Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000
By SP1200 Sat Jul 07, 2012 9:56 am
Hi fellas,

here is the story - i wanted as hell an sp 1200 ended with a 2000 xl and fell in love with the maschine and the whole concept/workflow.

I have maxed my 2kxl with 32MB, ram, EFX card, CF reader and i am quite happy but as time goes on i want to upgrade for some reasons / i like the note variaton fader and want to use more then one q link fader / and also the whole mpc to PC switching card is anoying a litle bit.

So as i think that the later models are just a money concept / quality and development of the product is on the last place / - i think i have only one choice the 4000.

As this looks like the crossing line between quality and marketing. So i would like to know some informations from the users here to decide fully - THANK YOU ALL!!

- what is the diference between BLUE and WHITE - are the new blue ones cheaper in aspects of components? like the blue xl vs white?

- is the EFX board in 4000 optional all it is there from factory?

- are there any issue hiden in the prodcut lines / displays, HDD etc? /

- and finaly - still it has THAT mpc legacy i still feel when i touch a 60,2000,3000, and dont feel at all as i touch the 2500 / 5000?

I was quite often for the 5000 but after some research i give it up.

I apreciate your help here - and if anyone in Europe have a 4000 in good condition taked care about - i am open for offers :)
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By feline1 Sat Jul 07, 2012 2:34 pm
SP1200 wrote:- what is the diference between BLUE and WHITE


The blue ones are painted on the outside with blue paint, giving a blue colour.
The white ones are painted with white paint. This makes them white. :)

SP1200 wrote:- is the EFX board in 4000 optional all it is there from factory?


In principle it is an optional board and the MPC4000 works without it. I believe most units shipped with one fitted, but it just depends.... you may find an MPC4000 with the EFX board taken out.....

SP1200 wrote:- are there any issue hiden in the prodcut lines / displays, HDD etc? /

That's a rather wide-ranging question! There are still some bugs in the OS, as development was halted after OSv1.71 ... the moving parts (jog wheel and pads) are obviously the most vulnerable to mechanical failure.

SP1200 wrote:- still it has THAT mpc legacy i still feel when i touch a 60,2000,3000, and dont feel at all as i touch the 2500 / 5000?

That is the sort of non-objective silly question that can only be decided between you, you wallet and whatever drugs you seem to be on.
:smoker:
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By Lampdog Sat Jul 07, 2012 3:18 pm
SP1200 wrote:- what is the diference between BLUE and WHITE - are the new blue ones cheaper in aspects of components? like the blue xl vs white?

My 2kxlse2 is orange, does that mean I win?

No really, there's no difference. Blue came with mcd reader, White came with floppy. Both mpc's are the same.
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By Coz Sat Jul 07, 2012 3:26 pm
SP1200 wrote:I have maxed my 2kxl with 32MB, ram, EFX card, CF reader and i am quite happy but as time goes on i want to upgrade for some reasons / i like the note variaton fader and want to use more then one q link fader / and also the whole mpc to PC switching card is anoying a litle bit.




The 4K is like a 2KXL on steroids. If you can find one in decent condition you'll probably be happy with the upgrade.
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By Lampdog Sat Jul 07, 2012 4:04 pm
Coz wrote:If you can find one in decent condition you WILL be happy with the upgrade!!


Fixed.....




I went from 2kxl to 4k, I don't know why I waited years to do it....
:oops:
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By MPCWeapon1 Sat Jul 07, 2012 4:27 pm
I think he may be referring to the rumor that the blue version 4Ks came out when Numark bought the company and they think it was built with cheaper parts. I don't believe that rumor though. I doubt that there was any change in hardware.

I couldnt even really compare a 2KXL to a 4K. I dont think there's a comparision unless you use a MPC just to sample drums.That's just my opinion.

Sound on Sound review of the 4k.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep02/a ... pc4000.asp
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By feline1 Sat Jul 07, 2012 4:50 pm
It does seem they change the case fan to a quieter one on some later batches - that's the only change I can think of.
By Renee Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:52 pm
When I was first looking into the 4K I too thought there was a difference between the two because on the Akai site http://www.akaipro.com/mpc4000 they were talking about the MPC4000 Plus and there was only an image from the blue one. TGF this site and YT :-D

You can do different things to make the 4K more quiet. Change the case fan and change the HDD for a SSD. I don't hear an sound besides the .wav that I choose :lol:
By SP1200 Sat Jul 07, 2012 9:00 pm
feline1 wrote:It does seem they change the case fan to a quieter one on some later batches - that's the only change I can think of.


hi feline, thanx i really enjoyed your answer, and dont get me wrong i do think that something besides the color get changed in the blue 2kxl i ve got my hands on both and maybe its just a psychological way of percieve but the white / i maybe got the earlyest version as mine got the oldtype font logo painted / The white seems like an pro instrument and the blue one like a toy.. but it is of course subjective perspective of mine as i realyy dont know the company/factory/components history at all, but i do work in a company that produce and know about changes u have to deal with when manufacturing a product and u depend on various suppliers through the years even when u have to change things to save money or get your budget lower because of the lowering income.. but thats another story.

anyway thank u for reminding me on one question i forgot to ask - the FAN? the 2000 xl dont have one and i saw that the 4k has one on the back - i really hated it on every audioequipment i had, because of the noise! is this one LOUD? is it noisy? do i have to prepare for it or is it something i can overlook after while?
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By MPCWeapon1 Sat Jul 07, 2012 9:30 pm
Renee wrote:When I was first looking into the 4K I too thought there was a difference between the two because on the Akai site http://www.akaipro.com/mpc4000 they were talking about the MPC4000 Plus and there was only an image from the blue one. TGF this site and YT :-D

You can do different things to make the 4K more quiet. Change the case fan and change the HDD for a SSD. I don't hear an sound besides the .wav that I choose :lol:


Plus, means it comes with an expansion board like the S/PDIF or 8 outs.

I have the the white one, barely notice the fan. My external HD fan is louder.
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By feline1 Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:31 pm
SP1200 wrote:hi feline, thanx i really enjoyed your answer, and dont get me wrong i do think that something besides the color get changed in the blue 2kxl i ve got my hands on both and maybe its just a psychological way of percieve but the white / i maybe got the earlyest version as mine got the oldtype font logo painted / The white seems like an pro instrument and the blue one like a toy.. but it is of course subjective perspective of mine



what made you think the blue was "like a toy"? did yours come with free crayons or...?
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By Lampdog Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:14 pm
SP1200 wrote:The white seems like an pro instrument and the blue one like a toy..

How is the white one pro and the blue a toy?
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By Metatron72 Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:42 pm
feline1 wrote:It does seem they change the case fan to a quieter one on some later batches - that's the only change I can think of.


Indeed. My early white model is in a room at the absolute back of my house. It can easily be heard from outside on my front porch. It's actually so loud I use the machine less even though I love it. Certainly a loud session volume drowns it out but I really prefer to work at much quieter monitoring levels.

Soon I'll have to go through what Feline1 and others spoke of in the older threads. Glue melting, hacksaws, fan sourcing and so on.
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By Coz Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:28 pm
Lampdog wrote:I went from 2kxl to 4k, I don't know why I waited years to do it.... :oops:




When the 4K dropped I was having my first audio computer built and was gradually moving away from hardware. I also read the reviews and saw it in a shop and wasn't that bowled over.

It's only through moving from the XL to the 2500 to the 4K that I can tell Akai hit a serious peak with the 4K. Great machine. :nod:

And yeah, blue ROCKS! :fku: