I had 3 mpc's (2000, 3000 and 1000) now using mv8000 owned and used 2 of rolands workstation samplers over a period or a year or 2 ; the fantom X, fantom S and the rack at one time, I am torn between getting a 2500 only for the sequencing accuracy I go back and listen to some tracks done on the mpc, and I mean this is something only from the drummers perspective (making patterns just like a drum break or playing drum rudiments out manually) i can play a hi hat pattern exactly how I want it to sound and comes out that way or i can play a nice kick snare pattern one time about 99% of the time and it plays back exactly as I recorded it whereas on the rolands(all of them) there is a klunkiness or even skipping/drift in some cases you have to try and input the pattern 2 or sometimes 3 or more times or go into the grid itself and correct it manually(almost what you might do using reason or fruity loops sequencer)....that to me is the advantage my akai boxes have over the roland(fantom and mv sequencer) don't get me wrong the mv is dope.....rolands sequencers are not on par with akai that's just my experience, if i were you get the 2500 and then you can either get samples or like Classic said a sound module, even with my keys I would rather sample them to the sampler anyhow unless I really want to play out something lengthy.
