1k 0r 2kxl???????????.......

Ok.. wats gud.. im almost ready to order my mpc, i've narrowd it down to the 1k or 2kxl.. im still not sure which one to get... im looking for somthing good for sampling from vinyl and pc files. and budget plays a really big part in this.. im lookin to spend $400-$600... which one do you think is best for me? oh yeah... i want to get a good begineer keyboard(not expensive) also, i have an old casio ctk-531, and im not sure if thats gon cut it...

With that budget you may be able to find a used MPC 2000XL but if you want to use your computer along with it, it may be best to get the card reader and install it yourself once you bought it. This way if you wanted to transfer files that you have on PC you could easily transfer them to your MPC. A program like RECYCLE, SoundForge would be great to chop up samples and then transfer to your MPC for sequencing or you can just do it on the MPC. On the other hand, you could get the MPC 1000 which is a smaller machine but packs a punch and also has the CF reader already installed. If you are looking to spend about $500-600 you could probably go ahead and put another $100 on it and get a 1X used one from Armen's Music Shop. With the keyboard you are looking to add on, I would probably look for a used rack mount and keep my cheap CASIO as long as it has MIDI outs. Check out some of the Roland JV racks or if you want to have a safe buy you could always get a Triton Rack.