Akai MPC 5000 review

To be real...MPC 2000XL users looking to upgrade immediately should consider the MPC 2500. The advertised sale price has dropped to $1700 which means you can probably get it for as low as $1400. I sold my MPC 2500 (maxed out) for only $1250. Dude got a steal. It includes JJ OS 1&2.

Right now the MPC 2500 running JJ OS2 has features that are not included in MPC 5000 such as:
1. Instrument programs
2. Non-destructive chopping..and more sample editing options
3. Global Program Edit
4. Real time pitchshifiting (and also realtime timestretch but its not fully functional)
5. Sample layer crossfade

If I were Akai, these features would be in my Top 10 list of OS upgrades.

While playing with the MPC 5000 and 2500 this evening, I attempted to load 24 bit/44.1khz Battery drums. Of course the MPC 2500 will not load them..you will get WRONG FILE message. However, the MPC 5000 loads them with no problem. It actually converts them to 16 bit upon loading. To make sure that the MPC 5000 is converting those files to 16 bit, I loaded them into the MPC 2500..and in turn, it loaded the files perfectly.

How is the hard disk recording along with the effects?

Does it have decent parametric eq on the unit?

Is most of the qlink setting automatated and simplified like the document stated?

How is the stated pad mutes and group mutes functions?


How is the sample library that comes with it and the sample zone cycle settings?

How is the program layering within the 5k can you assign multiple programs to the same midi channel and
use crossfade velocity?

What kind of program matrix if so does it provides on the 5k?

Lastly to be honest compared with the 2500 it is that much of a upgrade and advancement for 2500 owners?

I believe it would be for 60, 3k, 2k, 2xl, and so on (not really for a 4k but that is a different story) but since you buy and sell mpcs like candy was going from 2500 to 5k your best realistic move besides the elation of being one of the few new owners. 1 yr later would you be looking to sell it again for another drum sampler?

Askia Shaheed wrote:To be real...MPC 2000XL users looking to upgrade immediately should consider the MPC 2500. The advertised sale price has dropped to $1700 which means you can probably get it for as low as $1400. I sold my MPC 2500 (maxed out) for only $1250. Dude got a steal. It includes JJ OS 1&2.

Right now the MPC 2500 running JJ OS2 has features that are not included in MPC 5000 such as:
1. Instrument programs
2. Non-destructive chopping..and more sample editing options
3. Global Program Edit
4. Real time pitchshifiting (and also realtime timestretch but its not fully functional)
5. Sample layer crossfade

If I were Akai, these features would be in my Top 10 list of OS upgrades.

While playing with the MPC 5000 and 2500 this evening, I attempted to load 24 bit/44.1khz Battery drums. Of course the MPC 2500 will not load them..you will get WRONG FILE message. However, the MPC 5000 loads them with no problem. It actually converts them to 16 bit upon loading. To make sure that the MPC 5000 is converting those files to 16 bit, I loaded them into the MPC 2500..and in turn, it loaded the files perfectly.

Sorry brother, didnt say i havent worked with the 1000, the 2500, and the 4000... I have only owned a 2000XL...

But I do appreciate your thoughts, opinions, and reviews about the 5000

I am always looking to upgrade MPCs regardless. The MPC 5000 is like a super MPC 2500 (minus some nice JJ OS feartures) but it also expands on some others. But it cost me a fortune that MPC 4000 users will be shaking their heads at...$3050 (including tax) maxed out...the price you have to pay when stores only have one unit in stock and refuse to come down Is it really worth it for MPC 2500/1000 users? It depends if you find these features useful:
1. Numerous Q-link sliders and knobs w/ CC control of external MIDI devices
2. Larger LCD
3. Hard disk tracks
4. ADAT output
5. 64 MB of more memory
6. Improved filters and effects
7. Onboard synth/ARP
8. Improved sequencer resolution and enhanced swing functions
9. Multi-timbral mode
10. Phono preamp
11. USB 2.0
12. AMP/Filter Envelopes: ADDSSR
13. GME w/ piano roll
14. Load 24 bit wav files

The hard disk recording is pretty straight forward. Select one of several input sources and record 1 or 2 tracks at a time. But the HD TRACK VIEW needs improvement. When the HD tracks are playing, it doesn't show the waveform. Akai needs to make these visible when playing and add a scrolling cursor so I know exactly what part of a wav is playing for easier editing. You can also zoom in on one of the HD tracks. But when you scroll through the sample, the waveform alternate between showing and displaying NO WAVEFORM..which is a little annoying.

The effects are decent and are suppose to be the best Akai has done in an MPC if that carries much weight. It does include a 4 band parametric EQ that did the job extremely well (IMHO) but I will leave that to an EQ "expert" to truly rate how it sounds.

It was identified earlier that Akai (reportedly) was going in a different direction than the MPC 4000. So it is not a keygroup sampler (but neither was the MPC 2500/1000 until JJ rendered that function). So the 5000 doesn't layer programs nor does it allow you to use cross-fade velocity on programs nor samples. As with the MPC 2500/1000, you can add a different program to each track. The 5000 does at a multi-timbral mode where you can play up to 32 MPC programs from an external MIDI keyboard or sequencer.

The only type of Matrix the MPC 5000 has is it's Graphic Matrix Editior which is just a fancy name for Grid Editor.

Will I be bying another sampler in another year? Well, its been three years since I purchased the MPC 2500. Unless Akai releases an MPC 5000XL or 6000, I will still be using the MPC 5000 a year from now.

I will give my honest opinions on the other features shortly....

PS...autocromatic assignment of a sample is slow as hell! What takes a fraction of a second on the MPC 2500 takes more than 15 seconds on the MPC 5000. The MPC 5000 seems to methodically go to each pad in each bank and copy settings....

Askia Shaheed wrote:I am always looking to upgrade MPCs regardless. The MPC 5000 is like a super MPC 2500 (minus some nice JJ OS feartures) but it also expands on some others. But it cost me a fortune that MPC 4000 users will be shaking their heads at...$3050 (including tax) maxed out...the price you have to pay when stores only have one unit in stock and refuse to come down Is it really worth it for MPC 2500/1000 users? It depends if you find these features useful:
1. Numerous Q-link sliders and knobs w/ CC control of external MIDI devices
2. Larger LCD
3. Hard disk tracks
4. ADAT output
5. 64 MB of more memory
6. Improved filters and effects
7. Onboard synth/ARP
8. Improved sequencer resolution and enhanced swing functions
9. Multi-timbral mode
10. Phono preamp
11. USB 2.0
12. AMP/Filter Envelopes: ADDSSR
13. GME w/ piano roll
14. Load 24 bit wav files

The hard disk recording is pretty straight forward. Select one of several input sources and record 1 or 2 tracks at a time. But the HD TRACK VIEW needs improvement. When the HD tracks are playing, it doesn't show the waveform. Akai needs to make these visible when playing and add a scrolling cursor so I know exactly what part of a wav is playing for easier editing. You can also zoom in on one of the HD tracks. But when you scroll through the sample, the waveform alternate between showing and displaying NO WAVEFORM..which is a little annoying.

The effects are decent and are suppose to be the best Akai has done in an MPC if that carries much weight. It does include a 4 band parametric EQ that did the job extremely well (IMHO) but I will leave that to an EQ "expert" to truly rate how it sounds.

It was identified earlier that Akai (reportedly) was going in a different direction than the MPC 4000. So it is not a keygroup sampler (but neither was the MPC 2500/1000 until JJ rendered that function). So the 5000 doesn't layer programs nor does it allow you to use cross-fade velocity on programs nor samples. As with the MPC 2500/1000, you can add a different program to each track. The 5000 does at a multi-timbral mode where you can play up to 32 MPC programs from an external MIDI keyboard or sequencer.

The only type of Matrix the MPC 5000 has is it's Graphic Matrix Editior which is just a fancy name for Grid Editor.

Will I be bying another sampler in another year? Well, its been three years since I purchased the MPC 2500. Unless Akai releases an MPC 5000XL or 6000, I will still be using the MPC 5000 a year from now.

I will give my honest opinions on the other features shortly....

PS...autocromatic assignment of a sample is slow as hell! What takes a fraction of a second on the MPC 2500 takes more than 15 seconds on the MPC 5000. The MPC 5000 seems to methodically go to each pad in each bank and copy settings....

Thanks for the replies jahrome. How about the so called pad mutes and group mutes? How is the the simplified qlinks?

this thread is currently the best, most unbiased and above all thorough literature regarding the mpc5000 on the internet, manual included. keep up the good work.

:lol


They got SCD working on the 5000xl and they sold y'all the beta versions.

p.s. Maximum number of smilies @ 3? FREEDOM IS DEAD!!!!

Blue Haze wrote:...Is most of the qlink setting automatated and simplified like the document stated?

I the Q-link sliders and knobs have control over the synth and sample program (real time control of tune, level, cutoff, etc) as well as effects. They also have full control over the mixers. And like the MPCs before it, the sliders also control the start/end points in sample trim.

The Q-links knobs/sliders to not control any parameters in the Amp/Filter envelope pages.

While playing with the Q-links today...I had a bug where I couldn't trigger samples while in the Q-link edit page. I turned off my MPC and tried again, and it worked fine.

I hate to say this but I think it is a good idea that Akai only released a limited number of these MPCs initially. OS 1.01 is not ready for me to do anything serious. I say this because I found bugs in very basic functions.

On another note....I can't get sample chopping off of my mind. Akai needs to implement JJs non-destructive chopping. They could also look at Roland's way of chopping where they have a cursor you can scroll to add or delete sample chop points. I played with the feature on the Fantom G and love it.

LvngDead wrote::lol: :lol


They got SCD working on the 5000xl and they sold y'all the beta versions.

p.s. Maximum number of smilies @ 3? FREEDOM IS DEAD!!!!

I have no issue with that. I'm back to doing what I love...trouble shooting new MPCs

Akai/Numark if your are listening...holla at cha boy. You need help beta testing....

Nym wrote:this thread is currently the best, most unbiased and above all thorough literature regarding the mpc5000 on the internet, manual included. keep up the good work.

Thanks. I just hope Akai continue to put resources into the new machine to make necessary fixes/improvements.

Aksia! can you give us a little bit of in depth on the type of sounds that come with this beast, as i am interested in house dance trance techno etc and need to know if the 5000 has plenty of those types of sounds and if you don't mind i'm desperate to know what the quality of the TR909 hi hat is like and how many varients of it there are. Plus how many basses are in this thing and does it have lots of phat driving pulsating leads. thanx dude, appreciate all the early and levelheaded feedback.

foleycore wrote:Aksia! can you give us a little bit of in depth on the type of sounds that come with this beast, as i am interested in house dance trance techno etc and need to know if the 5000 has plenty of those types of sounds and if you don't mind i'm desperate to know what the quality of the TR909 hi hat is like and how many varients of it there are. Plus how many basses are in this thing and does it have lots of phat driving pulsating leads. thanx dude, appreciate all the early and levelheaded feedback.

Most people buy MPCs and sample or purchase their own sounds. Typically, the stock samples that come with MPCs are not all that great. However, Akai has teamed up with Loopmasters, UK, to include 650 MB of samples. Loopmaster sounds for the MPC can be purchased for download here: http://www.akaipro.com/samplepacks

I haven't demo all the sounds yet. Once I do, I will write about them here. So far, they sound pretty good. Don't expect much from the stock 808 and 909 sounds.
The 909 sounds are just the typical 909 sounds you can find just about anywhere. It is just a small 909 kit with a few samples.

There are numerous presets for the onboard synth that are saved in the MPCs flash memory to include 79 bass and 52 lead patches. Of course you can modify the patches as you see fit or create your own.


.....one more thing....loading and saving on the MPC 5000 seems significantly slower than the MPC 2500

Askia Shaheed wrote:.....one more thing....loading and saving on the MPC 5000 seems significantly slower than the MPC 2500

That's becuase it's saving Significanlty more information. You'd find the same when comparing the 4000 saving to the 2500 also.

I just hope Akai continue to put resources into the new machine to make necessary fixes/improvements.

... ... .

i'm willing to bet that the 5000 will eventually get key groups.
i even bet they're going to implement some sort of global parameter control someday

Nym wrote:i'm willing to bet that the 5000 will eventually get key groups.
i even bet they're going to implement some sort of global parameter control someday

I would be really excited if that happens. That would please (perhaps) users wanting something along the lines of an MPC 4000. I spent some time looking at the Alesis Fusion manual. I get a feeling of Deja Vu when reading the MPC 5000s manual and specs. Just imagine if Akai/Alesis/Numark actually did combine the two products

Askia Shaheed wrote:

Nym wrote:i'm willing to bet that the 5000 will eventually get key groups.
i even bet they're going to implement some sort of global parameter control someday

I would be really excited if that happens. That would please (perhaps) users wanting something along the lines of an MPC 4000. I spent some time looking at the Alesis Fusion manual. I get a feeling of Deja Vu when reading the MPC 5000s manual and specs. Just imagine if Akai/Alesis/Numark actually did combine the two products

I already own an Alesis Fusion 8HD (way underated keyboard and then some).
This is why I am looking at purchasing an MPC5000 as I feel the two would probably be my ideal board.
I also have a Technics WSA1 and Korg Prophecy with a laptop running Reaktor 5, Reason 3, Dimension Pro (with expansion and Emu Protues packs).

Though I come from a background in Yamaha QY700 and RS7000/RM1X based sequencing so I am concerned how much of a jump using an MPC will be .