Made in Taiwan

Random question. Where were your 1000's made? I just got a new one last month and it was ordered straight from the factory apparently and it says made in Taiwan. Also, the box it came in was different from an MPC1000BK that I saw at a different store. I thought I heard people say their 1000's were made in China. I was wondering if Akai moved their factory and that's why 1000's weren't available for a while. Just a thought...Also, one weird thing is that the sounds on the compact flash card that came with the unit are all of the 2500 sounds. I'm not sure if that's normal. Anyway, just curious. No complaints about the MPC's construction except that there's some kind of bubbling on the inside of my screen. Nothing too serious. Just kind of shows Akai's Quality Control department is not too strict...

mine is made in china..

mine says china too.

I guess there's a new Akai factory...

I think it all used to be in Japan, with some fabrication in China an the US. But now, Akai is owned by Numark, and they fabricate in in China. Some sh** like that.

mine is made in china. either way, you cant expect much quality out of china or taiwain. the whole point of akai out-sourcing is to save money by using cheap parts and cheap labor. even roland out-sourced to taiwan back in the 80's for their boss guitar pedals. from what i know, the taiwan pedals use cheaper, lower quality parts than the originals from japan. theres a difference in the sound as well. that's why vintage boss pedals from japan cost alot more than the new reproductions form taiwan. i should've looked at the mpc500's manufacturing tag when i was at guitar center yesterday. i wouldnt buy an mpc500, but i'd like to see where it was made just for the hell of it.

Sort of off topic, but this gives me an idea of just how crazed the international manufacturing game is:

My ex girl's family is from China. They have a shoe company here, so they are invested in factories in China. So, they decide to lease an entire factory to cut down on fabrication costs. Then they hire a liason to go over there and make sure what the workforce contract promises is actually getting done. Young dude. Maybe 25. So he arrives, and the workers turn out to be heavily gang affiliated. They think the shoe company is some billion dollar coproration, which it's not, so they kidnap the liason and hold him ransom for 50G. Then, the family finds out that they can't even contact the owner of the factory, cus guess what? It was actually leased to a guy from the owner, who then leased it to someone, who then leased it AGAIN to the company. Eventually, they just payed the ransom, cus it would be cheaper than going over, finding him, hiring new workers, etc etc. Shit is crazy and there are so few rules that it's really cut throat and how much muscle you got. Just like anything I guess. Watch out Numark/Akai!!

trupro wrote:Sort of off topic, but this gives me an idea of just how crazed the international manufacturing game is:

My ex girl's family is from China. They have a shoe company here, so they are invested in factories in China. So, they decide to lease an entire factory to cut down on fabrication costs. Then they hire a liason to go over there and make sure what the workforce contract promises is actually getting done. Young dude. Maybe 25. So he arrives, and the workers turn out to be heavily gang affiliated. They think the shoe company is some billion dollar coproration, which it's not, so they kidnap the liason and hold him ransom for 50G. Then, the family finds out that they can't even contact the owner of the factory, cus guess what? It was actually leased to a guy from the owner, who then leased it to someone, who then leased it AGAIN to the company. Eventually, they just payed the ransom, cus it would be cheaper than going over, finding him, hiring new workers, etc etc. **** is crazy and there are so few rules that it's really cut throat and how much muscle you got. Just like anything I guess. Watch out Numark/Akai!!

Oh and the workers get paid **** all, get sacked when they get too old (usually mid-20s), get sacked if they get pregnant, get beaten, abused and otherwise treated like worthless pieces of machinery.

Welcome to the world of capitalism! Isn't it shit?

Word. I know there are alot of corporate tyrants, but it's never really just some white guy walking in and being like "I own you". It's the country that sells out their own poor folks. Just like here, in the US. In this case, it was the so-called advocates of the workers screwing both sides agains the middle. As a business owner, you play by the rules of the country your in. And as we know already, every country has been F***ing thier own people into poverty way before we got there. That's not to say that explioting it is admirable tho, so I feel you. What a conundrum. Without capitalism, we'd trade food with Roger Linn to build an MPC. And there's only one of him!

So anyway, is that 1000 a solid build. People hate on it but it seems fine.