MPC 2500 user here.
I recently restored mine after decades of abuse. highly recommend the right side smooth jog wheel/PCB mod, improves the feel of the machine significantly. - no more sticky tack switch syndrome and feels way better. certain parts of these machines aren’t built that well imo. also recently replaced the pad sensor as I had one dead spot and added an SD card mount. I think you can go up to 100 GB memory. thinking about buying a skin next as my case looks water damaged due to years of use. would anyone recommend this?
I would really like to do the battery mod, but seems like the kits are sold out?!?
I have the basic PSU mod on my 1K and I really like it. Much better than the massive kettle cable and can use it with an external battery.
This dude is super sound too, he helped me loads for any power supply related question. Highly recommended
There’s something about the mpc 2000xl pad layout and feel which is just unbeatable to me. Maybe its the fact that I started out on this machine but no other machine has ever felt like the blank canvas instrument the 2000xl is.
The feel of a machine (besides all the features) is so much more important than most people realize.
Update since I made this thread. I tried a bunch of groove boxes and really could not mimic the mpc feel.
That said I discovered bitwig and all the super fast modulation I could do, and got hooked on that piece. It made the 2000xl very limited for my style of production since I love a lot of subtle modulations everywhere.
So I made some tracks in bitwig and used the humanize plug to get a nice feel. It worked but I did not have the same shuffle as the MPC. Close but no cigar.
Ended up buying a torso t-1 and dialing in the grooves on that - finally I got that same magical feel that the old mpcs give. I’m not saying it is a copy of the MPC but I can make drums come alive with this thing easily. And when I record the midi (it clocks nicely with almost no jitter) I see a lot of nuance in the trigger placement and velocity that I dialed in - would be a huge hassle to do ITB.
So my new, modern MPC is a t-1 plugged into my MacBook with samples being routed from folders or recorded through my interface. Bitwig for synths and sample sculpting. In this case serato sample is a huge add on. Combined with the bitwig sampler it’s a beastly setup, imo.
Closest I have come to getting awesome feel with the modulation features that I love to use.
I did indeed get the s2400 a while back and its became my favorite modern sampler after years of mpc2kxl and ARmk2 (which I both still use and hold a special place in my heart). The s2400 does have the sound and feel, and a way easier workflow than the old mpc’s.
There’s still something about the 2kxl’s 16 pads and boxy sound that i live so much that I bring it out even though it takes way more time and effort to use.
The 2000nwas the a sampling machine for me…… end of……why? Because it sound Ed and felt good….tbh-I was before using playin wit en sonic asr x different results
Looks like my MPC 2500 has had a stroke. If anyone has any ideas as to why my mode + corresponding pad modes are jumbled up I’m all ears For example, in order to get to the load page, I have to hit mode button plus pad 1, when it should be mode plus pad 2. I’m guessing this is an issue with the CPU board
If you feel comfortable maybe try opening it up and reseating all the connections (ribbon cables, etc.).
I bought a 2kxl on eBay that arrived broken but once I carefully reseated everything it came back to life! This was like more than 15 years ago and it’s still working today
looks like a buddy of mine will be passing on to me an MPC 2000.
there’s an issue with the screen but otherwise looks to be in good condition, sadly doesn’t come with any storage upgrades and only has 2MB of RAM. I’m thinking SCSI2SD rather than these floppy disk emulators. Does anyone know where I can source SIMM memory in the UK?
Quite excited to check the 2K out, hoping it has a rugged vibe that the modern equivalents don’t give me.
