Owners of the Blue Case MPC1000 with red side panels ....

I am trying to find out how many 1000 users here have the original Blue MPC1000. Can you advise if you had the so called dreaded pad problem with your unit ? If not, how long have you had your unit and how well are the pads still doing ?? Any other hardware/quality related problems that you have encountered with this particular unit :


Many thanks in advance ...

I have it and have never had any problems with it, the pads did die eventually but that was after quite a while. I have dropped this thing and taken it everywhere and it has never had a problem. I have owned mine for about 6 - 7 years maybe more and still works like it did when i got it actually better. All i have done is changed the pads to the upgrade pads which feel better and put a hard drive in it. If the pads are all ur worried about just go and buy some upgrade pads not a big deal and easy to install.

Got the original. Pads were still working ok but I replaced them with the new upgrade. Different feel on the new pads - more like the older MPCs I've owned and better suited to my playing.

Great piece of kit and no problems with it at all.

G4s

Hey i'm an owner of this mpc and i purchased it not long ago off of ebay from someone and i've been experiencing a problem where when i record my drum loops, theres a delay in them when they actually play. Either they play too late or too early and then the loop messes up and just sounds weird and not right. Can someone please help me, i've been trying so long to figure out what this problem is please can someone just help. Thank you for reading. If you'd like to email me or something in person, my email is [email protected].

^ much more of a plea for help than an answer to the original poster's question...

to the original poster:

i'm the guy who has made the most noise about the mpc1000 pad engineering flaw.
i bought an mpc1000 brand new from the store in 2004. i began to experience bad pads, and i returned the machine for another before 2004 was over.

before long, i experienced the same problem. i had read about this issue on the boards already: pads that were going bad, pads that weren't responding the way they should have been.

i opened up my mpc1000 to find out that the pads weren't the same as the other mpcs. despite the advertising ("great feeling, velocity sensitive pads") akai had delivered a flawed pressure sensor technology that was prone to breaking.

the mpc1000 original pads appear to be made by Inaba, a japanese manufacturer of Inastomer, a pressure transducing rubber.

the technology itself was fine - unfortunately, some thick skulled imbecile thought it was sufficient to adhere a square of pressure transducing rubber above a copper coil with 4 dots of silicone adhesive. little to the knowledge of this mouth breathing, single limbed-family tree-having downy, rubber laced with carbon particles is prone to sloughing, which results in the pressure transducing rubber drifting free of it's adhesive after less-than-moderate pad performance.

as a result, the original mpc 1000 pads can--and will--break.

the only option is to pay close to two hundred USD for what is called a "retro pad upgrade" which allegedly incorporates "older" mpc pad technology into the mpc1000.

the irony is that every mpc SINCE the 1000 (the 2500, the 500, and the 5000) have all had this identical "retro" pad technology rather than the "new" pressure sensor incorporated into the original mpc 1000.

absolutely transparent and pathetic.
and to think, this is the same company that Music Trade magazine selected for company of the year....

simpy disgusting.

to anyone reading this post, i whole heartedly recommend that they not give a single penny more to this reckless, disrespectful company.

if you must buy another akai product, buy used off ebay or craigslist until mpc1000 users receive a formal apology.

read it again and notice that he said "or any other problems with the mpc"

I have the Blue/Red one. Got it from ebay for $430 with 128 ram. Six pads were bad. I use full level 100% of the time. I opened the pads and used Release foil and carpet tape to fix them up. Works like a charm now. Im actually going to redo the remaining working pads this way.
I am so happy now with how the pads respond and feel i'm not going to get the pad upgrade. Got the jjos and am lovin' this thing.

I am laying some paint down on it though. I hate the colors.

some of my pads went out...my mode button stopped working...if i have used all my sample time and try to delete anything it freezes...the plastic buttons break easily...i like the machine but too many problems for a 900$ peice of equipment....I own stuff from the 80s that i bought second (or more) hand that dont have any problems...thinking about switching to a new machine if i cant get my 1000 back working without spending $$$$

I bought mine off ebay used in what, Dec of 2004, I think? I can't remember but it was a long time ago. Never had a single problem with the pads and they all still work fine. No issues.

I do use full level and 16 levels when I need different velocities and I also don't bang on my pads.

If I were you, I wouldn't buy a red, white and blue one though without testing it out for yourself. If you can't do that, you might wanna pass it up and get one of the newer black and white ones with the original pad design.

yo son i bought that mpc brand new when they came out red and blue like spiderman

i thought i was gonna be makin' beats like rza

worked good for a while and then once i started learning it i found out limitations

then my pads started goin out and it was still straight tho

then jj os came out and changed my life and i became the illest beatmaker on this site

then my pads went out and it messed me up man, and people tried takin my spot cuz i fell off son

them pads go out and it throws off the whole systematic organization of the chops and i get nervous

then i paid 200 for the upgrade and bought a synth and i'm back to reclaim my throne

i also painted my red sides silver to reinvent myself and my subconscious colorization of beats and samples within a sequence of time

I was about to say that exact same thing tony. VERBATIM!

i was owning a red and blue one made in china....
old pad style began to refusing to work i repaired it with a
special keyboard repair kit consisting of a silver conducting
glue beeing not to hard after drying and it s like a painting thing.
only the sensitivity of the pad is lost, it s like 100 percent all
the time.
as the old style mpc didn t work very good and i ve to have
working equipment for liveconcert s i ve now a new one
bk, with new style pads... it works really better. looks very sexy,
and it s made intaiwan where we know they re producing much more
better quality.

Yo...

I'm using a used Red and Blue MPC 1000 for a year now (I don't know how old it was when I bought it) and I never experienced any issue. Even with the pads. I mostly use the 100% Level anyway.

I might be lucky but for my use, it does not need any change... And I'm very happy the way it is. I love the oldschool look of the red and blue case, it looks cool with my 30 years old AKG headphones (I feel like the hippy hop beatmaker ).

But I can understand that some people are pissed off by the old pads and I definitely hope that mine won't break on me...

im surprised i havent chimed in on here.

as far as the pad problems it doesn matter if you owned the red side or the black casing. the pads are identical (unless you have the newest verison of the 1k which has the upgrade already installed). i bought mine brand new black casing in 2007 and it was flawed the moment i took it out the box. two dead pads had to exchange it the following weekend because i went out of town the day i bought it.


i along with Nym will never buy a new product from AKAI again EVER! that one experience is enough to make me think twice.

ive had mine since 2005 and ive had no problems at all about the pads dying. once in awhile the pads tend to lower on threshold but it depends on the sample i use. other than that i have had none whatsoever problems. only problem i got is the cheaper plastic buttons they use like the mode button...those shits break easily after wear n tear...but no pad problems...then again i heard they made like 100 good ones and said eff it with all the rest...maybe i got lucky