The manual is pretty short and to the point.
Also an external 100MB ZIP drive $100 plus $20 for the cord. I paid $2199.00 Plus 2 16mb simms memory chips($75 for both i think?).
I Wanted to make hip hop, Drum & bass, Ambient, Trip hop. I am glad I used this MPC because I churned out some great ideas with it. The price is reaosnable nowadays, you might find one on craigslist for anywhere between 300-600. Overall it's a solid machine for someone who wants to step up from say the MPC 500 or 1000, but can't afford a 5000 or 4000. IT comes with no preset sounds so I can't comment on that, but the filters and effects it has are sufficient enough to get someone started. The pads are GREAT on this MPC and is one of my favorite pad models for the MPC's. The sound isn't as gritty as say as MPC 60 or 3000, but it still gives it a nice analog sound.
The install is also easy as is with all MPC models. The manual is also very straightforward and explains the machine with clarity. The functions are very easy to access as is with all MPC models. The Limited Edition SE 2 and SE 3 also had only aesthetic changes. There were two versions of the SE 1, one with an improved control surface, compatible with growing number of sound libraries and one with aesthetic changes. There were 4 limited edition 2000XL SE MPCs created between 20. In 20XL-MCD version was released, which features a CompactFlash card reader as standard in place of the floppy drive or Zip drives used in earlier models. Future updates to the platform are expected in the coming months.The MPC2000XL is similar to the MPC2000 but with many newer features including four independent pad-bank keys, number of samples stored doubled to 256 on the XL, altering sounds to a different bit depth or sampling rate could be accomplished by resampling, time stretch was added along with other features. Upgrades for older models start from $100.
The 2.0 upgrade is available now and free for MPC Live and MPC Touch users. MPC 2.0 supports the following controller models: MPC X, MPC Live, MPC Touch, MPC Studio Black, MPC Renaissance, MPC Studio, MPC Element, and the MPK2 keyboard controllers. It will be interesting to see how the competition between the world’s most popular beat-making platforms develops from this point on. It’s still a workable strategy for many users, but we’re sure NI will have something to retaliate against MPC 2.0’s extensive DAW functionality.
The latter is something NI Machine users have been clamouring for a long while, though NI’s vision seems to be slowly incorporating DAW features into its primarily beat-oriented software. It’s one of the biggest updates to the MPC software ever, and it’s bound to turn some heads in the beat production community with its deep, almost fully complete DAW functionality. Version 2.0 sees a user interface facelift (now matching the visuals of the latest MPC controllers), along with a big list of new features that include audio track recording, time-stretching and pitch shifting in real-time, audio and MIDI drag-and-drop support, Ableton Link & Bluetooth 4.0 MIDI support, signal routing (submixing, FX returns, multi-output support), a new mixer layout, 64-bit audio engine, and other technicalities.