Granted, sound quality is a subjective thing, and what you listen to this stuff on is another factor that needs to be considered as well, but there's no way that MPC ONE sounded as good as the SP-404A that I had, I absolutely loved the sound of that thing and no way did I get the same wow factor coming from the MPC ONE as I did from the SP-404A. There was nothing wrong with the sound of the MPC ONE, it sounded nice and beefy and all, but it didn't have that 'something' the SP-404A had (and neither does the new MKII).
That's why this time around I've gone for the SP-404SX cause I know how good it sounds (it's identical hardware to the 'A' but on the SX it's actually badged correctly, unlike the 'A'). Switch an 'A' on and you'll see 'SX' on the screen cause that's what it really is, so my OCD made me go for a proper 'SX' this time.
Regards touch-screens, there is only one device out there with a well designed touchscreen interface and that is the Blackbox, but after reading something Run Of The Hind said, he reminded me about soul in a product, and honestly, the only two beat making boxes that would suit me that have soul are the old school SPs and the Korg ES-1.
I think it's hilarious how little respect the Korg ES-1 gets in communities like this, because if you download the manual, watch videos on how it actually works, look at how many failings the 404 suffered that the ES-1 does not, you'll realise what a well designed little box that thing is, and it has to be by far the best designed interface of the lot!
It also runs natively at 12-Bit with a 32KHz sampling rate, and if the ES-1 had also included a "Vinyl Sim" effect I'm guessing its popularity would be on another level, just like the old school 404s are. So by pairing-up an SP-404SX with an ES-1, I not only gain an extra sampling rate and bit depth, I also gain proper panning and pitch control to use with the SP-404SX.
That's a fucking incredible, proper old-school combo with a wonderful knob per function interface across both units. So I'm sorry bruh, but I seriously doubt that there's a single beat-maker on here can visualise an SP-404SX and ES-1 sat side by side and (honestly) tell me that a Touch Screen MPC would be better.
Give me a fucking break
Peeps are free to use menu-heavy devices like the corporate touch-screen money pit nightmare that the MPC has become, but I'm sticking to proper tools that were designed to perform, products that were designed for the artist and without a corporate agenda attached. You see it a lot in the comments, people who sold their SP gear and jumped ship to the MPC only to regret it big time and start getting angry when they see that the prices of the well-designed gear they used to own have inevitably shot-up in price because the designs of the modern units they got sucked into are nowhere near as good or productive.
Sorry, what was that, you homies still wanting a modern MPC?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4bGLvbCR7o
As you can see from that video, the MPC has become a corporate coffer-serving device, one that SP-USER strongly recommends that you avoid at all costs, but of course that's just SP-USER's humble opinion so take it as you will. I made the mistake of returning my 'A' but at least I finally have the sense to replace it with another, and this time a proper 'SX' badged unit.
Those MPCs are powerful devices, they are indeed beasts, but they're the wrong kind of beast. So now take a look at the two images below and compare, because those images show what good ol' functionality, knob per function interface design bliss, and gear without an agenda looks like:
- Good Old LED displays
- Fat, Creamy, Gritty Sound
- Knob-Per-Function Interfaces
- Absolutely No Touch-Screen Bullshit
- Absolutely No Software Registration Bullshit
The perfect old-school combo IMHO
