MPC 2500

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I miss my mpc1k, but I have to tell you, you'd have gotten much better functionality and spent way less if you had gone the controller/software route instead of the hardware route, or at least a 1k with jjos2 loaded.. still. have fun producing!
 
keepin with the hardware sequencers, I dig. I've had one for like 6 years now, such a fun tool.
 
AND a button.

Random infobit: Microkorgs make filthy bass wobble really easily.

What are you planning to use it for? I'm just starting to get into producing, and although I hear tons about the MPC line I have no idea what they're actually used for.
 
think chopping samples. old school hip hop producers like RZA, Pete Rock, etc. stick by them super hard. actually I'm pretty sure RZA switched over to a Roland 8800, but its the same thing, just different brand. Honestly I don't get why someone would buy one new if they weren't already used to using one and averse to change/evolution. a software sampler can do so much more for so much less.
 
I agree. I only abhor computers for guitar related stuff, but only because guitars are physical instruments and relegating them to binary is a gad damn shame.

If you're making digital compositions in the first place, you might as well use software/midi controllers because it's not like there's any TONE to lose...
 
Of course I didn't buy one new haha.

Because I listen mostly rock (Joy Division, Velvet Underground, Radiohead etc.), Hip-Hop (Pharcyde, Souls of Mischief, A Tribe Called Quest etc.) and a but of electronic music, I'll be combining these genres with my MPC, a couple of cheap synths and my brother who is a guitar player to try and make some pretty original music.
 
Relatively speaking, no it isn't. A hardware sampler is in no way tonally analogous to a tube amp + guitar setup. Using Ableton instead of an MPC isn't going to alter the "tone" nearly as much as being one of those goons who plugs a guitar line-in.

Yes analog synths are a remarkable difference, but those are instruments; but I'm talking about compositors (or whatever you call them).
 
http://keyboards-midi.musiciansfriend.com/product/Korg-Electribe-SX-1-With-SD-Storage?sku=585672

see those tubes up there at the top of that unit? They definitely add warmth and drive to whatever samples you run through that machine, depending of course on the tube gain that you apply. You're not gonna get a well rounded tone like that out of ableton without additional equipment.
And when you think about it, to say that taking a signal and running it through different hardware/software samplers/sequencers is not going to change the tonality of the sound, its like saying that you could play a G chord on a Strat and on a PRS and they are going to sound exactly the same (when played through the same amp). Different hardware produces different tonal characteristics, thats why some people swear by Akai, some by Roland, Korg, etc (hardware options) and others Ableton Live (really the most commercially viable software sequencing application for live use).
Also, how is an MPC (or any other sequencer with tactile input for that matter) any less of an instrument than a synthesizer?
 
Lolwut? That's like saying Final Cut Pro and a camera are the same thing because they both manipulate imagery...or something.

I'm saying the difference in "tone" when it comes to recording software/setups (not instruments) is relatively small, assuming you have the proper cables and configurations.

I can hear the difference between Ableton and an MPC, but I wouldn't call it significant by any means. An Moog versus a Roland, on the other hand, is a huge difference.

 
Maybe it's not just the tone haha. Having a solid, physical, self contained object I feel is just much better for me. My computer doesn't have the specs to run Ableton. It's slightly cooler to gig with a 2500 than a laptop. You could also make synth sounds with your computer, but you still buy the synth right? And yes a sampler deserves it's right as an instrument, if you think otherwise you must be a bit ignorant (Like saying recorders aren't instruments or something?)
 
what I'm saying is an mpk49 or mpd32 + software does the same thing as a hardware sampler better and cheaper, but I mean, I had an mpc for a while, so I am not faulting you as they are really sick.
 
if we are going to go with the film analogy, its more like saying that synthesizers and sequencers are both like cameras, but its not really an effective comparison because with a camera, you are capturing, and with an instrument you are creating.
My point is that I use my MPC as an instrument just as much as a guitar player or keys player uses their instrument. You can bang around on it and be expressive if that is how you choose to use it.
On the subject of tone, I'm not going to advocate entirely one way or the other, because there are literally endless ways to produce high quality sound using either hardware or software from an array of brands. Thats what I think is so cool about electronic music, there are so many possibilities and so many nuances that people overlook.
 
This is definitely true, and the difference in tone (which is subjective) for some people is worth the extra money that you are probably going to spend on hardware.
 
you don't get tone from an mpc!! its a computer with a little screen instead of a monitor! your argument is invalid.

especially if someone is using an akai controller, the "feeling" is the same, as they use the same pads in the controllers as the mpc line.

analog synths cost 10s of thousands of dollars, so those don't count for the tone argument either as nobody can afford one. only affordable analog synth would be a moog, or a rack mounted one which is controlled by a controller anyway, and you can buy most rack mounted synths as digital plug-ins anyway.
 
!1's of thousands of dollars? I can name many many many many great analog synths you can easily get under 1000 dollars if not 600. You are an idiot.
 
I'm sorry I should have said modular, not analog, working on other stuff and mixed my terms up.
 
See where I say subjective? And also, yes, you are correct that it is an onboard computer that allows you to do the chopping and sequencing and manipulate the ADSR envelopes etc, but the sounds do have to pass through a a/d-d/a converter (similar to any other firewire/usb interface that you would use for recording). This is where some people (subjectively!) will say that you get that unique mpc tone. I personally am not one of these people, but I'm just playing the devils advocate here for the sake of conversation. I use ableton for all of my production needs at this point pretty much, save for some hardware synths and effects units.

 
fine, I'll give and say that, but in my opinion, degradation of sound is not the same as 'tone' and ideally, an interface should offer little to no degradation of audio.

also, to the guy above, I'm curious to know what fully analog (not analog modeling) synths that are under 1k that you know of.. are they multi-voice at all?
 
This.

Also, it is generally accepted that "perfect" sound has horrible "tone," and I agree. Perfection is a form of imperfection. Hence, digitally processed guitars always sound like ass.
 
Haha I'm actually making a mini modular synth as a DIY project, for easily under 100 dollars maybe 50 :D
 
I have some schems available if you want. It's super simple, but at the same time actually really powerful. Search "Minimodular maiden voyage" on Youtube by organfairy to see it in action.
 
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