Okay, have you read all the things on my page, and got more confused
by the jargons?
This section is for those looking to buy the first music machine to
realise the ultimate
tune in your head, or to be someone a bit bigger than just a DJ.
I'll try to keep it jargon free here and use as much musician friendly
terms as possible.
so hopefully this'll give you clear idea to get the best you can get
for your money.
(but jargons are not there just to annoy you, they're
actually there so we can
talk about music technology more smoothly with others.
Understandably as a
beginner you might think all these techy stuff suck,
but you just gotta
learn these sometime in the future, just a quick reminder.)
Straight to the poi nt. You went to the music shop, told the guy that
you wanna
make wicked'n'bad choons. The guy told you that you need a sampler
and a sequencer. It confused you and you said something silly to him
and he got
p!ssed off, and told you some model numbers of the music machines
and told you to f**k off and have a think. Right?
The name MPC2000 should've been included in the list of things
he told you to buy, if not, forget the shop and go somewhere else.
here is a quick list of alternatives to MPC2000 that may attracted your
attention,
in order of comparability to the 2k. I'll compare them one by one to
MPC2000
to give you some idea.
Remind you some of these really don't do what MPC2000 does, but
might be more
suited to your need. especially if you aren't sure about difference
between a
synth and a sampler and such, read the bottom of this document carefully.
Akai MPC3000
Ensoniq ASR-X/pro
Akai MPC60/60mk2
Akai Remix 16
Akai S20
Boss SP-202
Boss DR-202 (Dr Rhythm)
Roland MC-303/505
Quasimidi Sirius/Ravolution309/Raven
Yamaha SU-700/SU-10/Rm1x
Korg Electribe EA-1/ER-1
Some PC/Mac music software such as
sonic foundary Acid
Mixman studio
musicmaker
Akai MPC3000:
Ironically, the biggest rival to the MPC2000 seems to be its own brother.
3000 is the machine with all the fame for being big brother favourite
in hip-hop world,
and for being the most expensive rhythm machine to date.
Quite frankly, it is pretty much similar to the 2000. it has twice
more MIDI outs,
and a screen that tilts. Everything else is designed in a similar manner.
But the 2000 is superior in some ways, most notably the waveform editing
for trimming samples. Optional FX card, and easier to integrate
to existing
systems as it saves/loads standard MIDI files and standard .wav files
for
sample transfer.
Technically they have same specification quality of sound wise, 16
bit, 44.1 khz
sample rate (CD quality) for all samples. But they are tuned differently.
3000 is said to
have 'fatter' sound, while 2000 has more accurate, dry and percussive
sound.
'so which one sounds better?' really is a subjective question since
it's all down to
your personal preference. but just remember these days production can
easily
'fatten' your sound as much as you'd want, and the 3000 costs 3 times
as much
as the 2000 new or used.
In short: Avoid unless you've enough money to burn
Ensoniq ASR-X/pro
Came on the market around the same time as the 2000, and unsurprisingly
seems to be the biggest rival to 2000 in brand new market.
but my opinion (and many others') is quite solid on this one.
frankly, the power of sampling/re-sampling facilities, sound processing,
inclusion of internal
synth engine, It Wins Hands Down in number of functions per pound comparison.
but when it comes to sequencing (building music), it's A Piece of Crap.
Its sequencer totaly sucks. 'in step sequence edit, you can not move
backwards'
states the manual. that explains pretty much all how bad it is I guess.
Also, its user interface is awful to say the least. 2-line text screen
(no waveform edit),
chunky pads, (good for playing notes perhaps, but not at all for drums)
I'll stop before I look too biased.
But as said before, it's sampling/re-sampling is absolutely cool as
a toy.
it's got the acclaimed Ensoniq effect engine which can be applied to
any sounds
produced by the machine in real time. the result totaly kick ass.
If you are unsure which to go for, try to think what it is that
you want.
if it's the Sequencer, the centre of music production, is what you're
after,
MPC2000 definitely is your answer. If you want a cool/hot toy to mess
around with sound, perhaps integrate it with mac/PC, consider ASR.
Another reason to go for Ensoniq is their good attitude towards customer
support and enthusiastic system updates. They even integrated Stomper
the drum synthesizer into its operating system in later updates. impressive.
But comparing this machine to the 2000 really is a sensitive topic
as some ASR-X fans hate the 2000 with passion.
so please, don't just take my word for it. Test them out both at your
dealer.
you might prefer it to the 2000. just keep in mind what you're gonna
use it for.
'Groove box? Groove Sampler? Resampler? filter? wotsalldat?'
The machines above fall into roughly 3 categories:
Music production
MPC2k/3k/60, ASR-X,
live performance tool
Rhythm machine / Synth combo for live performance (Grooveboxes (c)Roland)
Here are some basic explanation of technical terms that must be
understood
by anyone who make music with technology.
Sampler - its fundamental job is to 'record' and 'playback' sounds,
just like
tape recorders. but what makes it so useful in music production is
that all recorded sounds are
stored in computer memory and can be played back whenever a user wish
to,
with no need for rewinding or manually finding the right position on
the tape.
you pick a button, then record a sound, and you 'assign' the sound
to the button
and every time you press the bottom, it plays the sound simultaneously.
there are several different styles of sampler design and some come
with a keyboard,
drum pads, but most 'studio' samplers come with no controlers since
they are
designed to be controlled (sequenced) via MIDI. this sort of samplers
include
S-3000XL, Emu ESI-4000, Yamaha A3000 etc.
If you're new to music technology, forget them. Learn about MIDI first.
without them they are no use.
Then MPC2000 is the ultimate in so called