I picked up my first MPC (the 2000) around 1999. Since then I've had the 2000XL twice, an MPC60 and I current have the MPC2500. I'm one of those guys that always had it on full velocity. Whenever I wanted a kick or different sound at a different velocity, I would just assign it to a different pad and add adjust the volume and maybe add some additional filtering to it.

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.