The Zen of MPC500

Nym wrote:buy used.

Which would be fine if the XL's used price wasn't inflated as well. I did the side by side comparisons before I bought my 500 and just couldn't justify paying the same amount for an XL with less features and 10 years of use on its back.

bedouin wrote:Every company rips you off as much as they can. They calculate the highest price a consumer would be willing to pay for a product without scaring away the majority of their core audience. If they're an underdog entering the market then they undercut others just to get a foot in the door, sometimes even at a loss.

Case in point, look at the Technics 1200 or the Pioneer CDJ-1000. Absolutely nothing in those products that can justify the price anymore, especially since the cost of research and development has long since paid for itself. Marketing? There is virtually none required for either product. The high price is there because A) those who want them will find the money somehow for them and B) the high price, in this case, creates an illusion of luxury -- so in contrast to cheaper decks that might perform equally as well, the 'standard' continues to appear top notch while the others are 'cheap.'

Was the 2000 overpriced? I don't know because I can't really remember the retail price back then. What I do know is that I was sampling on my PC with a Sound Blaster card back in 1992; that card was probably $150 then and by the late 90s it was going for 1/3 of that.

Point being, Akai's profit margins were probably reasonable. They could've lowered prices but there was no reason to: there was no real competition to undercut. Now that we are moving into computer-based production people are downloading Reason for free. Has Akai responded appropriately? Not really, not from a price or feature point and if they don't fix that issue it could be their demise. At the same time, the MPC is still the only game in town when it comes to hardware samplers (with the exception of the MV, which I think is an answer to the reign of software) and Akai is (perhaps wrongfully) banking on that. They may be positioning themselves as the 1200 of samplers: the industry standard that does not really need changed and can sustain demand on its reputation alone. Probably a bad move.

DAM homie. mos definately feelin this post real talk!!!!!!
for the record, i do think akai have charged higher prices to create the status appeal.... really its just the same as any label product - gucci, prada, nike etc. the cost price of making these items is a TINY fraction of the selling price, but its meant to be that way. if they charged low prices, their status appeal would go down the drain and would be just another cheap brand. with the mpc series, if they started sellin em any cheaper, the brand would lose its 'prestige'

I'm definitely feelin the zen

I feel the zen, when I write code I sit on a table with just a laptop, when I play keyboard I shut my eyes, and when I make beats I sit in the skatepark. I don't need a whole bunch of things distracting me when I'm trying to be creative. That means rafts of VST's, MSN messenger, email, flat mates, or anything. Sure, when it comes to mixdown it's great to have nice monitors and a 24ch desk, but when I'm playing, take it away!

I have noticed a shift in the last few weeks, everyone has stopped moaning and started being super positive about the 1/2k. I think it started when a load of 1k boys came in here and told us it was rubbish.

beduin - yeah my "buy used" comment should have been prefaced with "buy new...used." ie 1000s and 2500s (500s too but there's not as many of them out there, so used prices are inflated too)

i was lucky enough to buy a 1000 for 300 usd from a pal of mine

I too know the zen of my 500. When, I find a tight sample and throw it into the lil 1/2 stack,
it begins to glow like Leroy on the last dragon! Has anyone else achieved the glow? I thought this was only possible with the jj os.

Like this thread! MPC500 is the cult device already, that's cool. I feel enlightened when I use it

ESCROOGE wrote:I too know the zen of my 500. When, I find a tight sample and throw it into the lil 1/2 stack,
it begins to glow like Leroy on the last dragon! Has anyone else achieved the glow? I thought this was only possible with the jj os.

i know exactly what your talking about with this "glow". its like having a guitar or piano or violin etc., not knowing how to play it much, but someone else that knows how to play it picks it up and starts playing all these songs and the instrument is brought to life and almost glows lol. mpc is the same way when u make something hot with it, especially this little 500 f*cker. so small to make something so hot is the phrase "good things come in small packages". thats when you really grow a love for it.

the coolest thing is i made it glow for someone else. i remember i made a dope ass beat recently and brought it to my friends house all playing it for them. they are mc's, so when they were listening to that certain song, they got blown away. while listening, i saw one of them pick up my mpc while it was playing and they were just analyzing every button on it, almost in awe of what it could produce... observing it like it was glowing!! hahaha.

Cosmic wrote:

ESCROOGE wrote:I too know the zen of my 500. When, I find a tight sample and throw it into the lil 1/2 stack,
it begins to glow like Leroy on the last dragon! Has anyone else achieved the glow? I thought this was only possible with the jj os.

i know exactly what your talking about with this "glow". its like having a guitar or piano or violin etc., not knowing how to play it much, but someone else that knows how to play it picks it up and starts playing all these songs and the instrument is brought to life and almost glows lol. mpc is the same way when u make something hot with it, especially this little 500 f*cker. so small to make something so hot is the phrase "good things come in small packages". thats when you really grow a love for it.

the coolest thing is i made it glow for someone else. i remember i made a dope ass beat recently and brought it to my friends house all playing it for them. they are mc's, so when they were listening to that certain song, they got blown away. while listening, i saw one of them pick up my mpc while it was playing and they were just analyzing every button on it, almost in awe of what it could produce... observing it like it was glowing!! hahaha.

Staring in awe at the buttons and knobs....my friend you have achieved the glow at its highest peak!
U've almost reached the level where as u can be temporarily blinded from the light that is emitted!

[*]Multiple outs (Workaround: Get the levels right on the MPC. Do your EQing on the MPC, which is more precise and has a wider ranger than a cheap mixing board anyway).


Can you explain how you can eq on a 500, do you mean using filters.

fritzifratzi wrote:[*]Multiple outs (Workaround: Get the levels right on the MPC. Do your EQing on the MPC, which is more precise and has a wider ranger than a cheap mixing board anyway).


Can you explain how you can eq on a 500, do you mean using filters.

I don't want to speak for anyone else, but for me:

It's a sampler. It has EQ, compression, etc... that can be added to the sounds you sample. So apply them to a sound, then sample that sound (aka resample) to permanently add those effects. Yes, filters are useful in mixing a beat too. Velocity and Pan of samples, even attack and decay.

I also EQ my stuff on my mixing board as it's going to my sampler. PreEqing.

fritzifratzi wrote:Can you explain how you can eq on a 500, do you mean using filters.

The 500 has a built in EQ?

Its one of the effects. I think its a 3 band parametric EQ.

But you can certainly only EQ one thing at a time? So he means re-sampling all the parts?

Who said you can only EQ one thing at a time?

You can only have 2 EQs up at a time, if that's what you mean, but they can be applied to anything (separately or together). Plus the master EQ. Resampling does help, but it's not necessary every time; use the general mixing options like Velocity and Panning to get a good mix, too.

In other words, the 500 doesn't restrict you from doing anything, it just might make it more difficult or take more steps. But everything you'd need is in there, just get creative with how to use it.