Tell me what you think. pls respond

I have a 2kxl, but I'm thinking of getting either a 4000 or a 1000. There are several facts about both of these machines that are pulling me in their direction and I don't know what to do. Help me make a decision.

The things that really pull me towards the 4000 are: track mute recording, 4 midi outs, a-f banks instead of a-d, hard drive, effects, keygroup assigning, good lcd, and ak.Sys

Things I don't like about it are: Faulty OS and PRICE


Things that make me want the 1000: PRICE!!!!!!!, usb transfer, standard effects, large capacity storage, and once again PRICE!!!!!!!

I don't like: Faulty OS, the fact that it doesn't have track mute recording


I really want the track mute recording feature and 4 midi outs! But is it worth it for the price of the 4000? If these thing were included on the 1000 it would be a done deal. I mean, all the extra features that are included on the 4000 would be nice, but all that matters to me are those two features. Should I really give up the extra loot for the 4000? I wish the prices of them had never went back up. This wouldn't even be a question. And then on top of all this, I have to worry about the damn things acting a fool because the OS aren't fully developed. That's my main worry.

I would like to hear your opinion on this and also do me a favor and answer these questions for me.

Which machine has a more stable OS, the 1000 or 4000?
Do you ever think the bugs will be fixed in its entirety for either machine?
Do you think the 4000 will ever go back down in price? After NAMM maybe?

If you watch the demo video from Samplekingz that somebody posted in the MPC1000 thread, it seems like he was muting certain tracks by pressing the corresponding pads, if this is what you meant by "track mute" then you're really not missing out on anything if you get the mpc1000. I heard the LCD display is bigger and better than on the XL and it has 4 outs standard. The LCD not tilting won't be a problem for me if I buy one cause I still use the original 2000 not an XL, and the original 2000 has no tilt screen... a good buy for the money indeed. I am in the same boat as you because I wanted to upgrade to a 4000 but the price and clumsy OS have steered me away thus far...

I was in the same situation and I finally get the 4000.I was looking forward to sell my 2kxl,something I didn't do finally.Of course I still need money,but my previous model stays in home(cause it's agreat machine and...love it's love).The price of the MPC4000 has to do with its features :you get the Z sampling engine,a solid sequncer,some good FX - definitely better than the EB16,6 real-time controllers and the opportunity to load multisamples from sample cds (just plug-in a midi keynoard).You can also go for an HD (I had a 80gb Western Digital workin' pergectly) and ram to 512mb (instead of the 2kxl's 32!!),something I also did.You can have a cd-r/w for saving whatever you want from the internal memory and load stuff (I had a PlexWriter 48/24/48 )/.The ins/outs of the machine are also upgrade to xlrs,something that offers hogh quality.Don't forget the usb connections and the huge LCD screen.The only thing that's still makes me angry it's the buggy software,something that will be fixed through the months (years etc.) as we,the 4k users we'll continue praying the most high for that!! I'd say,GO FOR THAT!

Thanks for the reply toecutter and I did watch the samplekingz video. Actually, the track mute record function that I'm talking about allows you to record your mutes into your sequence. So when you play it back, it performs all the mutes for you. This would be useful when for me because I track my songs into my comp and performing the mutes by hand can be tedious. I know that I can make my patterns a certain way and then configure them in song mode, but track mute recording is so much easier. It would truly speed up my track making process because I become quite hesitant when it comes to tracking if I have to manually do the mutes or configure them in song mode. But for the price difference, I might just have to deal with doing so (although I would love to have the 64 channels of midi too!).

As far as anyone knows the MPC1000 has the more stable OS. Since the 1000 is not as complex as the 4000 more bugs would have been discovered by now if they were serious. In contrast, the bugs in the 4000 were discovered over the course of more than a year.

The minor bugs in the 1000 should get fixed in the near future. It's anyone's guess about the 4000. There isn't any way to say positively that the bugs will be fixed in it soon because this model is already 2 years old. The bugs in the 4000 are not extremely serious or it would be a dead product.

Forget the idea of the price on the 4000 going down again. The only way this might happen is if AKAI has a lot of competition from Roland. With the economy now in recovery the demand for the 4000 is going to be stable. It might even increase because, unlike in the first year of the 4000, customers are now aware that they don't have to buy the best version to get what they want. If the OS is improved further, then demand will continue to be good, so there will be no reason to reduce the price. The last chance to buy a reduced 4000LE was this summer. It is likely that you will never see the price that low again.

Well that's not good news. I was hoping I'd hear news of the price dropping once more. I wish I would have taken advantage of that price drop while it existed. I had no idea that it would go back up. Oh well for that. I do think that the 1000 will be the more stable machine simply because it's based off of the 2kxl OS. I think my decision is leaning toward the 1000 because of price and stability. And by doing this, it leaves me more loot to purchase other things I may need for my setup. I may even keep my 2kxl and see how I can use it in addition to the 1000. It may be overkill. We'll see. Thanks for all responses. You guys were a great help.

Get The 4000 Bro 1.45 is Solid and I'm sure the next OS update will be better than the buggy 1.50 OS......I have a 25 disk E-Mu EIII and e4 ultra library and it loads everything beautifully..multisamples and all. The sequencer has WAAAAAAAAY more features than the 2000xl and has cool editing features like a computer recording program. The FX are pretty good, resampling is great, it can record an audioCD in your 4000 thru the internal CD-R, Aksys is cool too, let's not forget the RIAA Phono inputs..I'm crankin new samples off old Vinyl and they sound just like theyre supposed to.....4 midi outs are good to have....BTW I've started using Reason 2.5 from my Mac as a sound module for the 4k.....of course there are features we want but this thing is a Killer man..I sold my mpc60 with 3.10 OS for it and my old SP1200...I've turned all my old Drum sample libraries into Multisampled Killa Drumkits with Velocity Adjustments. filters and FX with ease and they load in seconds.....Why waste money getting the 1000 when you have the 2000xl???? Get a 4000 go on splurge....let us not forget it took Roger Linn almost 4 whole years to complete the OS on the MPC3000 and look at it now,,,A Classic....I'm sure the 4k's rough beginnings will turn out to be a happy ending when all is said and done........We **** and moan because Akai doesnt tell us shit but I'm sure they'll rectify everything...it aint that big a deal!!

my 4000 has replaced the pc/cubase/softsampler setup.
it all started well, but i wanted to make music rather than upgrade
my computer every other month.
The yamaha qy700 was my first try, but this was wierd.
People were alredy selling used MPC4000 s, so I picked the HD version
up for 800 UK.
BARGAIN. Shoved in 512meg memory (45UK), an old CD drive.
Top Machine. Stuff akai and their half-arsed OS revisions. It does loads
of things very very well. + 4 Midis outs!
Any USB thing plugged in gets recognised! More than i can say about my old pC. That now runs AKsys. and prints the odd document..
PLus it means i have a top sequncer and great sampler at V.1.45.
If they get the next upgrade right, then it's a bonus.
It is the centre of my setup and is a serious instument.
If you can pay a price you're happy with , then get one.
(cant find a suitable case to lug it around yet , but hey.......)
regards JB

Thanks for y'alls input. However, I made the decision to go ahead with the 1000. I don't do anything with an mpc except make use of the midi/drum sequencer. Other than that, I don't really need all of the other things that the 4000 offers. The only things that the 4000 has that would benefit me more than the 1000 would be the track mute record, keygroup, and 4 midi outs. Anything else I would be perfectly content with doing on a 1000. And the price difference is a major influence on my decision. I just don't think that those few features I would like to have are worth the extra $1000+ that I would have to give up. I have several other pieces of equipment that I will be getting and that extra $1000+ will come in handy. If I do perhaps run into more funds than expected later on, I will undoubtedly get the 4000. Hey, if I could get it for as cheap as you did "crisb1000," I'd go get it tomorrow. But that's not the situation (I only wish). And "lacasanostrarecords," it seems as if you think that the transition from a 2kxl to a 1000 is a bad move. Why so? I see nothing but advances in a 1000 over the 2kxl (and I own one). I surely will not miss timestretch or the reverse function because I do all of my editing on my comp. And I definitely want to get rid of SCSI storage. Please elaborate on why you think this would be a waste of money. Maybe I'm overlooking something? To sum this up, the 1000 will suit my needs for the time being. And it's almost as if it will be painless to make the switch because if I'm satisfied with the 1000's performance, I can sell my 2kxl and probably get most of my money back that I paid for the 1000 anyway. And on top of all that, I don't think I want to invest in something as expensive as the 4000 right now because I want to see exactly what trick Roger Linn has up his sleeve. In case you guys don't keep up with your "musical current events," Roger Linn verified quite a while ago the fact that his company would be be coming out with some type of drum machine product that will include "some interesting new ideas for making music." If I just busted your bubble please accept my apology. But I felt it was necessary. Y'all don't think ol' Linn forgot about the drum machine game did ya? Check it out for yourself. It's on the 5th page, 3rd question: http://www.sonicstate.com/articles/arti ... ge=5&id=71

Hell, he might even surprise us at this upcoming NAMM event. Who knows? Don't sleep on it.

Sorry akai, I'm not trying to hurt your market. I'm just relaying information. Might wanna get that OS up to spec and stable quickly. Besides, it's ok. Most likely I'm still gonna get y'alls 1000 soon.

Happy track-making to all.......Future