What I learned in 20+ years of MPCing and why I moved away

Yo!

Well with the Release of MPC3 I can officially say that I am no longer on Team MPC.

I first joined team MPC around 05 when I purchased an MPC1000 and at the time all I needed was an MPC and my turntables+record collection. I had no instruments and no money to collect instruments.

Over the years I've had an Emu Emax, SP1200, MPC2000xl, MPC1000, and MPC Live.

I've been struggling with the MPC Live for the last several years, mainly because the Akai software is complete ass.

I've got too many gripes with modern MPCs to even know where to start but I guess my main gripe is that the workflow is nowhere near as efficient as it was back in the 2000xl or MPC1000 days. Back in those days it was easy to load up some drum kits, load up some samples and make a beat. The most time consuming part was chopping samples but you had to use your ears because the screen resolution and sample resolution wasn't great.

They've added a ton of features to the newer MPCs but with that they've bogged down the workflow. Searching for samples to make new kits is such a painful process on the new MPCs. They have so much memory that it really encourages you to load way too many drum samples and the performance aspect of the machine is just not that fun... but to be honest it hasn't been fun since they switched the pads out when they released the MPC1000 -- ever since then it's been stiff ass pads.

All I want from Akai is a simple sampler like in the old days. I don't want 100 plugins, I don't need fx, I don't need a desktop app.... I just need a simple machine that takes audio in and spits audio out, with dedicated outputs for tracking out.... but alas the modern MPCs sound like absolute trash. I don't mean that in any disrespectful way but the conversion on them is just so god awful there is no transient detail and everything is super muddy.

My transition away from the MPC started back in 2022 when I started building out my studio. Purchased some more keyboards, some more outboard gear to process those keyboards etc. I found that the MPC no longer made a great centerpiece because of the limitations of it's resources, so I started using the MPC in controller mode and realized how bad the converters on the MPC are when it's night and day difference to have the same beat coming out of my ssl big six as my mpc.... so yeah, i knew the writing was on the wall back then but I wasn't willing to give up the MPC just yet because I thought I was married to the workflow.

Well, I'm divorced from the workflow now.... the main reason I purchased my MPC1000 back in the day was because my 32bit computer with 2GB ram was not really powerful enough to handle Reason 2.5 with midi through an external audio interface -- lots of lag on that. So that's why I really got into the MPC... my computer just wasn't powerful enough.

I kept with the MPCs because I was neglecting to realize that a powerful computer would be a way better studio centerpiece than an MPC. Last year I built out my "dream rig" and spent about $4,000 building my PC.

So now I have a ton of outboard gear, a PC that can handle just about anything, an MPC whos software for PC was written over 13 years ago.... yeah I did it, I said **** that shit. First I bought Presonous Studio One.... I thought I would stick with the MPC and just use it in standalone mode again and track everything into Studio One. Well as soon as I put it in standalone mode I was reminded of how bad it sounds. So back to controller mode... unfortunately that doesn't integrate well with studio one.

So I sat back, I purchased new furniture for the studio and reorganized things. I was determined to get out of my rut but just was not feeling productive at all with the MPC like I was back in the day. So I did a crazy thing, a thing that I've hated on for over 25 years. I purchased FL Studio Signature edition....

holy shit, my workflow woes are gone. I made 3 beats in one night, I haven't done that in so long. It feels amazing to use software that doesn't suck, software that isn't an afterthought.

I wish you MPC users luck but I just can't do it anymore. I'm not getting rid of my MPC live.... I just don't know if I will ever use it again. I think once I purchase this MioXL I will have no need for the MPC Live ever again. What primarily kept it for me was the fact that it also acts as a midi interface... and the fact that I enjoyed playing the pads.... but ya know what? I'd rather click my drums out with a mouse and play the keys if it means I get to enjoy making music again!

you could plug almost any interface that you want into the mpc (have any DAC of your choice and budget) that you could run up to i believe 32 outputs right into the outboard equipment

you could also get something like the MPC4000

or yeah, FL studio has been great for over 20 years.. that also works.

The advantage of standalones was that they allowed you to do what you actually had to pay even more to do on a computer.

Good PCs were REALLY expensive back then, and you still needed the other hardware. A lot of younger people don't understand this, because they weren't around in the 90s/early 2000s. They can go buy a Mac Mini for $500. Back then, that was a $2-3,000 Computer, and everything else was more expensive relative to what it is today (price tags can be deceiving, factor in inflation and how much a dollar was worth back then).

My Laptop-based production setup in 2005, if adjusted for inflation, would have cost over $6K in 2025 and that's ignoring all software costs except the DAW itself ($500-1,000 depending on which Studio DAW you used). That's also assuming you didn't need anything like DSP for recording.

An MPC was more economical, and it required far less space than a Desktop PC-based setup. This is why it became so popular in the market segments where it gained widespread use. Rich Urbanites producing music didn't need them. They had the funds to buy the other equipment, and the room to host it.

They made sense, especially since so many producers that bought them were just putting drums on top of a sample and maybe a loop or two.

Once the PC Market Expanded, Prices were driven down, and machines go exponentially powerful (Moore's Law) at lower prices and in more portable form factors... the machines that MPCs actually did well at providing an alternative to no longer needed an alternative.

When you add in advances in software development and PC/Mac-based production platforms...

Also, some of the software that many people use as lower cost alternatives to industry standard applications either didn't exist at all (Studio One, Bitwig, LUNA) are were very much in relative infancy at that time (Live, Reason, REAPER).

These days, this market segment is more of a social FAD (which is fine and valid), which is why companies like NI and Akai invest so much in giving units out to creators. It's about driving up FOMO, which drives up sales from a market segment that is in the midst of a GAS Epidemic. Vibes, a need to in that community, nostalgia, etc.

^- That's most companies in this segment, frankly.

These newer machines are really no different than if you had a weaker laptop with a Maschine MK3 or MPC One+ built into it instead of a keyboard. The only difference is the form factor and the relative power of the CPU inside the machine (and storage/RAM capacities, naturally).

Get an FLKey 49 & call it a day.

You can apply many of your old workflows from the MPC 1k days to the new MPCs. Just because you've got 2-8gb of memory doesn't mean you need to use it.

Even though you *can* load up a drive with a mountain of samples doesn't mean you *should*, and similarly... if you bring the same amount of samples to older hardware you're absolutely going to hit the same times of searching/sorting problems.

I'm not trying to defend new vs. old, and your concerns and observations are completely valid... and I just put this into the reality that times have changed. Modern MPCs have a lot of differences for sure, and it's totally okay to not get on with it.

An MPC1k with JJOS is *still* a absolutely valid way to make music, even with all this modern gear out and about

I don't know what you're on about, but the modern MPCs don't suck. I say this not to be mean, but as long as you have moderate intelligence you can find your sounds and other parts of the modern MPC 3 standalone OS. It's very intuitive the way they've laid things out, and I love all the plugins and FX. If you want something like the MPC 1000, just get the MPC 1000. Why would AKAI release a MPC with no features, plugins, FX, etc, when the goal is to evolve and grow? How are they going to compete with other companies that make similar devices that offer all those things? I'm glad you're not an R&D guy, but I have a feeling you'd get canned pretty quickly with the mentality you have. Again, I'm not attacking you, I'm just saying you have a very odd take on how AKAI should be proceeding when it comes to making modern MPCs.

I have the Key 61 and I love it. I just bought the new SH-101 plugin they released within the last day or two and its amazing. I can't wait to mess with it after work this weekend. There's nothing I would say I can't do musically with my Key 61. Whether you make hip hop, rock, EDM, House, music for TV commercials, you can do it ALL with the modern MPC. I think evolution is great and I'm looking forward to what they come up with next. Something like STEMS wasn't possible on a MPC 1000 but it has opened up a whole new world for beatmakers. Those songs you couldn't separate that part you liked, well now you can go back through all your records and find those and use STEMS to grab what you want. I think the sound on them is great and the modern MPC is a dream to work with. Anyway, to each his own, I respect your opinion and your right to say it, but I humbly disagree. L8r!

NearTao wrote:You can apply many of your old workflows from the MPC 1k days to the new MPCs. Just because you've got 2-8gb of memory doesn't mean you need to use it.

Even though you *can* load up a drive with a mountain of samples doesn't mean you *should*, and similarly... if you bring the same amount of samples to older hardware you're absolutely going to hit the same times of searching/sorting problems.

I'm not trying to defend new vs. old, and your concerns and observations are completely valid... and I just put this into the reality that times have changed. Modern MPCs have a lot of differences for sure, and it's totally okay to not get on with it.

An MPC1k with JJOS is *still* a absolutely valid way to make music, even with all this modern gear out and about

I did apply many of my old workflows to the MPC Live but I view workflows as something that progresses. My workflow and the level of my productions now is worlds different than it was 20 years ago. I'm definitely not sitting there with a record player sampling other people's music anymore, that is not fun for me. I'd rather use my instruments to replay the samples and sample myself.

Trying to manage a ton of midi devices from an MPC Live is a PITA. I do not chain midi and prefer to have all midi going over USB.

Trust me, it was not an overnight decision to walk away from using my MPC. It took awhile for me to go hybrid with studio one and the MPC and then I finally just moved to FL Studio while using Studio One for mastering and for mixing or song completion occasionally too if theres somebody hopping on a mic.

CjSantana wrote:Get an FLKey 49 & call it a day.

I already have quite a keyboards/synthesizers/midi controllers so no point in buying a new one just for FL. I use an MIO XL to manage midi and the first thing that I did once I started re-learning FL (which ironically I started with 25 years ago before going to Reason and then to the MPC) was create a template to map all my midi devices right out of the gate.

mr_debauch wrote:you could plug almost any interface that you want into the mpc (have any DAC of your choice and budget) that you could run up to i believe 32 outputs right into the outboard equipment

you could also get something like the MPC4000

or yeah, FL studio has been great for over 20 years.. that also works.

I take it you have not personally plugged in "almost any interface" into the MPC in "Class Compliant" mode. It's well documented what a piece of shit this mode is and that's exactly why I started using my MPC in controller mode 3 years ago. From within the MPC hardware you have no control over buffer size, sample rate etc. Nor do you have easy control over time signature (which you do from the software, and previously did from the MPC.

I have absolutely 0 reason to use an MPC4000. Vintage machines are a headache, even if somebody gave me a 4000 for free I still wouldn't use it. It was great for it's time but there are other great options now and my computer fits perfectly as the centerpiece and brains of my studio.

I've used the MPC Live with a number of different sound cards and the only ones that it worked somewhat reliably with were cheaper ones with less IO. I have 16 inputs and 18 outputs. The MPC absolutely can't handle that without being in controller mode.

Trensharo wrote:The advantage of standalones was that they allowed you to do what you actually had to pay even more to do on a computer.

Good PCs were REALLY expensive back then, and you still needed the other hardware. A lot of younger people don't understand this, because they weren't around in the 90s/early 2000s. They can go buy a Mac Mini for $500. Back then, that was a $2-3,000 Computer, and everything else was more expensive relative to what it is today (price tags can be deceiving, factor in inflation and how much a dollar was worth back then).

My Laptop-based production setup in 2005, if adjusted for inflation, would have cost over $6K in 2025 and that's ignoring all software costs except the DAW itself ($500-1,000 depending on which Studio DAW you used). That's also assuming you didn't need anything like DSP for recording.

An MPC was more economical, and it required far less space than a Desktop PC-based setup. This is why it became so popular in the market segments where it gained widespread use. Rich Urbanites producing music didn't need them. They had the funds to buy the other equipment, and the room to host it.

They made sense, especially since so many producers that bought them were just putting drums on top of a sample and maybe a loop or two.

Once the PC Market Expanded, Prices were driven down, and machines go exponentially powerful (Moore's Law) at lower prices and in more portable form factors... the machines that MPCs actually did well at providing an alternative to no longer needed an alternative.

When you add in advances in software development and PC/Mac-based production platforms...

Also, some of the software that many people use as lower cost alternatives to industry standard applications either didn't exist at all (Studio One, Bitwig, LUNA) are were very much in relative infancy at that time (Live, Reason, REAPER).

These days, this market segment is more of a social FAD (which is fine and valid), which is why companies like NI and Akai invest so much in giving units out to creators. It's about driving up FOMO, which drives up sales from a market segment that is in the midst of a GAS Epidemic. Vibes, a need to in that community, nostalgia, etc.

^- That's most companies in this segment, frankly.

These newer machines are really no different than if you had a weaker laptop with a Maschine MK3 or MPC One+ built into it instead of a keyboard. The only difference is the form factor and the relative power of the CPU inside the machine (and storage/RAM capacities, naturally).

Yeah, this is exactly where I'm coming from. I now have an incredibly powerful desktop that can handle very large session files with ease. Ain't no way I'm turning back from that. If my workflow was just sampling recordings and chopping them up and then maybe the MPC would be okay for me. It actually has some decent plugins with it now. But my workflow is much more composition based now. And I can just chop samples in the MPC with any number of sampler plugins that I have, and I have a pad controller that takes up less space as well.

For me it just feels so freeing to no longer have to rely on the MPC, and on Akai. Just because I'm currently using FL does not mean that I am tied to it. I have a diverse drum sample library and I always process my drums through external hardware (usually pultec, carnaby he2 eq, api sr24 eq, ssl g series bus comp or stam audio sa609 neve style bus comp). I'll usually do a mono drum through a tape emulator like rnd542 or the walters audio t805 and blend them together.

I'm also personally not 100% married to FL Studio, as Studio One has also been a part of my new workflow.

I'm sure I'll come back to the MPC occasionally for some sample based beats just so it's not collecting dust but it just doesn't meet my needs anymore now that I have a computer to better meet my needs.

Skeeter_Woo wrote:I don't know what you're on about, but the modern MPCs don't suck. I say this not to be mean, but as long as you have moderate intelligence you can find your sounds and other parts of the modern MPC 3 standalone OS. It's very intuitive the way they've laid things out, and I love all the plugins and FX. If you want something like the MPC 1000, just get the MPC 1000. Why would AKAI release a MPC with no features, plugins, FX, etc, when the goal is to evolve and grow? How are they going to compete with other companies that make similar devices that offer all those things? I'm glad you're not an R&D guy, but I have a feeling you'd get canned pretty quickly with the mentality you have. Again, I'm not attacking you, I'm just saying you have a very odd take on how AKAI should be proceeding when it comes to making modern MPCs.

I have the Key 61 and I love it. I just bought the new SH-101 plugin they released within the last day or two and its amazing. I can't wait to mess with it after work this weekend. There's nothing I would say I can't do musically with my Key 61. Whether you make hip hop, rock, EDM, House, music for TV commercials, you can do it ALL with the modern MPC. I think evolution is great and I'm looking forward to what they come up with next. Something like STEMS wasn't possible on a MPC 1000 but it has opened up a whole new world for beatmakers. Those songs you couldn't separate that part you liked, well now you can go back through all your records and find those and use STEMS to grab what you want. I think the sound on them is great and the modern MPC is a dream to work with. Anyway, to each his own, I respect your opinion and your right to say it, but I humbly disagree. L8r!

I'm glad you love your key61. I personally find those MPC plugins to be lackluster. If I want an SH01 I'd go with the roland SH01 plugin or just buy a vintage SH01. I find your "moderate intelligence" comment to be quite hilarious by the way... as if intelligence has something to with preferring one workflow over the other.

No offense to your intelligence but if I were to transition back from my custom built and custom tuned studio centerpiece PC back to a dedicated hardware workstation I would design and build my own sampler/drum machine as opposed to buying something that's already been prefabricated with bloated software. But frankly there's no point in doing that since I can still do everything you can do with your MPC Key 61 and more with my current setup.

I have over $20,000 worth of instruments and over $20,000 worth of outboard gear to process those instruments.

By the way the MPC Key 61 is just a linux computer with 2GB of crappy soldered on RAM and a really old embedded CPU running JUCE (a C++ audio library) for the main application. I think it has like 2 or 4 cores maybe.

My workstation is 16 cores, my midi interface has more expandability than the MPCs midi interface (MIO XL here), I have 48GB of overclocked DDR5 memory, I have all my instruments patched into patch bays (I have 3 48pt patch bays) and patched into outboard gear from there. I have a Moog Sub37, a Vox Continental 73 key reissue, a Roland JU-06a boutique, a Roland TR08 boutique, a 3rd Wave keyboard synth ($5000), a fender precision bass ($2200), another cheaper bass, a fender stratocaster, a martin acoustic bass, etc....

I essentially have a full recording studio G and the only thing an MPC can do for me that my computer cant is give me neck pain after a long session

It is curious to see how people get defensive when it comes to the choice of production environment. At the end of the day nobody cares whether you use FL, MPC, Ableton, or a bang on lunch table to make your music. Is it music that sounds good? The whole discussion reminds me of guitarists discussing the use of valve amps vs. solid state vs. modelers. Same story. Nobody cares. Use the gear that inspires you, to make music. Horses for courses.

ok i see the argument for making the switch to computer from the MPC.... it has been the case for 20 years..

fl studio is a great sequencer (that comes with great plugins but can be loaded with even greater plugins) and the playlist is one of the best in any daw for arranging because tracks are just audio/midi clip holders and not hard wired to the mixer.

Back when it was fruity loops before it was called fl studio, i thought it was set up almost identically to the mpc.. or maybe the programmers were mpc users and they made a software.... with the tracks sitting in the sequence (pattern) and you click in the pattern on the playlist (like song mode) .. except in FL you can have several sequences playing simultaneously which i thought was super powerful at the time.

It has quite fast workflow too, because you can usually do any job several ways so you figure out your own workflow.


as for using audio interfaces on the mpc, i have only tried personally an audient and at a friend's place he has focusrite.. didn't have any issues on either of them.

I don't see anybody getting defensive, just trying to have a conversation and understand the OP.

Anybody should use whatever suits them to make music and craft their art.

EDIT: Well maybe a few folks jumping off the bridge

Smokeychuck wrote:Yeah, this is exactly where I'm coming from. I now have an incredibly powerful desktop that can handle very large session files with ease. Ain't no way I'm turning back from that. If my workflow was just sampling recordings and chopping them up and then maybe the MPC would be okay for me. It actually has some decent plugins with it now. But my workflow is much more composition based now. And I can just chop samples in the MPC with any number of sampler plugins that I have, and I have a pad controller that takes up less space as well.

For me it just feels so freeing to no longer have to rely on the MPC, and on Akai. Just because I'm currently using FL does not mean that I am tied to it. I have a diverse drum sample library and I always process my drums through external hardware (usually pultec, carnaby he2 eq, api sr24 eq, ssl g series bus comp or stam audio sa609 neve style bus comp). I'll usually do a mono drum through a tape emulator like rnd542 or the walters audio t805 and blend them together.

I'm also personally not 100% married to FL Studio, as Studio One has also been a part of my new workflow.

I'm sure I'll come back to the MPC occasionally for some sample based beats just so it's not collecting dust but it just doesn't meet my needs anymore now that I have a computer to better meet my needs.

I don't think MPC makes sense if you have a predominantly PC-based workflow. I actually think Maschine works much better there, because the hardware actually works well with practically any 3rd party software (just create a controller mapping for it - and some DAWs have insanely good support for them OOTB e.g. Bitwig Studio/Ableton Live/Logic Pro).

I probably would only get a Mikro MK3 in that scenario, anyways. I have both a MK3 and Mikro MK3 and generally prefer the Mikro because of the size... but if you only need a stereo audio interface, then the MK3 is actually the same when you combine the other two devices' space requirements together.

But, if I'm being honest, I barely use them at all, these days. I just use a KB Controller with 16 Pads and move on.

Serato Sample largely eliminates the need to "Sample" in MPC or Maschine (hardware or software), and many DAWs have such good Samplers these days that you don't need them for Live Sampling, either. I also don't see any reason whatsoever to split production tasks up between DAW and Groovebox. That's an unnecessary workflow complication that I prefer to live without.

Right now, MPC is all about whether or not you are willing to invest in, and live within the confines of, the standalone hardware, IMO. Once you switch to a PC-based setup... the only reason continue to use it is "investment regret." When I went PC I actually got a Studio 2 for that reason, but I eventually sold it and got a Mikro MK3 because I could use that in other software and ignore Maschine 2 altogether.

Doesn't help that they took forever to update their workflow... being held hostage by legacy users.

I actually have never used maschine, and didn't even consider that ironically.

I'm pretty pleased with FL Studio and more recently I've been experimenting with studio one with their pad controller.

Sampling in FL studio is still a bit of a pain so the MPC Live still has been used a little bit in controller mode again when sampling is necessary. I am willing to admit that it still has the best sampling workflow but for me I am able to separate sampling from actual beatmaking. I've always done them in different sessions -- for instance I'll take a roland TR08 and patch it through a bunch of hardware comps and eqs and reverb/delay pedals and record 808s, snares, hi hats, toms etc taking time to pitch/tune the 808s and toms and save them in different keys. Then in other sessions I use those. So I definitely won't be getting rid of my MPC or anything, it's just not what I'm making beats on right now.

I want to experiment more with the ATOM controller with studio one. Like I said previously I have an MIO XL which is an 8x12 midi interface so I can basically expand more synths and keyboards if I want to and use studio one or fl studio more like my MPC where I am sending midi notes to they keyboards and then recording the keyboards. I think that part is easier in studio one honestly but still getting used to the fl workflow.

Hey dude, just curious how you found the 542 in comparison two Walter Tape?
I Currently have 2x 542.. if you had to keep one or the other ? thanks

I like both the 542 and the Walter tape. They have a different sound for sure. The 542 has a wider sonic pallet and can do a lot more distortion.

The Walter’s tape is great but is much simpler in terms of the way it alters the sonics.

They both sound great just depends on the material. I really like the 542 when I need crunch. Walter’s tape I use for vocals and other stuff. I only have one Walter’s tape since no point in 2 since they aren’t matched. I mean can do 2 but I’d rather use it on mono tracks. I use the 542s mostly in mono too. I have two but started in it just one of em

well, I just bought mpc key 37, because I need midi controller with keys, not pads. That was my goal, and I'm pretty satisfied with it's possibilities. And yes, MPC VA plugins sounds like shit, in comparison with real synths. My setup: Elektrons(OT,A4,AR), Nord NL4, Roland JV-2080, Boog, xoxbox.