sp1200/mpc3000
DocDaDollaBin
51 Posts
waddup yall...i'm plannin to pick up one of these in a minute. just wanted to get a few pros and cons from heads who hold knowledge to both classic joints. not worried about sampling time...just wanna know things like which has a greater risk of breaking down quicker, friendly user, simple personal opinions and what not.peace to those who can help. one!
Comments
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have you ever used an mpc?
but for someone to say an mpc is for toys. i have to disagree son. i guess you've got no love for heads like the soul brother himself and those who've made classics joints off an mpc. i could care less on what people use to chop beats and sample. if the beats bangin and i can do the funky chicken to it, than it's all love. 100
both are classic machines, both have buttons/pads to tap in drums/samples and both have a tight sequencer.
The sp is a machine that limits you ALOT.
Some people tell you it has 10 seconds of sample time only.
This is only somewhat true... the sp can sample a max of 2.5 seconds at a time.
So you will have to record a loop in small segments, or speed it up to 45 rpm or even more with a pc...
just to give you an idea what kind of character this machine has...
it has some remarkable features though that made or make this machine what it is:
the sound: 12bit crunchiness, it sounds lovely, it sounds hiphop, we love it.
however this is all you get. no hifi and lofi, JUST GRITTY THICKNESS.
the filters and envelopes, lfo etc: the filters and "mod-section" are what make this machine so versatile. You can create some pretty bugged out sounds and you can use the faders to control these and almost all other functions like sample cutting by moving sliders. very cool. very hands on.
the sequencer: a sequencer is normally measured in acuracy by its PPQ(pulse per quarter note). The lower the number the less notes you can fit in between each other. a.k.a. less control. However an SP user will tell you to fuck off and do something else if you talk about ppqs with him. This sequencer ROCKS its hard, its rugged its raw.
an few other interesting facts about the sp are:
if you hook up midi to an akai s950 or an emu emax or whatever racksampler you loose certain functions, i forget what it is, but i think it was an output or a track on the sequencer. Ask the diehard sp'ers for this. Also the outputs have fixed filters on them so you have one output for kick drum that kills some highend and one for basslines etc.. if you pull out the TRS plug half way you get the unfiltered sound...
MPC 3000
this machine is a totally different monster.
first off I gotta say, im biased here. I love this machine, and I spend good time with my baby every day.
okay, the mp has a much more indepth sequencer and is rocksolid. Its known as THE best akai sequencer (next to the 60(II) / ASQ-10). Its what people call the "roger linn" machine, he made the OS hes the mpc60/ASQ dude yadda yadda. To make it short: I will always prefer this sequencer to a pc because its rock stable and never glitches, hickups or slows down, jitters...whatever.
The pads are great. and you have lots of space and room to make your ideas work. There is a great function called 16 Levels which lets you spead a sample over the entire 16 pad range and apply different settings to them like pitch so you can play a melody or filter or attack etc... The sp has a similar pitch function too. its pretty different though.
You can hook up loads of other studio gear to it and use it as a standalone sequenncer, or even with a 12bit machine like the s950. The sound is much cleaner and versatile than the SP but in no way ever close to that grit or thump you get on a SP. Which doesnt mean the 3k drums dont sound like a hammer, but its just not the same blap.
The filters is very cool and nice, but again not close to the sp and its capabilities. You have a nice filter envelope so you can create some crazy shit and layer stuff, again, this is more of a drum sampler and not a real tweaker like a sp, asr, emax or s950. It has loads of ram by yesterdays standards (32mb maxed out) which gives you more than enough time to sample anything.
you have 8 banks with each 16 pads to fill, but only one program at a time.
The quantizing is amazing too, forgot that on the sp, its great also, but again very different. one great thing on the 3k is the fact that you can hook up SCSI to save on zip discs, old scsi HDs or even Compact flash discs if youre lucky enough to get one thats compatible. ALSO: Rohan Mansell, MPC3000 expert has programmed a few NEW OPERATING SYSTEMS (ILOVECAPSLOCK, YES) including the recent OS called Vailixi 3.50 (to be found here ). It helps with the use of compact flash drives, and loads of other sick features mpc3k people have been waiting for a loong long time.
all in all these machines are very ill and different. They both are oldschool machines meaning they dont display samples like your waveeditor or a mpc2000xl would or most other recent products. They are both limited in their ways like the mp3k dont got a real undo button. However people still use these machines for a reason. So since you brought this topic up I guess you know there is something behind it.
To be really honest now: you might be kidding yourself with these machines.
These units DONT MAKE ANYTHING HOT. if you dig the vibe these machines live in, you can use them, if you are just fond of the name and the look, get a mpc2500 and be happy. These machines require patience when working on them, accepting the fact that they are over 10 years old, and hard to repair, fix or find spare parts for. As well as difficult to integrate in a computer environment (compact flash compability helps the 3000 here..). I guess you see what im saying, this aint picknick son
if you dont really understand what I just typed like a madman for, then skip all of what youre trying to read over and over again and just get this:
the sp is funky and OLD. Its like the coolest grandpa you ever had with the craziest stories, but he falls asleep pretty quick and needs a wheelchair.
the mpc can be alot to you. Its hard, its soft, its deep. Its like the first big love in your life, but still you know, she will always have some flaws that you either love, or make you break it up.
enough nerd-emo-mpc talk.
hope you enjoy, my advice for someone whos done his research and serious about these old machines: get a mpc 3000 and an emax/s950 and you have the best of both worlds.
pz
i really dig both machines. thing is, i got 3 homies that live together. one actually has an sp12/s950, the other has the mpc3000/sp303/fruity loops and another has an mpc2000xl. all are really dope. i see and hear the difference within all of the machines. at the end of the day...i gotta give it up to the chef who chopped and sliced up the buttery joint. it's all about the flavor in your ear. 100
If you're just starting out with no experience on either then the SP is probably going to be easier to use (despite the limitations), but I found going from an MPC to an SP quite hard.
Very true. The SP is a very limited machine, and it can be difficult to work with (and within those limitations), but to me, that's part of the beauty of it. I know using the SP has forced me to rethink the mechanics of how I make beats--you have to think ahead and have a pretty clear picture of what you want to do, as opposed to the "do it as soon as it occurs to you" nature of Pro Tools, for example. Trying to push the limitations of the machine can really force you to think in different and creative ways, which is a good thing. Having an SP has changed my beatmaking for the better.
Two things to bear in mind:
1) The SP is completely mono. No stereo sampling, no stereo output.
2) If you're trying to make beats entirely on the machine, the SP can be tough--10 seconds really isn't a lot of time. It's not impossible, of course, but you'll probably be able to do more with the MPC.
and to young stein...yo dude, i remember yall when ud was just comin up. yall performed out in cal state long beach way back when. maybe i'll catch you diggin at bagatelle's one day. 100
fred