welll.... this is now completely OFF TOPIC
I have different sequencer experience than you since I know the sequencers of MPC1000 (with all the different OS), the yamaha series (QY, RM1x and RS, all more or less alike) the horrible SP808 sequencer by Roland and the terrible pattern based sequencers of the Korg electribes.
I have never used a computer based sequencer.
Of the ones I know, the ones with the most features are the yamaha sequencers.
They are built around the concept of midi phrase, this is a group of midi events of any length (up to 256 measures). The phrases are placed in tracks, meaning that a track can be longer or shorter than the phrase. If the phrase is shorter it loops within the track, if it is longer, the phrase plays through as the track loops. This alone is a great feature. The phrases can be used an any track you want, at the speed you want and in the key you want with different groove and velocity settings (these are specified per track).
The yamaha sequencers have midi generation tools, say you want to make a filter sweep, you select a curve, you input the length, the step and the CC event of your choice and voilà, the CCs are all neatly laid out in the track. I would love the MPC doing this. With JJ OS you can do it but in real time only.
They also provide midi manipulation tools, such as midi delay. You chose the delay time, how many repeats you want, note increments on the delayed note (so you can make a delay up at the octave or at the 5th or whatever), the increments on velocity (so you can have a decaying delay), the groowe (delays are delayed...) etc. and the midi events are generated. You can do that in real time too. The MIDI delay function is so advanced that it is even better than some arpeggiators that you find on units such as the Microkorg. The MPC has nothing of that. Although it is so simple, it is a mix of copy/paste and transpose/modify velocity/shift events.
Another good one is midi time stretch (beat stretch they call it), where you can actually stretch a phrase in 1/16 to play at 1/8 instead (so it will be half the tempo of the sequence you're running) or any other value. You can make it faster or slower. This function is impossible to replicate on the MPC, it is easier to rewrite the sequence instead.
There are so many smart things the yamaha sequencers can do on midi. most of them can be replicated on the MPC when you know what to do, but it is not as swift. And not as user friendly. And definitely not as flexible.
I have kept my old RM1x sequencer, and as soon as I clean up the studio a little i will put it back to use. You should check one out if you have a chance.
when I bought the MPC1000 I wrote a long comparison of it with the RS7000 that you can read here.
http://data.rs7000.org/forums/showthrea ... eadid=1387
It was before JJ OS, hey it was even before OS 2 by Akai! oh my god.
Th JJ OS did not provide anything new to me. I appreciate a lot the many added features, but the RS7000 has all the features of the JJ OS, plus some more. The workflow is better with the JJ OS than with the yamaha sequencers. The ergonomics of the MPC is also globally better (to me).
I think the MPC with JJ OS is great for sequencing samples (which is what I do, duh), but it is not a sequencer that is lends itself to intricate programming. It is something you actually play with your hands more than digging through submenus to generate midi data.
My ideal box would be the MPC sampler (and sample jobs) running the RS7000 sequencer. All in the MPC1000 package. That would be a bomb.
