Purchase old 2000XL or newer MPC1000/2500

monogee wrote:
I've read Pete Rock has been using the MPC2500

Yeah that's what my boy said cause he saw Pete not that long ago and said he was using the 2500 now.

inthemix wrote:Dear all ...

An MPC 2000XL for £400 sterling. Should I go for this or would I be better spending an extra £100 to buy the MPC1000 ?
:

I wrote an article about this called MPC Wars (search for that on this forum). I listed a direct feature comparison. It’s gotten a few looks. Some people disagreed with my bottom line, which was that the newer MPC’s make more sense. (Lamp, where were you.. I was getting killed out there ☺ )?

Because you are using a 2496 I would strongly advise you to pick up at least a 1000. This is because the 1000 has 6 outputs whereas the 500 only has two. When it is time to track those drums out… and if you want to use effects from cubase on each drum, you have to track those drums out.. you will thank the gods that you have the multiple outputs.

The USB connectivity alone makes the 1000 a better choice for your situation. How were you planning on transferring your drum collection to the 2000: floppy? If you have an XL at least you can buy an MCD upgrade and use the compact flash slot. But this involves twice as much time as you’ll have to transfer the sounds to the card from your PC and then transfer them from the card to the MPC.

People will always tell you that what they used was better because it was older. There are people who will tell you the 2000 sucks and to get a 60 because Primo uses a 60. Others will tell you that you’re not REAL: if you don’t have an SP1200. Other people hate the 1200 and say you need the SP-12. If you have any doubts at all about the amazing power of akai’s new breed of samplers, just go listen to my new album “God Save The King” at samsquad.com. You can download the single “Lotus Throne” for free.

I produced the vast majority of this album on the 2500. When I played keyboards (mostly the Juno D and a little bit of Triton). I sampled them directly into the MPC, entire 4 or 8 bar phrases intact. The I would chop my own phrases and resequence on the MP. You simply can not do this on a 2000. Not enough RAM. Yes I could have done this in Logic or Cubase but the MPC 2500 makes chopping so fun. Less of an exercise in staring at waveforms. Once you have your MPC you may discover it's OS can make things very convenient and you may do more than make drum beats with it.

Oh.. one last hint.. don’t pony up for Akai’s ram. You can get double sided 256M SODIMM for like $20 or less and the MPC will read it like a single sided 128M chip.


dume41 SAM
"God Save The King" CD 12.01.2008
http://freshchoppedbeats.com
http://samsquad.com

I think the bottom line is get out to store and try them all out to get a better feel for what you want. It's your money... you make the decision.
I know TurnKey down in London (Charing Cross) has a huge store to try the MPC's out.

well you said you wanted seamless integration into your computer... i'd say the 1k prolly has a better chance at that, no?

I thought that too, but then remembered this remix interview:

http://remixmag.com/artists/hiphop_R&B/ ... ndex1.html

I DEFINITELY want one of those Api 2500 comps he's got

jbraudio wrote:
I DEFINITELY want one of those Api 2500 comps he's got

Guess what. You can afford a close equivalent. Get a focusrite liquid mix. It's got convolution tech that allows it to emulate compressors and EQ's through history. It emulates the 2500, SSL4000G, drawmer, Neve, fairchild, manley and all the best. It may sound crazy to spend $1000 on a compressor/EQ unit but it would cost you tens of thousands to buy them separate. For more on why i personally use this piece check http://freshchoppedbeats.com/mixing.html.


Dume41
"God Save The King" available at target.com, amazon.com, cdbaby.com and fine stores.
[email protected]

I've looked into and backed off after reading thread after thread of horrible reviews on gearslutz on that thing.
never used it, but those that have used both says it can't hold a candle to the real deal- also resale value would be much better with api. It'd be sweet if it worked as well as the advertised

As a user I can tell you that the liquid mix works very well. As far as reviews go, i would only pay attention to reviews made by people who really understand professional compression. Real analog compression only requires a decibel or 2 to get change, especially with tube EQ's and compressors. Many people who tried the liquid mix would have said the actual API sucks too.. cuz hey don't know how to use it. If you look at professional reviews by people who actually do use and own the real thing, like sound on sound, remix mag, eq mag. The liquid mix has 100% positive reviews in all periodicals. electronic musician. all of em. I happen to know, personally that the liquid series dsp is being used in many many top studios of people who are putting out very smooth sounding records. Including my own, A.G., Black Sheep and others.
My entire album was mixed an mastered with a powercore and liquid mix.. and I dare say it sounds as good as any record out. So I'm speaking from practicality, rather than theory. My studio sound is well regarded in seattle, and I'm recording some big projects here including Zulu Nation compilation, King Khazm and Specs One. Others I can't talk about yet. Liquid mix is for real.

listen at cdbaby or samsquad.com. The album is dume41 "God Save The King".

dume41
freshchoppedbeats.com

btw.. b.read.. I love your shit.

That's a good point, another thing I need to remember is alot of "reviews" on GS are made by cats who haven't even heard the unit...

It's a great wealth of knowledge over there, but there's a long list of great gear that ends up getting a bad wrap by a few know-it alls.

I'll look into it some more...I am however going to be getting atleast ONE outboard stereo comp soon! I just bought a little Amek BCII that needs some love and I'd love to have a Drawmer 1968me or something like that to strap on the 2 buss when the mixer's running smoothly. Money's good these days so hopefully I'll have enough to get both if the liquid mix will fit into my new setup.

Thanks for checking out my page- glad you loved what you heard, it's good to hear!
I'll check out your material when I can get to some decent speakers that'll do the music justice, these laptop speakers do NOT cut it.

peace

You can’t go wrong with a drawmer compressor. You just can’t! They’re great. Even the cheap one (MX30) helped tame vocals I was recording through the focusrite trakmaster pro, which is a harsh, brittle sounding preamp, when turned past about 30% gain. (this was before I got the SSL). I would be proud to hang my hat on the door of a studio mixes through a drawmer. TL Audio makes some great real deal tube compressors too. They’ve got a great rep, and their ebony line can handle pro jobs for sure.

Good hunting.

dume41
freshchoppedbeats.com

I would suggest to get not 1000 but 2500. It's not so big diffrence in price and 2500 is simply better and more comfortable.

Okay, here are some of my latest experiences with the 2000XL and the 1000, which I own:

A friend of mine had borrowed the 2000xl, so I tried it, because I wanted to test all this BS swing stuff people yap about here all the time....

After 45 minutes of flipping floppy discs to load up some drums and a sample, I could get down to business. After 15 more minutes, I finally had some chops ready. Okay, you can subtract some time for getting familar with the machine, but basically, this old piece takes a lot of time to display the waveforms of samples and stuff. Imagining, I would have to work like this all the time when trying to create a beat, I would probably loose interest in creating beats on there.
So all in all, I'm kinda glad to have bought the 1k, but If I'd have the chance again I'd get the 2500 because of the 8 outs, the bigger pads and the screen. Besides the user experience in terms of workflow and timesaving, there are just some undeniable killer features in the 1k and 2500, if you got the JJ-OS...

Non-Destructive Chopping, Quantize Strength, Grid Edit (couldn't live without it) just to name the most intrigueing.

I like my 1000 quite a bit. Nice features and very portable. Throwing it in the backpack to take on vacation is no biggie. Same with Steez, I wouldn't mind having a 2500, but I don't think I'd sell my 1000 to get it.