Akai Mpc Vs Fantom G

[superchris]

Its kind of upsetting to hear people trying to convince others whether to buy an mpc or fantom?!?!?!?!?!PEOPLE one cannot replace the OTHER! They are two completely different things! MPC is a sampler/drum machine, and a fantom is a sound module/"workstation". If your just some guy messin around at home or doing live gigs then yeah, a fantom is your one stop shop. But i will be damned if im gonna let u guys tell people that are trying to be producers that they dont need other equipment. You CANNOT mix and master in the fantom! PERIOD! IT must be tracked out phrase by phrase into a computer and then mixed down THEN sent to a mastering studio before its ALLOWED to be on an album. WHy do u think there is pro tools and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of plug ins to add efx.....

[Atlas5]

"You can't Hip Hop on the Fantom G", that just silly. That's like saying "You can't do Country on the MPC".

The real question is, Would you want to?

[superchris]

I do hip hop melodies on the fantom g, just not drums....Its all about workflow and results... Mpc allows you to do real time basic notes to triplets all while recording, fantom doesnt allow you to do that. Its only applicable to drums but thats all i was talking about.

[Atlas5]

Superchris, I am now in full agreement with you.

"It's all about workflow and results" excellent statement, always true.

MPC "workflow" does produce excellent "results" when creating drum patterns.

I'd say the pads on the FG can produce good results, but being small and me having fat fingers and sloppy technique. The MPC's or MV's pad are larger and more forgiving of my limitations. When I play the FG pads I missed hits (low velocity) and extra hits, that I then have to edit to correct, but there again this my lack of ability not the FG's.

"Mpc allows you to do real time basic notes to triplets all while recording", The Fantom can record triplets, it can even quantize to triplets in Realtime Recording (see page 222). I dont think I understand what your getting at.

or yes.........."Changing the input Quantize setting during recording", this feature was added during version 1.20 upgrade. see page 8 of "Fantom G Version 1.20 Supplementary Manual".

[dbijoux]

Thanks for the reality checks on this. Having never used an MPC, but having seen more than enough hip hop and techno beats banged out on them, I've been thinking I need to get my hands on one. It doesn't even seem to me like the workflow would be better, given the limited screen, etc. but I'm pretty sure I'm wrong thinking about it like that.

Anyways, it's good to hear a voice of reason with some real school experience.

[superchris]

Yeah, the two combined can create a powerful music making platform. Once someone is comfortable with the fantom then they should expand it. Its like Voltron almost lol. The fantom is powerful by itself but it needs a heart, and that heart is an mpc....For some reason on the mpc, even when the swing is set to "0", it still has this super tight sequencing that you just dont find on workstations. Ive done lots of tests with the same WAV sounds. For example, a (32) drum roll on the mpc , then the same on the fantom. To me the fantom roll sounds to loose(latency?) and why i have no idea...I suppose thats why everyone uses the mpc for sampling and drums. Keep in mind this is only if u want Quantized feel. Now, on the flip side, a producer named Wonder, i know for a fact he uses Reason and Abelton live with no mpc and somehow achieves the same punchy drums. But, hes super duper comp savy and has mpc groove templates and just knows how to freak it like that but for the average person its too complicated. Really what it comes down to is what you are comfortable with and what type of sound u are trying to put out. For myself the best combo is Fantom G, Motif rack, Mpc 1000, Apogee duet, Macbook pro running logic or protools. Make a song , then record each phrase seperately into macbook throuh the apogee. Then when i rapper wants to buy the song u have everything tracked out and ready to collect $

[Atlas5]

not tobe to pro Roland but, the MV8800's are around $1000 now. They are to find new except via mailorder. I dont know if they would give you that tight feel SuperChris is talking about.

[superchris]

mpc 1000 is $1000. The Mv is an imitation MPC so why not go with the original? Ive used the MV and its inferior in many ways....

[Beantown]

Haven't really gotten into the MV8800 that extensively. But from what I hear, that MPC "Swing" can also be accomplished on the MV. On top of that, I think the MV8800 recognizes sample libraries for the MPC as well. And these are some of the best sounds for Hip-Hop music. Of course there is a bit of a learning curve with the MV. But I'm sure we could adapt. And for $1000... you can't beat that with a broom stick.

[superchris]

Im just waitin on the maker of the original MPC to put out his" MPC KILLER"

Roger Linn that is.......I will trade my mpc in the day it comes out...not sure what hes gonna call it cuz he keeps changing the name....Linndrum2?

[dbijoux]

There are a few MV8800's on ebay right now for half that but still under the reserve. Seems you're about right on the money. An MPC 1000 is a little less.

So it could be a comparison between the MPC, MV, and another thread recently brought up Maschine.

Aside from the pads, I wonder is there a lot of crossover btwn the MV and Fantom? They are both positioned as standalone production stations. You mentioned earlier the G is a "complete music package," it seems the MV is the same in the sampler world.

Looking at it more, I think a lot about the workflow has to include your whole studio approach. Maschine seems tightly integrated to the DAW, the MPC sits somewhere in the middle, and the MV or Fantom fill out the indie sector by themselves. An MPC gives you a few more options for integrating in your kit - namely the outputs and 2xMIDI inputs. No balanced outputs on the MPC tho, while the MV has a single pair.

On another note, I'm not so concerned about sequencing/quantizing as I am being able to work and integrate samples quickly, on the fly even. However, I've seen a lot about groove templates/swing in the MPCs. That Linn magic, innit?

[fantomDD]

Wow, all of this has been very informative! It seems to be that the MPC is a given for any hip hop producer.. Im going to look into picking one up.. So superchris you recommend the mpc1000 above the newer models?? I heard some mixed reviews about the newer version what do you think?

[Atlas5]

You will most likely find more info here

www.mpc-forums.com

Remember this is "ROLAND" site and we rolanders look at the other mfg's as add on to Roland Gear only, not full instruments in thier own right

[Beantown]

Granted, the MPC can be considered an industry standard for Hip-Hop production. But at the same token, its not absolutely necessary to make good Hip-Hop music. Just keep that in mind.

Its not the machine, but the man behind the machine that makes that magic.

Here's a track I did on the Fantom-S using only sounds from Planet-V. Let me know what you think.
http://forums.rolandclan.com/?action=show_thread&thread...