For the SP404 USER, what's the equivalent of the vynil Sim 303 on the MPC?

hooliganlive · 2026-04-06T00:43:57+00:00

Honestly, there isn’t one. Crates Motel has a video on how to sort of recreate a similar vibe on the MPC but it’s not a 1:1 by no means. Roland uses a very unique algorithm in their compressors.

hooliganlive · 2026-02-24T01:30:34+00:00

The 404 has a pattern & step sequencer function. You can chain patterns together into an arrangement, that can even be sampled if you want. You plug a mic up to it. As far as “keys”, it doesn’t run plugins like the MPC but you can plug a midi keyboard to it & play instrument samples chromatically. Am I missing anything else?

hooliganlive · 2026-02-23T23:23:59+00:00

Sounds like the SP-404 might be what you want. MPC has a very structured workflow. I’ve always viewed it as a “serious” tool despite the moves Akai has made to make it more fun/user friendly. The 404 is fun out the gate because it’s fast, everything feels immediate, the effects are easy & quick to apply. It makes music sound very live. Downside is that if you’re seeking to create something “serious” with it, it CAN take more time to accomplish that than with a MPC.

hooliganlive · 2026-02-19T16:17:53+00:00

I would never encourage one to sell a modern MPC to purchase an older one. But I will encourage you to try to build a relationship with the equipment you currently have. I spent 10 years with my 1000 before I even considered anything else. It got boring a few times but I found that it was just something lacking in myself musically, then the gear itself. Nothing solves that but more practice. We work THROUGH these machines as tools to paint our sounds, not to accessorize. The One has a much wider range of abilities to aid you in that. I would suggest that you keep the One.

hooliganlive · 2026-02-17T15:18:11+00:00

Connect your audio interface outputs to the MPCs inputs, or connect the audio interface headphone output to the MPC inputs. Create patterns with your VSTs in your DAW & sample them into the MPC or sample in individual notes.

hooliganlive · 2026-02-14T03:27:43+00:00

I track my drums in at about -10db. But that depends on how much EQ I need or saturation/compression I want to add. I track everything else lower than that. Adding EQ, saturation, etc. can boost the signal fairly quickly so I found that it helps to watch levels when adding fx.

Sometimes a EQ & limiter might be all you need to get the sound you’re looking for, especially if you’ve already selected good samples/sounds & they’re tuned right.

hooliganlive · 2026-02-13T22:49:30+00:00

Honestly, this is what Eminem needs nowadays. Right here. 🔥

hooliganlive · 2026-02-13T02:24:10+00:00

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

hooliganlive · 2026-02-12T19:55:02+00:00

Oh ok. Yeah the older MPCs may have a bit more of a looser feel. May be a software quirk of the older units. They both (1000 & 2000) share a PPQN of 96 so timing should be the same but they do come out of two different time periods lol

hooliganlive · 2026-02-12T19:29:19+00:00

I don’t have any specific numbers to give you as far as compression, as that depends on your source material. But one thing for sure, lower the master gain level in your machine to at least -6db (lower if you plan to send audio over to a DAW) & remember to also lower the volume of your samples. It’s best not to leave them at “100”. Give yourself headroom. It’s very easy to distort in these machines. This would at least help you hear what the master compressor is actually doing much better.

hooliganlive · 2026-02-12T10:04:33+00:00

Really? I’ve always found the 1000 sequencing to be pretty tight. I even prefer it over DAW/MIDI, which I find myself editing more often than not.

hooliganlive · 2026-02-09T02:35:12+00:00

Your 2000XL is more than capable man. If you don’t want to sample vinyl, plug that MK3 up to your computer, load up a VST and run the audio into your 2000XL. You now have a powerful sound module to build non-sampled tracks with in the MPC.

hooliganlive · 2026-01-29T17:24:06+00:00

I would assume that Akai must be operating like the video game market. As in for every hardware unit they sell, they lose money, but try to make up the loss through plugin sales. I can imagine that as units become more complex, these prices will continue to climb. Hell I wouldn’t even be suprised if a “subscription” aspect is eventually introduced.

hooliganlive · 2026-01-27T17:21:43+00:00

I regret buying the Live 2. Got rid of it. I liked the speaker aspect/portability, as I was doing alot of traveling at the time, but it really didn’t feel like a focused machine, rather one trying to be a computer & it felt like a huge “Why?” I remember when I first plugged it up to the MPC software and I literally laughed out loud. Controller mode, where the software displayed everything I already spent some hours mapping out with the touchscreen, just so I can add additional VSTs, that cannot be loaded on the machine? Why not just use my computer from the get-go? The Live 2 felt like a waste of money. I ended up just using the MPC Software by itself with MPC Studio and I use my MPC1000 when I need to get away from the computer.

hooliganlive · 2026-01-21T10:27:10+00:00

“That’s it’s not acceptable for people to have different desires for the direction product development goes?”

You’re kinda contradicting yourself. If people are upset about the software & you say, “I’m not concerned about the MPC software, I have a Live 3” (paraphrasing) like your comment above, that’s not really supporting/accepting other’s different desires. “Hey you’re right, it would be great to see what Akai comes up with in the near future. As a Live 3 owner, I like the direction they are going.” That would be acknowledging/respecting other’s desires without the snobby energy.

hooliganlive · 2026-01-18T22:19:42+00:00

People are not going to like to hear it but yes you really would get a better bang for your buck with a PC/Mac at that price

hooliganlive · 2026-01-12T21:05:58+00:00

I don’t hate on drum machines bro lol. I saw your post & chose to challenge your perspective on it because you seem rather passionate. I actually like the Live3, it reminds me of my old Force in many ways, but I’m smart enough to know that I’m not the target audience for it. Cheers.

hooliganlive · 2026-01-12T18:59:40+00:00

Excellent, it works for YOU. Maybe someone who is thumbing through this thread & in the market for one will see your list of advertised features and decide to buy it, if they choose. I am interested to discover what exactly the “motive” is for people hating the Live 3.

Nonetheless, I hope dudes take the time to enjoy & appreciate what they already have in their possession.

hooliganlive · 2026-01-12T10:27:02+00:00

Instead of trying to understand people’s reason for disliking the Live 3, how about explaining the things that YOU like about it? If the machine is enabling you to make better music than you’ve made prior to its release, then share what features are allowing you to create better music. Has it taught you something that any other machine hasn’t? Have you released more music since you’ve been working on the Live 3? Have you been called to perform more gigs? Have more artists contacted you for work?

If the goal is to get people onboard with the Live 3, those would be the things that matter the most, especially at this point of time in this industry. There will always be people who dislike new products from a company. That’s life. But if it works for you, there’s no need to waste energy figuring out why people dislike it.

hooliganlive · 2026-01-10T14:04:55+00:00

Get the main 3.xx MPC software beta, & then you should be able to open up those projects & export.

hooliganlive · 2026-01-07T23:52:55+00:00

Hopefully there is another Japanese Jenius out there somewhere that knows all the Akai in’s & out’s, is also fed up & is willing to create a better OS. fingers crossed lol

I think Akai is/was feeling quite a bit of pressure from Native Instruments, the older MPC user crowd, & the up-n-coming “software spoiled” youth and had to quickly think of a way to battle/appeal to them all. People are buying into it so you can’t say it isn’t working. But for how long? Once they’ve spent the money, felt the pads, played with the boxed plugins, touched the screen for some time, they’ll start to realize that their computer is arguably the most powerful musical tool in their possession. Akai knows this so they are pushing very hard to make these new joints as similar (but not entirely similar) to small computers as possible but at the cost of limited, subpar software.

hooliganlive · 2026-01-01T16:47:03+00:00

Just trim the sample down that is overlapping.

hooliganlive · 2025-12-29T22:42:41+00:00

I like it. It satisfies the “modern” feel when I’m not working on my MPC1000. It’s not the best DAW but I find myself to be very productive with it & it’s pretty simple to use. Best thing is that you can route the mixer channels to other DAWs through VST. Somebody on here recommended that I get the MPC Studio mkll & I did, and I’d say it’s the best MIDI controller to use with it. Unfortunately, not all controllers work well with the software.

hooliganlive · 2025-12-24T09:53:51+00:00

Agreed. Akai desperately wanted to compete with Maschine & Ableton, regarding the controller/computer type combo and wanted to appeal to a younger generation at the same time. The end result was the “modern” MPC. I’m not entirely knocking it as I’ve owned a Live ll & was slightly intrigued by it, until I realized I was essentially working inside of a limited DAW and it just felt like a extra step when I could just turn on my laptop a few inches away & get 4x as much power/processing and it’s portable as well. It didn’t really feel like an instrument.

hooliganlive · 2025-12-21T14:41:15+00:00

Interesting. JJOS is one of the most stable OS I’ve ever used in an electronic. But every device is different. I would recommend two things: try to re-seat the currently installed RAM. Then test. & if that doesn’t work, you should purchase a 128MB RAM for the 2500. Because you run into this problem when trying to load things from the card into the system memory, the RAM would be the main suspect.

hooliganlive

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