personally i think the 4000 is a bunch of bells and whistles, but not in a bad way, i can understand why someone who wants to make radio-quality music to own one of these, and those whose beats are laid out in the verse/hook/verse/hook format with tons of variation...as far as raw hip hop, underground or wherever, that doesnt follow that pattern (see madlib, DOOM), then the 4000 is a waste of money in my opinion...the sp1200 is a much better machine (not because of the name, and how pete rock made it famous) but for the fact that it FORCES you to be creative (10 seconds of sample time) and for the most part you need to use your ear to hear whats going on...of course lil jon isnt going to use an sp1200, its 12 bit...
im not bashing the 4000, but less is sometimes more, id much rather freak 10 seconds of sample time and make some real raw, creative shit then lay down loops in the 4000. sure you can chop loops in the 4000 just like you can in the sp1200, but you really want to spend 2000 plus dollars just to chop loops? yeah, you have the pads, the mpc60 has pads and a better sound then the 4000 in my opinion (if you like it raw 12 bit)..a vintage piece that youd save some money on, and it also has a minute of sampling time which is more then enough for any hip hop producer
im not bashing or trying to start an argument, im just saying how i feel about it, its just an opinion...at the same time, i have money set aside for a 2000/4000 just in case those im working with dont want the 12 bit grit, i can fall back on something like that...and i can definitely see why pop/techno/drum and bass producers would love this thing (compatible with computers, 24 bit sampling, all technologically tricked out) and those that like there sound crisp and clear and radio friendly, not really understanding why raw hip hop heads are tho
lou from what ive heard you post on these forums you seem to like that rugged grizzly shit, the 4000 might be overkill for what your trying to do with the music
give me a fisher price turntable an sp1200 and a 4 track and ill make you some dope music, word