ROLAND SP-404 VS AKAI MPC500

[Euclid Ov Oåklånd]

Plus all those things are probably better than the samplers hip hop was started with.

[pt3r]

<old man mode>How come that a lot of the new hip hop sounds worse than the old one?</old man mode>

[cartesia]

<old man mode>How come that a lot of the new hip hop sounds worse than the old one?</old man mode>

its an illusion mostly

[Nosmo King]

well i ordered a 404sx about a month ago (wanted one for ages) and it is really taking its time getting here (sposed to be here in 2 days). yesterday on impulse i bought an mpc500 off ebay for real cheap. the plan is to make them work together to cancel out each others flaws lol. because of the polyphony issues i can do my drums on the mpc in separate tracks but most of the sample creativity can be done on the 404, then with a bit of luck ill sequence it all in the mpc... does this sound crazy?!?! how time consuming do you reckon this will be?

the reason why im really an idiot is that i dont even know if i like the workflow of a hardware sampler yet! i have a Maschine so i doubt it will be easy to get used to (the workflow on them is soooo good)

[tosfalma]

i've owned both, but each is different story. but i would say that

mpc 500 is a machine for music production, that does its job bad.
sp 404 is a machine for live performance, that does its job good.

so, to each his own:) but, in the end, you might like mpc 500, people have been producing dope music with much older equipment.

someone buys an mpc because it is more user friendly than a DAW for beatmaking..mpc 500 has a tiny screen so it has much menu-diving, and it will make you say f*%k this shit and return back to your DAW..unless you had another mpc and you know the menus, so it would be easier..and if the inexpressive pads aren't an issue for you its a good machine. but in the end sp 404 pads aren't velocity sensitive anyway.

on the other hand sp 404 is not suited for music production that much..on my crappy yamaha su 10 it is easier to find start/end points for your samples for example..BUT if you plan to take it on stage, with your loops of your songs on CF you can arrange your songs LIVE add effects etc. or use it as a kaoss pad...and this is dope, and its a thing mpc's can't do.


so, it depends on your needs.

[fresh-produce]

I have an sp303 and an sp404sx. both are well suited for music production, at least as far as what I want to do. It can seem tedious to someone who is used to software, but if the 404sx is probably the best thing out there for myself and like minded individuals.

[fresh-produce]

I have an sp303 and an sp404sx. both are well suited for music production, at least as far as what I want to do. It can seem tedious to someone who is used to software, but if you have the physical skill required to "play" a beat it works great. the 404sx is probably the best thing out there for myself and like minded individuals.


I don't mind manually chopping.

With the 404 you plug it in to an outlet, or turn it on if you have batteries

sample something

chop it

sample a break, or some drum sounds

mess with effects

re-sample

viola

[fresh-produce]

The mpc 500 and sp 404 are similar in many ways. Both are battery operated portable phrase samplers. However, the mpc 500 is the bottom of the mpc series. The 404 on the other hand can be used exclusively to produce beats, but is geared towards a live setting. It is more or less the industry standard as far as live sampling is concerned these days. Everyone and their mom is using it for shows. For this reason I would go with the 404 over the 500.

[antaganist]

i honestly dont think the 500 is something worth getting. both the 404 OG or the SX can do just about everything if you take the time to get comfortable with them. if you get an mpc at all, i personally feel that you should get anything but the 500.

[hseiken]

It's going to come down your preferred workflow and what you feel comfortable with. If it's your first machine, it's not going to matter which one you get as you don't know what your workflow is and likely, the machine will set you up to be comfortable working a certain way for the rest of your beat-making life.



404 excels at effects through resampling over and over. It's sequencer is quite crap. The MPC sequencers are top of the line and the unit can also act as the 'brain' of multi-gear setups controlling everything you've got. As a sampler, it's merely average though. It's the sequencer that makes the MPC series sought after, in my opinion. Also it has pad mutes (WHY NO MUTE GROUPS, ROLAND?!)

[Astromass]

I had a 500 and was using it as a drum machine/midi synchronizer/sample triggering device...driving 2 midi synced effects units, 2 boss rc300 loopers and 2 kp3s...it worked really well in a meticulously crafted and programmed live set...
I no longer use it for my band. We now just use a dedicated drum machine and the two boss loopers.
I use the 404sx for my full production electronic music projects.
They are definitely two different beasts.
The 404sx is a lot like a free form and highly inspiring paintbrush and canvas for sampling and tweaking. I really dig the immediacy of it....the mpc, for me, was something that was more suited for that really tight midi productions, similar to work in DAWs...
They are both great, but the 404 is like my best friend....not just a "tool".
I really can't stand the tight midi thing...I like my stuff more dubby and slurry.

[yo-yo crunch]

WHY NO MUTE GROUPS, ROLAND?!

606 has it

[hseiken]

WHY NO MUTE GROUPS, ROLAND?!

606 has it

Don't tempt me! Can't afford shit right now!

[treezy z]

the 404 shits on the mpc500. if you're gonna rock a mpc you need basically any model other than the 500.

one thing you'll need is an external pitch shift/time stretch. i use a sampletrak but you can just use your 500.

[georgesbrazil]

[quote="pt3r"]<old man mode>How come that a lot of the new hip hop sounds worse than the old one?</old man mode> [/quote]

I do like this ^, a lot...

Check your local hip hop scene. I'm sure they're doing stuff light years better than stuff on the radio or getting hyped by the establishment.

As for the MPC500, I would say hang on to that AND get a 404. Different dogs for different jobs.