Akai Delivers the MPC2000XL
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September 3, 1999
Akai Musical Instrument Corporation will formally debut their new MPC2000XL
at the Audio Engineering Society Convention in New York City at the end of September,
but the new unit is available now.
Building upon the ease of use and versatility of Akai's MPC2000, the MPC2000XL
adds a host of new hardware and software features making the world's most convenient
MIDI production center even easier to use. The MPC2000XL combines a sampling drum
machine and a powerful 64-track sequencer to create a unique musical instrument.
Designed to function as the centerpiece of a MIDI studio, the MPC2000XL is the
ultimate composition tool for track creation.
The MPC2000XL features 16-bit stereo sampling and 32-voice polyphony and comes
equipped with 2MB RAM, expandable to 32MB with widely available standard SIMMs.
Each voice features dynamic resonant filters, new time stretch capability, graphic
cut-and-paste sample editing and resampling capabilities. The MPC2000XL also includes
built-in flash ROM for the operating system. In addition, it is easy to download
new operating system files from the Akai website and load them into memory.
The MPC2000XL's 16 velocity and pressure sensitive drum pads can be programmed
to four separate banks providing up to 64 sounds per program at the touch of a
button. Selecting and building drum programs has never been easier with the addition
of four dedicated bank keys on the MPC2000XL's control surface. Enhanced real
time controls also include a Next Sequence Key, Track Mute Key, and a large (248
x 60 dot), hinged LCD for greater visibility. New software tools include timestretch,
resampling, device naming capability, MIDI soft thru, multitrack recording, simultaneous
playback of a second sequence and powerful file management options.
The MPC2000XL is fully compatible with all MPC2000 disks and offers an amazing
array of sample library options. The MPC2000XL can load samples from the vast
Akai S-Series Sound Library as well as the Akai MPC60, MPC60-II, MPC3000 libraries,
E-Mu EIII and Roland S750/S760 CD-ROM libraries. The MPC2000XL also supports 16-bit
44.1kHz uncompressed .WAV files from IBM formatted disks - making it easy to work
with downloaded uncompressed samples from the Internet, or to save a newly created
sample to an IBM formatted disk and email finished creations around the world.
The MPC2000 can record on all 16 MIDI channels simultaneously and users can
freely assign any MIDI input channel to any internal MIDI channel to transfer
sequences from an external sequencer in a single pass. Volume and pan controls
are included and the MPC2000XL supports Akai's advanced SampleVerb™ 4-bus
digital multi-effects processor -- allowing users to work with up to six different
effects simultaneously. Effects can be routed to the stereo outputs or as stereo
pairs to any of the individual outputs of the optional Multi-8D/m.
SampleVerb offers two multi-effects channels that include distortion, EQ, flanging,
chorus, phrasing, stereo pitch shift, ring modulation, auto-panning, rotary speaker
emulator, delay/echo and reverb. It also provides two reverb only channels, for
a total of four reverbs. SampleVerb provides 100 user programmable presets (50
multi-effect and 50 reverb) all of which can be extensively edited and saved.
Offering a wide range of storage options, the MPC2000XL supports a variety of
devices via the high density 50-pin SCSI port on the rear panel. Supported external
devices include hard drives, CD-ROM's and a variety of removable media such as
Zip™ or Jaz™ disks for larger projects.
Akai also offers optional equipment for the MPC2000XL, allowing users to configure
their MPC to specific tasks. An 8-channel parallel analog output and digital S/PDIF
I/O is available as well as a 4-bus multi-effects processor allowing the creation
of complete mixes entirely in the digital domain. An optional SMPTE board is available
for multi-frame-rate timecode reading and generation and users can add their favorite
samples to the optional flash ROM memory card for on-board access.
The MPC2000XL is available now at a suggested retail price of $1649.00.
For more information, visit Akai at www.akai.com/akaipro.
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