loose buttons?

i have had my mpc since christmas, i have used it alot but i have always been careful and not mistreated it. my problem is that the play start button and the tap tempo/note repeat button are starting to feel really loose. i dont know if they are broken or just really cheap. have any of you had a similar problem and is there a way to know if they are broken.

The buttons are made of cheap quality plastic. The smaller tabs underneath which seat them to the tact switch may be starting to waer out. As long as the buttons don't cave in, they are not broken... just a bit more worn out than usual. If it aint borken, don't fix it. Otherwise, if the buttons do happen to cave in, you're better off buying replacements, which would be cheaper than shipping the unit back to Akai. If your 1k was bought at a local retailer, then it would be easier to exchange it for another unit, as long as the return policy is still valid (usually 30 days from date of purchase). If I were you, I'd exchange it immediately.

thanks for the reply

no problem. hope everything works out.

does anyone know if they used better quality buttons on the 2kxl or if they were still cheap.

There's not much of a difference (if any at all) in quality with the 2kxl buttons.
The earlier models (60, 60II, 3000, 3000LE) were all designed more rugged.
But don't let that change your mind about the 1k. I've only had to replace 1 button, and that was my fault that it broke, since I didn't have the Numeric button lined up properly when installing the black housing kit.
As I mentioned before, the buttons don't cost much to replace. So if you have to replace them yourself, it's not a big deal.