Brand new to MPC

I am looking to purchase my first MPC and figured I would start with something easy and pretty cheap so I am thinking of buying the Akai XR20 or the MPD26. What other items might I have to buy in order to actually start making beats? I am just looking to do this as a hobby.
Any help would be appreciated.

...not everything that has pads is a mpc....

...there is a reason why a mpd is called mpd....it's just a controler....and if you think you found anything to plug speakers in, you'll never gonna hear something anyway...

take at least one closer look before you start askin'.....

but if you got no clue at all, well, your instinct works.....with a mpc you can start right away indeed.....

so get a used one...no matter which one...in your case......but a real m p C .....

read the manual....and get back....

So with the XR20 could I actually make beats in my car using the AUX?

I just want to be able to hook it up to a speaker and play it, and the XR20 comes with pre loaded sounds. Can it just be hooked up to a speaker of some sort?

Yes, but you are limited to only those sounds contained in the XR-20.

An MPD or MIDI keyboard would be used with a computer application that would allow to load sample and computer based instruments.

An MPC is self contained sampler that you can record into or load already made sound in. It's MIDI out could be used to control things inside of a computer program as well.

OK thanks a lot for the info.

Metatron72 wrote:Yes, but you are limited to only those sounds contained in the XR-20.

*** cough ***

undersound wrote:Found this while surfing, someone sampled a load of the sound out of the XR20

http://www.mediafire.com/?dkjw0tdhuje

whay cheaper option to just pop em on ur MPC aye

Those are clean samples of that box too. There's some alright sounds in it, I wouldn't pay more than $40 for the actual XR-20, and just to play with on the couch even in that scenario.

XR-20 is a dope little drum machine. But that's all it is. Not a sampler. Just a drum machine. It has some effects though so you can change the character of the built in samples. Personally, I really like the samplers and I love the sequencer. It just feels right to me...but your milege may vary. I also love the pads on that little thing and always wished Akai put the XR-20s pads on their other samplers.

Wouldn't really suggest the XR20 as somebody's first piece of gear.

With the XR20 you will have mostly drum sounds, so you would still need something for your melodic sounds, like a keyboard or a synth or a computer program. Then you also need something to record and layer all the drum patterns and melodies to built a song with it.

First you need to ask yourself if you want to work with a computer when making beats.
A plus for a computer is that the most programs offer almost everything you need; multiple virtual instruments, effects and a built in sequencer. But you will also need a stable computer, a sound card with monitors, or at least upgrade your speakers.

With an mpc you also have a lot of things in one box. Sampler, sequencer and the drumpads. Most mpc's have less features than software, but the workflow on the mpc can't almost be compared to anything else. The dedicated buttons to enter menu's to change settings and the way how fast you can lay down your patterns are hard to beat. No problems with latency or computer failures/ **** ups.

And a lot of guys just simply don't like to work with a mouse in a computer environment when doing music.

What suits you best is something we can not decide for you, you need to find that out for yourself.

Watch movies on youtube, do some background research over here. You can also buy a cheap mpc1000 to try it out. Run it through a decent hifi audio system for the time being. Until you get some monitor speakers, which everyone here will recommend you to get those too as quickly as possible.
Download free demo versions of a few of those music software programs like Reason, Ableton Live and Fruityloops. You can use the mpc1000 as a (overpriced) controller and make up your mind after that. Like the mpc? Keep it or upgrade. Like the software? Sell the mpc and buy an mpd.

The XR20 has bass and synth sounds as well which you could play from the pads or hook up an external keyboard. It also has a sequencer, no need for any external sequencer. I think it would be good for a beginner, recommending an MPC to someone who has never made beats and is looking at doing it solely as hobby could be a mess. An MPC may have to many features to begin with, he should at least figure out how to create some simple drum patterns instead of jumping straight into sampling (unless thats what he's trying to do) and the XR20 could be quick way to dig right into it.

A bit off-topic, but I wonder if the XR20 would make a good circuit-bent machine. Time to do some searching. I'm still looking around at other machines that are harder to find. But sometimes a good machine to bend can be missed entirely.