Akai MPC 2000 (XL) - With or without 8 out? Cardreader?

CakeTwo

CakeTwo

New member
I'm planning on buying a second-hand MPC 2000, probably the XL version, and I'm seeing MPCs offered either with and without an 8-out and also with cardreader or zipdrive. I have been looking on the internet what the exact functions of these parts are, but to no avail. The price ranges from €200 to €400, without any of the before named parts and with them respectively.

I have also seen an MPC which had an FX expansion, but I don't know if I'll need such a thing on the MPC.

Could someone explain the functions of the named parts (and maybe other MPC related parts) and if it is worth buying?
 
8-out cards help wit trackouts. if u were gonna track a beat out ta pro-tools or any other daw, u can assign sounds to each of da outputs so u can track 8 sounds at one time. make sense?

da card reader..ok mpc's always have sum sorta medium ta save to/load from. da cardreader is basically a better alternative ta floppy disks & zip disks.
 
The 8 outputs allow you to send individual sounds off to hardware effects, like you might send a kick drum off to a distortion pedal or send your snares to a rack mounted reverb unit etc.

The FX expansion card allows you to add effects to sounds internally.

The card reader and Zip drive allow you to save samples.
 
Oh my bad, I'm really new to this MPC stuff. I thought it was either 4 or 8 out. But that being corrected, hoe would working with a 2-out influence my workflow?
 
The 8 outputs allow you to send individual sounds off to 8 different effects and hear them at the same time, but you need to have 8 inputs on a mixer or your audio interface in order to take advantage of it.

With just 2 outputs, you can only add effects to 2 channels so if you want to apply the same amount of effects as you can with 8 outputs you need to solo the sounds and track them out to be effected 8 times as opposed to doing it once with the 8 outputs, you also can't monitor all the sounds with effects in real time unless you get them back into the sampler 8 times with the effects on them.

So, you can work around not having the 8 outputs but it will take longer to get the same results.
 
Thanks for the replies.

As of now, my beats consist of chopped samples, drums and a bass, sometimes with scratching added to it. I made my beats in Ableton. The hardware I'm using is a laptop, a Numark M3 2-channel mixer and a Technics turntable.

What would you suggest I get for an MPC?
 
I would not recommend buying additional infrastructure equipment until after you have decided if you like the MPC, but I would recommend getting an MPC that has already been expanded because expansions are not always easily available by themselves and you should be able to sell it for what you originally paid if it turns out you don't like it.
 
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