Akai MPC 2000XL vs. Maschine MK1

Hey everyone my name is Phil I’m 17 years old and currently a Junior in Highschool. This year i’ve gotten into the hip hop scene as a whole from producing to recording. I currently have a nice little setup to get me started such as two Yamaha HS50 Studio Monitors, Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Audio Interface, Shure SM7B microphone with cloudlifter, MPK Mini 2, Logic Pro X as my DAW, and I run that on my Macbook air 13”. Now the summer is coming up, and I’m not fully satisfied with my MPK Mini 2 and I feel like having beat machine would ultimately help with my work flow, and having a beat machine would give me a range of new options.

First off I would like to say I don’t have a huge budget to go and drop a G on a beat machine, and I don’t see that ever being realistic for me. So with that being said I had to find something within my budget, and after a week of looking around on various websites I came across two options. These options are the Akai MPC 2000XL in perfect condition, and my other option is the Maschine MK1 also in perfect condition. Both of these machines are 300$, and I can pick them up easily from their sellers. I just need to make a decision between the two.

I know the Akai MPC 2000XL vs. Maschine has been a subject of debate on forums for years now, and I’m just asking you guys for honest advice and help that is not biased to one beat machine or company. I made this post because I figured many of you have been producing for years, and have experience under your belt. Also I’m not in the position to just go and test either of these beat machines so saying go test them is not an option. I’m asking you guys to help me make a decision between beat machines based on my needs and current equipment. Thank you if you made it this far, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!


Sincerely,

Phil

 

Maschine has a better sample engine and effects, MPC has a better sequencer.
MPC if you plan on going live, its a great live machine.
Neither are great for vocal work.

 

You sound like you're 17 going on 40, I think you should give maschine a try, and if it doesn't work out for you you'll be able to trade it towards your mpc. If you find that you really get on good with logic then you will enjoy using maschine and doing your arranging in logic. The mpc will be there for you should you ever decide you need it, it's not going anywhere.

 

if youre going to chop up samples then the MPC studio/Ren 1.8 update is brilliant...beats both the MPC and Maschine in that regards

 

Unless you personally know the owner of the Maschine, just know that if the previous owner does not contact NI support and get the license released you will have paid $300 for a doorstop.. So, if you go for Maschine, ensure that you see a copy of the email from NI stating that the software has been unregistered.

If you own Komplete, or plan to use the laptop at all times, then clearly Maschine would be a better choice. If not then both would serve you well and each has +/-. Maschine is newer, with a better sampler, quicker loading of instruments and a better package of included stuff but my personal vote would be for the MPC.. it has a more robust sequencer and imo being in a standalone box allows you to detach from the computer and focus exclusively on making music

 

but he's only comparing the 2000xl and maschine right, if we are opening up the roster to include other candidates I'd have to say if you're going to spend all day on the computer and you want to really enjoy it I'd choose ableton/pad controller over all of the other choices imho

 

Well i have ableton/pad controller, maschine, and the mpc studio, and the mpc has the best workflow if youre working with samples and want hardware control...its also only $400 and very similar to the products mentioned

 

i concur regarding workflow, but the fact that he just started out and went the logic route for hiphop, makes me think he could lean out just as well as lean in. I'd say if he's not going to make a straight b.line for the mpc workflow that there are so many advantages to running ableton over everything else in the long run for flexibility, easy access to very creative options, and inspirational compositional tools etc... the thing I love about ableton is that it doesn't feel like logic, or even bitwig it's the most organic feeling computer based beat machine and that's even without maschines level of hardware integration. I do think the akai studio feels allot like an instrument but to be fair while their features are very nice on the software side it doesn't feel as warm/fluid as ableton yet. If you're an mpc user like ourselves its probably a diff case, but for a new user finding out what they are getting into I always feel like flexibility is the most important thing, not flexibility as in the studio one sense but flexibility as in the workflow being inviting. I like how ableton can be whatever you need at that moment, if you need something mpc-ish, or if you need something monome-ish, or if you need something just to get gang of loops to play good together, or if you need a feel more akin to the arrangement page it does it all without beating you over the head. which is quit cool to be able to say for a computer program. For instance it's the only program that feels not un-natural to just load up a bunch of samples in session view, midi learn some pads on your mpc and just sequence with the mp if you don't happen to be in the mood for abletons sequencer on that day etc... i don't know it's just got this vibe that's very conducive to a very fluid workflow.

anyways he did mention the budget being a concern, that kind of pushes me towards your opinion more than anything else, had we been talking before he made his purchases I would have suggested that he try to cop a copy of ableton at a good used price before logic and paired that with one of the other choices.

 

This is not a comparison that makes much sense and maybe it won't until you get to try both out in real life and understand how different they really are.

But if you do have to choose between the two, seeing as though you already have a setup based around Logic and Macbook Air, I'd say don't go for the MPC2000XL unless you want to learn the hard way that people who were talking about all the tedious, outdated stuff like SCSI, Zip drives, slow loading times...etc. from having to deal with ancient discontinued devices like hardware MPCs are in fact true.

 

He was asking for unbiased viewpoints.. which i think lets you out of the equation