Post your views and questions about the Akai MPC2500
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By theStudent Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:19 am
greetings brethren,

I recently got a 2500 after working with a 2000 XL exclusively for years and I'm amazed that the ChopShop only lets you create sliced samples in mono. I've still got the barebones factory OS installed — does a later version (or a JJOS) allow you to create stereo slices? I did a search, but wasn't able to find what I'm looking for.

in the meantime, I tried using the Extract feature to manually pull out small sections from the main sample (which was tedious), but even though the waveforms looked different, each chop played the exact same portion of the sample. :evil:

I haven't made beats in a minute, so I'm a bit rusty anyway, but the transition to new hardware has made things a bit more complicated. any help's appreciated; I'm looking forward to getting back to work.
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By Lampdog Thu Jul 19, 2018 2:26 am
DAMN, it's been a LONG minute, how are you these days?

I don't have an answer, just wanted to holla.
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By Ill-Green Thu Jul 19, 2018 10:01 pm
theStudent wrote:greetings brethren,

I recently got a 2500 after working with a 2000 XL exclusively for years and I'm amazed that the ChopShop only lets you create sliced samples in mono. I've still got the barebones factory OS installed — does a later version (or a JJOS) allow you to create stereo slices? I did a search, but wasn't able to find what I'm looking for.

in the meantime, I tried using the Extract feature to manually pull out small sections from the main sample (which was tedious), but even though the waveforms looked different, each chop played the exact same portion of the sample. :evil:

I haven't made beats in a minute, so I'm a bit rusty anyway, but the transition to new hardware has made things a bit more complicated. any help's appreciated; I'm looking forward to getting back to work.

Yes, Extract is tedious but remember to change the name of each piece chopped. For me, I copy the sample, lets say SNARE01, to a few pads and save them as different numbers like SNARE02, SNARE03 etc. Its quicker than Extract. Then adjust the start and end points of each pad.

Also, as a bonus, if you use the Normalize feature in the same way you use Extract, you will see that you can Normalize specific parts within the sample.

Speaking from the Akai OS.

And yes, like Lamp says, its been awhile, I recognize that TMNT avatar :smoker:
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By theStudent Thu Jul 19, 2018 11:14 pm
whaddup, guys — yeah, it's definitely been a long time. lots of relocations/moving around made me put beats on the backburner, but I'm ready to dive back in now 8) happy to still see some familiar names here!

thanks for the tip, Ill — I'll try that method. gotta say that I'm disappointed such a crucial feature from the XL was removed for the 2500. seems like Akai assumed people would only use the ChopShop for drums and nothing else.
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By Sharris Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:18 pm
I'm not sure if JJOS will keep the chops in stereo (I don't use auto chop, you lose to much control over the samples, you should try out Ill Green's duplicate method he mentions above), but def look into JJOS. I started with the free version of JJOS, so not sure about akai os, but moved up to JJOSXL from the free version & I love it. I looked over the features it added, but didn't think it was a big deal, so I waited to get it, but once I got it, I was surprised how much it quickens the workflow plus you get some nice extras.

Check out the below if you haven't for a ton of JJOS info (features it adds, how to use them, cost, ect)

http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~mpc1000/mpc2500/
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By theStudent Sat Jul 21, 2018 1:30 am
I don't use auto chop either; I just wanna quickly slice up a sample into the regions I've set myself. but mono won't work for me.

there was bound to be a learning curve no matter what gear/software I picked up, so I'll just have to find a way to make it work. I'll look into JJOS, but I need to make sure the 2500 is actually a good fit before I invest more $ in it. I miss my XL!

update: I just tried the method suggested by Ill-Green and the flow was much better :-D
still not a perfect solution, but I can work with this :nod:
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By Ill-Green Sat Jul 21, 2018 11:49 am
I agree with Sharris. The Chop feature in the JJOS is superior to the Akai OS. But yeah, its pretty pricey if you want the up to date version. I believe you can't save on the free version.

The Akai version is usable. Plus, you get Direct Recording, a feature not on JJOS. :twisted: bwahahaha!!
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By Sharris Tue Jul 24, 2018 12:00 am
theStudent wrote:I don't use auto chop either; I just wanna quickly slice up a sample into the regions I've set myself. but mono won't work for me. :


That's called auto chop (you're using the auto chop function)..... I figured you were adjusting the chop points, probably sounds like sh!t if you don't. Anyways, using auto chop you lose a lot of control, it's destructive, you can't adjust the chops (unless making them smaller). If chopping is destructive it's best not to use it (in my opinion).

Have you come across that yet? playing with chops & you come up with a great melody, but 1 chop is just a little off, so you go to adjust it & sh!t...you can't......you used auto chop.

& I get that you don't want to spend more money on the 2500 yet, but there is a free JJOS as well. Check out the website I posted above..... at least get the free JJOS, it adds a lot of features....& it's FREE. Somewhere in that website I posted it lists what features each version of JJOS adds. You can start on the free version & you can use any version of JJOS for FREE. You just can't save your work. But that means you can test it out before buying it to see if it's worth payin for (it's a demo mode).
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By Sharris Fri Aug 03, 2018 8:47 pm
theStudent wrote:greetings brethren,
I recently got a 2500 after working with a 2000 XL exclusively for years and I'm amazed that the ChopShop only lets you create sliced samples in mono. I've still got the barebones factory OS installed — does a later version (or a JJOS) allow you to create stereo slices?


I just found the answer to your troubles :) The Akai os converts samples to mono in auto chop but the JJOS auto chop keeps chops in stereo (I THINK even the free JJOS keeps chops in stereo when using auto chop, but I'm not 100%). Found the info in the below thread:

viewtopic.php?t=97170

Non-destructive chop is included in paid versions (I have the free JJOS on my 1000 & JJOSXL on my 2500).

So yeah, the 2500 isn't the problem, it's the Akai os. Before deciding on selling the 2500 I suggest downloading the free JJOS. You can't record track mutes in the free JJOS, but you can in JJOSXL. Below is the JJOS comparison chart which lists the features of each os including the akai Os.

http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~mpc1000/chart_n.htm

Edit - Someone just posted a thread in the JJOS section stating he has the free JJOS (JJOS 3.16) & it converts his slices to mono. So apparently a paid version of JJOS is needed to avoid that. Just goin by dudes post tho......
By Wrekumup Sat Jan 18, 2020 7:16 pm
The latest and last version of Akai OS for MPC 2500 is version 1.24. They introduced stereo chop functionality in this version; early versions didn’t support it.

AKAI MPC 2500 RELEASE NOTES Version 1.24

Version 1.24
New Features / Changes
1. Added support for Chop Shop 2.0 file saving and opening.