Thinking about picking up an MPC500 tomorrow

See if you can make something using just your phone and laptop, and upload it.

Jamon wrote:See if you can make something using just your phone and laptop, and upload it.

I have been messing around on my phone. Do you know of any good, free software for my computer?

Damn it. I'm back to square one. I don't want to drop $1000 on an MPC1000.

Can't I have fun with an MPC500? I plan on messing around and sampling some stuff and putting covers over that. Won't a 500 do the trick? I would have leftover money for other stuff also.

I guess you can't chop on the MPC500 though...

You can chop on the 500. You just have to use your ears. The thing with the 500 is it sort of almost becomes an instrument. I throw a few drum and percussion samples on it (the infinity kit is great for this). I sample in a few sections from an LP or wav file that I want to chop up. Then I go to the park and start chopping (by ear). It's a lot of fun, but what it provides in mobility it lacks in speed. You won't go producing multiple songs per day on this thing. It's slower, especially at first. Once you get the menu's down and a few of your critical programs set up, it becomes second nature. You can almost use it in the dark without looking at it.

The reason why people are recommending the 1000, and they are correct, is that if you want to start getting really productive, JJOS has taken the OS to new heights. Personally JJ is a bit much for me but I'm happy it's there if I ever choose to go deeper. You can also get a good used MPC 1000 for $500, and a used 500 for about $300. Most people would argue that that extra $200 buys you a lot of additional headroom should you ever decide to get more serious.

Do you already have Garage Band?

This says it's free with 4 tracks: http://www.mutools.com/mulab-downloads.html

You could get a MPC500, but have you used one before? I ordered one without trying it, and the pads were stiff, where you have to hit hard to get any response. Then when I saved my projects, sometimes they wouldn't load, so I lost everything. It doesn't look like they updated the firmware to fix that, but some people luck out and haven't encountered it.

The main reason for getting a MPC1000 is that you can install JJ OS, but that's another expense. It also is just better overall, with a screen where you can see something. The MPC500 is all numbers, which is okay, but you can't chop or anything so it feels limited and you end up wishing you could do more. Your iPhone apps probably do what the 500 can.

I'm not exactly sure what you're wanting to do. What do you mean by putting covers over it?

Beats22 wrote:So basically, a new MPC1000 will cost me about $1000, and I will still have to buy extra equipment to make it work? It sounds like the MPC500 is a dead end, so that option is out.

I want to take my MPC home, plug it in, read the manual, download some beats onto my computer, upload them to the MPC, and have some fun. But I guess I can do that without an MPC1000.

you will likely need to upgrade the RAM on both the 1000 & 500. this can be had for $11 on ebay

the 1000 is functional out the box, but many of us here will suggest you check out JJOS, now its up to yo if you want to install it or not. its free to use, you just cant save until you buy a password. the akiOS and JJOS is night and day and isnt available on the 500.

i would look into buying a used mpc 1000, you could find a black model with new pads and fully maxed anywhere from $400-600. the manuals are all online

get the 500., ps, **** what dude says, chopping by numbers aint shit, i love it way more.. also i have a 500 and a 1000, out the box the 500 os is way nicer, i tried using the akai os on my 1000 3 times and was like **** it and bought the jjos,. **** what jamon says on the pad stiffness, dudes on sum lil kid shit, u just gotta slap them bitches, my 500 pads out the box were way more responsive and easier to tap then my 1000, or my mpd32, if u get the black pads for it from mpcstuff u can get a softer feel too, i rock fad pads now, but the original blacks seemed more responsive, but i dont mind slappin my pads hard., the 500 is better too because you can actually preview ur sounds from the cf card while ur beat is going so u can hear if the sounds go with ur beat, unlike the 1000 where u can hear the sounds, but cant have the beat going, so u gotta load em up just to find out it dont work.. i can go back and forth all day on why i love my 500 the most but u need to choose for you.. i have used all kinds of software and apps,. reason is my main shit, ive used it since day one, i didnt even really need an mpc to tell u the truth., once i learned the 500, i thought the 1000 would be sick,. even though i can do everything a mpc can do in reason, i picked up a 1000 2 1/2 years ago and was hella disappointed..... so to each his own., i will also say that alot of **** get a mpc500 and think they gonna start slammin out tracks, then it sits their cause its too hard, or what not, then its for sale on ebay........get tutors ebook, and for real, get su=preme's dvds, they hella cheap and even though he does em on a mpc2500 the shit applies in the 500 too, that muhfuka helped me with learning my 500 over A.I.M messaging when i first got it, he is a cool dude. http://www.syklopz.com/

Jamon wrote:Look, I'm the first one to actually try Beat Thang Virtual and give it the thumbs down. All the rest of you judged it based on the public front put on by the Beat Kangz. But you know what? They didn't program it. They were just the marketing, interacting with the customers. They're out now it seems, but none of that should reflect the quality of the software.

I haven't bothered to try it again in years, but it is plausible that it has improved since then, and is now quality kit. It was built using JUCE, a C++ cross-platform framework aimed at audio software development. The creator of JUCE is a smart guy and used it to make the excellent DAW software bought by Mackie called Tracktion.



That right there makes it worth keeping an eye on, because JUCE solves a lot of the technical details for audio software creation, so the programmers behind Beat Thang are less likely to make big underlying mistakes.

A new MPC1000 from a common store is $1,000. Plus you'll need the 128MB RAM upgrade, which you should get generic, but if you bought it at the store too you're up to $1,150.

Beat Thang Virtual is $119, and there are various MIDI controllers you can get, but the Akai MPD18 looks MPCish and is $100.



So you've got around $1,050 with non-Akai RAM vs. $220.

Now listen, there's a lot of fandom around here obviously since it's an MPC forum, not Burger Kidz community. But the fact is, there's nothing that special about an MPC. You can do what it can do, easier, faster, with more flexibility using a laptop. That doesn't mean there's no reason to prefer an MPC, it's just, you really have to know before it's legit, and it's not that it's better, it's just differences, most of which are tradeoffs and losses, not benefits.

It doesn't matter what the box says, even with the shoddy copy of Beat Thang Virtual I got years ago I could plug an MPD into a laptop and emulate a lot of the MPC feel, but more importantly, produce something that sounds like music. In fact, the way it was designed, it looked funner for people who want to make music, not play with nerdy details. It's more visual, with everything setup to be optimized for making beats. MPC is more of a generic utility, that can be used as a drum machine, or MIDI sequencer for a classical pianist, etc. Beat Thang is setup from the start to make beats, and make it fun.

That doesn't mean I'm recommending it. I haven't even tried it in years. Maybe once you hooked it all up, and made some music, you wouldn't like it. But for a quarter the cost of an MPC? Yes, that is where I would start, to at least start getting experience to know exactly what I need and prefer.

I might not get that exact combo though. There's other stuff to look into.

There's smaller laptop controllers for around $60:





There's one for the same price of $100 that also has keys:



Double the price to $200 and you've got faders and knobs:



Or for the same price as that you can get this crazy thing:



Then for software, there's energy-XT for $50:



Tracktion works on OSX, but I heard it's got issues with the latest Mountain Lion version, and Mackie seems to have let it die. But if you don't have the lastest OSX, or if people figure out how to make it work 100% on it, it says in my account I can buy another copy of Tracktion2 for $30.

There's Ableton Live for $450, which is a lot, but it has a unique workflow that can be much better than the MPC for more realtime creation. With the MPC you have to stop the song from playing to do a lot of things, and it's designed more for offline construction, like composers would do. Ableton Live is more performance, where you can just drop in loops and samples and modify it all on the fly, as you choose what plays, and it records everything to a sequencer you can then edit and compose with.



If you were on Windows you could check out FL Studio.

Point is, I like my MPC2500, and an MPC1000 with JJ OS would be very similar, and I own the MPC500, but if I had $1,200 of hard-earned cash saved up, and a laptop with stereo, I'd play with software and a MIDI controller first. That might be what I prefer, and never buy an MPC. But it's cheap enough either way to start with, because with a $100 + $50 for energyXT, I could make music that sounds just as good as I could with MPC, and it'd be a different experience looking at a laptop and using the trackpad sometimes rather than cursor buttons and data wheel, but for some people that's better, and it works.

For $150 you could have the tools necessary to produce something that sounds like it required $50k.

An MPC1000 + JJ OS is fun too. But you should be aware of the options, and know that they're much cheaper, without loss of power. For electronic music, there's so many free effects and instruments for software hosts like energyXT. Check out KVR (http://www.kvraudio.com/q.php). For a couple hundred bucks you can get something where you can drop in all kinds of synths and effects. With an MPC, the FX suck, and there's only 2, and it doesn't come with a synth so you'll have to buy more gear to get sounds you don't sample.

You could also get an SP-404SX or Electribe for $500:





Since you said you wanted to make techno, the electribe might be better for you, because I think it generates sounds. An MPC is empty. You get it, and there's no sounds. You can download and record samples, but for a techno sound you're better off with sound generators. You could buy a synth with your MPC, but there's free VSTi synths and samplers, so why wouldn't you download some software and buy a MIDI controller?

Sweet baby Jesus in a pickle jar and wearing a do-rag Jamon. If the guy wasn't confused before, he will be now. All he asked for was some advice about the 500. Not,....

You can make a beats using a



or a piano



or at home



and with your bro



on a truck



or with your duck (squeek squeek)

MeSoHordey wrote:

Jamon wrote:Look, I'm the first one to actually try Beat Thang Virtual and give it the thumbs down. All the rest of you judged it based on the public front put on by the Beat Kangz. But you know what? They didn't program it. They were just the marketing, interacting with the customers. They're out now it seems, but none of that should reflect the quality of the software.

I haven't bothered to try it again in years, but it is plausible that it has improved since then, and is now quality kit. It was built using JUCE, a C++ cross-platform framework aimed at audio software development. The creator of JUCE is a smart guy and used it to make the excellent DAW software bought by Mackie called Tracktion.



That right there makes it worth keeping an eye on, because JUCE solves a lot of the technical details for audio software creation, so the programmers behind Beat Thang are less likely to make big underlying mistakes.

A new MPC1000 from a common store is $1,000. Plus you'll need the 128MB RAM upgrade, which you should get generic, but if you bought it at the store too you're up to $1,150.

Beat Thang Virtual is $119, and there are various MIDI controllers you can get, but the Akai MPD18 looks MPCish and is $100.



So you've got around $1,050 with non-Akai RAM vs. $220.

Now listen, there's a lot of fandom around here obviously since it's an MPC forum, not Burger Kidz community. But the fact is, there's nothing that special about an MPC. You can do what it can do, easier, faster, with more flexibility using a laptop. That doesn't mean there's no reason to prefer an MPC, it's just, you really have to know before it's legit, and it's not that it's better, it's just differences, most of which are tradeoffs and losses, not benefits.

It doesn't matter what the box says, even with the shoddy copy of Beat Thang Virtual I got years ago I could plug an MPD into a laptop and emulate a lot of the MPC feel, but more importantly, produce something that sounds like music. In fact, the way it was designed, it looked funner for people who want to make music, not play with nerdy details. It's more visual, with everything setup to be optimized for making beats. MPC is more of a generic utility, that can be used as a drum machine, or MIDI sequencer for a classical pianist, etc. Beat Thang is setup from the start to make beats, and make it fun.

That doesn't mean I'm recommending it. I haven't even tried it in years. Maybe once you hooked it all up, and made some music, you wouldn't like it. But for a quarter the cost of an MPC? Yes, that is where I would start, to at least start getting experience to know exactly what I need and prefer.

I might not get that exact combo though. There's other stuff to look into.

There's smaller laptop controllers for around $60:





There's one for the same price of $100 that also has keys:



Double the price to $200 and you've got faders and knobs:



Or for the same price as that you can get this crazy thing:



Then for software, there's energy-XT for $50:



Tracktion works on OSX, but I heard it's got issues with the latest Mountain Lion version, and Mackie seems to have let it die. But if you don't have the lastest OSX, or if people figure out how to make it work 100% on it, it says in my account I can buy another copy of Tracktion2 for $30.

There's Ableton Live for $450, which is a lot, but it has a unique workflow that can be much better than the MPC for more realtime creation. With the MPC you have to stop the song from playing to do a lot of things, and it's designed more for offline construction, like composers would do. Ableton Live is more performance, where you can just drop in loops and samples and modify it all on the fly, as you choose what plays, and it records everything to a sequencer you can then edit and compose with.



If you were on Windows you could check out FL Studio.

Point is, I like my MPC2500, and an MPC1000 with JJ OS would be very similar, and I own the MPC500, but if I had $1,200 of hard-earned cash saved up, and a laptop with stereo, I'd play with software and a MIDI controller first. That might be what I prefer, and never buy an MPC. But it's cheap enough either way to start with, because with a $100 + $50 for energyXT, I could make music that sounds just as good as I could with MPC, and it'd be a different experience looking at a laptop and using the trackpad sometimes rather than cursor buttons and data wheel, but for some people that's better, and it works.

For $150 you could have the tools necessary to produce something that sounds like it required $50k.

An MPC1000 + JJ OS is fun too. But you should be aware of the options, and know that they're much cheaper, without loss of power. For electronic music, there's so many free effects and instruments for software hosts like energyXT. Check out KVR (http://www.kvraudio.com/q.php). For a couple hundred bucks you can get something where you can drop in all kinds of synths and effects. With an MPC, the FX suck, and there's only 2, and it doesn't come with a synth so you'll have to buy more gear to get sounds you don't sample.

You could also get an SP-404SX or Electribe for $500:





Since you said you wanted to make techno, the electribe might be better for you, because I think it generates sounds. An MPC is empty. You get it, and there's no sounds. You can download and record samples, but for a techno sound you're better off with sound generators. You could buy a synth with your MPC, but there's free VSTi synths and samplers, so why wouldn't you download some software and buy a MIDI controller?

Sweet baby Jesus in a pickle jar and wearing a do-rag Jamon. If the guy wasn't confused before, he will be now. All he asked for was some advice about the 500. Not,....

You can make a beats using a



or a piano



or at home



and with your bro



on a truck



or with your duck (squeek squeek)

Thanks for the idea about the rubber ducky, I'll have to pick one up for sampling.

You should probably edit your post though to nuke the quote, since it's really long.

The MPC500 isn't just chop-by-numbers, it has no chopping, only in/out with discard or extract. That's not really chopping, it's cutting.

Maybe your 500 pads were more responsive than 1000, but my 500 pads were like a video game controller encased in wood. To get the buttons to trigger you had to pull out a mallet and beat it. Sometimes I'd find myself punching the pads with my fist so hard the entire case would bounce all over the place trying to do flips off the table. One time I was making a beat and for the kick I literally was kicking it.

I heard the 1000 pads are kind of stiff too. OP really needs to forget all those and just get a 2500.

Now someone replied quoting both long posts? Are you people aware of the Reply button? You don't have to press Quote.

I thought about giving you my 500, but I cut it up and tore off the pads, so you'd be like what?

Just get whatever, or nothing. Doesn't matter. I guess if you're just going to download sample packs the 500 could be okay. Put FULL LEVEL on and the pad sensitivity is less of an issue. Then everything is already setup soundwise so the interface and options don't matter as much. You just hit record and put stuff on tracks. It works.

But honestly, can't that all be done on an iPhone now? MPC500 was released before all these new music apps for portable devices. It was nice to have a battery powered MPC. But now, that stuff fits in your pocket. With a Kaossilator2 you could plug an iPhone in to record and overdub audio to loop. With a miniKP2 you could plug an iPhone in to add FX to the cheap softsynths.

MPC500 seems kinda old tech now.

We will see. I know how to get samples on an MPC now, but how do I get sounds like snares, high hats, and stuff like that? Can I download them off the internet?

Nope. You'll have to buy drums, and a microphone.

Just do a search for .wav files. There's so many recordings of drums you could sit there with headphones on for the rest of your life listening to 240 BPM super fast banging kicks, snares, hats, and still not hear them all before you die.

But the cool kids sample their own.

its like beating a dead horse up in this muhfukkka its called a sampler im done here,. let me know when that 500 gets put up on ebay for the low, i wouldnt mind picking up a second,. as long as u got clean hands

the only thing that is bad about the MPC 500, is having to read all the questions that noobs have about them...particularly "how do i get sounds" "how do i plug my speakers up"...

if you wanna chop, chop in software, transfer via usb and load the sounds. the pads are no different than any other mpc. you can upgrade to the fat pads for $20 and you'll barely have to touch them.

the only reason the mpc 500 has a bad rep is because its the mpc that most noobs start on.

its hard to chop on the sp series, and people make beats on those. at least the 500 has numbers and even usb, to make it WAY EASY.

oh, and can somebody RE-QUOTE all those picture replies again. i like taking 20 minutes to scroll down the page. and when you do, just reply with a smiley face or a 1-2 word reply...