NEW MPC1000 PAD PROBLEMS!!!!! PLEASE HELP!!!

hey what up.
thanks in advance if anyone can help me out.

here's my problem. i bought an mpc1000 which i was very happy with. but then i started to notice the record light would stay on regardless of whether i was recording or not. so just to be on the safe side i exchanged it for another brand new mpc1000.

so now heres my MAJOR problem...

the new replacement mpc i got from the store not only has the same light problem, but the pads on this one are insanely hard to hit. i've checked the forum and went to the velocity adjust page in the "other" menu (i think shift-f4) and i adjusted everything from -5 to +4 and i STILL cant hit the pads hard enough to get them to full velocity (at most i can get it to half velocity and thats ONLY if i'm swinging at it like i'm in a bar fight or something). i'm damn near getting a running start from across the room and elbow dropping the mpc and IT STILL only registers at half the volume.

is there some other menu to adjust the sensitiviy that i'm missing, do i need to break in the pads, or did i just get a messed up mpc??

i'm getting frustrated cause the last one i had the pads felt nice as hell and now this one i have to do pushups before i can even attempt to do a beat.

i know i could use full level but who's trying to be FORCED to use that everytime they sequence a beat.


any advice or help would be most greatly appreciated.

thanks yo.

the record light sorta stays lit on a lot of people's 1k's. i think it may be normal. it stays lit on min at about 40% brightness. dont worry about it.

as for the pads, mine are tough too but not as bad as yours. maybe it's time for mpc #3?

you know you can change the SAMPLE's responsiveness to velocity (program mode -> window on level -> whatever that field is on the right , "VAmp" or something). just lower that and you wont have to worry about not hitting 100% on the pads.

in my hjonest opinion ide take it back again...

the Red light thing is normal though.

its slightly illuminated and when record is hit, it becomes alot more apparent. so dont worry about that. this topic has been covered before, tried and tested, its across the board.

as for the pads, ime with you on this one. i had 2 mpc1000's and 1 had stiff pads, the other has more loose and bouncy pads.

dont feel emarassed to take it back, its in your own right. when i was dealing with Akai UK about the problems i had with 1 of the 2 units, i was told by the guy on the phone that its natural for people to exchange faulty goods more than a few times.

i think u will be 3rd time lucky...lol

seriously if dont feel happy with the pads, then i would just give the unit back, try and get your money back (playing the usual unhappy customer role) and give it a few weeks to a month to clear things up and then by your unit again.

that way you can buy else where, or start fresh with your existing store.

i dont think there is a way to remedy this issue...its seems like akai have flawless, half flawless, and non flawless problems. you just have to make the right pick.

Make sure u have the full level button on as well playa so u dont have to beat the hell out of the pads!

....if you have to hit so hard to get 100% velocity you should set all the pads more on the plus side not minus

-5 is the least sensitive.....+4 is the most sensitive

hard to hit pads on a new machine = a good thing. once you break the pads in over the next few weeks/months you can recalibrate back down and it should be hot. kinda like new break cables on a bicycle....



....but the red light leaking thru would bug me. mine is pitch black when its not on. open it up and turn it on in the store. if they dont let you do that before buying it, then purchase it and then open it up in the store so if its bum you return it on the spot.....


/pjay

word. thanks to everyone who responded.

pjay-

i have had it set at +4 for all pads and full velocity is STILL a struggle. and looking at the sensitivity screen i can see one or two pads i can hit full velocity with no problem, but the majority of the other pads dont even reach half velocity when i hit them with the same amount of force.
i've been hitting all the pads for like the last ten minutes trying to see if maybe i can break the pads in, and the same two pads respond well and the rest i have to hit like my life depended on it.

oh and in the twenty minutes that i have been on this site the lights on my mpc have gone from...

both the overdub and record buttons being lit,
then only the record button being lit,
to neither being lit.

it sporadically happens. and it gets pretty bright too. but honestly if the pads didnt feel like ass i wouldnt even care about the lights.

....but while i'm at it...another odd thing i've noticed is when i play a bass line with the 16 levels, if i hold one note and then hit a second note i hear the second note (which is what i would expect) but when i take my hand OFF the first note it kills the last note i was hitting. and when i say holding down the pads i dont mean for a long time, more like when you are trying to play a constant bassline with no gaps and for that split second as you hit the second pad, releasing the first pad kills the second note you hear. so i cant play a constant bass line. i dont remember having this problem with the first mpc i had, but then again i might just be bugging out. let me know if anyone else has encountered this problem.



well anyway, thanks again for all the advice from everyone.

peace.

that happens on my 60.

ive noticed that happening with 16 levels too. it gets spazzy. like a monophonic synth gone terribly wrong

the problem is the the 16 pads are playing just the one note,

so when you hold down one pad, then another, it gets two midi note on messages, but when you release just one, the midi note off cuts both off.

It is a bit of a pain but it doesn't come up that often. One solution is to split your bassline among two or more sequencer tracks, then the note off will only effect that one which is on the active track.

punchdrunk wrote: i have had it set at +4 for all pads and full velocity is STILL a struggle.

that sounds like a lemon.....that sucks maybe the music store you got it from had a rough truck delivery or a bad batch or something. if its a chain store then try the next town over for your third and sacrifice a small drum machine or a DX7 with a hammer for good voodoo-gear-karma....

/p