Crisp and clean, The 4000 also ships with a ton of preloaded sounds that can be used off the bat to get the creative juices flowing. At 24bit and 96kHz it's pristine. For all of the Lo-Fi heads it can also do an amazing job of degrading sound, much like the older MPC's 60 and 3000 and even the Emu-SP-1200 machines of the old days. In the end what you put in is what you get out.

The legendary MPC timing swing unrivaled. The Q-Link feature just proves how great sample control and manipulation can be acheived with this MPC. The option to expand the units memory is a great addition. Realtime control of filtering and a total of 192 filters and 26 filter types makes this a standout product. The effects are also pretty good too!

There is a bit of a learning curve compared to the other MPC's but if you invest some time you will be able to really do things to sound that in the past could not be thought possible. What's great is that everything is laid out right in front of you on the front panel. The sequencer is brilliant.

It's the Panzer Tank of sampling workstations. High quality great feeling pads. large LCD display with variable contrast adjustment. Solid metal front panel with a very sleek an colorful body, and the Q-Link knobs make it stand out amaong the rest.

Essential

Akai has recently undergone new acquisition, so all tech support questions are being handled by Alesis/Numark which is a lot better than what it was two to three years ago.

Better yet I own it!

Musician

Various

this baby rocks, most buy it and not familar with it's capabilties and then re-treat to whatever they were using prior and try to sell it. But if you are familar with mpc'c from prior,this one is far more advanced and the future of tommorrows music. this is the best sampler/drum machine and music production tool by far out there.

very easy, my grand ma can do it.

very good qualilty

well worth investment

Sean at akaipro.com is the best ,answered all my questions through e-mail quickly.

30 years

all ,rock jazz hip-hop,blues.gospel.....i'm a producer

this machine sounds great, what you put in, is what you get out, if you want it to sound like a mpc2k & 3k, use those same sounds in it, you can also change the sampling rate from 24 to 16bit and play with the filters to dirty sounds up if you wish, or leave it clean at 24 for instrument samples. This machine still hit hard like all other mpcs I use it for hiphop & R&B all the time don't be fooled by people who don't know how to use it or who haven't invested in quality sounds.

The features on this thing is far superior to any other drum machine or sampler the filters are outstanding, I took a sample off a record and use the filters to take out the drums and it just left the key and strings on the sample wow!!!. There is also a feature where you can sample while the sequence is playing, you can use it like an audio track, sample yourself playing a couple bars of guitar and loop it in the sequence.many many more features also

I bought mine used and I can honestly say I had no problems with it.It took me a while to get one because I listen to all the horror stories, but I haven't had any problem

good investment

didn't reeally use it enough to rate it

hiphop R&B

First let me tell the people who gave the 4G low marks have lost(I'm only guessing) their minds. Both machines (Roland MV 8800) are strong and weak in some areas. Then again it all depends on what the user wants. To give any of these machines low marks is insane. I could go into details but I won't except too say this. If you want an all in one do all machine the Roland. If you don't mind hooking up a computer and doing your editing there then it's the Akai. I need the adats out and don't feel like spending another $300 for it. Like I said the list could go on but I'll let you guys and girls battle it out. Like I said get the one that does it for you. Some guys like blondes some brunettes some like them tall some short.... you get the idea.

Yes I wish it had the chop feature on board and you could burn a master on it.

Put it in get it done. Edit the sound like you want. (Except the chop)

Never, did I say never? Yes I did. Never had a problem

Price could be better.

Pretty cool bunch. Just keeping it real

It has a high tech, I'll kick your... take no prisoner look to it. I am working on getting it customize.

I'm a AM RE SW PROD.

From Bach to Rock

It's super crisp, and sounds beautiful. If you want that grittier type of sound, you can always get a filter. I use a boss sp303 with this machine and it sounds beautiful.

A few of the advertised features are missing, but I really don't know how much it would improve my music making abilities. Basically, the streaming from HD feature is missing and I dont really need it.

My mpc is so far in good condition, however I had purchased it used and the seller didn't package it well so the Main Volume pot broke off during shipping. Unless you're shipping it, or you drop it, you dont have to worry.

If there was one more price drop, the volume in sales would be increased for sure. I purchased one for relatively cheap and am happy with my item.

The support from the company is trying to reestablish itself as Numark just purchased Akai. The real support however comes from fellow MPC users and have become a real gem to me. The OS' are also still being updated and 1.70 seems great to me.

It's mad sexy to me. It has this quality about it that makes me want to get working.

Hobbyist

Hip-Hop

Clean Akai sound. It sounds like whatever you put in it, a faithful reproduction.

* because some advertised features were never implemented. Still a very Useable machine

pretty easy to fire up, and start using even without a manual.

Very well constructed product. No like the newer plastic Numark MPC's

Worth the cost

never had to deal with akai. However Numark customer service is top notch.

Best beat machine ever made

dj / producer for 20 years

hip hop

EXCELLENT (DEPENDS ON THE USER AND WHAT U FEED IT)

GREAT (MISSING A FEW OPTIONS)

A BEAST (TOO HEAVY THOW)

ITS WORTH UR MONEY COS THE MUSIC ULL MAKE WITH IT IS PRICELESS

OS STILL IN BETA VERSIONS BUT VERSION 1.51 IS STABLE

IT LOOKS LIKE ITS A TOY FROM THE FUTURE

HIP HOP

Its kool but the MV8000 Is way better

Its got some tricks but so do the MV8000 and his big brotha' MV8800

If you got knowledge of any MPC it the same thing with a twist on it

Unlike the MV8000 / with the MPC4G what you put in you get out

To me personnally the Mv8000 is more bang for the buck checkit for yourself Www.myspace.com/daillsetkomposa 2 songs done with the MPC4000 and 2 songs done with MV8000 can you tell, I can!

Support team is kool walk ya' rite threw it

The MV8000 Is the Foundation of all I do Check out all those of us who speak on it ,I still don't see any one speaking on the MPC4000 (4G for short) and it came out before the MV8000

31 years into it for life

Unlimited

It has a harsh sound that is good for percussion but not much else.

Some of the advertised features are STILL un-available.

Very heavy & not really gig-able. Buggy OS.

The price of this unit has dropped dramatically due to Akais failure to deliver promised features.

Non existent

diverse

SInce everyone wants to compare this with the MV, I will say this one wins hands down. I've had 4 MV's. The MV is excellent at making your drums and bass sound gritty. However, if your after an overall clean sound, the MV degrades that sound. My advice would be to sample high before coming into the MV. The MPC sounds nice and the drum timing knocks.

Alot of features. However, I believe the MV craps on the MPC in terms of features. the only downside with the MV is that it has waaay too many features for the average person to use. Most of them can be attained using software.

Not as easy as the MV IMO. Very steep learning curve and the ppl at Mpcforums are no where near as nice as the folks on MVnation.

I never had problems. but check out the mpcforums site and see all the bugs and crashes ppl have experienced. Its scary.

The values of the MPC's are always up there. The Mv is reigning champ but MPC's held the title for about 20 years. Roland still has alot to prove...

I've yet to have to deal with them.

you gotta love the MPC. Hate it or love it, it is what it is...

Sounds good. But remember that when you use 24/96, polyphony is limited to 32 notes... crap

too old school for me; lacks audio phrases, real time time-stretch, vga..you know what I mean.

We are in 2008 now. Akai is part of the past.

over rated, over priced, over hyped... MV is the new standard for today serious producer. ;)

official support doesn't exist. And parallel sellers make good money selling parts. a shame

Active Musician

DNB

Incredible...the only thing that MPC wins MV...

That's truth...MV has much much more....Like auto zero-crossing,automation record,autoslice,faders for mastering...

It isn't so hard as it seems...

NICE..realy NICE

To expensive for it's features...Obviously you pay so the 8 outputs card...

I can say: It's attractive..but MV is more..with it's VGA output and faders...

Music Engineer,Recording Engineer

Hiphop

MPC 4000's 24 Bit 96 Khz Vs Roland 16 Bit 44.1...Akai wins.

MPC Swing cannot be beat. 960 PPQN vs Rolands crappy 480.

MPC is fun, MV is a nightmare.

MPC 4000 is built like a tank, please ignore the two Roland terds below.

The best drum machine money can buy.............PERIOD.

Never use it.

Looks 10 times better than the MV.

it is what it is

if you're familiar with Mpc's, then it's no problem

knobs still break easily

i've been a huge mpc fan until i used the Roland Mv8800. the 8800 is a "beast". It runs circles around any Mpc, plus the Mv8800 is the better bang for your buck!!! Before you buy a Mpc 4000, go compare it against a Mv8800.........that's all that needs to be said, I sold my mpc 4g, the next day

don't bother

sold the thing as soon as I got the Mv8800 by Roland

active musician

hip hop

Fantastic sound for the cash. i love the sound of my snares on this thing. they come out crisp so i dont need to eq them.

feature galore!!! Its a complete package with all the tools one could ask for.

the build quality is solid and rugged. the unit is a touch of class.

its value for returns. if you know who u are and u can put some serious use into this beast, then its value all the way. otherwise its a premium.

what support.

neat looking machine. the blue looks cool, and the funky yellow mpc 4000 logo looks cool too.

Nice sound. very crisp and neutral. the sound of this beast is un coloured. what you put in is what you get out. The filters are nice, but not analog, but are nice creative tools for basic sound shaping.

Its a Workhorse. You can pretty much do anything on this, from draft work to extremely tight productions. The 960 ppqn is the business.

Pure Quality. The MPC 4000 is built like a tank, and weighs like one too.

Well, if you have patience with hardware, and you have the slightest talent, than this machine is great for the money. It is a premium for just beats though.

Never needed it.

Its now blue, so looks even better to my eyes. the 80 gb hd is cool to. with 272mb ram, you get around half an hour of sampling time, which is sweet. The unit works like a dream with OS 1.71.

The drums are just inspirational. there are great sounding strings to go along with that, but some of the brass sounds could use a little work. The piano sound so beautiful!!

The features are great. I can play a senquence while sampling my guitar so i can get a more accurate recording. Most Samplers limits samples to only 10 seconds, but you can change the sampling time to what you want it to be.

There are so many tricks that can be used in a sequence let alone a song. It is very reliable, I never have to worry about losing data. Of course this product is not appropriate for the road. It was made for a studio. Traveling with it, for the most part, should not even be an issue. Mixing your work is so easy. The finish product will make you very proud.

This product is worth every cent.

I never had to deal with the company.

Once I saw this product, I feel in love with it. It looks so much better than the other products on the market. The best thing about it's beauty is that it has power that comes along with it. This product can shape your music exactly the way you want it.

Producer, Active Musician

Hip-Hop and R&B