By dtaa pla muk
Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:26 pm
first off, BIG MASSIVE HUGE UPS to Rendr, who brilliantly discovered that you can take the sensors from an AKAI MPD16 and connect them to the AKAI AC1A mpc1000 pad fix PCB. this gave me a crazy idea:
AKAI mpc1000 pad fixes cost in the neighborhood of 200 dollars.
used MPD16s cost something like 50 bucks on ebay.
the sensors are identical - except mpd16 pads are bigger.
once the mpd16 pad sensors are connected to the 1000, you can callibrate them as necessary using the mpc1000's software, making them just as sensitive as all other FSR mpcs.
i called up MPCstuff and asked mike if they had any extra AC1A mpc1000 pad fix PCBs from the initial run. These early PCBs caused an issue where lines would scroll across the screen and the screen's contrast wouldn't get set right each time you booted. he said yeah, he had one and he mailed it to me.
this PCB was essentially missing 2 things - a different resistor and a diode which akai added to the PCB in a later revision that solved the issue. i didn't know the value of the resistor or the diode, so i had to get sneaky.
i then created a fake Gmail account under the name Ross McCormick and emailed Justin Baro with a fake sob story about being a loyal Akai customer for many years, that i owned a 2000 for a long time and that i had an mpc1000 with busted pads. i said that i'd bought nym's pad fix as well as replacement mpc1000 single pads, both of which weren't as good as my 2000. i said that i'd ordered the AKai pad fix but wanted to wait until my single pad replacements had worn out before installing the new ones, just to get my money's worth. i said that when i finally DID replace these pads, i was horrified to see my screen appearing with lines throughout. this left my fake alias in a bind - i couldn't exchange my new pads from the company i ordered em from because they were all out - this is when they were backordered - and that i was screwed. i asked that they provide me with the value of the resistor and diode.
justin sent me an akai engineering pdf detailing this "pad fix fix" which exchanged 1 resistor for another and added a diode. i picked up the diode from radioshack and ordered non-surface mount resistors (the original ones are tiny and flat) from a dude in redwood city. they came yesterday. i soldered em on (haven't soldered on the diode yet) and boom, the lines stopped. the contrast issue is still a problem, but i imagine the diode will take care of that. i'll put up pics later.
i then attached the MPD16 pads and tada - it worked beautifully. i now have full sized mpc pads on my mpc1000.
more on this later. i have to run to work. this is going to be HUGE, really cool project and an ultimate comfort mpc.
cost list so far:
used MPC from ES-K: 300 usd.
100 390kohm resistors: 3 usd
mpd16: 50 usd.
diode: 1 usd
AKAI mpc1000 pad fixes cost in the neighborhood of 200 dollars.
used MPD16s cost something like 50 bucks on ebay.
the sensors are identical - except mpd16 pads are bigger.
once the mpd16 pad sensors are connected to the 1000, you can callibrate them as necessary using the mpc1000's software, making them just as sensitive as all other FSR mpcs.
i called up MPCstuff and asked mike if they had any extra AC1A mpc1000 pad fix PCBs from the initial run. These early PCBs caused an issue where lines would scroll across the screen and the screen's contrast wouldn't get set right each time you booted. he said yeah, he had one and he mailed it to me.
this PCB was essentially missing 2 things - a different resistor and a diode which akai added to the PCB in a later revision that solved the issue. i didn't know the value of the resistor or the diode, so i had to get sneaky.
i then created a fake Gmail account under the name Ross McCormick and emailed Justin Baro with a fake sob story about being a loyal Akai customer for many years, that i owned a 2000 for a long time and that i had an mpc1000 with busted pads. i said that i'd bought nym's pad fix as well as replacement mpc1000 single pads, both of which weren't as good as my 2000. i said that i'd ordered the AKai pad fix but wanted to wait until my single pad replacements had worn out before installing the new ones, just to get my money's worth. i said that when i finally DID replace these pads, i was horrified to see my screen appearing with lines throughout. this left my fake alias in a bind - i couldn't exchange my new pads from the company i ordered em from because they were all out - this is when they were backordered - and that i was screwed. i asked that they provide me with the value of the resistor and diode.
justin sent me an akai engineering pdf detailing this "pad fix fix" which exchanged 1 resistor for another and added a diode. i picked up the diode from radioshack and ordered non-surface mount resistors (the original ones are tiny and flat) from a dude in redwood city. they came yesterday. i soldered em on (haven't soldered on the diode yet) and boom, the lines stopped. the contrast issue is still a problem, but i imagine the diode will take care of that. i'll put up pics later.
i then attached the MPD16 pads and tada - it worked beautifully. i now have full sized mpc pads on my mpc1000.
more on this later. i have to run to work. this is going to be HUGE, really cool project and an ultimate comfort mpc.
cost list so far:
used MPC from ES-K: 300 usd.
100 390kohm resistors: 3 usd
mpd16: 50 usd.
diode: 1 usd
Last edited by dtaa pla muk on Tue Nov 04, 2008 4:53 am, edited 2 times in total.
