J Dilla

In this tribute to J-Dilla on Stones Throw's official site, Karriem Riggins says, "They brought him a little Boss [SP] 303 sampler and little 45 record player.....That's what brought him through to make a lot of music that we hear on Donuts."

I cant find anything were he is talking about it. But the picture ive provided clearly shows him working on the Soundtracs Topaz.

Nodfactor re-publishes an article from a February 2006 edition of Scratch magazine where Alvin “Aqua Boogie” Blanco interviews J-Dilla. Aqua Boogie asks what equipment did J-Dilla start with, to which he replies “I started with the SP-12 then moved to the SP-1200 and then shortly after that the MPC-60, then the MPC-62, then the MPC3000 and I’ve been on the MPC 3000 ever since then. I’ve tried other samplers but the 3000 is best for me for what I like to do.”

Nodfactor re-publishes an article from a February 2006 edition of Scratch magazine where Alvin “Aqua Boogie” Blanco interviews J-Dilla. Aqua Boogie asks what equipment did J-Dilla start with, to which he replies “I started with the SP-12 then moved to the SP-1200 and then shortly after that the MPC-60, then the MPC-62, then the MPC3000 and I’ve been on the MPC 3000 ever since then. I’ve tried other samplers but the 3000 is best for me for what I like to do.”

An MBox can be seen in a photograph of J Dilla's home studio taken in summer 2005—during the recording of The Shining, according to Stones Throw Records—by Raph Rashid for Behind the Beat: Hip-Hop Home Studios. It was reposted to Instagram by ASTÉTICAS on February 6, 2022, in the top-right corner of this Instagram post's fourth slide.

An iPod can be seen in a photograph of J Dilla's home studio taken in summer 2005—during the recording of The Shining, according to Stones Throw Records—by Raph Rashid for Behind the Beat: Hip-Hop Home Studios. It was reposted to Instagram by ASTÉTICAS on February 6, 2022, in the top-right corner of this Instagram post's fourth slide.

Besides the Soundtracs Topaz, the Alesis BRC can also be seen in this picture.

A TASCAM CD-RW700 can be seen with J Dilla's iPod Classic on top of it in the provided image.

In this Youtube video posted February 7, 2026, creator The Crates Motel states that a former engineer who worked with J Dilla confirmed, in direct conversation, that J Dilla used the ACP88 extensively.

In addition to this video, Detroit producer Brandon Williams "B. Williams" stated in a post from his personal Gearspace account that he worked with Dilla for several years and that he did indeed use the ACP88 extensively.

Allow me to chime in here since I did sit side by side with him for a few years. The 'magic' in his sound was the MPC3000, his trusty Presonus ACP88 and HIS EARS.