For me, I found the 2000XL gave me the best workflow. It took a while to adjust to the 2500's way of doing things. Everything is hidden behind a menu, but it's easier to move stuff to and from the computer.
I have a Korg PadKontrol (now, disappointingly, discontinued) which has really nice velocity response and even lets you set different response curves to each pad. Not sure why they pulled them when there are very few alternatives.
If you want to make bangers the priority is to get your groove down as fast as possible and add nuance at the mix stage. If you want to craft stuff with velocity sensitivity, layering etc, you're now more into composing than recording and the speed of your workflow is gonna be significantly slower, more half-written abandoned tracks etc.
I am in the latter class btw, because that's the kind of tweaking I enjoy. But the best way to finish tracks is to have a timer running and just bang shit out without thinking too much, pure instinct.
This ^^
Especially in the jamming or "feeling" phase, it's about having your tools (in this case, a few pre-made sounds, or kits) available as quickly as you need them, so you can get into the flow of the track and not lose it. It's also why when I make beats or tracks, I oftentimes find myself composing the peak of the track almost by default and work backwards from there.
Also, USE TEMPLATES!!! Templates are considered a form of cheating by some, but I don't ascribe to that, and I love using templates because it can help me progress so much faster in each phase of production. My default Ableton setup for 4/4 house music literally has every section of the track already set, the default sounds (drums, samples, synths) I need to use to get a groove going, levels pre-adjusted, and everything is color-coded for ease of viewing....and I just go from there.
I saw a video put out by Ableton maybe 2 or 3 years ago that had some artist saying "just get something down in the DAW, and don't worry about what that something actually is - because you'll replace everything later when you're not in the ideation phase of production". The other thing is that if you mix the ideation and production phases, you'll get bored of your track very quickly because you aren't taking breaks, just hearing over and over what you've made so far. It's happened to me literally hundreds of times. I have probably 1k+ ideas (could be a track that's 90% done, or a few loops put together, or just a MIDI sequence that i was goofing around with) sitting on a variety of old computers and hard drives. None will ever be finished, partially due to my inability to set a goal, accomplish it, and close the DAW.
Some of the best production content I've seen has been "Against The Clock" videos where the artist (or artists) have 10 minutes to make something. They just flow for a bit, and then revisit it later if need be.
I find its much easier to just edit velocity manually after the fact.
My feeling is that the MPC60 really DOES feel better, but mostly because of its velocity sensitivity. You can really easily get a ton of dynamics without much effort at all. Much much more easily than with a 1000, or a midi keyboard, or any number of pads devices that I've tried. and yeah that for me includes machines which allow for variable velocity curves.
The thing that blew me away was that he told me most of the guys he's selling MPCs use them on FULL VELOCITY at all times. that making sure the pad sensitivity was in perfect condition was not a priority for them. I was shocked... but he was equally shocked I felt it was the velocity which makes the difference lol. Keep in mind these are pretty hardcore old school Chicago producers buying the best of the best vintage machines.
Im not trying to make a point. Just an anecdote. You can check out Kanamit and the work I got done here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CeXOIE0LuvX/