MPC2500 vs Live

Hi

I‘m mainly doing golden era hip hop and boom bap and have to choose between Live and 2500. I know Live is more modern technology and offers alot more but I kinda dig the limitations that the 2500 has. Also the older MPCs look better imo. And sound better as many say..
I mix in my DAW.
what u think?

JJOS xl with the 2500 is dope combo.

i dig the older mpcs more, but i already got the live so i kinda roll with it... im not sure either if i should get a legacy mpc...

Downsides to the 2500

128mb ram
Small screen
Horrid akai os.


Watch a few videos of MPC Live reviews and beat making. The Live is a solid machine. You can fly through and chop samples really fast.

You can download the software demo and get a sort of feel how the functions work.

Simult sequence, cross fade loop are two features I miss from the JJOS 2500.

gheddi wrote:i dig the older mpcs more, but i already got the live so i kinda roll with it... im not sure either if i should get a legacy mpc...

same

kaydigi wrote:Downsides to the 2500

128mb ram
Small screen
Horrid akai os.


Watch a few videos of MPC Live reviews and beat making. The Live is a solid machine. You can fly through and chop samples really fast.

You can download the software demo and get a sort of feel how the functions work.

Simult sequence, cross fade loop are two features I miss from the JJOS 2500.

isnt 128mb ram more than enough for boombap/lofi stuff? also i have seen 2500 with bigger screens installed and of course with jjos. I'm tempted to go with the live but im really not sure... older MPCs just have something to them... also as i recall they are pretty solid and not crashing or anything, while people complained about the nu akai maschines that they are not fully worked out yet (bugs n stuff)...

im also not really a fan of a touchscreen... i kinda dig knobs and buttons more...

ayatolli wrote:

kaydigi wrote:Downsides to the 2500

128mb ram
Small screen
Horrid akai os.


Watch a few videos of MPC Live reviews and beat making. The Live is a solid machine. You can fly through and chop samples really fast.

You can download the software demo and get a sort of feel how the functions work.

Simult sequence, cross fade loop are two features I miss from the JJOS 2500.

isnt 128mb ram more than enough for boombap/lofi stuff? also i have seen 2500 with bigger screens installed and of course with jjos. I'm tempted to go with the live but im really not sure... older MPCs just have something to them... also as i recall they are pretty solid and not crashing or anything, while people complained about the nu akai maschines that they are not fully worked out yet (bugs n stuff)...

im also not really a fan of a touchscreen... i kinda dig knobs and buttons more...

128mb is definitely enough for boombap. I have a 1000 with the big screen, it’s dope but another added expense. I don’t think my 1000 crashed, my live crashed about 3 times since launch.

If I had to do it again, I would have purchased a X because of the tactile buttons or a 4000. The touch screen to get to other options gets old fast. I’m just used to using shift+pad functions to go somewhere. With the Live you have to press menu then the option on the screen.

The 2500 doesn’t have Lazy chopping, that’s a dope feature on the Live/X

Lazy chop is dope. Just the technology it self is dope.

kaydigi wrote:128mb is definitely enough for boombap. I have a 1000 with the big screen, it’s dope but another added expense. I don’t think my 1000 crashed, my live crashed about 3 times since launch.

If I had to do it again, I would have purchased a X because of the tactile buttons or a 4000. The touch screen to get to other options gets old fast. I’m just used to using shift+pad functions to go somewhere. With the Live you have to press menu then the option on the screen.

The 2500 doesn’t have Lazy chopping, that’s a dope feature on the Live/X

kaydigi wrote:

ayatolli wrote:
isnt 128mb ram more than enough for boombap/lofi stuff? also i have seen 2500 with bigger screens installed and of course with jjos. I'm tempted to go with the live but im really not sure... older MPCs just have something to them... also as i recall they are pretty solid and not crashing or anything, while people complained about the nu akai maschines that they are not fully worked out yet (bugs n stuff)...

im also not really a fan of a touchscreen... i kinda dig knobs and buttons more...

128mb is definitely enough for boombap. I have a 1000 with the big screen, it’s dope but another added expense. I don’t think my 1000 crashed, my live crashed about 3 times since launch.

If I had to do it again, I would have purchased a X because of the tactile buttons or a 4000. The touch screen to get to other options gets old fast. I’m just used to using shift+pad functions to go somewhere. With the Live you have to press menu then the option on the screen.

The 2500 doesn’t have Lazy chopping, that’s a dope feature on the Live/X

Yeah the MPC live IS a beast no doubt. It‘s probably the most versatile MPC (alongside the X) that there is.

But I‘m still struggeling. The oldschool MPCs are pretty nice, and their technical abilities would be enough for me.
But one major drawback of old MPCs for me is that the LIVE has batteries, the old don‘t! So I can‘t make beats in a plane, and stuff. So I really don‘t know. Overall I dig the layout, look and sound of the 25k more.

Do you fly that much that you need to make beats mid-flight? I'd personally choose the mpc based on day to day requirements, not one off scenarios where in all honesty you'll probably look a bit of a dork 'making bangers' in the middle of Ryanair economy class

MPC-Tutor wrote:Do you fly that much that you need to make beats mid-flight? I'd personally choose the mpc based on day to day requirements, not one off scenarios where in all honesty you'll probably look a bit of a dork 'making bangers' in the middle of Ryanair economy class

I dont care how I look like! May people think what they want. But you‘re right, I don‘t fly that much. Also not with Ryan Air. I was business class once! But just out of a lucky accident. Well nevertheless , you are right.
I have a 10 hour USA flight this summer though! Still I can make beats on let‘s say the backporch or some stuff, you know not always running of a power plug can be quite cool.

But then again the old MPs are so dope! Man, I‘m a very conflicted guy

Live maybe great but I know 2500 with jjos is beast....
There are a many things Live can do but 2500 cannot.
One thing I found is if 2500 has internal hdd, it can hold a ton of samples like Live, but 2500 only loads 16bits. I also have 2000 classic and I like to work with it. Just because of its limitation.

Here's my suggestions without going into deep specs on this or that. I'm not going to convince you to buy either models like a Mpc salesman.

If I was you and new to the Mpc way of making music. I will purchase the live for the return option. If you find out the Mpc workflow isn't for you. You can return it without a big hassle and get all your money back. If the unit you purchase has problems. You can return it and get another one or get your money back. I would rather have something new to learn and break in any way. Another suggestion, How about going to your local music gear store for half a day with some samples and the Mpc live's manual. Get on the store display model and get the feel for the unit. If it's not for you. You walk out the door with all your money and save you from posting, how you might sell the live because it's missing all the key features you have in you DAW. You might luck up and find a used 2500 there, if you go to guitar center.

the 2500 with jj is a good choice for sure. if you‘re coming from software it‘s probably a steep learning curve, after that it‘s really easy and fast.

i’m not a big fan of touchscreens but i got the x because i can do most things with knobs and buttons. man i was a lot faster with the 2500 lol! but that‘s probably because i don‘t have the muscle memory yet. but it‘s great so far.

regarding the sound. maybe there are other opinions, but i don‘t think that neither the 2500/1000 nor the x/live has that classic mpc sound (60/3000) you’re looking for. they‘re both rather clean.

the x/live has emulations of the 60/3000/1200 tho. don‘t know how accurate they are. haven‘t compared or used it a lot yet.

my conclusion so far:
modern features/integration: live
workflow: 2500
sound: 60/3000

Heavie wrote:Here's my suggestions without going into deep specs on this or that. I'm not going to convince you to buy either models like a Mpc salesman.

If I was you and new to the Mpc way of making music. I will purchase the live for the return option. If you find out the Mpc workflow isn't for you. You can return it without a big hassle and get all your money back. If the unit you purchase has problems. You can return it and get another one or get your money back. I would rather have something new to learn and break in any way. Another suggestion, How about going to your local music gear store for half a day with some samples and the Mpc live's manual. Get on the store display model and get the feel for the unit. If it's not for you. You walk out the door with all your money and save you from posting, how you might sell the live because it's missing all the key features you have in you DAW. You might luck up and find a used 2500 there, if you go to guitar center.

A friend of mine has the Live and I already tested it out a bit. It‘s a nice piece of hardware. The touchscreen isn‘t really my type of thing and also the sound is, as you would expect, fairly neutral. What is good for certain types of customers, but not for me. The only nice things I found about the live is

1. that it‘s easier integrated into my DAW (Fl Studio 20) than the 2500 (probably, idk about how well that works tho)
2. battery power for making beats outside
3. it‘s integrated mixer and eqing abilities (don‘t know what the 2500 has in that regard)

So really, tough decision. Really tough!
I see videos of people sitting in the park doing beats on their Live. Of course thats rather the exception of a working-place but it‘s just a nice additional feature kinda. On the other hand, 2500 is classic. Worked out, JJOS with big screen is a beast, no bugs, no flaws, good hardware, standalone n stuff... the Live is a bit overkill with all it‘s options. It tries to hard to be a DAW imo. It should focus more on improving the already existing features of the older MPCs, instead of adding more stuff. I use my DAW for mixing and mastering after all! The rest is done on the MPC (at least thats how I plan to use it).