Roland appear to be very keen to pick up the MPC crown with their new MV-8000. Those of you familiar with the ubiquitous Akai sampling workstation will see immediate similarities. The MV-8000 will even read Akai MPC discs - to make the changeover as simple as possible should you choose to jump.
The MV-8000 features at a glance: (subject to change)
Self-contained production studio with sampling, sequencing, effects and CD-burning 16 velocity/aftertouch-sensitive pads for programming beats and arranging audio 128MB RAM; expandable to 512MB for 101 minutes of recording (when in mono) Powerful 136-track sequencer (128 MIDI tracks + 8 stereo audio tracks) with easy software-style operation and realtime timestretch Large icon-based LCD and realtime control knobs for easy operation Sampler compatible with a variety of audio formats: Audio CD, .WAV/AIFF, ACID, Akai MPC2000/4000 Series and Roland S-700 Series Independent reverb, chorus/delay and MFX processors, plus mastering tools Onboard CD-RW drive, 3.5 allowing production of finished CD masters. V-LINK function for controlling Edirol video equipment (sold separately) Stereo Mic/Line and Phono inputs, plus stereo analog and digital Master outputs Optional MV8-OP1 adds 6 analog outputs, a digital input and R-BUS port for 8 channels of simultaneous digital output and 2 channels of digital audio input VGA monitor support and mouse operation planned for 2004
For more info:
www.roland.co.jp