Akai MPC 5000 vs Ableton Live 7

Does everyone think the 5000 is better than Ableton Live 7 for sampling and recording? I am considering purchasing the big boy.

hmm cant really see how u can compare MPC5000 to ableton live..

Yeah, it's like comparing apples to oranges. But anyway, both products serve as all-in-one production tools for the most part. It's just up to you whether you prefer hardware or software. Download a demo version of Ableton Live, and spend some time at the music store with the MPC5000 (after getting aquainted with the operator's manual). After investing enough time getting familiar with both, you'll be able to invest your money without second-guessing.

But i can give u a better answer!
Ableton gives u a better view of the samples, u can move em freely as u want easier.
But with the MPC u can play samples "live" as i call it. More fun and in my opinion sounds better. Like f.eks that u can play a beat alittle off-beat if u know what i mean.

you can play the samples live on ableton also using the drum rack. i use Ableton, whenever i dont have a mpc lying around. i would go for the mpc though any day, analog over digital for me. But in ableton, if your mastering skills are good enough you can make it sound like a mpc. I have made people think my ableton beats were done on a mpc. check them out www.myspace.com/intpdr

you mean digital over digital. mpcs are no more analog than a computer is.
nice beats though. i'm about to get into ableton

Nym wrote:you mean digital over digital. mpcs are no more analog than a computer is.
nice beats though. i'm about to get into ableton

oh really i didnt know that. i though t mpc had better sound quality than laptop with a soundcard

that only depends on the soundcard. otherwise it's the exact same thing going on in there.

the "sound" discussion is overtrod and very subject to psycho acoustics as folks make a bigger deal over it than it really is. i wouldn't say there is any single software/hardware out there right now whose "bad sound" is crippling its usefulness in a music making context, even the (optionally) extreme lofi of the zoom sampletrak, which is very low in the "pro" spectrum

Well sound quality matters, but the problem is...
1) how good is your sound system, how accurate, how clean
2) how high is your sampler sound quality
3) how high is the quality on your sample
4) how high was the quality of your record player
5) how high was the quality was the quality of the mics used for recording the sample
6) how good is the sound of the instrument

if you take a sample from a machine that has a 12 bit output and throw it into a 4000, your sound doesn`t turn into 24 bit. so people who say the 4000 is too good, well I doubt they even were using 24 bit samples

i'm currently debating what to do also. buy ableton 7 with an mpd32 or save for an mpc5k. the problem is, i'm not sure what questions i need to ask myself to get to the answer. any ideas?

also reason 4 is a consideration.

i have already used cubase since the atari days and would love to get back to hardware. i loved my alesis mmt8 pre cubase, using drum machines, etc.

my main 'issue' was recalling projects with all my hardware and patching in general all the cables. when i tried reason when it first came out i had alot of fun (soon after rebirth which was fun too). and it all saved in one file.

and also i love a good synth, either vst or not.

i'm done with serious recording projects now (got a better paid job) and only will do music now for fun.

any opinions?

INTPDR wrote:

Nym wrote:you mean digital over digital. mpcs are no more analog than a computer is.
nice beats though. i'm about to get into ableton

oh really i didnt know that. i though t mpc had better sound quality than laptop with a soundcard

MPC's are definitely Digital. Just because an MPC sounds better doens't mean it's Analog. It might
have something to do with the quality off the converters being used. (Of course those converters
are digital, there are just variations in price and performance).

An MPC can sound better then a laptop with a soundcard... but that might depend on what sound card
you use. Buy a sound card with better converters then the MPC and you'll have something that sounds
better then the MPC. Of course, all the other benefits of the MPC are still on the MPC, but if you are going
after Sound Quality as you main point, then up your price on your sound card to about the same or more
then you are paying for your MPC and you'll probably have a nice sounding laptop.

Also, you might want to use better FX then comes bundled with the Live. So you might be able to make a
laptop sound better then an MPC. It might cost you, but there is that opportunity. Of course, the problem is that
a laptop with a $5000 soundcard and a $5000 set of FX plugins might "sound" better, but it's still a laptop,
and doens't have the feel and usability of a dedicated system.

I turn my MPC 4000 on, and before my friends laptop is booted, my 808's got the beats, I've gotten my bass and chord progressions
written out and I'm ready to record, and my friends still waiting for his Apps to launch, now his Laptop finally booted.

If you work near your studio like I do, that gets me almost a new song made during my 15 mintue "smoke" break...

5 minutes of that on the PC is just booting up...


Cheers,Dave

any pc that takes 5 minutes to boot up/load its applications is not fit to be editing audio.

Nym wrote:any pc that takes 5 minutes to boot up/load its applications is not fit to be editing audio.

what does that have to do with anything?

Some older machines are still perfectly fine for editing audio. You can do a lot with a pentium 3.

I currently have a quad core with dual 24" screens for the main production computer downstairs, and 17" dual core laptop for live stuff, and making beats in bed.

AFF wrote:i'm currently debating what to do also. buy ableton 7 with an mpd32 or save for an mpc5k. the problem is, i'm not sure what questions i need to ask myself to get to the answer. any ideas?

also reason 4 is a consideration.

i have already used cubase since the atari days and would love to get back to hardware. i loved my alesis mmt8 pre cubase, using drum machines, etc.

my main 'issue' was recalling projects with all my hardware and patching in general all the cables. when i tried reason when it first came out i had alot of fun (soon after rebirth which was fun too). and it all saved in one file.

and also i love a good synth, either vst or not.

i'm done with serious recording projects now (got a better paid job) and only will do music now for fun.

any opinions?

save for the 5000 and/or mpd

and get the programs too... for free. The ableton 7, cubase sx, reason 4, recycle, sampletude 10, etc... that I got... all work 100%... not missing any features at all (as some people think happens when you download, but not if you're smart and get the right stuff)... they had no viruses.. and they are all full versions flaw free. FOR FREE.

Pay for software if you got piles of cash falling out your pockets, but dont bust your ass to buy it instead of getting hardware.

OH, and those kids who diss fruity loops, stop that, cause half the mpc beats people around here make can be burned with the fruity loops demo.



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ableton live 7 and a midi controller all the way!!!

sorry mpc fans, im selling my mpc 1000 for an mpd24 or 32. mpcs are great, i think they are more worth it if you are making hip-hop. they have that feel both in the feel of the hardware and the sequencer that reminds that just fits that style of music.

i can understand why mpc fans would be put off by software, but i gotta say that ableton has such an efficient workflow. its much more efficient than logic/cubase/sonar, tho reason is a good, but very different alternative. plus ableton is great in live situations as well. from a dj perspective, being able to mix my own tracks, songs taken out of a mix-tape, loops, adding layers of my own - all on the fly is just amazing, and amazingly simple.

whilst once u know ur mpc inside out it does become very quick and easy to bang out beats, u get that same ease in ableton plus a whole new world of depth.

the 5000 has had mixed opinions. if u r going for an mpc to hav that classic hip hop sound and feel, dig up a mpc 60 or mpc 3000. otherwise mpc 1000s are great with jjos. but the thing with the jjos is that it is very deep, and i prefer to have a more visual layout which u get with ableton for doing deeper programming.

similar to an mpc, with ableton and an appropriate midi controller (essential in my opinion):
- sample on the fly, cutting and chopping samples without needing another program
- timestretch and warp samples
- slice samples like an mpc...and it will automatically create a drum rack...if you hav a mpd controller, it will automatically map the samples to the mpd pads - just like the mpc. however. u can now eq, compress and add as many effects as you like on each individual slice, which is something an mpc CANT do. seriously read up on slicing, drum racks and group racks in ableton.....they are the most useful and clever way of easing the production process.

i dont really make hip hop anymore, so again this why my preference leans towards ableton. if i didnt hav a credit card crisis, i wouldnt b selling my mpc, but to b honest it is just being used as a midi controller at the moment, so any mpd will probably do a better job being designated for midi and acting as a control surface.