I'm buying a 1000 - advice on addons

Hey,

I'm just waiting to get the right deal that fits my budget on eBay for the MPC-1000. I will get one, and I'm starting to get pretty frickin' eager, and I'm getting close to paying more than what my set out budget is to get the thing, risking my wife ripping off random body parts of mine in the process. Anyway, I've read some stickies and stuff on here but can't find any quick answers, so please be more patient with me than what I've been while trying to find answers.

It's all about what I "need" to get with the MPC to get what I'd like out of it - which is basically a beat-based music making toolbox that I can use without having to kick the kids off the computer. And if I can bring it with me to the in-laws cottage too for a real vacation, well how can you argue with that - the wife can't complain, cuz I'm not bringing a computer...

Anyway, I'll start with what I think I *know* I need: 128 megs of RAM and JJOS at least OS1. There. Now the questions about the rest. If I forgot something significant, I'd be very happy to know what I missed.

My biggest question is CF card vs HDD. I have about a gig and a half of wav samples from using FL Studio for a few years, and all those would fit nicely on a CF 2GB card and would keep me happy at least initially. Seems like if I get a 16GB CF card, I'm golden - a sticky on here makes it sound like the akaipro.com listed limit of 2GB isn't really the limit as long as it's CF type I or II. So - would you say that if I get a big frickin' CF card, I'd probably not need a HDD? I've read that the MPC can only really handle the contents on the CF in real time anyway, and the HDD is only for keeping a "library" of sounds that you still have to load to the CF in order to play with them?

If I want to do remixes of songs, let's say I'd convert an MP3 to wav, put it on the MPC's CF, can I chop it up into different pieces there (using JJOS, I guess)? Do I need to have two files in order to use two different parts of a full song, or can I define two different parts of the same wav file to play on two different pads? I've heard some pretty insane stuff by Sany Pitbull, DJ Edgar and other baile funk guys that seem to be able to go on forever only using the MPC and take different snippets from different parts of the same songs, and I guess I'm wondering how they can fit it all on there and keep it going for such a long time... (You'll probably say "preparation" and "skill" right after you say "duh"...)

Another issue is the "blue" vs "black" model thing. I've heard about pad differences. Is it really that big of a deal? Would I have to get the pad sensor upgrade as well as the pad upgrade to get it to work well? Is it hard to do? If it is, and if I do, it sort of impacts what pricerange I'm looking for on eBay where the blue seems to go for quite a bit less than a black one on average.

While I'm on that subject... Are there any other differences between the blue vs the black models other than the pad upgrade and color? I'm guessing that the blue one doesn't have the built-in HDD mount...

I just don't want to be nickled and dimed to death here - I just keep thinking that RAM upgrade + JJOS + CF card + HDD mounting kit + HDD itself + pad sensor upgrade + pad upgrade = close to more than what I can afford if I want to get the machine itself...

Anyway, I'll finish this chapter of my novel right now. Any and all opinions are welcome.

Cheers,

-- Arsenic.

i have a 40 gig hdd installed which holds all my samples and songs. i also save all my songs to cf just in case...
if you buy one of the new mpcs you don't have to get the pad fix. the 128 mb ram just give you a little headroom for experimenting with different samples. if you buy those things one after another it won't hurt so much.

hard drive upgrade ,, i got an 120 gig ,, its perfect !!!

Pro Tip: Use it first, then worry about "addons"

this isn't a sports car, it will do pretty much everything you want out of the box.

If you want to save money just get a gigantic CF card , it functions the exact same as a HDD, it's only for loading and saving, there is no "Real Time" with the CF or HD, that's what the RAM is for

all you need is the 128mb of ram, JJOS, and a decent flash card and you'll be set for life.

Thanks guys. I've bought the thing now - got a great deal for a black one with no memory upgrades at all. It fit within my budget to get JJOS1, a 128MB upgrade (thanks for the postings about the $9.99 256MB ones - works great) and a 16GB CF card ($45 on eBay - also works great) right away - I think I even have room to get MPC-Tutor's online books. I haven't had much time to do anything resembling a song yet, but the basic stuff is there and it's a lot of fun. So far it feels like it was worth selling the banjo to change to this.

Thanks again for the advice. I'm sure I'll be back soon for some more.

Cheers,

-- Arsenic

carlarsenic wrote: risking my wife ripping off random body parts of mine in the process.

Live fast and take chances, what do you think my girlfriend did when I bought mine?

Automageddon wrote:

carlarsenic wrote: risking my wife ripping off random body parts of mine in the process.

Live fast and take chances, what do you think my girlfriend did when I bought mine?

Yeah, as long as the arms and fingers are left alone so we can tap the pads, I guess we'd still be golden.

add on some skills

jpeg wrote:add on some skills

And in the "duh" category... I just don't want any skills or creativity to be limited or slowed down by hardware/software.

carlarsenic wrote: risking my wife ripping off random body parts of mine in the process.

You know, I almost had that same problem... then I told the chic to get back to the kitchen and make me them brownies without the nuts... but when I woke up and my chic starring at me from above, I knew I had to come up with a different plan.

The pain didn't last as long as the bruises and I still got my 1K. Silly chic's we have.

carlarsenic wrote:

jpeg wrote:add on some skills

And in the "duh" category... I just don't want any skills or creativity to be limited or slowed down by hardware/software.

You get clowned for that statement because we used to use tape decks to create mixes and beats. Check you history of sampling before you throw the "duh" out again.

hiphoppa wrote:

carlarsenic wrote:

jpeg wrote:add on some skills

And in the "duh" category... I just don't want any skills or creativity to be limited or slowed down by hardware/software.

You get clowned for that statement because we used to use tape decks to create mixes and beats. Check you history of sampling before you throw the "duh" out again.

You're assuming that I'm a newbie. I'm not. I'm new to the MPC for sure, but I've been making and playing music of many different kinds (including making magnetic tape loops with a razor blade and scotch tape way back when) for 20+ years. Anyone who thinks that a tool can automatically produce good sounding music without skill and talent is in for a surprise - that's why I said "duh". I was asking for software/hardware upgrade advice to make the MPC as powerful and smooth to use as possible within my budget, and you can school me as much as you want on that and I'll listen every time. I definitely don't know enough about the MPC to argue on that, and I'm eager to learn what I'll be able to do with it.

I got a RAM upgrade from 16MB to 128MB. That will help with my creativity because I'll be able to allocate longer samples to the memory, and if I want to record a live guitar or bass or whatever to it, or think about making a full set on it, I don't have to worry about running out of memory. I got a 16GB CF card instead of the 64MB card that was in it. This helps my creativity because now I don't have to transfer files as often from the computer and decide which ones to remove - I can have all my 2.5GB collection of samples on it, and just add to it when I get some more - it has enough space that it will last me for years. I got a JJOS upgrade, and that was more a blind thing because people here recommend it so highly, that JJOS makes it much more powerful with more features. That helps my creativity because I like to experiment, and it sounds to me like JJOS is a lot less restrictive than AKAI's OS.

Those things seemed important to me, and it's all information I collected from this site alone, and I really appreciate it. Now I feel that the right hardware and software is in place, thanks to you guys, and if something doesn't come out right, the last thing I'll blame is the machine.

hehehe was not tryan spark any bit debate was a typical off the cuff remark.