MPC 60II Original OS vs 3.1

Ive looked around, but I havnt found my answer... so if this is common knowledge, apologies upfront.

I'm a long time 1000/JJOS user and Ive been working on a 60II with 3.1 for the last few months. I love it, the two machines are a great complement to each other.

But I've never used the original OS for the 60.
Part of me assumes that.. If youre going to use the original,.. JUST USE THE ORIGINAL.

Is there any loss with the OS upgrade? is there debate over the quality of the timing? Am I losing any of the original grime? is the output compression different?

I think you get the idea....

I think your loosing a whole lot of great workflow additions and compatibility with various storage devices.

If your happy with the original floppy drive, no floppy emulators or SCSI compatibility and you like to make thing's harder than they need to be, then the earlier revisions are for you.


If you love it , why do you want to change it ?
That's like going out with Paris Hilton and after 2 weeks your like " I think we should spend more time in the library".


I bet your not browsing this forum on Mac OS version - System 0.8.5 (1983) or Windows 3.1 .

hahaha thats very true. But that the same time, the use of the old tech is why I have the thing in the first place. If there isn't any question that the swing is just as good and the sound isn't hurt by the new chips... I don't have anything to worry about.

first of all... the OS isn't related to the sound of the machine.... the hardware is the same.. but the old OG os doesn't have any pad settings aside from poly (no note off, mono, or pad cutoff except for the hihat slider)

all that the older os will do is remove features, and no longer allow you to load your songs perfectly.

That being said, i'll trade you os 2.12 for your 3.10.

mr_debauch wrote:
That being said, i'll trade you os 2.12 for your 3.10.

I'm actually still on 2.02os. Just broke and can't afford 3.1 at the moment; though I still want it.

I almost bought the 3.1os upgrade 2 years ago..then I thought to myself...hmm, I can get this maxed out s950 for $200, or buy the 3.1os for roughly the same price?

...then I realized the 3.1os is just plain overpriced for what it really is (an os upgrade should never be more than $100.. $60-80 sounds more realistic)..especially when I can easily just get an s900/s950/s1000/s1100 or any other old gritty ensoniq/roland/ akai sampler with much more edit features for the same price or cheaper.

The only things that really attract me to the 3.1os are the new pad settings as you mentioned (note off, mono, cutoff, etc.)...and seeing that the s950 could do all those sample mono/cutoff/etc settings (although with a keyboard instead), I ended up just getting the s950 and couldn't be happier with my decision.

The s950 became my "3.1os upgrade" haha ...not to mention I got an extra buttload of sample memory for 12bit sounds, an extra 8-10 outs and a killer filter and much more editing capabilities.

So now, I use my mpc60's 2.02 sample engine for samples that don't need those special note-off, mono, pad cutoff capabilities (usually just short/quick perc/drum samples), and use the s950 for the more longer/complex samples (vox, acapellas, loops, breaks, synths, chords, long fx sounds, etc.) that need more advanced edit settings (which has much more sample editing features than the 3.1os).

My mpc60 2.02os is basically my midi-sequencer and drum-sampler. S950, is my advanced sampler. Good combo.

I was using 2.12 for the longest until I stumbled upon a cheap authentic 3.10 upgrade on eBay for $69.00.

Biggest difference for me was the sampling time. You're not restricted to 5sec per pad.