Short review of the Akai Mpc5000

ironbeatchef

ironbeatchef

New member
Short review of the Mpc5000

To sum up the MPC 5000.
It has all the features I loved on the MPC2500 (direct recording ,auto chop etc)
But it is a step above every other Mpc I have used.

Reason is the TC. (Quantize feel)
I was told by a Akai beta tester the the TC uses the Timing Clock of the Mpc3000.
Originally the Mpc5000 was even named the Mpc3500 due to this fact.
I love the feel of the TC and the added 64th notes TC id another bonus,also the TC strength option is great.

The synth is quite good and combined with the effects is a real force.
My fav feature is the arpeggiator.
It works really well and I have made some real cool sounding things so far using it..

I have not yet used the hard disk recording ( for what I do direct recording will work even better)
But the HD recording is a great option..
The massive Hard drive is great to have too..

Another one of my fav things to do is control filters/cut offs with the q link,that combined with the arpeggiator is great and takes my synth parts to another level..

I love the HUGE screen and with rumors of it soon being able to be upgraded to touch screen,that will really rock.

(Yes Akai had originally designed touch screen for the MPC5000,it was made by a tech I know ,but in the end Akai didn`t use the feature)
More news on that as it comes to me..

----

Now for the bad.
The one thing I was really hoping to be improved over the MPC2500 was not.
The chop shop auto shop is no different then the mpc2500`s at all.
I was hoping not non destructive editing,or a more recycler type system.
Chop shop did not need to be called 2.0 on the MPC5000 since nothing is different then the old chop shops auto chop on the MPC2500.

Also the tempo detect feature still can`t get the bpm right (same problem as the MPC2500 and MPC1000) .
This confuses me since the MPC2000xl tempo detection is money.
Having no auto tempo detect feature is a pain when you patch phase a sample since you need the exact tempo to patch phrase a sample right.
I still have to manually detect the tempo if samples on the main screen..



In conclusion,I always thought the MPC2500 was the best Mpc ever made.
Having a onboard synth makes the MPC5000 (with a midi keyboard) a powerfull self contained project studio
The MPC5000 has improved on the MPC2500 in many ways and takes it place as the new
KING OF THE Akai MPC`S..:cheers:
 
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So basically you're saying the small built-in VA justifies the 1000$ higher price in comparison to mpc2500?
 
ironbeatchef said:
The MPC5000 has improved on the MPC2500 in many ways and takes it place as the new
KING OF THE Akai MPC`S..:cheers:
Click to expand...

No mention of JJos and its numerous additions reliability and functionality wise for both the 1000/2500 makes this statement irrelevant.

If you really want an MPC, do your research on the JJos2 and its benefits. You'd be a fool if you were still checking for the 5000 afterward.
 
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Too easy.

tired-yawn.jpg
 
(Yes Akai had originally designed touch screen for the MPC5000,it was made by a tech I know ,but in the end Akai didn`t use the feature)
Click to expand...

I can assure you they NEVER intended to implement a touch screen and probably never will. Perhaps you are mixing up rumors from different companies instead, but even in 'that' case nothing is set in stone... yet.

ironbeatchef said:
Now for the bad.

[..]

In conclusion,I always thought the MPC2500 was the best Mpc ever made.
Click to expand...

An incredibly weird conclusion if you'd be familiar with some of the other MPCs and well.. enough said.
 
An incredibly weird conclusion if you'd be familiar with some of the other MPCs and well.. enough said.

No need to go there with me buddy.
I have owned every mpc since the mpc60


What sets mpcs apart from each other is sample editing features in my book.
The MPC2500 had the most sample editing features,now the 5k..

That is why I feel that way,you are free to feel however you want.
Bottom line no matter what mpc the Main screen where the sequencing is done is basically the same.
So what separates them is (features & feel).
The Mpc5000 has GREAT feel and tons of features.




About a $1000 upgrade no.
I actualy sold my Mpc2500 for $1300 and bought a used Mpc5000 for $1700.
To me it was well worth a $400 upgrade.
In fact I had paid $1700 for my Mpc2500 new when it came out a few years back.

I would argee I would not have spent $1000 to upgrade from a 25k though.
But $400 like I did ,sure in a heatbeat!

Im sure JJ will make OS upgraded for the 5k too so calm down peeps.
I love JJs work too.
 
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I dont think jj can write a os. I heard the only reason the 1000 and 2500 were created is jj is a group of disgruntled employees who already had access to it. thats why mpcs after those 2 (mpc 500 and the 5000) dont have jjos's.
 
Hi-tek?

I can't imagine any other producers nerdy enough to come on this message board.

DOn't take it the wrong way bananasss. You come to a site with hip hop nerds whose heroes are producers. Then you mention you are a famous producer. We ain't trynna drive you away, though. peace
 
Bananasass is a major record producer? This is news to me, Is he Ski?? lol cool, everyone is entitled to their opinion/view on things...
 
Yes everyone is entitled to their opinion/view on things.

I only did this small review to shed light on the newest MPC and give my thoughts on it.

But If I had to guess I would have to guess he is a MPC4000 user.
MPC4000 users always seen to get mad when someone says there is a mpc better then a mpc4000,

But fact is a Mpc1000 with JJ packs more features then a Mpc4000.


If I have time I guess I might wright a mpc time line listing all the mpc`s in order they came out and the features they packed.
 
ironbeatchef said:
But fact is a Mpc1000 with JJ packs more features then a Mpc4000.
Click to expand...

then it (mpc1000 with jj os) would seriously KILL the mpc5000 cos let's be honest, it's a downgrade from the 4000.
 
We use downgrade too loosely here. We talk too much about features in the 4000 that most MPC users didnt and still dont take proper advantage of. To lose features that MPC users widely didnt use properly.... boo hoo. In the 5000 you definitely lost plenty of 4k features, but You definitely gained alot of more useful features that are more easily utilized by a typical MPC user. Years ago people were crying so bad about how shotty the 4K was, how buggy it was, etc. Now its supposed to be God MPC, and really not THAT much was upated on the last OS. This is going to happen everytime the release a new MP.
 
Some of what Just Blaze talks about in his review is fixed in the new os (mpc importing from older mpc etc)
JB does have a point about how you load the synth patches (with no preview option) and the ability to tune a entire program is not there.

You guys don`t want to get me started on the mpc4000`s
Just finding parts for the mpc4000 is like striking oil.

The real thing that makes the mpc5000 worth getting is the feel of the quantize and the many many options of TC you have..
It feels like my old mpc3000`s sequencer and that I love.
But I might just say that ,no I will say I like the quantize feel even better then the mpc3000 due to the quantize strength option..
Like any Akai mpc made after the mpc3000 we should just come to expect bugs in the os,same as we come to expect Windows OS bugs.
You just got to take the good with the bad I guess..


I can get past the no entire program tuning function.
There is a way around that like anything else.
You just go to trim hit window & tune the sample BEFORE you chop (see Just that was easy right)or pitch shift your sample b4 chopping
I always get my samples right before I chop anyways( timestreatch ,pitch etc)


Akai needs to make a preview on the synth patches thats no doubt and improve the chop shop.
Then I will be happy..



UPDATE: I just noticed a new bug.

DECAY is not working with the q link faders.
I love to put open hats on dacay with the q slider to create a open and closed hat in real time..

I sure hope Akai Fixes this next update!
 
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