well... my answer might not sound very professional, but i guess it's (to start with) a matter of taste.
i am very aware that what i am about to say will not be objective and it's my own personal approach.
It is not what i can do with my mpc and i can't do on ableton live that makes me like the mpc so much. It's the other way round. I like to use the Mpc because there's so many things that i can't do with it.
I like to be limited sometimes... endless possibilities like in most top of the list DAWs many times worked against me.
But then i like to work on both because at some point i do like and need the endless possiblities of my DAW, in this case ableton. I guess it's just about knowing according to your own working rhythm when to use one and not the other.
1 When i start a beat i like to do it to a metronome and without a big graphic device in front of me (computer lcd screen). This way all i see is the sounds i'm using and i don't get so evidently influenced by the imperfections of a quantize grill for example. This is a reason why i actually liked the fact that the screen on the mpc 5000 ain't as important as it is on the roland mv8000. which to many might be an advantage: this i respect.
2 Also the machine's own limits (RAM, Many steps to get to anything done, etc...) force me to prefilter my samples, programs and/or effects so when i work i have a limited amount of options to go through.
I guess i found limits to be a very useful source of inspiration compared to endless possibilities. of course as long as you know that the limits are your own decition and that you anhance them whenever you want.
3 i like to sample and time stretch on live.
4 i like to organize all the files i'm gonna use on the computer and test them on Live before i load them in my MPC
ETC.....;
So in general all my machines including hardware and computers are all linked. sometimes my computer does step a, the hardware step b and then
go back to the computer on step C
Actually i like to do pretty much everything technical on live.
I like to think of my machine as the machine used by many the people i admire the most same as with my software. I've found both pretty good on what they offer. I like to think of the fact of using them both as to not missing either the old school or the new school of music production.
SORRY IF THIS WAS TOO LONG AN ANSWER
