haha funny you'd ask. i just got the native instruments 'maschine' the other week, which is more or less an mpc. it comes with sh*t software that you HAVE to use for it to work (unless you have a midi hook up) but it's good for chopping and flipping sh*t. in my honest opinion man, go for the mpc. it's good expercience, and it makes everything a lot easier. if i was smart i would have researched into it before i got maschine and got some kind of akai instead.