Akai MPC-2000XL

This machine is very user friendly. All of the functions are explained very clearly in the user manual, but you dont have to read it from cover to cover to get started. I am using OS 1.14, but when I bought it it had 1.12. It was very easy to upgrade from the internet.

This machine is perfect for the type of music I produce (Hip-hop). Everyone compliments the drum sounds that come off my MPC2000xl. The sequencer is incredible and its easy to edit your tracks. Song arraignments are also easy to complete. I like the ability to save samples as wavs and being able to further edit them on my computer. To me the sampler is the only weak part of this machine. It can be expanded to hold a few minutes worth of sounds, but editing the samples is slow for me. Also the basic machine comes with very little memory so its mandatory to buy more ram (Good thing its dirt cheap now). Another note about the sampler is that you can not sample and automaticly lay it across the drum pads. That is my bigeest complaint about the sampler. I have the effects board in my MPC2000xl, it is ok, nothing mind blowing. Maybe I have not utilized the effects expansion to its fullest but in my opinion it should just be a standard part of this machine.
The effects on my old ASR 10 are better to me! You can replace the internal disk drive to a ZIP drive (A good idea if you dont have an external storage device). I have not done it yet but everyone says its very easy to do. From waht I understand Akai even will do it for you now (At a price of course!)

As I atated this machine is perfect for hip-hop, so I assume its good for dance music and techno as well. The drum sounds I have gotten off my MPC200XL sound just like anything on the radio. I had never really used drum pads before I bought this unit so its hard to say if the are good or bad in comparision to other drum machines. I have no problem with them though, and they playback with touch sensitivity thats very accuarate. There are no built in sounds which is understanable, this is a sampler/sequncer. My only complaint about that is Akai packages the machine with a sound CD (Filled with great wavs from all models of the MPC family) but with out an external cd device you have to use a computer to copy wavs to disk, which can get time comsuming.

I have never had any problem wih my MPC2000XL and I have owned it for 2 years. I got one of the first ones that came out. I find it very reliable but I dont like using disks for storage. This in my opinion is not the most relaible storage option. I had one or two disks get corrupted (not Akais fault), and its impossible to save large samples on a disk.

Never dealt with the customer service, but the network on the internet is great. I put my RAM memory and EFX card in myself, its not hard at all. Akai says that you void your warranty by doing these things.

When I bought my MPC2000XL I was comparing it to the ASR-X which had just recently been released. The main thing that really made me get the MPC2000XL was that MPC's are almost industry standard for hip-hop music. I do not regrat it at all. From what I have seen though the MPC2000XL is just about the best sequncer/sampler on the market. Some people complain about the physical make up of the machine because it has lots of plastic buttons. I guesse it a legitimate concern since we all want our gear to last a long time. They seem sturdy to me, unless you have hands like the Incredible Hulk I dont see why this machine will wear out or break down easy. If you are looking to buy an MPC2000XL I would suggest finding a used one if possible with all the effects board and 8 out expansion. Buying it brand new can put a dent in your pockets.

version 1.14. the mpc has a very logical interface. once you get to know the basic structure you'll find that most functions operate in the same manner. six softkeys share alot of the navigation functions. within two or three hours of goofing around and refering to the manual i had a really good grasp on how this thing operates. the machine is deep but allows you to learn as you work as opposed to having to learn the entire machine before it is at all useful.

32 max polyphony. up to 256 samples on board at once. 4 banks of 16 very responsive drum pads that are large enough to use two fingers for rolls and flams (very cool!). lots of expansion availible for the mpc... up to 32 megs of ram, fx board, multi-8 and digital i/o board and 8 meg flash ram all can be installed although the flash ram is quite expensive. the mpc comes standard with scsi to allow connection of a zip drive or other storage. the only thing that bothers me here is that the scsi won't work connected to a pc. since the mpc supports wav. files you can work around this by using dos format floppies to transfer samples to and from the pc for editing. for many i'm sure this won't be necessary because the mpc has wave form editing, bpm match, time-stretch as well as most basic software based sample editing functions.
the mpc also has a very powerful full featured sequencer on board. if your into pattern based sequences you can't go wrong here. set up more like a drum machine sequencer rather than a linear sequencer (although you can record in this manner as well) you can whip out complex parts very quickly. exellent!!! it also has a built in mixer that allows for automation of level and pan thru the sequencer. i do wish their was some basic e.q. and compression here... or at least normalize in the sampler. i guess this might be a limitationfor some that don't edit on pc or don't have the multi-8 expansion board running into a nice mixer. other than that, i can't be more happy with the mpc's ability to stand alone.

obviously, if you put good in you get good out. if you want grunge you can resample to a lower rate internally. as i said before, the pads are exellent... way better than any boss or any other that i've played to date. the mpc is the standard for hip-hop production but come on, it's a sampler... your imagination is your only limitation!!!

i've only had it a week so i can't rate this as of yet. it sure is heavy though! i'll come back and re-review the mpc after the honeymoon is over.

don't know

the main reason i bought the mpc was the need for me to get away from the pc for composing. don't get me wrong, computers are amazing but i found myself using my eyes more than my ears. also, i really wanted a portable solution to sequencing and sampling. i considered the su700, arxpro, sp-808 and the yamaha a4000 (very nice) before deciding on the mpc. the su700 and arxpro are cool little machines but really lack in the midi sequencing department. the sp-808 is the ultimate sample remixer but with only 4 tracks (what's with that???)!! the a4000 is an awsome sampler for the price but that is all it does. overall, most of the machines i considered are entry level phrase samplers with built in fx made for instant gratification. hey, i'm sure they have their uses but i need something that has the ability, expandability and depth that will grow with me over time. and since of it's status in the music industry i'm sure the software upgrades will keep on coming making it even more powerful. yes, i wish it could comunicate with my pc. and i wish it had built in compression and e.q. but i can live without theses things... i can't live without a powerful sequencer and sampler though!

Im using v1.07 No presets. (This is a good thing)
Manual actually translates well to english. You wont need it though. Very easy to use.

Polyphony is 32. Pads are great.

Sampler is great for drums. Sequencing actually DOES have some kinda magic. Loops\synth samples could be better, not bad though. No effects, the akai effects board and the new filter board both suck.

It crashes every now and then. Everything happens for a reason, right?

Never dealt with them, but everybody supports em.

I wont lose it, thats a warning for those who might think about it too. Only thing bad is its hard to make a bad track on it. Get one or think about what could've been.

Even with the recent launch of the "MPC killer" RS7k and word about the MPC4k, the MPC2000XL never seem to lose its appeal. I'm not exactly sure why but I just got one myself, full blown less the SMPTE chip. The OS that came with mine was v1.12, but I quickly updated it to the current v1.14. It's a very straightforward easy to use machine so I never did bother about the manual much. But when I did need answers, the manual was pretty handy. Best of all, there're many dedicated MPC sites online so help is just a click away. It's also nice to know that the unit has built in universal voltage so no worries plugging it in both US and UK when you're gigging.

A fully expanded MPC2000XL has 32MB RAM, 8 output digital/analog expansion board, a true multi-effects board, an 8MB FlashROM and a SMPTE chip (which I didn't install). Also, thanks to mpc2000xl.com I learnt how to replace the floppy drive with an iomega ZIP250 drive. By today's standard, 32 note polyphony is not much, but I took into consideration this is a drum machine, so having 32 things going on at any one time is more than enough for me!

The flip up screen is definitely a nice touch and the pressure sensitive pads are extremely responsive. The timing of the sequencer is also extremely tight. Even Logic Audio running on my G4 don't come close, and need I mention the infamous swing factor. I'm not a technical guru or pro gear reviewer but I know what groove is and the MPC rocks! The multi-efx board isn't too comprehensive but it works well with sounds and saves me the trouble of hooking up outboards. My 8MB FlashROM board retains all my fav drum sounds when I switch off the machine and best of all it doesn't take up any of my 32MB RAM, so essebtially, I have 40MB RAM to work with. Cool. BUT being a previous MPC60II user, I must say that the built quality of the MPC2000XL really dissappointed me. The buttons are plasticky and the pads aren't as hardy. My MPC60II still looks and feel like the day I got it nearly a decade ago, but I'm not sure if the MPC2000XL can hold up as well.

The reputation speaks for itself. It is a very reliable piece of gear for gigging and serious professional studio work.

From all over the world, websites, hotlines, faqs, the support is tremendous.

I love the way this machine works. I don't really love it for its features because they're not fantastic. If I want features, I'd go for the new Yamaha RS7000. But there's just something this MPC2000XL has that no other machine can come close to. If I ever lose this machine, I would wait to buy the MPC4000.

i have the SE 3 with fancy paint chrome finish. its a GC special ltd. edition of 1000/
for the way my brain works i cannot possibly think of any better way to sequence/
using latest OS, manual is pretty boring. good as reference only.

Absolutely the best sequencer i have used. THis is much improved vs. the MPC 2000.
4 drum kits available
256 sounds can be loaded at once
you can do RESAMPLING converting AT 12-bit to recreate the MPC 60 or lo fi sounds/.
it does take a LONG LONG time for the processing of this function but it can reproduce any former MPC!
did i mention its easy to use?

pads are good but not the best i have felt. the sampler is exactly the same as s2000
and the A/D convertors sound very accurate. nice natural sound.

have had problems with mpc 2000 but so far no bugs to report/

Pretty easy to use, and heaps more cool stuff to find, the deeper you
delve... The manual was a bit of cow, but I foundit unecessary most
of the time.

32 polyphony good. pressure sensitive pads good. The extra FX add ons
sound REALLY good, its a pity there aint any knobs to twiddle them
real - time. The resampling doesnt happen thru the FX either so you cant
alter your samples down multiple generations: another let down since there's
only 2 multi FX buses and 2 reverbs. I found this really frustrating
because the FX sound soo good... I dont have any other midi gear so
I guess i dont even use half its capabilities.

It helps if you use good samples. You can set the velocity to alter
the filter, attack, and pitch of the sound which helps make your
loops sound more dynamic. This box seems really well designed for
hip hop, not so good for live squelching psy-trance style.

I've had it shit itself a couple of times, generally during excessive
button bashing/snare rushes etc. I think it would be great for gigging
, it sure lugging computers around.

Full marks here. The Australian support guy went above and beyond,
saved me from eternity lost in the manual.

If this baby was stolen I'd but the latest update. Its pretty bloody
expensive, but its all quality. Its quite intuitive and doesnt
impede creativity. I wish it had some knobs to twiddle, cause the
standard filter on the slider aint so hot. I was looking for an
everything in one type box, and I very nearly got it here.

It gets no easier.. if you cant lock this box down in two weeks
you should re-evaluate you IQ test scores..

I dont think anything dilivers so many useable functions in such a
small very portable package, it samples quick, and edits sequences,
and songs in record time. Not to mention the fact that NO other
sampling drum mach has more ways of locking up to track mach's.

If you sample from a clean sorce its going to sound clean so it dosnt
matter what style of music your doing. what matters is if you know
what your doing...

No problems yet, though if i take it out of my studio
it goes in a hard case. Ive heard of peoples mp's messing up but i
wonder how much of it is caused by just not taking care of it properly.

online support seems good.
never had to call in person, but i did cheak out the web site for updates, and aditional sounds.

price was a little more but i needed the output expanded and memory,
also got the smte chip and the new graphic edition so it looks really
cool..

Can take some getting used to as far as function buttons and layers of window menu's. But you have to learn in anything you use.

Sick - Akai converters are the bomb!!! I use it mostly for drums and drum loops and they sound great out of this box. You can assign different filter, tuning, attack, and release to each sample in real time... cool.

Great unit for programming beats and playing live. Sequencer is ultra tight and the swing is better than computer based sequencers ( and quick to use). You can duplicate the swing on a computer but you have to download templates, load into sequencer.,...arrgh. MPC is also great live!!!

I wish I had bought A KORG TRITON instead