Akai MPC 500 VS. Korg ESX

ColeRockLee · Post by **ColeRockLee** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:19 am

I love my 303 but I'm looking into something more powerful to do the things it can't. These two pieces seem to both get great reviews. II had an EA-1 and I likes the way the sequencer worked on it, and the ESX's is similar. I've never had a chance to check out any mpc. So once again peeps I wish to draw upon your wealth of experience. People say the MPC500 has really weak build quality. I don't wanna spend $500 bucks on something that's gonna break in the first year. On the other hand the ESX seems kind of llimiting, he way the "parts" work. Only two keyboard parts and 1 slice part, etc. Anyone have any comments, experiences, or even alternatives for these? Thanks in advance.

Platypus Beird · Post by **Platypus Beird** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:04 am

you def. want an MPC, go for the 1000..plenty on ebay for around the same price...or if you just want a dope sequencer and some slamming drums to pair with your 303 the MPC 60 is perfect, just make suer it has 3.10 and max memory and you'll be fine without the scsi epansion..floppys are more than enough for drums and sequence info..I had a 60 for years and lvoed it

anyway, skip on the korg and good luck!

timfromtexas · Post by **timfromtexas** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:25 am

ive played around with the mpc's at guitar center a bit.. and ive watched a ton of people use them.. some of my fav musicians use them and use them well... but i would surprise myself if i bought one.. i LOVE the pads and how touchey they are but im not super keen on the interface.. i havent gotten far enough to mess with it more than just "ehh i dont get it and i dont own it so im walking away"..

i DO however own an esx1 ive had it for a few months..
i really like this piece.. (i got a 404 this summer and it was my first drum machine) i think the esx is helping me understand how to do more pattern stuff on my 404.. putting stuff together is rad on the esx.. i prefer the way you lay stuff out on it kinda visually (although you can play it by ear too and lay the sounds out that way too..) rather than completely by ear.. the effects are pretty dope too and if you like to tweak and twiddle the esx is good for that... it does have the whole smartmedia thing... which isnt that cool.. but you can load like 200 sounds and samples on it and with that many i dont see myself using the card very often... the slice and stretch parts are pretty rad features.. its fun just laying in different slices into a pattern and building from the slices... you can also resample parts to the pads. im pretty sure you can play a keyboard part and resample it to a pad and then free up that keyboard part.. same thing for the slice.. (i dont have the manual because im at the parents house) you said you were worried about how the parts work? i think this box is dope.. and i dont make techno on it either.. not many people do and i wish more did.. i like what i make even if its super basic.. someone with more expirence could really flip one of these..

the mpc is a drumset and you program the korg

ive heard you end up doing a lot of work on the computer if you use an mpc but i dont know how much truth there is in that... you could get an akai pad controller rather than getting an mpc?

ColeRockLee · Post by **ColeRockLee** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:47 am

I have an M-audio Trigger FInger. It ain't the pads I'm after. I'm really just looking for something more powerful without completely breaking myself. You say you can resample from the keyboard parts on the ESX? That really changes things. I'm mainly worried about it forcing you to put things together a certain way. I.E. you can only have X amount of keyboard parts, X amount of one shots, etc. Seems very limiting but it sounds like it's no trouble at all for you Tim. The more programming oriented interface is what interests me about the ESX. I have a very likeable realtime sequencer and fx I like in my 303. I dunno, I got time anyway I still a little more saving to do anyway. Thanks for the replies guys. Anyone else wanna add anything? Right now I'm kinda leaning toward the ESX.

space.age.sound · Post by **space.age.sound** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 9:19 am

Dont get the MPC 500. I bought one and sold it a week later, its a complete piece of shit!!

As for the ESX:
Dont forget that just because it has 2 keyboard parts, alot of things in a track will only take 1 or 2 notes, in which case you can just sample the notes you need and put them into a 1-shot slot.

fauna · Post by **fauna** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:24 pm

i have an ES-1. if that thing had more sample time, that's all I would use. however, i'm not gonna spend $500 (approx.) on the ESX-1 to only get 6 minutes of memory (or whatever it is).

on the other hand i got an mpc1000. i agree with the statement ^^ above that this is the mpc to get. the 'mute track' form of arranging pieces is REALLY interesting and JJOS (not available on the 500) opens the box out even further.

so, the electribe stuff is more hands on, easy to tweak and play around with. its FUN. but i question the price-to-performance ratio.

the mpc is more like working on a box, but the possibilities are endless. less fun, but after a bit of a curve, more artistically satisfying.

frankly, i think the 404 is sort of the best of both ^^ worlds: performance fun (with limitations) and artistic possibility (with limitations). honestly, if there were a TUNING knob, the 404 would be near-perfect.

hope that helps mans.

Platypus Beird · Post by **Platypus Beird** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 5:27 pm

you'll probably end up getting the korg, which is cool

the thing is, I used to be anti MPC say 5 years ago, just because everyone else had one. then I got a 60, then I got a 3000 and I've had that 3K since...I'm telling you that in my opinion if you already have the 303 for effects, sample time, manipulation, etc. all you really need is a dope sequencer to make the two dance together...enter the 60 and 3K range

but since you want more than that, an MPC 1000 (with JJOS) would be your best bet, or since you already have the pads, maybe an ASR? I dunno, the 60 and 3K are so easy, maybe one day I'll make a video of the 404 together with the 3K to show yall...

maybe Juxt can chime in, he just sold his MPC 1K I believe

ColeRockLee · Post by **ColeRockLee** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 12:16 am

The 1k sounds like a dream sampler on paper. I'm afraid of all the trouble with the shitty build quality and failing pads. No way i could afford the 1k, memory upgrade, I'd have to get the hard drive kit and hard drive too and still spring for the good pads. Akai really looks to juice a mofo. TBH I'm thinking your right though Detail, I'm really just looking for a more powerful sequencer. I like the XoX style sequencing like the Electribes have. Maybe I need to check out what's possible/available with that style of sequencing.
I really appreciate you guys replies here, it really is help.

timfromtexas · Post by **timfromtexas** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:41 am

like i said im not super good or anything and im DEF still learning the esx but the PDF of the manual is online and it has a LOT of info on it... its been chillin in my bathroom for weeks and i still find tidbits.. its worth reading about it first i guess.. im new on both machines so dont take my suggestions TOO seriously...

balazs · Post by **balazs** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 5:06 am

Deta!L wrote:maybe Juxt can chime in, he just sold his MPC 1K I believe

yeah man, havnt sold it yet. hopefully soon.

It seems like your not interested in the 1k because of cheap built quality hematurge, but if you have any questions I do my best to answer.

space.age.sound · Post by **space.age.sound** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 5:44 am

Remember also, you can use the ESX to sequence your SP,

so you get the sampling time etc of the SP, with the x0x style sequencing. The 303 does have midi In yeah?

timfromtexas · Post by **timfromtexas** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 6:53 am

you can resample a pattern and mute out the sounds you dont want so yea you could do the keyboard...

also "so you get the sampling time etc of the SP, with the x0x style sequencing. The 303 does have midi In yeah?" is a really good point...

jbl · Post by **jbl** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:13 pm

i still don't get external sequencing from an electribe. i know they can but...
for instance; can i put one snare ( say pad bank C, pad 1 ) across sixteen bars as track one, then put a kick ( pad bank D, pad 3 ) across sixteen bars as track 2...

and for track i may mean something else. i did try looking at the online manual but not in real depth.

also can they send to two or more external machines?

Platypus Beird · Post by **Platypus Beird** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 2:40 pm

so here's why the mpc is dope, haha, cause say you got a microkorg..you go midi in and midi out to that, midi out to the 303, you can set the MPC pads to correspond to the 303/404 midi note numbers, you control the 303 with the MPC pads, make a little 4 bar loop but you use a seperate MPC track for each element (high hat, kick, snare) then you have your loop going, just play the bass/synth whatever from the microkorg....boom, looping right along with all the other shit..then when you go to track the song out all you have to do is solo the seperate tracks (instead of lowering volume on all the samples) and you're golden...

that's my last post on this, you know where I stand lol

timfromtexas · Post by **timfromtexas** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:49 pm

hema i am kinda interested in what youre thinking... what youve found out... etc.. let a brotha know or something