http://akaipro.com/

...yawn
No color screen, same cheapo cursor buttons/data wheel as on their low-end models. Does the concept of "thrilling" not exist in the Akai office or what?

I much rather work on developing a SP with Roland than a MP with Akai, Roland seems to actually push their machines into new directions and innovations, while Akai just doesn't know what they're doing

It's weird they used to make the best shit but I don't know what happened, everyone says the 3000 was the last good one but I've found the 2000xl to be a great machine with a lot of live applications not on any previous akai sampler. I think between Roger Linn/Dave Smith design vs. Akai, roland can just sit back while akai gets phased out and by then if they're smart they will have been developing something to realistically compete with the Linn DrumII since I predict all the people who really love their mpcs will move back to the man who made it happen, it's only natural. I'm no Nostradamus, but just sit back and peep game.

I'm already saving for the LDII.

But I have to admit, I like the 2000xl, the 2500 and the 1000. All of them are capable of creating quality music.

That new thing is a joke though. A bad virtual synth, a bunch of sliders jammed into it, 30 megs more memory and a recorder...

Akai could have came up with something like
-choosable bit and sample rates
-a natural feeling sequencer
-a way to connect a floppy drive and other devices
-great analog filters
-a steady built machine, with quality parts.

3500$ .... mmm, if it was half of that I might have considered it, most features do sound awesome. I'm afraid I wouldn't like the MPC-style pads, but judged by the little I know of the MPC5000 it doesn't look to be a really terribly crappy machine. It definitely better than the MPC2500 and MPC1000.

By the way, not having a color screen really don't matter to me, it's not like colors really give more info. If that's a way to save production costs to be able to add in a synthesizer like they've done, I'm all for it.

Now i'm looking forward to Roland's answer to this though.

Roland already have MV8800 which is very very good sampler and easily competes with this sh*t. I don't like the looks of this monster - mpc4000 looks waaay better and probably is built better too.

Word- A color screen doesn't much for me either BUT.. it is signifying of available technology overall... if you see a cell phone with an LCD, you think.. oh that's pre-2004. You'd expect a new product trying to be the baddest on the block to have cosmetic features that scream 2008!
I was reading some of the MPC forums, & there seems to be a collective frown going on. One eagle-eyed cat even found a typo in the MPC5K owners manual that refers the machine as the MPC3500 (which it more like IS).
Any report from our man on the street at Namm regarding Roland?

colored screens may cause some serious hum problems inside the machine.

Aah, so it's secretly an MPC3500.... sneaky bastards. Ow and yeah, you're definitely right about how a non-color screen feels dated.

Amateur video editor. He should actually learn how to use final cut or premiere, which ever he uses.

i agree with olby , mv 8000 is beter in every way

Akai went out the window when numark bought them out. Its just like numark to push out a bunch of half assed products. MachineDrum 2 FTW! Linn was the real genius. Numarks a joke.