats in the future; especially when the mpc studio drops.....anxious to hear some the feedback on it before I purchase. Also going to be interesting to see what the sound library has to offer in comparison to maschines komplete package.