having turned into a bit of an mpc1000 technician, i suggest reading up on the pad problems, as there's a lot of misinformation and confusion on the issue and it's good to know the full story. what goes wrong in there is one of the most simple design flaws i've ever even heard of, and as a result the machine's legitimacy plummets. it'd be understandable if it was based on just plain bad technology, but the issue is design - the idea of a resistive sensor using pressure transducing rubber works great, but the original akai sensors are halfass, plain and simple.
that being said, i would still never be able to justify paying so much money for a machine like the 2500 - primarily because it isn't half as easy to lug around. if it was the size of an mpc1000, i might have a different story. same if it ran bigger or better software. the machines run the same stuff (same processor, in fact most the internal hardware is the same). if you're dying to be able to run 4 midi outs or have 8 individual outs and you hold that over portability, then your question is answered.
one thing to realize when you're buying a 2500 is that you're paying 1, for the machine, 2, for the pad sensors (interlink electronic force sensing resistors) and 3, for the brand name. mpcs are just plain overpriced, even the 1000, which is compared to what you're getting is the least expensive mpc.
number 2 is the most important there - all mpcs have interlink electronic sensors BUT the mpc1000. it's very expensive for akai to make orders from interlink electronics - hands down, that's the most expensive part of any mpc. so when akai did the 1000, they were able to save a bundle by building their own sensors - conveniently without telling anyone.
as i said though, this doesn't mean that a self contained pressure transducing rubber velocity sensor wont do the job - if you're interested, go to
http://cui.com and look at the pressure sensors. those contain the same technology as the akai mpc1000 pressure sensors and they work a LOT better. i've got em in my mpc1000 right now. i've been playing em barefaced, ie i don't have any rubber over top em yet, but come tomorrow i should be done with that.
save a lot of money by buying a used mpc1000 with as many button/data wheel/slider/pad problems as possible. haggle them down by pointing out flaw after flaw until they sell it to you for very cheap. then spend some of the money you saved on parts - repair is easy with the right soldering iron
the 1000 is still believably portable and along with the 2500 has the best software support of any hardware sampler in existence, albeit third party. software wise, there is nothing you can do with the 2500 that you can't with the 1000.
buying/refurbishing an mpc1000 would equip you with the knowledge of how to keep it running practically forever - not to mention the huge benefit of being able to take it everywhere with you all day long.
this is a very long story but if you were to buy a car it's best to look under the hood...pm me if you have questions or need more information
