Have had an MPC500 and MPC1000 in my time, weren't for me and the Live even less so. And I'm happy with what I've got...I'd like to qualify this, I probably ain't the target market for MPCs. To @ludicrouSpeed though, what you wanting to achieve with the MPC? Inspirational tool, Music Production Center, DAW in a box, sample based loops?
i hope they make a smaller one. not a big fan of the touchscreen and how behemoth it is for a portable device.
It’s comical as there was so much hype prior which hasn’t been met since release. Personally I would want a fully tactile interface as the touch screen thing isn’t fun. Your never going to replicate the sound of legacy machines
Did anyone see the YouTube video of the guy that purchased an mpclive used for 2 weeks and returned it for an OP1?
He raised a few interesting points that I think might resonate with a few people here. Namely how he felt the device didn’t bring out any creativity in him. He thought it was a well designed device and loved what it offered from feature list. He just felt it wasn’t pulling interesting results out of him. He then talked about what he experienced in his first day with the OP1 and how he intuitively started creating original music in a much more organic way.
I was one click away from purchasing an MPC live around about the same time purchase my OP1, but hesitated since it was so new without any reviews online. I wish the OP1 did had a few more refined specs like the MPC (longer sampling, better quality in/out) but I am really happy with my decision. If money was no object I would indeed own both! Instead, my consolation was BM3 and a MPC drum pad.
I bought the MPC Live right when it was released. It is a very nice piece of gear. But I returned it after a week. It had just a couple work flow problems I couldn’t work with.
I think if you are an MPC Head it is a great MPC. But that means certain limitations. It’s the perfect hip hop machine. I May even get another one in the future.
After I returned it I went and found myself an OP-1. Been having fun with it. A very different workflow from an MPC.
Mpc are great for linear song creation and drum pad performance.
The strength of the Mpc live to me is it looks like a great unit to built up tracks on. Huge SSD HD in it for all your sampling and just turn it on and built up a track over weeks etc.
I may get one in the Black Friday sales
Have had an MPC500 and MPC1000 in my time, weren't for me and the Live even less so. And I'm happy with what I've got...I'd like to qualify this, I probably ain't the target market for MPCs. To @ludicrouSpeed though, what you wanting to achieve with the MPC? Inspirational tool, Music Production Center, DAW in a box, sample based loops?
Hmm, tbh I’m not really in the market for the one! Haha, but I was rly interested with this thing, but never gassed too hard. I was waiting to see that real use-case reviews. Might be something I’ll want to get at some point. But at the moment, I’m happy with my setup, and I can’t see a gap to fill with this device. I guess it’s the space between my laptop + soundcard (or just laptop when I’m editing) and something smaller. If the mpc had rly long battery life, that could be a selling point.
Like y’all say, it’s just a matter of personal needs / workflow. I just felt like I’d heard a lot of talk about the mpc before it came out.
But not a lot after it was out.
But I probably just missed it.
Those of you in this thread who have one seemed stoked on it, so that says a lot.
But then another couple of people who opted out for op-1s… Yeah, it seems like the mpc live does what it does well, so cool if that’s what you’re after. I got Ableton for my needs beyond op1.
Good topic.
Growing up as a hip hop head living in a magical but poor and far away country made it really hard to afford something better than an MPC 500 when I was younger. Well, when I managed to get one it was a disappointment: the small screen made navigating the folders a nightmare, the workflow was so abstract and all the editing, nearly impossible to I feel really bad about my impossibility to tame it and only found love and pleasure again making music when I bought my OP1 in 2013 (and Elektron hardware after that - big love Sweden <3).
This year I traveled to Japan, sold lots of gear and was thinking about getting a SP 1200 there. Although It was easy to find a good unit (and with cheaper prices than the eBay ones), I thought better and decided to split that big money in other nice things there. However, because I needed a sampler (sold my Octatrack) I started thinking about the new MPC Live, which all the reviews were praising. It was REALLY REALLY hard to find one in Japan (indeed, I got the last one available Amazon.jp) and, after all, I was facing an MPC again.
But time things are running much more smoother and musical this time 
Obviously isn´t so immediate as an OP-1 and the sequencing structure is arcane (but less that the Octatrack). However, it IS immediate enough when you understand the basics of sampling, pad assigning and simple editing (like using multiple samples in one pad and using LFOs) - and it´s very simple to learn the basics because the screen is gorgeous and tactile. It´s amazing to edit a sample by touch, the pads are delicious and responsive (frankly, after trying all the old MPCs created by Akai I think that the MPC Live pads are my favorite along with the 2000XL), editing the beat in an DAW-esque view is a breeze and I don´t even need to praise all the joy of doing beats where you want, in all this OP-1 style lithium battery freedom. And it sounds huge. The outputs are hot and not flat at all! And I even didn´t tried the peripherical MIDI capabilities and the live loops (which appears to work like a more tight/trimmed down version of Push and Maschine Jam).
Akai really nailed it with this one.
Is it to everyone? I don´t know. There´s a steep learning curve on it - one that I´m still struggling, to be honest (but more because my time is sparse and less because of any particular difficulty of the unit). Isn´t the OP-1 - indeed, isn´t even the Digitakt or the Analog Rytm in terms of instant complex groove making. For straight 4/4 music, in a more formal structure, nothing can beats Elektron today IMHO and I´m studying it side by side with the Digitakt (sold my Analog Rytm too).
But if you are into hip hop or ant to do beats with more groove, in a more open structure (but obviously with more resources than the SP 404/SP 303), I cant think of a better machine - and one that is a perfect partner to Teenage Engineering magic gear, with the OP1 and the Pocker Operators feeding samples to it. And it feels truly stand alone - specially when you think that you can use pen drives, sd cards and even put a hard disk inside it. I´m not planning at all of installing the MPC 2.0 software. And the old school connection capabilites - fuck, there´s a video in Youtube of a guy unboxing it, plugging and usb disk reader and opening old MPC projects from 20 years ago in like 5 minutes! It this real life?
@aoneer
I want one now 
I have had the 500/2000/2500…
Now have a Digitakt.
But as good as the Digitakt is it is definitely a more live techno edm thing, where as I am more lofi beats style and hip hop
as good as the Digitakt is it is definitely a more live techno edm thing
I beg to differ sir! I make hip hop/lo fi primarily along with some maybe “stranger” genres (tempo wise) with the Digitakt. No techno/EDM here!
I agree, I make hiphop with my Digitakt alsoas good as the Digitakt is it is definitely a more live techno edm thingI beg to differ sir! I make hip hop/lo fi primarily along with some maybe “stranger” genres (tempo wise) with the Digitakt. No techno/EDM here!
But the Digitakt is not like an MPC for creating a track, it’s more a live tool for me. No song mode etc.
The sequencing is XOX style Elektron which is cool but definitely more tailored to techno etc
Also wasn’t bothered that it was mono at first, but now its starting to bug me. Not a problem with drum samples but it sucks i cant sample the OP1 with fx as everything is just summed to mono on the DT.
I agree, I make hiphop with my Digitakt alsoas good as the Digitakt is it is definitely a more live techno edm thingI beg to differ sir! I make hip hop/lo fi primarily along with some maybe “stranger” genres (tempo wise) with the Digitakt. No techno/EDM here!
But the Digitakt is not like an MPC for creating a track, it’s more a live tool for me. No song mode etc.The sequencing is XOX style Elektron which is cool but definitely more tailored to techno etcAlso wasn’t bothered that it was mono at first, but now its starting to bug me. Not a problem with drum samples but it sucks i cant sample the OP1 with fx as everything is just summed to mono on the DT.
^ All true 
Inspiring thread.
All I can say is I wanna go home and make beats now…with anything
OP-1 Hip Hop ALL DAYYYYYYY.https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/ringofthenibblefunk/?hl=en
Love it.
OP-1 Hip Hop ALL DAYYYYYYY.https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/ringofthenibblefunk/?hl=en
Oh man! That’s nice…
Here’s a taste of my recent MPC Live tracks.