Here is a picture of my latest beat making setup; it is relatively minimal. It is inspired by Madlib's miniscule setup when he was out in Brazil. The signal chain, as shown in the picture, is as follows- Numark PT-01 (portable turntable)>Gemeni Executioner Ten (DJ Mixer)
>BOSS SP-303 (Sampler)>MacBook Air (Logic Pro X for mixing and mastering; Audacity for occasionally altering sample tempo and/or pitch). Other components key to my setup are my pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50x (Professional Studio Monitor Headphones) and my Mackie MR MK3 (Powered Studio Monitor) which I recently replaced with a pair of IK Multimedia iLoud (Micro Monitors).
There isn't a perfect machine
Each piece of equipment I possess has an arguably "better" counterpart and it is always tempting to go out and purchase the latest gear that I convince myself I need due its new groundbreaking features or simply because of the visual appeal. I am also guilty of wanting to cop a piece of equipment due its popularity amongst my peers. The fact of the matter is technology is improving at an exponential rate, so there will always be something better technically speaking, but on the contrary there is also the mentality of "if it aint broke, don't fix it" which is the reason being for so many legendary producers, in the age of restless technological advancement, that still operate dinosaurs such as the Emu Sp-1200, Akai MPC-3000, and Ensoniq ASR-10 --all which are older than myself might I add.
A lot of machines similar to the aforementioned are favorable due to a unique texture, feel or sound they have. My first sampler was the MPC 2000XL and there are legends about the punch it adds to drums and its peculiar swing. I am unable to attest for the swing, but in regards to the punch- when I was pulling sounds from floppy disk I still own, there was a certain grittiness to the audio and the drums did have bit of umph to them. Every so often I long to own another MPC 2000XL; I love the fact that it has a sequencer, sample stretching, 16 levels, muting and many other features, albeit I wouldn't give up my 303 for the world. It is much faster than the XL, has way more sample time, and the effects are incredible. You could compare and contrast the two devices and each one would contain attributes that out perform the other -- every device has its limitations.
"Work with what you got"
Despite the limitations, many have found workarounds and little tricks that allow the operator to get the most out of their machines. For example, I found out how to make drum kit (kick, snare, hi-hat) out of a single kick drum on my SP-303 by using the Compressor, Canceller, and Equalizer effects. It is moments like those which result from spending hours upon hours alone with a device that gives it a special place in your heart. Limitation breeds creativity, it's the "use what you have mindset" which is one of foundational elements of Hip-Hop.
It's the Carpenter, Not the Tools
Nothing speaks more for the fact that a huge-expensive setup means nothing when you realize how many classic songs were made on a device with 10 seconds of sample time. A drum machine, or any instrument for that matter, is like a pencil; you could give 10 different artist the same #2 and each drawing would reflect their own personality, imagination, perception etc. Dibia$e serving point in case by flexing his ability to make beats on merely the tiny calculator-resembling Teenage Engineering PO-33, the caption says it all. Remember, "Drum machines have no soul" as you can see plastered on the side of Kev Brown's MPC 2000 while he makes a beat at Fat Beats LA.
