Is the 4000 the answer?

What up forums fam,

So I've been making music on an MPC2000XL for a long time. Sample, chop, rock repeat. I love it, but recently I've been very productive and I find myself pulling my hair out waiting for long samples to draw. It never used to bother me but any more I have so little time to get busy that every second is crucial. I know the newer MPCs (4000, 2500) process comands much faster. I've been reading up a little on the 4000 and it seems like the way to go. I checked out the 2500 forum and it seemed every other thread was about someone's machine breaking. Plus I just don't think I could stare at that green screen for any extended period. Call me picky. I even considered one of the MV machines but the MPC is where it's at for me. Not interested in software. The 5000 looks very cool but I just don't trust Nukai's latest, greatest, yada yada. So that leaves the 4000. Can I load my 2000XL songs? Can I chop with the q links like the XL? How are the effects? It's a pretty intimidating machine but I love a challenge. I guess my main question is if I'm fast on an XL just sampling and chopping, will I be faster on a 4000. Someone school me. Thanks

Can I load my 2000XL songs? Can I chop with the q links like the XL? How are the effects?

as far as i know u cant play xl songs....

chopping is really fast on the 4k, cause the processor is a way faster than the old one from the xl.... i am not an extreme chopper, cause i do more unsampled stuff, but i am sure u will speed up your tempo with the beast...
i am not sure about using the q-link sliders for chopping, but i think its not possible....
you can change your display into samples, timelenght, or timeleft view which helps also a lot.

effects on the 4k are really usefull, of course not highend but enough for life tweaking, or giving your sounds atmosphere... WAY BETTER then the effects on the 1(2,5)k, but not so good as the ensoniq or emu effects....
you can compare it to an alesis multifx rack like quadraverb etc....

hope it helps...

I thought the 2xl and 4k both create standard midi sequencer files so should play fine?
Q-link can be use to adjust the start point of a sample.

Effects in the 4k are absolutely awful and I mean awful.
The reverb is the worst I have heard, simple to work around though resample drum through external effects etc.

I would try and find someone near u to try the 4k as I found it a bit slower than my 2xl when i switched for some things.
g

You can adjust the sample start but also the regions (chops) with the qlinks
And while the effects are kindof cheesy sounding you can make great use of them. Especially the reverb is way cool on drums, if not overused of course. As a matter of fact, I almost constantly fire up the MPC to process a kickdrum through the cheesy reverb
The filter section is just awesome! The filters sound a bit thin but I oh so much love the resonance! The resonance on low pass filters is way cool on kickdrums, bass sounds, ...

If you know the machine, you can work with it very fast! and make it sound really good. If not, chances are your beat will sound dull and thin, mostly due to overuse of cheesy hi pass filters and onboard effects

Listen to Chewing On Glass from Sixtoo. You can clearly hear the MPC4000 filters, reverbs on most of the tracks. On one track the reverb is heavily overused

Reverb on kickdrums?? That's something I avoid like the plague!

I'll add a Master Reverb MFX to my tracks in the MV, and damn, the shit takes ALL BEEFINESS out of any kick drum.

But the reverb is soooooooo good, can't stop using it.

There's better ways of getting a track to gel than putting reverb over the whole thing. If you can avoid processing any bass in your track with reverb you will retain that tight low end.

Or highpass filter the reverb to remove the low end.
All the glue none of the mud!

All mix engineers eq their reverbs.
g

I never leave my effects at 0db I turn them down to -12dB and graduallly turn them up. They sound ok but since I mix mostly in my DAW I use Logic`s and Waves processing to do most of the work in my opinion.

If you are coming from a 2xl the 5k will be very similar to your workflow and feel of working with loops, hits, and chops.

In my opinion when I changed from my 2xl to the 4k it was a total different way of working with a alot of new stuff to learn that the 2xl didn`t have or use. You have been warned. But on that note I would never go back to a 2xl.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=26294

Hey, thanks for the feedback everyone. BlueHaze, can you tell me a little more how your workflow changed when you made the switch? Had you been on the XL very long? Can I load my XL work into the 4000? I like the XL and my process is pretty simple. I sample large sections at a time and then EDIT--> SECTION NEW SOUND. So I'm basically hacking off pieces of the larger sample. Does the 4000 have a feature like SECTION NEW SOUND on the XL? is that what the REGIONS on the 4000 is about?

teacher wrote:Hey, thanks for the feedback everyone. BlueHaze, can you tell me a little more how your workflow changed when you made the switch? Had you been on the XL very long? Can I load my XL work into the 4000? I like the XL and my process is pretty simple. I sample large sections at a time and then EDIT--> SECTION NEW SOUND. So I'm basically hacking off pieces of the larger sample. Does the 4000 have a feature like SECTION NEW SOUND on the XL? is that what the REGIONS on the 4000 is about?

I was working with the 2xl for a yr and a half when I decided to expand it to 8 outs. But behold Akai had a shortage of 8 outputs in stock and didn`t know when the next lots were coming so I decided to go with the 4k as all of that is pretty much standard plus a hell of alot more memory and features.


I went from just chopping and loops on the 2xl to multisampling keygroups on the 4k bascially sounddesigning. I had a bit of a downturn for a bit cuz alot of full sampling synth features I didn`t know about at the time and I had to put in alot of time to learn. You can sample in a whole song if you wish and use SECTION NEW SOUNDS or USE REGIONS the equal to 2XL`s Zone the 4k can chop up to 32 compare to the 2xl`s 16 plus it is way faster processing.

I could go on an on about the 4k features and benifit but on the real if you are into mainly loops and grooves the 2500 or the new 5000 may be what you need. If you want to multisample or sample your own instruments like a synth keyboard or others then the 4k can definitively offer more.

Can anyone tell me if all the parameters of my XL programs will load into the 4000?

teacher wrote:Can anyone tell me if all the parameters of my XL programs will load into the 4000?

2xl programs will load in 4k drum programs no problem. But the 2xl APS will not as 4k uses Multis. For further info please download the manual on 4k operations and check the 4k newbie bible and you can do a good ole fashion search too.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=124&hilit=+2xl+programs

Fair enough, I'll download the manual and stop bothering you.....now. thanks

foge1 wrote:I thought the 2xl and 4k both create standard midi sequencer files so should play fine?.

They do. But I believe he was asking about whether "Songs" not "Sequences" would load up on the 4000.
Has anyone confirmed that "Songs" are stored in standard Midi Sequencer files? I would think that
it's a a data file that points to various sequences and plays them. My guess, is that one would need
to do a "convert Song to Sequence" that we have on the 4k if they have that on the 2XL.

I don't have a 2XL but just wanted to point out, don't confuse "Song" with "Sequence". From a computer
data point of view, they could be VERY different.

So I would say, get confirmed from a XL users that a song will load up in the 4k no problem, or convert
your songs to sequences....

Also, I don't know if it will load an XL All file, so you might want to make sure that you saved each part (sequencer, program, samples) seperately, so they can be brought over.

foge1 wrote:Effects in the 4k are absolutely awful and I mean awful.
The reverb is the worst I have heard, simple to work around though resample drum through external effects etc.

I don't know if I would go straight out and say the FX are awful. Not up to par... yea... some better then others... but they don't have
horrible glossy shean that the Roland FX had on my VariOS. Those COSM FX just sounded plastic and toy
like sounding.

They could certainly use some work.
But the Delays and Tape Echo are actually quite good, to be honest. The Pitch Shifter is nice. The Chorus', Flange and Phasers are acceptable but could use some work.

I agree with you that the Reverb isn't the best, but I can definitely say its not the worst. Though I love
this synth, the Waldorf Q by far has the worst Reverb known to man It makes the Akai sound like
an Eventide!


Thanks,
Dave