What's your favourite MPC and why?

The best MPC is the one you have access to use. With that said, I love my 2500!

jibber wrote: the 500 also sounds pretty damn good.

The 2000XL has great pads (some say they are the best ) and a very nice workflow (jog wheel is great), unfortunately not the best sound.

ahahahaha lol what?
are you serious?

Yes, pretty damn serious. Sorry if my personal opinion doesn't match yours...

I own a 500, 2000XL and 60. I also had a 2500SE (sold). I did a direct comparison sampling drumloops and music pieces from records into each machine, stereo outs connected to a mackie mixer. Verdict: 2000XL has a very thin sound compared to all other models (not saying you can't fix this with other tools). MPC500 sounds very very good.

my fav mpc is the 500!! although i do have 1000jjos2xl and a 2000xl, i pick my 500.. i love how it feels, i love how i chop with it, chopping by ear makes me happy everytime. i love how i can sit watching a hockey game with it in my lap chopping and making beats without even looking at it. shit, sometimes i chop samples while im driving, although ive cut way back on that. i hardly have to even look at the thing anymore... the 500 is by FAR MY FAVORITE MPC.......EVER!

Regarding the thin sound comment about the 2KXL, i am not alone...

From another MPC-Forum thread:

hemogoblin wrote:It sounds 100x better then the 2000xl which sounds thin compared to the 4k.

recluseSPMPC wrote:Now I must admit it´s noticeable, 2000xl sounds hell of a lot thinner than my ASR10.
I love to fastness of the mpc2000xl, but hate the crappy sound.

From gearslutz:

but dont say that the 2000 (xl) has that sound, becasue it doesnt. funny thing is, when it came out, everyone was saying how thin and sterile it was.

etc. blablabla...

Some people who come to my studio say I have a museum of MPC's. Because I own the classics. Reason being, each MPC I have enables me to do something different to get the sound I am striving for. Music is always evolving and changing up your style, production, sequencing, arrangement, creative-flow.... it's all part of that music process.

I'd say my favorite MPC depends on what mood I'm in when creating or composing an idea on that day.

Of course, the MPC4000 is a beastee-ality!!! So, I would say that is it for me....
Especially, if the MPC4k is fully blown!! Yeah, I am definitely going with the 4k.

I own a 2000xl. To me it sounds pretty clear..I mean if you sample shit you get shit. If you sample good sounds, it sounds good.. It doesnt add character to sound so it's up to you.
Having said that.. I use it for sequencing a 950, cause, there are phatter sounding machines out there and 950 is defly of them.

If you tell me a 60 or 3000 sounds deeper than a 2kxl i'm with you, because every drum or chop in them bangs really hard.. but the 500? It's so plasticky, what makes it better soundwise?
(i dont want to start an argument Im just curious!! I always always heard everybody telling that new "plastic" mpcs have also a "plasticky" sound, and agreed with that though I dont own one personally)

jibber wrote:Regarding the thin sound comment about the 2KXL, i am not alone...

From another MPC-Forum thread:

hemogoblin wrote:It sounds 100x better then the 2000xl which sounds thin compared to the 4k.

recluseSPMPC wrote:Now I must admit it´s noticeable, 2000xl sounds hell of a lot thinner than my ASR10.
I love to fastness of the mpc2000xl, but hate the crappy sound.

From gearslutz:

but dont say that the 2000 (xl) has that sound, becasue it doesnt. funny thing is, when it came out, everyone was saying how thin and sterile it was.

etc. blablabla...

Hmh... Black Milk uses the 2000xl and his beats are fat.

I've only ever owned 3 mpc's, a 2000 xl, a 3000 and a 3000 le (same thing).

My favi is the 3000 le without a doubt!

I like everything about it, sound, sequencer, workflow, build quality, aesthetics, functionality etc. In fact there are only two things I would change or improve upon.

1. I wish it could load more than 99 sequence's at a time, the more the better, a thousand would be crazy and I may never need that many but.... it would be cool.

2. I wish it could load more sounds than it can, I think it is around 256 sounds loaded in memory at once. Never ever ever had a problem with the ram, I never even got close to using even 16mb of ram but the way that I do things... loading more sounds would be great, more than double what it can do would be perfect.

These are small issues though and easy enough to work around.

Shout out to the 2000 xl though, it was my first mp, the one I first learned to make beats on. I may have had the most fun on that machine, where I was just messing around and experimenting, not really knowing what I was doing and just having fun making music, great machine.

Would never switch to another mp buuuut if I did... I would try the 4000 or 2500

This reminded me of an old thread.

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=80028

At this point I'd say different machines excel in different areas, no single machine has it all. User preference and affordability play a large part in determining our favourites. My choices in brackets bearing in mind I've owned all models up to the MPC4000 only, no experience of JJOS but the MPC1000/2500 hardware I find somewhat lacking in many ways having messed with them briefly.

Sound quality (MPC3000)
Build quality (MPC60 MK1/ MPC3000)
Connectivity options (MPC4000)
Operating system features (MPC4000)
Intuitiveness/ ease of use/ workflow (MPC60/ MPC3000)
Quality of the pads (MPC2000/XL/ MPC60/MPC3000)
Portability (huh? You must be kidding!)
Compatibility of files (MPC4000)
Upgradeability (MPC4000)
Technical support (great support here)
Legacy/ desirability - the original concept (MPC60/MPC3000/LE)
Colour scheme (MPC3000LE/MPC2000XL SE3 Chrome)
Regretful purchase? (MPC2000 Classic - Screen, Floppy boot, Jog wheel, OS didn't work for me).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p99A4H1CFEQ

skip to 1:20.
This is an example of a beat made with mpc 2000 stereo's out directly fed in a project with little or no reworking after that. To me it's an ill sound!.. what's wrong with it?

I've only ever owned a 2000XL but tried out a friends 1000 and tried out a MPC3000LE at Sam Ash 14 years ago.

If I could do it all over again, I'd got for a 3000LE "AND" a 4000.
If I had a chance to buy a newer MPC, I'd go with the 2500 with JJOS or on a budget... 1000 with JJOS.

JUKE 179r wrote:If I could do it all over again, I'd got for a 3000LE "AND" a 4000.

good choices. i agree.


i own a 60II fully maxed.

fobedafied wrote:

JUKE 179r wrote:If I could do it all over again, I'd got for a 3000LE "AND" a 4000.

good choices. i agree.


i own a 60II fully maxed.

I almost bought a cash drawer for under mine last time I saw one for sale used...

clint246clint wrote: no experience of JJOS but the MPC1000/2500 hardware I find somewhat lacking in many ways having messed with them briefly.

JJOSXL and it's extra functionality is remarkable.
I also sequence a ton of external hardware in ways that I simply couldn't if it wasn't for JJOSXL (JJOSXL gives you the ability of sending MIDI clock or MTC on any or all MIDI outputs at the same time!).
TRIM functionality with "non-destructive chop" is immense.
The speed that you can fly around and alter parameters with SHIFT+cursor keys/+ - keys is major.
There are so many features that are essential that I can't even begin, or I'll be here all day..
I'm telling ya, until you get a 1000 or 2500 with JJOSXL and have a play for a couple of months...... seriously.. it will blow ur mind.
Just sayin m8
JJOSXL is a big deal.

I use an S950, S1000, Casio FZ-1, Roland S750 and various analogue and digital keyboards and drum machines along with it. It is the heart of my studio and it makes me be able to fly!

I want an SP1200/SP12 more than anything, but the workflow of the 2500 with jjosxl is V good... Stupidly fast!