MPC5000 reviews, bug reports and fellow user support on the most recent standalone, hardware MPC from Akai
By earwolf Sun Sep 28, 2008 7:27 pm
NearTao wrote:
earwolf wrote:i am selling my house and will be living in my mpc2000 box peace to the gods and erf


Will there still be room to set up the mpc2k in there?


no i have had to eat it. credit crunch homie.
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By BIG LARRY Sat Oct 04, 2008 1:56 am
diegoeskryptic wrote:The 5k arrived today!!! will test it tomorrow...


You're on the MV forums right?
I recognize the avatar.
If so I'm more interested to see how you feel it stacks up after using it a few weeks.
A normal user w/ feedback that isn't in a magazine you know.
I was on the fence between the 2, so you know if you do sample based beats even better interest in your feedback.
Post your true feelings, but give the 5K a fair shot.
Deff. good deal you landed on the price tag, so good luck boss.


And btw I realize the debate is maybe tired, but I feel you get VERY few that actually owned BOTH for a substantial time period w/o obvious favoritism
By diegoeskryptic Sun Oct 05, 2008 5:37 am
BIG LARRY wrote:
You're on the MV forums right?
I was on the fence between the 2,

And btw I realize the debate is maybe tired, but I feel you get VERY few that actually owned BOTH for a substantial time period w/o obvious favoritism


Sup man. Yeah, its diegoesk from Mvnation.

ive owned the mv8k, the 1k, 2k, 4k and now the 5k. I sample very little.

Heres my review of the 8k... i loved the 8k at first cuz of its sequencer, but the timing during playback sucks.

Also Roland is no diff than akai in that they make great products, but they fail to acknowledge their customers. WIth akai, they refuse to take action to major problems. With Roland, they fail to acknowledge very minor issues... which makes me dislike them more. They rather give it in the form of a new hardware unit rather than update the software... ughh. Ok, here we go...

Value:
Roland as a company have been known to abandon their customers: whatever happened to the "open hardware support" for their variOS. They had Vsynth, then turned around and made the GT. With roland, a drummachine will be considered a legacy product after a year on the market.. Also, the resell value sucks. I've seen 8k's sell for 600 bucks, whereas all the MPC's tend to stay within their market value.


Sound:
You either Hate it or love it. I found that it gives your bass and drums an extra thump by adding a lo-end gritty sound to it. In my opinion it makes the drums sound harder than any of the MPC's I've owned. The downside however is that, the Mv will degrade your overall sound in the final mix. You may perceive this differently than me...


Ease of Use:
You either get it or you don't. I found it intuitive because of its software-like setup.

Overall:
The MV is touted as the all in one DAW machine. I challenge you to use the MV alone. No VGA attached, no mouse. Any sound you need should already be on the HD. I realized that the MV actually slowed me down. I realized that I was bamboozled into believing that the Vga option will allow me to function fast as a software's DAW. I debated many of times on whether or not to sell the MV.

The avg prices on ebay will always be waaaaaay lower than what I paid, thus making it hard for me to break even. So now your stuck with a $1200 TRIGGER FINGER!!!!!!

meanwhile 95% of the MV's features are going unused. I bit the bullet and came to the conclusion that a MPD trigger finger and FLstudio/reason offers the same functionality (I eventually went back to hardware, first with the 4k, then with the 5k because I like the bigger LCD and not as bulky for my small Apt).


I've also found that the Timing of the MV sucks during playback. Its like Roland took the VS multi-track series and put a sequencer in it. Look at this youtube video and listen at the 1:45 mark and at the 2:15 mark to hear the sequencer place the kick/snare notes out of place. The guy's initial metronome timing is off, but the MV's sequencer randomly drifts out of time and you have to correct it setting the right resolution. It happens about 75% of the time and its very frustrating...


http://youtube.com/watch?v=xhrSIN2fBFY


so yeah, if ur used to the MPC, stick with it. Your not gaining anything jumping ship to the MV. It takes longer for MPC heads to get their head around the interface.

The 5k is my choice because its more reliable than the 4k and it has a bigger LCD. More inspiring to me. IM ready to take on pattern based sequencing...
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By Askia Shaheed Sun Oct 05, 2008 10:06 am
diegoeskryptic wrote:This guy had a 4k for sale for 1375 the other day, and now he has the 5k for 1800.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Akai-MPC5000-Music- ... 911.c0.m14


Congrats on your purchase. Its great to have more MPC 5000 users around here to network with. I hope that it meets your current and future expectations.

I really do love this machine. And if Akai does implement user requests in future OS upgrades, I suspect we will have less hate around here and more people jumping on board to get this awesome machine. And for record, all these pad-based workstations are great for producing music. If the 5K isn't right for a certain musician...there are plenty of alternatives.

I had to post this as a sidebar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGoqC4-8 ... re=related
By diegoeskryptic Sun Oct 05, 2008 2:08 pm
The following is my new setup which arrived 9/28/08. Im swaping out the Motif XS rack and PLG boards for a Korg M3-M (ill save $20.89!!). My dumbass thought the xs rack took the PLG boards, but apparently Yamaha took it out. Bloody IDIOTS! :evil: :evil:

Im keeping everything in boxes until my workstation arrives (next week). I purchased an Onstage WS8700. It holds both a 88 keykeyboard and a 61/76 keyboard, monitors, PC/mac, and has a 5 space rackmount. only $380


There's the 5k, just in case anyone was wondering if I really got it :mrgreen: . I have a prophet 08 rack. I haven't taken it out yet.
Last edited by diegoeskryptic on Wed Nov 26, 2008 2:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
By earwolf Sun Oct 05, 2008 3:29 pm
diegoeskryptic wrote:I've also found that the Timing of the MV sucks during playback. Its like Roland took the VS multi-track series and put a sequencer in it. Look at this youtube video and listen at the 1:45 mark and at the 2:15 mark to hear the sequencer place the kick/snare notes out of place. The guy's initial metronome timing is off, but the MV's sequencer randomly drifts out of time and you have to correct it setting the right resolution. It happens about 75% of the time and its very frustrating...


You know, this is a problem that Roland have had for some time now. It is ironic that the same company that brought you the rock-solid in-the-pocket nailed-to-a-table timing of the TR808 and TR909 somehow lost sight of this hugely important aspect.

I remember spending a ridiculous amount of money on the-then flagship drum machine, the R8. Not only was I naive enough to think that newer = better (I was convinced that when the promised 808 card was released it would be the bees knees) but I also believed all of the hype that Roland created, that this was the 'ultimate groove machine' etc blah blah.

Looking back, my bad. Roland never understood the accidental success after the fact of the X0X units, and made a real hash of trying to catch up with what had happened, way too late, and with way shoddy cash-in products. I should have realised that Roland were still courting the big-hair rocker crowd, and that the R8 was designed as something that would make you sound like Cozy Powell in the Budokan. Not Kratftwerk in Kling-Klang. The timing of the R8 was a disaster for those who crave the clockwork feel. It couldn't even hold a regular 16th hat at 120bpm. Never mind the thin, synthetic sound.

Anyway I digress. Follow-up products that included the MC-303, SP-808, and ending up with the MV-8000 all illustrated to me that Roland still don't 'get' the idea of beatmaking. They cram in features that aren't ready, and that undermine the basic, fundamental core timing base.

Credit to Akai in one regard - even after Linn was gone they managed not to throw the baby out with the bathwater and you can still rely on any MPC to keep a pretty solid lock on a groove. The problem for Akai is that they have this format and formula which they don't want to mess to much with, which I can understand, but is really starting to drag the whole concept down. It's 2008, and users of software and custom boutique gear have realised that there is plenty to be brought to the workflow/GUI table that has not been recognised by a major manufacturer.

Which brings us back to the LinnDrum II. Will it appear? How will it take the above considerations into account? Will it be the Kimbo Slice of sampling drum machines?
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By Teknokeyz Sun Oct 05, 2008 7:20 pm
diegoeskryptic wrote:The following is my new setup which arrived 9/28/08. Im swaping out the Motif XS rack and PLG boards for a Korg M3-M (ill save $20.89!!). My dumbass thought the xs rack took the PLG boards, but apparently Yamaha took it out. Bloody IDIOTS! :evil: :evil:

Im keeping everything in boxes until my workstation arrives (next week). I purchased an Onstage WS8700. It holds both a 88 keykeyboard and a 61/76 keyboard, monitors, PC/mac, and has a 5 space rackmount. only $380


There's the 5k, just in case anyone was wondering if I really got it :mrgreen: . I have a prophet 08 rack in the box on the far right. I haven't taken it out yet.
Image


You lucky son of a... Im about $250 away from my 5K, then im gonna order a MOTIF XS6 after i get familar with the 5K (will be my first MPC). Get some monitors (probablly MR8s) and get the prophet 08 later. Im about to look into that desk, sounds like what I been looking for.
By diegoeskryptic Sun Oct 05, 2008 11:49 pm
Teknokeyz wrote:You lucky son of a... Im about $250 away from my 5K, then im gonna order a MOTIF XS6 after i get familar with the 5K (will be my first MPC). Get some monitors (probablly MR8s) and get the prophet 08 later. Im about to look into that desk, sounds like what I been looking for.


The desk is great at its price. Im getting it because it has everything on one unit. I already own a m-audio 88 pro keyboard and I plan on getting a keyboard synthesizer sometime after income tax.
By oneday2one Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:42 am
Im swaping out the Motif XS rack and PLG boards for a Korg M3-M (ill save $20.89!!).


so have you used the Rack XS much? ....what do you really think about it?
By diegoeskryptic Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:09 pm
oneday2one wrote:so have you used the Rack XS much? ....what do you really think about it?


I never plugged it in. never heard a real demo except whats on youtube.

I took it out of the box so that I could place the PLG boards inside, only to find that the XS rack doesn't accept the PLG boards :evil: :evil: :evil:.

I read a review on tweakheadz.com and he bigged up the m3 as a tweakers synth. Normally I wouldnt touch anything by Korg just out of principle but if tweak says yes, then I gotta get it..
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By Askia Shaheed Mon Oct 06, 2008 1:24 pm
I think Korg made a big mistake with the M3. While it is reported to be very powerful...it is so ugly and cheap looking just like the Alesis Fusion. They both look like cheap consumer products not professional workstations.