A hardware alternative to the MPC

[vitaminman]

Hey,

I was checking out the specs on this guy:

http://www.yamahasynth.com/pro/rs7000/index.html



I'll make some comparisons:

Akai: ships with 2mb RAM, expandable to 32mb
Yamaha: ships with 4mb RAM, expandable to 64mb

Akai: Max 32 voices polyphony
Yamaha: Max 64 voices polyphony

Akai: no internal synth
Yamaha: 1054 tone and 63 drum kit synth

Akai: no internal effects without expansion card, $329 if bought separately
Yamaha: 4 effects blocks with reverbs, delays, etc.

Akai: single low pass resonant filter
Yamaha: 6 resonant filter types

Akai: limited synthesis functions (only one envelope)
Yamaha: full synthesis functions (one envelope, one lfo with 7shapes, all syncable to clock)

Akai: 16 drum pads, one slider, one jog wheel, two knobs
Yamaha: 29 keyboard pads, 29 knobs

And now the big one: PRICE! At www.zzounds.com:

Akai: $1200
Yamaha: $1150


Purely from a specifications standpoint, the Yamaha RS7000 is the clear winner: it is cheaper, it comes with more RAM and can be upgraded to twice as much as the Akai, more polyphony, more synthesis capabilities, more buttons and knobs, a full blown synth similar to the synth engine of a Triton or Proteus, they both can import WAV and Akai 1000/3000 samples...

Something more to chew on.

Take care,

Nick

 

[Fade]

Man the R7000 is SO slept on. When it first came out, I quickly realized how good it is and that the MPC is not always the best solution.

 

[Barock]

yeah, it's quiet nice.... but the model prior to the RS700 is crap, so I think it got a bad image...

 

[BeatOff]

I dont like the way the set up looks, those buttons for the drums dont compare to the rubber pads of the MPC i guess its all preference. I can do everything i need to do with a fully expanded MPC2000XL along with synths and racks.

 

[Rip]

I swear by this thing...
<img src=http://www.yamahasynth.com/pro/a3000/image/a3000a.jpg>
controlled by the
<img src=http://www.sonicstate.com/synth/images/dr660.jpg>

its an mpc equivalent and more!

 

[vitaminman]

Rip,

You've got an A3000?

I've always secretly desired an A4000 or 5000, but they're no longer in production and I'm not too sure about using a sampler that isn't supported anymore...have you used other samplers like Emu's or Akai's, and how do they compare to your A3000?

Take care,

Nick

 

[Rip]

they are really powerful, but the os takes getting used to.
they save in a proprietary format, but take all other formats..
at the time. (1999) i thoroughly checked out the asr-x and mpc,
and found out for raw sampling and processing power the a3000 (v.2) had more pros..now the 4k just kills em all, but i see no need to switch just yet.

 

[icuhatn99]

Rs7000

I have a rs7000 I love it I've had it for about 5 months and there is still so much I don't know about it.It has 2 rubber pads like mpc that you can use for any drum/instrument I got mine brand new from Guitar center for $1000/cheaper than mpc.You can do jus about anything with this thing.
www.labwirks.com

 

[Copenhagen]

Why do I just drool everytime I see some equipment, almost no matter what it is...

Like all that shit...whatever you buy, you gonna get intimate with it and never switch..and swear that everything else is worse...LOL!

Like the setup Rip showed...didn't know the Dr550 could be used as a controller to another sampler. Nice to learn new stuff.

 

[Formant024]

Hmm, just like to b ruwd and say that you don't buy the mpc for the sampling capabilities it offers( its an S2000 for gods sake ). It's low budget sampler, nuff said. On the price tag I have to say murder industry, they are cheaper but these companies are killing themselves in pricewars. If I was a newbie I'd go for the RS definitly but considering I have more gear I give the MPC the benefit and purpose of sequencer only, my motivation to buy it in the first place, Screw the sampler.

Alternatives -> hmm, I've fancied the Rolands sampler although i've never owned one, but the sounds are good, check the

DJ70(mkII),
W30 ( prodigy experience ),
S750/760 ( with remote + ext monitor = dope ish )

on the sequencing I would go for an Roland Arranger when it comes to midi ( sampler ), for the more vintage stuff the Retro777 or a doepfer 16/3.

In workstation modus it's really hard to find alternatives, they're all different and in my opinion would serve a different purpose. SP1200 is such an example, the one thing I would keep my hands off are budget toys from roland or korg (MCx0x,SPx0x / electribes). On the current gear available and those of recent I'd choose from EMU, their MP7 looks plain simple and with the EMU warrant of good sound supplements you should be set. Furthermore it offers all standards like 128 voices, 512 presets and the best part, you can rack it in 6u. I bet it's cheap too, they're new vintage keys comes out for $599. DAMN!!!

 

[HaZwaiOh]

friends of mine work on an an rs7000. i checked it out to and must admit, that this baby got a lot to offer and as it has already said it is slept on. nice machine and especially the synth options are great and it is very easy to use. jamming is very easy with it too. nice one. i swear as soon as some hot producer relreases tracks and starts putting pictures of the rs7000 in his booklet, people will wake up and want to get one of these. until then glorify the mpc and start threads asking if producer so and so uses mpc60 or 2k, 3k or 4k.
by the way, emu back in the days released a machine that was to compete against akais mpc3000. have seen it once at a jam but don´t have a clue how good/bad it is. looked quite nice though.

 

[ProZak]

@Formant....waar staat NYM voor?

 

[Louie Lou]

Roland CDX-1 was and still is slept on. The only thing I don't like about this joint is that pads are small and its a bitch to find compatible CDRW for it. You can't have to different inputs on at the same time unless its a mic and another XLR type of input. But for the price its pretty good...dis joint does everything except wipe your ass...:booty: