Certainly, any negative thoughts I expressed on the flimsy feel of the Z8 dont apply here.But the world of sampling has changed dramatically since the MPC2000XL was released.Sherwood Stewart and Zina Garrison won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon, Leon M Lederman, Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger won the Nobel Prize for their demonstration of the doublet structure of leptons through the discovery of the muon neutrino.And Roger Linn (he of drum machine fame) and Akai (they of mass-market sampling fame) launched the MPC60, a sampling drum machine-cum-sequencer concept which immediately inspired fervent devotion among anyone lucky enough to be able to afford one.
This was not so much a product as a way of life, claimed users, a view that was only reinforced by subsequent versions of the product mdash; namely the MPC60 MkII, the MPC3000, the MPC2000 and the MPC2000XL. This is not just a shorthand way of explaining the main areas of the MPC4000s operation mdash; it summarises why the MPC concept adds up to more than a sampling drum machine. So yes, the pads and other real-time controls can be used to trigger and manipulate the onboard samples, but they can also be routed to a MIDI Out and simply used to play an external module or interact with an external sequencer. Similarly, the MPC4000s sequencer is equally at home recording your tappings on the pads or information arriving at one of the two MIDI ports. And when it comes to the opposite direction of travel, the MPC4000s four, separately addressable MIDI outs, give you 64 channels of information with which to control external modules alongside the internal sampler. The sum of the parts, then, is a machine that can act both as a self-contained music-production station and as the hub of a more complex MIDI sequencing setup. Rather as you might use a typical computer-based system, you could say. One: they provide dedicated features that make light work of manipulating drum sounds and loop-based material. Two: they give you the reliable MIDI timing that is usually associated with hardware sequencers. Three: as a standalone piece of hardware, they are much more suited to the rigours of live work. Akai Release Ak.Sys Editor Software Software Has EvenAnd thanks to powerful, affordable laptops, the challenge from software has even been extended to the live domain mdash; an area where traditionally where hardware has always had the advantage. The MPC4000 follows hot on the heels of the Z8 and Z4, Akais latest generation of rackmounted samplers (see SOS July 2002 ), and as on the Z series, the major news on the MPC4000 is its ability to sample at 24-bit resolution, with sample rates of up to 96kHz. Significantly too, the MPC4000 also possesses 99 percent of the Z-series sound-manipulation capabilities, making it much more of an all-round sampler than its forerunners. For example, where previous MPCs only dealt in Drum programs (ie. Other headline features include a 20GB hard drive (pre-filled with over 4GB of sounds) a four-buss stereo effects card as standard, the six Q-link real-time performance controls, and remote-control and file-management features accessed (ahem) via the bundled AKsys PCMac software (see AKsys box). Like the Z series, the MPC4000 can be upgraded with off-the-shelf 168-pin DIMMs, and the from factory memory allocation, as on the Z series, is a rather measly 16MB on UK units. Akai Release Ak.Sys Editor Software Plus An IncreaseOwners of previous MPCs will also see that the sequencer section has also benefited from a course of steroids, with grid-style editing, both of sequences and continuous controller data, plus an increase in the maximum resolution to 960ppqn and the ability to create phrase libraries from sequence data. Weighing in at 10.5kg and measuring 526mm by 453mm (thats 20 inches by 16 in old money), this is not so much a tabletop machine as the whole table The positive side of this transformation from middleweight to Sumo-size is that the MPC4000 feels like it would happily survive life on the open stage.
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