Old vs New MPCs...

MPC-Tutor wrote:Personally I think losing the cursor arrow navigation is a big loss, it was possible to develop very rapid workflows using nothing but buttons. Add a touchscreen with a cleverly designed UI and you have the best of both worlds.

I agree with this one hundred percent. The only thing I miss from my 2500 is the cursor.

illsmith wrote:Bullsh*t

don't know what is with you little edgy-@ss h0es on this forum, i was one too, i can help you change brother.

illsmith wrote:
Bullsh*t

your name is also "Ill Smith" because you thought that was "ill", you thought that was an ill flip? oh brother i cant imagine what your b-...well listen theres a milion n^ggas named "ill smith" and I can put money on it they're all not anywhere near ill.

Lampdog wrote:Maaaaaannnn, Lampdog doesn’t care enough to do all that

why not just load a kit from the 4k with multilayerd sounds (preferably something you sampled at 24/96) into the x ... only takes a minute and play the same beat on both units side by side and reveal your findings ...

you dont have to record or post any .wav ... just do a honest comparison and post your thoughts ..

Regards

I got a Mpc One a while back, I'm a Mpc 2000 head so, I became used to that.
While the sampling capacity's far exceed my other dusty old samplers
I'm not sure the quantize is the same, I think I had quantize ON when I did this, and my OG Mpc 2000 woulnt let this off time ssheet fly for one second.
The sampler section is allright but Im not sure about the sequencer.
PEACEEEE
https://soundcloud.com/dirkslazenger/cl ... al_sharing

I prefer the older MPC's. I can list off a long list of reasons but nothing scientific. It could be nostalgia, familiarity with the parts and design, tech i am more familiar with or feel more capable of repairing or modding, the smaller screens being less a distraction from everything else in the studio, the operating systems feeling like they were written and coded by people who actually understood what sampling is, etc

Modern mpc's have large screens, the circuit boards look like lots of surface mount components i'm not sure i could repair, more difficult to modify internally for me, the operating systems are actually quite limited and not innovative or intuitive, or i am bombarded with too many options that i cannot develop a productive workflow.

Some things like the ability of new samplers to get clean "stems" out of samples boggles my mind and maybe the technology has far surpassed me and i am behind of the times. What serato sample can do feels like cheating, lol. So me clinging on to old MPC's and old tech might just make me an outdated old grump.

Work with whatever you have. People today live in abundance and have so many options but decades ago someone had to just work with what they could afford or find in a store and become a master of their own domain. People didn't have amazon delivering an array of options to their doorsteps.

Gearheads sometimes spend too much time tinkering with gear instead of actually using the gear. I've gone through that phase before. I'm feeling sudden urge to mod an MPC4000 i just got working. I think i got it for $300-$400 with a busted screen and i have put another $200-$300 into it for output expansion and fixing the screen issue. I'm going to sand it down, paint it the old classic akai grey/white color and use some hard cherry floor boards leftover from a job to make cherry wood sides. Going to trace the old sides on to there and use my router and sander to shape it.

Posting this toping here now, because it's related to MPC comparisons.

My MPC Live 2 (Retro version) has an issue with the main out volume (1 & 2) where it's fluctuating up and down during a sequence. There is NO automation of volume in the sequence. I have swapped cables and done basic troubleshooting

What I have found is that pressing on the casing of the sampler anywhere near the master volume POT changes the volume levels coming out of output 1 & 2!

I suspect it's a bad solder or possibly a bad POT. Needless to say, not impressed with this. The sampler has been treated very well, never left the studio. always in the same spot. Nothing spilled on it, not dropped etc.

Doing some research I came across another guy who reported exactly the same issue. More research on Youtube etc yielded a worrying amount of videos of people complaining about MPC Live's failing in various ways after very little time in otherwise new condition.

I submitted at ticket to InMusic, but I doubt they'll offer any support on a device that I purchased in 2021. Sign of the times with build quality? I have an ASR-10 from 91 that has travelled the globe and it's still rock solid.

Hoping for any advice and comments on the build quality of the new MPCs vs the older classics. I am beginning to feel like these new ones are kind of glorified computers with a sound-card in shiny cases? Thoughts?

I'm guessing that something bumped the volume knob and it caused a hairline crack in the circuit board, which now manifests itself as intermittent volume or erratic or fluctuating volume that responds to you pressing on the volume knob slightly.

well, my 2 cents..
there is no better mpc because almost every iteration has its strong points and its weaknesses but also it really depends on your needs.
i started with an mpc 2kxl (but i already had the 950), i needed a strong sequencer especially for live use, the 2kxl i soon found out was good but too limited for my needs, so i hunted for an mpc 4k , and i found one (this was about 2007 i think) fully expanded for very reasonable price. i was foolish enough to bring it live on stage and travel with it , inside a big a$$ samsonite suitcase i loved every bit of it, especially the keygroups , they are so advanced the new mpcs dont even touch them. great synthesis capabilities, and of course a great sound. but its a machine built for the studio, it soon developed issues so it was on repair very often and this became so frustrating i ended up selling it. of course i regret it. then i tried both the 1k and 2.5k and when i put jjos2xl on those, wow, i was flying. the sound is not good as on the 4k but they have their punch imho, the sound design is not deep as on the 4k but at least you can do keygroups for melodic instruments etc... but most of all i think jjos2xl excels on the sequencer, especially for live use. the next seq "immediately play" option is the holy grail for playing live, something akai didnt think of on their current mpc's, which, together with lack of proper time signature management, the lack of cursor and inability to program notes while the sequencer is stopped, make me hate that damn new sequencer. but of course the large ram and faster cpu enables plugins and tons of effects and most of all, great routing and automation, these i think are the strong points of the current line. plus battery on the live \ live 2. the sound on the new ones is very good, technically better than 1k\2.5k but subjectively i prefer the 1k\2.5k. anyway no comparison with the 4k.

I personally very much agree with what both Sense-A & Hyena said above.

This is a very timely topic for me, after moving from the 1K to an MPC Live earlier this year - I am now back on the 1K.
I got the Live mostly for the extra RAM, as I use the MPC for gigs & wanted to fit more beats into a single project for a set.
After a lot of teething problems I finally managed to get something close enough to the 1K JJOS workflow on the Live. But more & more I was starting to encounter problems that would screw up my gigs - mainly 8 pads triggering at once, & no combination of pad sensitivity / threshold could stop it. Strangely enough it was pretty much fine at home, but every time I travelled to do a show, it would fail on me.

So..back to the trusty 1K, regretting spending the bucks on the Live instead on spending half that on pimping out the old dog.

Basically, it all depends on how you use it & what you really need it to do regarding new vs old MPCs. My own needs are much more rare, as I imagine at least 90% of users never leave the house with theirs.
But right now I'm happy back on the 1K, it's solid & reliable, sounds great, & if something breaks I know I can get it fixed or replace a part.

I get to appeal of the new gen MPCs, they're powerful machines & have a lot more going on than the old models, but they just don't work for me personally.

Moot i feel ya, the liveset needs are indeed different from common studio usage, and i think still in 2025 the 1k in particular, due to the small form factor but relative great power and reliability, is still king in that area. if you need to expand the possibilities (more stuff that doesnt fit in ram) i'd suggest to pair it with the sp404 mk2, so when you exhaust one mpc project you can throw in some full or deconstructed beat on the sp while loading up a new project on the 1k, plus you can run the 1k into the sp and use its bus effects for some neat trick, performance fx , extra sounds etc... i think they pair up really well.
oh and if instead you use an external mixer and the 1k individual outs you can set up an aux send into the sp if you dont want it as end of chain processor...

That was actually my original plan! I got some cash together to invest in something new, & was all set on the 404mk2 - plan was to move all the larger stereo samples to the SP so that could do all the heavy lifting, & sequence everything with the 1K, and keep all the drums & bass on there too.

I live out in Asia, and was all set to order one for a good price from the UK to ship over, but the shipping cost was ridiculous & a few of the stores wouldn't let me get to the checkout without a UK address & phone number, so I had to rethink my plan & start looking at Ebay - Japan in particular. But then I found the MPC Live in a local add listing for $500 & I let the concept of being able to do everything I need in one box (for easy portability for travelling) get the better of me, so I ended up getting it. I regret my choice now unfortunately.

Ideally I'd love to swap it for an SP, but nobody uses these kinds of machines out where I am, & selling it will be a struggle - I still want the SP, but will most likely need to sell off the Live first - may take a while!! In the meantime I'm happy back on the 1K & knowing I can go do a gig without it crapping out on me

I go back and forth between my X SE and 500/2500. There's a lot to love about the X. Instead of being one of the most important pieces of gear in the studio it is a studio in one piece of gear. Slapping FX on programs and busses, dialing up all sorts of sounds from the plugins really makes this a one stop shop for me. Still I prefer to work on the older machines sometimes to change it up. With some beats I don't need extra instruments or all the fancy FX, just chopping, flipping and layering short phrases, breaks and horns tabs. In this regard the 2500 with JJOS still can't be beat and in workflow still shits all over the X. The 500 is my therapy to compensate for the indulgence in features on the X. Committing to hard decisions I make before moving is the theme here. Every step is a step forward in the process instead of endlessly trying things out. Sometimes I make my dopest beats on the 500.