Just Blaze delivers a funny, geek-tastic and devastating 2,700 word demolition of the the new Akai MPC5000 on his blog: "I don’t know if this is a drive format issue, a drive content issue, or bad OS programming that makes your unit sh*t itself, wipe, get a diaper, and pop 2 Immodium AD’s and then say 'Okay I’ll give it a shot'"
He says that someone from Akai called him offering an endorsement deal. He never got back to them, but bought an MPC5000 on impulse, and is now livid: "I may have generated a few million dollars in my career, and the cash spent does not hurt me financially, but that doesn’t mean I have money to burn at the expense of bad engineering and a tad of false advertising. I feel just as burnt as the dude who busts his back at a 9-5 just to save up enough money to go out and buy a piece of gear to pursue his dream, only to not have it work as it should." Not a good day to be an exec at Akai/Numark/Alesis Inc... (Thanks, Anonymous)
The things he wrote about should be things we see in gear reviews. Sadly some gear reviews are little more than the products specs mixed with tons of insipid icing.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad i have read his review. I do not want an mpc5k anymore... Not that i could afford it in the first place...
Tried one 5 minutes in a store, i quite liked the basics of the interface.
I wonder if the JJ OS guys (jjmanual.wordpress.com) are planning to bring out a version of their OS for the MPC5000? Their MPC1000 OS is pretty awesome.
ReplyDeletesounds about right considering that the MPC is and always has been a massively over-hyped and under-powered peice of gear
ReplyDelete"sounds about right considering that the MPC is and always has been a massively over-hyped and under-powered peice of gear"
ReplyDeleteOnly if you've been making music for around 5 years and don't like hip-hop.
The MPC way of doing things has been picked apart and copied by nearly every gear manufacturer and major software developer.
Pre-2001 it was primarily the only game in town for tight drums and chopping samples. Not over hyped by a long shot.
What I really want is a sp1200 though, I'll admit $1200+ for a second hand piece of gear with only 10 seconds of mono sampling is bit much....
It's great to see a famous player call it like he sees it. Too often, they are diplomatic or cagey about criticizing gear.
ReplyDeleteMagazine reviews can't do it, because the gear makers threaten to pull their advertising. The Internet made honest reviews available. We can sidestep the publishing industry's co-dependence on ad money.
Only if you've been making music for around 5 years and don't like hip-hop.
ReplyDeletesays the guy who has been making music for 6 years.
but you are wrong btw
Pre-2001 it was primarily the only game in town for tight drums and chopping samples. Not over hyped by a long shot.
thats fucking ridiculous, people were chopping samples on the Synclavier
and pre-01, i was doing it the same way i do now - using wavelab and doing it myself.. or just loading it into Recycle
sorry kid, the MPC isnt the holy grail
go have a juice box and listen to your P diddy albums
Actually I've been making beats for about 20 years.
ReplyDeleteFor the record no one really chopped drum breaks on a fucking Synclavier. Triggered some cheesy vocal samples maybe...
You obviously have very little knowledge of hip-hop production.
The majority of classic innovative hiphop albums where made using a sampling drum machine such as an MPC-60/3000 or EMU SP1200.
Maybe names like the Bomb Squad, Dr. Dre, J-Dilla, DJ Shadow, Marley Marl, DJ Premier , Just Blaze, or Q-Tip mean nothing to you.
I personally used a rackmount sampler and a Atari ST for years, but it wasn't till I bought an MPC and also borrowed an SP1200 (shoutout to Count Bass-D) that I really understood how the majority techniques we often take for granted came to be.
The MPC is the holy grail because the combination of sampler/16 pads/sequencer creates a particular workflow. Yes...software has become way more powerful...but that sampling drum machine influence is often vital component. Look the amount of hardware and software developers that have MPC influenced features and products. Virtually none of those existed in the 90's.
The MPC and legacy should be celebrated and not disrespected.
Which is the reason Just Blaze was so disappointed and pissed off.
Akai are scumbags. They have buggy OS's, they lie about release specs and have terrible customer service.
ReplyDeleteI have an MPC1k though.. and I love it with JJOS.. I just love the feel of the pads dammit...
Really hoping the BoomChik blows it out of the water.
Coolout wins
ReplyDeletePlease JJOS dudes, if you work your magic on the 5000 do the Alesis Fusion as well. Please, please, please!
ReplyDeleteIs it just me, or is this review really center formatted gray text on a black background?
ReplyDeleteSay what you like about Just Blaze, his beats are better than his web designs.
ReplyDeleteMPC3000 + Mansell Labs Vailixi OS = Ultimate MPC.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't heard of the Vailix OS, check http://www.mansell-labs.com/
Yes, Vailixi has been written from scratch. Yes it's real, yes it works. Yes it's rock solid.
that just blaze review is the exact opposite of what a future music review would be like, which is nice to see.
ReplyDeletepeople who don't like mpcs are usually people who 'write' music in their computer-based sequencer with the mouse. MPCs are made for playing and listening to the music and not for drawing bars on a grid.
is there some huge difference between making it on a box with buttons and drawing it on a grid? - live yes - you you would sound like crap live hitting the buttons - what's the difference?
ReplyDeletehmm?
's all sequenced 1s and 0's.
Ridiculous argument.
It's what you do with the sequenced output sound that makes the difference and what it is all about in my HO
'aight?
the MPC is overhyped, regardless of how much you or other brand-whores worship it
ReplyDeleteits become more about the idea of the thing rather than the unit itself
people think they can buy an MPC and suddenly their music will be magnificent
its overhyped
Hola amigos, en mi sitio hable sobre el mismo tema y una de las cuestiones que más me ha llamado la antención es la reducida capacidad que tiene para el almacenamientod de los samples (64 Mb de memoria).
ReplyDeleteQue os valla todo bien.