need help choosing a Effects unit. (please help)

so im about to get a mpc 1000 and i want to get a effects unit to go along with it. i dont have a ton of cash. maybe in the 2-300 price range. i want a unit that packs the best sound and the best functions for the money. it would be nice if there was a feature to synch the bpm with my akai so get some cool echo effects. I have been out of the music making game for a while and dont know all the new fancy stuff out there so if anyone has any ideas it would be great to hear what you guys have in mind.

If you don't have much to spend and want some decent effects i'd buy used.

- Alesis Quadraverb/Midiverb
Very nice effects that sound smooth and subtle in the mix.

- Ensoniq DP Pro, DP2/DP4
I can speak for the DP Pro only, but this thing is really nice... perfect if you work with vinyl samples.

I'm telling you, these kids got it lucky these days. They got a whole a spool of music studio applications at their finger-tips. An effect box or rack was Trump-status back in the day. Now its everywhere for dirt cheap or practically nothing.

Back on topic, a nice SP-303 would do or an SP-404. With the later, you can swap cf cards with your 1000 and works fine. But with the old SP-404, not the SX. So you can sample and lace effects with the 404 and just swap it over to the 1000 easy.

Korg KAOS 3 has some impressive effects.

ZOOM R8 is dope too, its got 100 effects, samples and records too.

Ill-Green wrote:I'm telling you, these kids got it lucky these days. They got a whole a spool of music studio applications at their finger-tips. An effect box or rack was Trump-status back in the day. Now its everywhere for dirt cheap or practically nothing.

Not sure if that was aimed at me or just generally speaking... but i have paid close to 500 bucks for the effect units mentioned in my post above, money that i didn't spend on new clothes, booze, etc, money that i worked for. Sure, the stuff was more expensive once, but it's not like we get it handed for free these days...

Ill-Green wrote:
Back on topic, a nice SP-303 would do or an SP-404. With the later, you can swap cf cards with your 1000 and works fine. But with the old SP-404, not the SX. So you can sample and lace effects with the 404 and just swap it over to the 1000 easy.

With JJOS you can have the input back in from a separated stereo pair... this allows for a beautiful beat-flow with sp303/404... synch via midi.

Funkydrops wrote:

Ill-Green wrote:
Back on topic, a nice SP-303 would do or an SP-404. With the later, you can swap cf cards with your 1000 and works fine. But with the old SP-404, not the SX. So you can sample and lace effects with the 404 and just swap it over to the 1000 easy.

With JJOS you can have the input back in from a separated stereo pair... this allows for a beautiful beat-flow with sp303/404... synch via midi.

Smooth! I'd like to hear more.. so you're running MPC output to SP (apply fx) and back to MPC and use input thru? and from MPC midi out to SP midi in sync? or something?

Another vo for the Ensoniq DP series. In your price range they might just be the best bang for the buck. I have a DP2.

jibber wrote:

Ill-Green wrote:I'm telling you, these kids got it lucky these days. They got a whole a spool of music studio applications at their finger-tips. An effect box or rack was Trump-status back in the day. Now its everywhere for dirt cheap or practically nothing.

Not sure if that was aimed at me or just generally speaking... but i have paid close to 500 bucks for the effect units mentioned in my post above, money that i didn't spend on new clothes, booze, etc, money that i worked for. Sure, the stuff was more expensive once, but it's not like we get it handed for free these days...

Actually, I was talking about VSTs and how many there are and easily affordable. Back then it was one effect per rack.

Ill-Green wrote:

jibber wrote:

Ill-Green wrote:I'm telling you, these kids got it lucky these days. They got a whole a spool of music studio applications at their finger-tips. An effect box or rack was Trump-status back in the day. Now its everywhere for dirt cheap or practically nothing.

Not sure if that was aimed at me or just generally speaking... but i have paid close to 500 bucks for the effect units mentioned in my post above, money that i didn't spend on new clothes, booze, etc, money that i worked for. Sure, the stuff was more expensive once, but it's not like we get it handed for free these days...

Actually, I was talking about VSTs and how many there are and easily affordable. Back then it was one effect per rack.

Yes, in my opinion VST's would be the better choice! You don't need money to have good effects, honestly I think you won't hear the difference between good VST's and 200-300 effects, it's all about how you adjust the settings of the effects

Getting a 1k and $300 extra to spend?

See if you can get a 2500 for what you would pay for the 1k plus the extra money.
You might appreciate the difference later.

OR

Get the 1k and take $123 of the $300 to but JJOS2xl grab a used MPX100/110, DP2 etc with the remaining money.

+1 for the kaoss pad 3.

The fx are fine considering how many options it has; they're not all amazing, but they're all perfectly usable, especially for someone just starting up again with music. You also have the bonus option to use it as a MIDI controller for software. And then there's the sample looper feature.

And yep, MIDI sync to MPC is possible. It's a tiny bit drifty with tempo matching, but it's really only noticeable with samples looping; they get off beat eventually, but that's fixable just by hitting the "align" button. With echoes, etc, the drift won't be noticeable.
I think they go for around $300.

So the sound quality to functionality to price, I'd say it's worth it.

They're also just a lot of fun to play around with.

IMO the KP3 is better for performance than as a normal efx unit.
If live performance isn't what you are after there are a lot better options for what a KP3 cost.
I got mine new at GC for about $195 which is like the used price.
Lots of rack units that are less than that and more suited for normal efx use.
My biggest regret about the KP3 is no external MIDI key control so you have to use the touch screen on the vocal efx.
It's fun and cool but not the best for a vocoder.

sciguy wrote:+1 for the kaoss pad 3.

The fx are fine considering how many options it has; they're not all amazing, but they're all perfectly usable, especially for someone just starting up again with music. You also have the bonus option to use it as a MIDI controller for software. And then there's the sample looper feature.

And yep, MIDI sync to MPC is possible. It's a tiny bit drifty with tempo matching, but it's really only noticeable with samples looping; they get off beat eventually, but that's fixable just by hitting the "align" button. With echoes, etc, the drift won't be noticeable.
I think they go for around $300.

So the sound quality to functionality to price, I'd say it's worth it.

They're also just a lot of fun to play around with.

ntalec wrote:Lots of rack units that are less than that and more suited for normal efx use.

I agree, you can get some used but well regarded effect units that once cost a thousand dollars or more.

i use an sp 404sx as my effects unit and i love it. theyre real simple to use and they work great with the mpc's. i use mine alongside my 2kxl, those two together are the main brains of the operation.

u can midi them up or just resample. i run my turntable through the sp and then the sp outs into the mpc. that way i can add effects to my samples on the fly.

that machines got pretty much everything u need, effects wise. and its fun to loop sh*t up in it.

Boss GT-6/8/10/Pro.

I Have the GT-Pro, and it's possibly the best thing ever.
I record bass and guitars through it to mpc, and effect beats when resampling.
I've also hooked Line6 Filter Pro to its loop 1.