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a little history:
i owned an mpc2000 (nonXL) from 1999 to late 2005.
a couple of months ago i owned (for a few days) an mpc500 that you can read about in this blog ( link )
i always loved the mpc. i hated the 2000 for the floppy and zip disk hassle.
really really loved the 500 for the few days i owned one, but after about an hour of use the outputs would start distorting and sound really messed up (not in a good way) so i had to take it back.
over the last few weeks i have noticed that i have no desire to be reliant on the computer for making music. in fact, anything that requires the computer was getting very neglected. i do graphic design for a living and am stuck staring at a computer screen for way more than 40 hrs a week in an office with harsh flourescent lighting. my eyes literally hurt at the end of the day.
i'll end up playing keys or guitar, but somethings that i really really love like my monome 40h hadn't gotten used twice in almost 6 months.
last week i realized that i used the mpc500 more in a few days than i have used my macbook + monome since i have had them. it became clear that i should go ahead and sell the monome, that with some store credit i had at guitar center would just about cover buying a new mpc500. fellow em-er zfigz scooped it up and now has 2 monomes!! im jealous in a way, i always wanted 2...
so i go to GC tuesday night to see how cheap i can score a brand new 500. i know there is some flexibility in their pricing as the open box one i bought before was hundreds off of the retail price, which was hundreds less than the list price. they are $699 i was hoping to get one around $599.
guess what i see in the used gear case? akai mpc 1000 $599
i could not resist, that much more power for less than the asking price for the 500.
i am simply amazed at this machine!!!
it is soo much more powerful than the 500 (i knew that), but leaps and bounds more powerful than the mpc2000 i used to love. its got everything i have ever wanted. i havent even tried out the JJ OS yet (which adds a lot more features to it).
here is some things i am blown away by right now:
its so fuckin ugly!! ok so that belongs in the bad column, but i had to get it out. i hate the blue and red. the black of the 500 (and newer 1000s) is so sleek. oh well, i can always get a black replacement case.
the slice to new .pgm!! had no idea. my 2000 had no auto-slice at all. with this i can load a break, slice it to 8 or 16 or whatever slices and have it make me a new program with the new slices mapped out to pads for me. that would have taken ages on the 2000.
lfos!! i didnt realize they had lfos in the mpc now. lfo to filter, pan, pitch or level. seperate lfos for each pad. there is even a delay for the lfo like on my juno106 and rs 09, i love delayed lfo! this is really exciting to me.
mute groups!! on my 2000 you could set 1 pad to cut out another pad, but on this you can set mute groups. for the pads. i think there is 32 of them!! crazy. so much easier to use this way.
multiples samples per pad!! on the 2000 you could have 1 pad trigger another pad, but on this you can load 4 samples to each pad. you can even velocity switch them.
velocity to sample start. totally dont remember this on my 2000. SOAGing should be do-able on this thing.
im in love. anyone else use a 1000 and know any fun tricks i should check out? i've been searching the forums at mpc-forums.com but i still can't stand that place.
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05/17/07
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breakscience
I would love to go hardware, and always drooled over MPCs of the past. this sounds pretty cool, especially for that awesome price you got!
05/17/07
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clarkq
schhh! i dont want to hear! damnit, i want it too
05/17/07
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Tridact
I want one so bad. I'm about to ebay some crap to get the money I need. Mainly I want it for an all-hardware live setup.
05/17/07
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mux
wait 'till you try the JJ OS.
give them the $30. they deserve it.
05/17/07
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ejectorset
yeah im going all hardware. i never got into using many virtual instruments.
mostly just the synth stuff in reason before i had any real synths and lounge lizard before i had a real rhodes.
i just want to be able to write music without using a computer. im totally back to that point now. i will definately still track everything out and mix in the computer, but for just jamming, writing and playing live, im over it.
05/17/07
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ejectorset
mux, is JJ stable? like use live stable?
i've read everything from rock solid to people complaining that after almost a year there hasn't been 1 bug free version over on the mpc-forums. the only thing i know for sure is that the majority of people over there don't impress me enough to value their opinions.
and how confusing is it? like i know some of the functions aren't labeled with buttons because they new. i used to know my 2000 inside out didn't have to even look at it to operate it. is JJ like that once you are used to it?
im thinking about having my boy that works at a sign graphics shop make me a custom skin for it anyways, so i guess i could label the JJ stuff anyways.
05/17/07
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djugel
I think I'm selling my MPC-1000 to my drummer .. so it's not really a loss. I just can't trust it for sequencing my synths for some reason... and most of my stuff I make alone is basically beatless..
05/17/07
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mux
ejectorset: I've been using it live for some time now.
the only times I've found problems with it, it's been saving sets, and - assuming I've noticed that the save has failed - I've been able to recover by ejecting the card, popping in a different card, and saving again. Once I didn't notice, and lost a bunch of changes, but I have long made frequent backups, so it wasn't really that much work.
The MPC is a pretty simple device once you get used to it, and the JJ OS doesn't really remap any major functions - all the current labels are still valid, it's just other stuff like... well, MODE+PAD15 is grid edit, for instance. that isn't labelled. It's only the new features that don't have labels.
FWIW, I think those custom stick-on skins are really ugly, but I saw a blue MPC1000 with the red plastic endcheeks replaced with walnut wooden ones, kinda like an old analogue synth, and I thought it looked seriously elegant. I'm planning to do that to mine sooner or later.
Oh, and lastly, if you don't already have 128 megs of RAM in the thing, don't buy it from Akai, just get a standard laptop RAM: PC 133 144PIN CL3 SODIMM. The trick is that you have to get a 256M SODIMM, because the way Akai maps the RAM, you'll only see half of it. It works 100%, and costs 1/3 to 1/4 of what Akai charges for their 128M upgrade.
edited: May 17 2007
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ejectorset
yeah i am thinking of doing the not quite grey not off white like the 60s were (not as grey as a 2000) solid color. with lables, with the JJ labels added to it. definately not all busy like the custom XLs or all camo or anything weird like that.
definately planning on making some wood endcheeks too. i think it could look very very nice like that.
and thanks for the info. its good to know from someone that really really uses and depends on the machine that JJ works well. i gotta pick up ram this week. i still can't get over it coming with the multi-outs and effects standard. those were so expensive upgrades for the 2000 that i could never afford it.
05/17/07
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djugel
Mux, do you use the MPC to sequence synths? or just percussive sounds?
05/17/07
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mux
ejectorset: the only drawback to the MPC1000 that I've found so far is that the pads are nowhere near as well built as the pads in the 2kxl/2k/60. OTOH, at least they're individually replaceable, which they weren't in the 2kxl/2k/60.  It's also possible to repair them yourself. I have had three go bad on me so far. Replacement pads are about $20 each, or you can fix them yourself - mpc-forums has a bunch of tutorials on how to fix them if/when they go, it's not rocket science.
djugel: I used to use it to sequence synths (Waldorf Pulse and SH-101+MIDIJACK), but lately it's just my master clock and "main" drum machine, sequencing the kicks, snares, Simmons samples and highhats. Pulse basslines have become sampled loops in Live, and the SH-101 is sequenced by the x0xb0x using CV/Gate, if I bring the 101 out at all.
Sequencing synths with the MPC1000 is awesome, especially if they're knobby and very hands-on, so you can "play the knobs" while the MPC provides the sequence. The 'track mute' page on MPC's is wicked for live shows, and some of my happiest live accidents have happened when I accidentally sent two MIDI sequences to one synth at the same time.
05/17/07
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mux
hey, btw, djugel - something I've wondered for a while...
is it "dee-Joogle"?
or "d'Joogle"?
or "DJ Oogle"?
or "d'Yoogle"?
or "dee-Yoogle"?
edited: May 17 2007
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djugel
Thanks! for the input. How is the step sequencer on the JJ OS? I just got it(looks waaay better) .. but have not gotten that deep into it.
Dee -Joogle is the right way.
Not a DJ name... that's DJ Jackmaster Juge. ... kidding of course.
edited: May 17 2007
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astroid
dj jack vam impe daly city juggalo
still better than my dj name
dj fijay bananarama
link
05/17/07
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jdg
i always thought it was DJ Google?!!?
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