MPC500 review

[jbl]

i know the old mpc-1000's had pad problems but i don't think the 500 has that problem.

hey ormo, how do you feel about the pad sensitivity? has the program stolen/lost any of your samples yet? i kind of like the idea of getting one but i had the 1000 and really didn't use it as much as i thought i should so i got rid of it. sometimes i wish i had it back though.

[ormo]

the pads are nice. I feel like could be a little stiffer.
but you can bang on them like any other mpc

[cartesia]

even stiffer pads ?

if you think of the MPC 1000's pads as being a quite-hard rubber, the MPC500's in comparison are almost like solid plastic.. I dont think you will find stiffer pads on anything

[Unfolding]

When my wife got hers, I anticipated hooking up a nice condenser and running around in the bushland sampling lizards and birds, making kick-drums from hitting rocks, etc etc.

If you have a condenser mic that does not need phantompower or you use the internal ones.. tha br600 will do that like a dream! LOVE to walk around capturing sounds and sample them in the funniet ways:D

Done a bit of this in the past with my BR600 as well. Such a sweet little device, those things (even though its jog wheel hates turning clockwise, it returns the values to the lowest possible all the time & it shits me). The funniest thing is probably the confused looks of passers by...

The SP-555 can also sequence external gear...just not as nicely as the MPC
If would stay away from the MPC500. Ne thing above an MPC1000 (and the 60) is nice but the 500 is not made to be a stand alone machine... u cant even adjust the friggin level of your samples on it ! you gotta adjust the velocity to lower the levels

This simply isn't true. If you have one or a friend with one, check out the program function (mode+pad 6), scroll clockwise for a few turns & there's your sample levels, panning + sample stacking (assigning multiple samples to one pad without resampling).

But I totally disagree with Cartesia about the MPC500. Ormo is right on the money:

this thing catches a lot of shit for being small and only having 12 pads. blah blah. this thing is dope.
also mine has no buzz in battery mode.

Dunno why yours is so ordinary (a real pity), mine's great (except for the save & load functions: needlessly complex)! It just too smart for me, with so many complex bits. Probably the biggest MPC500 advantage for me is the EXCELLENT pitch shift & time stretch. Yeah yeah SP-505 but its not portable, can't play 32 voices at once (pretty sure of that) & can't sequence external gear...

I still heart the SP-606 more though- its a little workhorse & does exactly what you want, went you want it too then begs for more.

Unrelated: here's yet another bogan 'Strayan contributing to the SP forums.

[PHeMoX]

i know the old mpc-1000's had pad problems but i don't think the 500 has that problem.

It has that problem too, but not as bad as some of the 1000 versions.

Yeah yeah SP-505 but its not portable, can't play 32 voices at once (pretty sure of that) & can't sequence external gear...

What exactly do you mean with sequencing external gear? Send sequencer messages through midi and such?? It can do that, it has both midi out and midi in!

[ormo]

like the pads on a 505, the pads on the 500 have what I can only describe as a point where they pop down and make contact with the sensor. I had a 2000 and it had no such pop down action but rather the pads were stiff like an electronic drum pad.

[PHeMoX]

like the pads on a 505, the pads on the 500 have what I can only describe as a point where they pop down and make contact with the sensor. I had a 2000 and it had no such pop down action but rather the pads were stiff like an electronic drum pad.

Yeah, if you like that, you should also look into the SP-606. It also has barely pop down action (I believe it's none, but it's been a while since I last touched one). It's perhaps the best style pads. Indeed the MPC500 has less comfortable pads for that reason.

I agree it can be used very well to make music with regardless though, it's just a bit more rough getting it done properly. The more sophisticated sequencer (boils down to mainly more tracks) is an obvious pro over the SP-505 or 606.

[Unfolding]

What exactly do you mean with sequencing external gear? Send sequencer messages through midi and such?? It can do that, it has both midi out and midi in!

That's what I meant, ha! So I stand corrected...

*Note to self: check the facts before ranting*

[PHeMoX]

Nah man, don't worry about it.

Out the top of my head it's actually still pretty difficult to record external gear into the machine in complete sync. I'm not an expert on using external gear to sequence with that machine, but I think it's pretty limited and for comfort's sake, I'd use an external recorder.

[Ill Green]

I own a 500 and they can do alot. They're definitely NOT like an SP. In fact, its kinda like the ESX where you sample stuff and assign them to a pad later. It was complicated at first, but slowly you begin to unveil its potential. I hate to load and save every 5 minutes though, and the saving and loading options can be confusing, it should've been direct. And there is no BPM detector for samples, only for sequences and songs. Effects are too rocket science for me.

The sample editing features is where its at though, you can pitch or timestretch samples* , extract sounds of a sample without chopping the sample into a new sample, and fade samples in and out with Decay.

*My method to timestretch is to perfectly trim the sample, then toss it in the sequencer. And during overdub, adjust the tempo til the metronome clicks are in sync with the sample. Then with the BPM of that sequence, take it to the timestretch menu in Trim mode and use that BPM as the Origin of the sample, then in New just put the desired BPM you want that sample to be.

[Unfolding]

Nah man, don't worry about it.

Out the top of my head it's actually still pretty difficult to record external gear into the machine in complete sync. I'm not an expert on using external gear to sequence with that machine, but I think it's pretty limited and for comfort's sake, I'd use an external recorder.

Ah, I see what you mean now. I was thinking about hooking up either a synth module or drum machine via midi & programming the 500's pads to corresponding input notes in the other device (same as a midi controller would), not quite using the midi connection to play/stop other devices.

For example: MPC pad 1 plays synth note A3, MPC pad 2 plays synth note C3, MPC pad 3 plays synth note E3 etc. That way you can load up scales without growing mad keyboard skillz. Does the 505 allow for this too?

[ellaguru]

For example: MPC pad 1 plays synth note A3, MPC pad 2 plays synth note C3, MPC pad 3 plays synth note E3 etc. That way you can load up scales without growing mad keyboard skillz. Does the 505 allow for this too?

...unfortunately sp505 is weird and strange for midi...

[korakios]

I bought from ebay a used one and I am actually very happy with it!What I miss is a chop feature like the sp-505 or like the autochop of 606...at least there is an editor so you can organize a program easily in a pc...
I don't think that anyone could use it for sampling in a live cause the menu diving is time consuming,BUT it really isn't that difficult to master it...and it's great for programming /sequencing.Also it has some kind of aftertouch so it's great to make drum rolls(snare, hihats) and messing with synth sounds...the pitch shift (like vinyl one) is very useful but the time stretch is just acceptable for a hardware sampler...
I'll post again when I master it,but really I wouldn't recommend to anyone for first sampler!an sp-505,or 404 with a kp3 would be much more easier to use in my opinion...

[formal]

My buddy has the 500, I have a 1000 and another buddy of mine has a 2500. Every time I went to use the 500 the pads made me really mad. My 1000 has the pad upgrade and the new ones feel great. A couple months back mpc stuff got a new pad upgrade kit for the 500. My friend snagged those and I installed them for him. It made a huge difference! The sensitivity is on par with my 1000 and almost as good as the 2500 The menu diving on the 500 is a pain but is tolerable for the amount of power the machine has. If you have used any of the larger mpcs the 500 is not hard to learn. Like korakios said, I would prolly not suggest this as a first sampler.

[korakios]

Yes, the pads are really hard and I will diy them as soon as possible...

A couple months back mpc stuff got a new pad upgrade kit for the 500. My friend snagged those and I installed them for him. It made a huge difference! The sensitivity is on par with my 1000 and almost as good as the 2500

Where did you got them?Are they available in Europe?