MV-8000 Review: Part 2

Happy 2004 -- the year when the MV-8000 begins to take over!


The first review influenced some readers to contact me privately about the MV-8000. There are a few members from this website and another who are considering the purchase of an MV.


USB CONNECTION

This second review begins with the operating details of the MV-to-PC USB connection.

The MV currently has no software application equivalent to ak.Sys. Communication between the MV and a computer allows only the transfer of files in both directions. If history repeats itself, this Roland product will eventually have a sound editing application similar to those available for the MC-909 and Fantom-S.

To initiate a USB session between the MV and a computer running Windows XP the following steps are performed:

1. Press the DISK/USB button on the MV-8000
2. Press the F3 key to select the USB icon
3. Press the F5 key to establish the connection
4. Press F1 (No) or F5 (Yes) to save the current project

After a few seconds the MV displays the word "Connected" with a continuously moving candy-striped progress bar indicating the connection is live.

As with many other products, such as the MPC4000, files residing on the computer cannot be viewed at the instrument end of the USB connection. The MV appears as a Removable Disk icon with a drive letter in the My Computer folder. Doubling clicking on the drive icon reveals one system file and several folders on the MV.

The MV-8000 owner’s manual has a precautionary statement regarding these items. They can be backed up from a computer over the USB connection. However, file transfers in the direction of the PC to the MV should be done using only the User folder. Deleting or modifying system files in the other folders may corrupt important files. The files and folders transferred to the User folder should be copied, imported, or moved using the MV interface.

When finished transferring files the following steps terminate the USB connection:

1. Right click on the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the PC System Tray
2. Choose the Safely Remove Hardware item on the popup menu
3. Click on the Stop command button in the Safely Remove Hardware dialog box
4. Click on OK in the Stop a Hardware Device dialog box
5. Click on the Close command button in the Safely Remove Hardware dialog box
6. Wait a few seconds
7. Press the F5 Disconnect key on the MV-8000

The connection progress bar changes to white and the MV-8000 window displays "Disconnected" status.


MEMORY EXPANSION

Another topic of interest to many readers is memory expansion. The standard 128 MB provided with the MV-8000 is sufficient for beginning projects. Eventually, an MV owner will want to expand the memory to its 512 MB maximum. The MV owner’s manual lists these specifications for compatible DIMM modules:

168 pins, PC100 CL = 2 or PC133 PC = 3, 3.3 V
128 MB, 256 MB, or 512 MB

I ordered this module from Crucial Technology :

http://www.crucial.com/store/PartSpecs. ... 75&cat=RAM

To install the new memory module I placed the MV face down. The sides and four corners were supported a few inches from a table by reams of paper from a local office supply store, elevating the display and controls from the table, per the instructions in the owner’s manual. MPC2000(XL) owners should note that step and follow it when installing memory in their instrument. I removed the 16 screws from the bottom plate, and then attached an anti-static wrist strap plugged into a wall outlet ground.

In addition to the populated DIMM slot there are two empty sockets on the MV-8000 system board. One of them is a 34-pin socket for connecting the MV8-OP1 expansion board to the center of the system board. The other is apparently a spare 50-pin IDE socket, perhaps used as a test point during manufacturing. There is no additional room inside the case to mount anything such as a second hard drive. All 3 internal drives are shielded, making it impossible to identify their manufacturer without further disassembly.

The 512 MB DIMM was swapped into the single memory slot. I placed the original 128 MB module into the anti-static bag from the Crucial Technology module. Then I took photos of the MV interior and resealed the case. After I powered up the unit I navigated to the System Information area to confirm the new memory module is active.

The MV-8000 relies on the concept of a Project, which consists of sound libraries, an effects library, 16 songs, and a few other items. When a new project is being created items can be inherited from the current active project. The user makes choices from a list of checkboxes. It is helpful to think of a project as corresponding to a music CD, and then import appropriate WAV files into that project.

Sample projects and a song template on the hard drive use much of the factory memory. This can hinder one’s learning. In the early weeks of new ownership the user will want to play the included factory sound files to become familiar with machine operations. If many imported sound files are added to an existing project or some variation of it, then memory may be used up very quickly. Trying to understand what to use in the beginning is slightly challenging. The owner’s manual is of no help in this regard. Without any guidance I found there is a tendency to include more items than necessary when creating a project because I did not know if I might require them later.

These 3 Projects are supplied on the hard drive of a new MV-8000:

MVDEMO_SONG1 49 MB
RealityCheck 62 MB
SONGTEMPLATE 109 MB

Project size corresponds to the amount of memory used by the project. Some may ask, “What is a typical project size?” There is no clear answer to this question. It can be very small. For example, I created a project with minimal support. For a size test I imported the 16 WAV files from the 6027_INDUSTRIAL_.PGM program inside the MPC3000_DISKS/SYNTH_DRUMS folder on the MPC2000XL factory sample CD. I wrote a simple 3-track song and saved the project. The project size was a meager 2 MB.

In summary, it is rarely necessary to install more than 256 MB on an MPC4000. The MV-8000 comes with 128 MB. At some point you will want to expand the memory to at least 256 MB.


IMPORTING FILES

This review will end with a short discussion about importing sound files from other hardware products into the MV-8000.

Importing WAV files is straightforward. The sound files get loaded from an internal drive and assigned to the pads. Roland S-700 series patch data goes one step further in that patches can be imported directly into the MV and assigned in an instrument library.

The MV has minimal support for AKAI MPC data. WAV files from an MPC2000(XL) are copied to the machine and assigned to pads by the user. There is no way to take an MPC2000(XL) program and have its sound files automatically mapped to the MV pads. The file-to-pad assignment must be completed manually.

Not being able to effortlessly migrate programs may come as surprising news to MPC owners, but there is an upgrade path for them regardless of the work involved. You might want to modify the sound characteristics of migrated WAV files anyway. When learning a new electronic instrument the owner usually places more emphasis on new songs rather than maintaining old material on the new instrument. Migrating files to the MV incurs a small nuisance activity as a new patch is built. (A program is called a “Patch” in Roland terminology.) It should not keep you from buying the MV-8000 considering the many additional features you will gain.


CONCLUSION

The next review is tentatively planned for release on Sunday, January 11th. I might discuss the MV architecture in Part 3. This would cover MV-8000 components such as Projects, Partials, Sample Mix Tables, and Libraries. If there is a topic you are interested in, send a short private mail. I will not make any promises regarding topic coverage, but your input is welcome since it might influence the choice of topics from those being considered.

I appreciate your effort to inform the people here about the MV, but i somehow dislike the tone of your post. Lines like "the year the MV takes over" and "people were contacting me privately about it" along with your general behaviour around here and other boards make me feeling you are a guy Roland was hiring to infiltrate the userbase (which sounds ridiculous off course, but, who knows?).

Re-read my post. I didn't write "the year the MV takes over". The opening was intended to wake up people on New Year's Day since the majority will be sleepy from last night's celebration.

It's too bad that you don't like the post. If you don't like the reviews, then don't read them. Others have expressed their satisfaction both publicly and privately, so your negative evaluation is of no importance.

Your suggestion that I am a Roland representative is laughable. I have no connection whatsoever with Roland. Get your facts straight before you post such nonsense.

Thanks for the review.
I might try to have a look at an MV next week,even though this will man a 300 mile train ride to London.


parce
parkz

I am glad to have more info on the MV, it's an interesting machine with new features my mpc2000 doesn't have, but I am not so sure if I would upgrade to it just yet, maybe when your review is totally complete and I peep a store demo at a GC then I can decide, but my upgrading to that machine is not likely as of yet. Good informative review though.

I have something special planned for next time. I might make it the focus of the entire Part 3, or at least it will take the entire second half of the next writing. It is going to be interesting. Let's just say that after everyone reads the next review part a few more people will be visiting their local GC. You'll understand why on January 11th.

MORE and more i am leaning towards the mpc4000 after reading your reviews...as i am one who is torn between the mpc4k and the mv i do like the mv pricepoint and some features but in your reviews i feel its just another machine...i mean memory upgrade stuff? who really cares in a way(no offence) but it IS apc pretty much so memory upgrades will be pretty much a no brainer across the board.

I am sure i speak for others when i say we look forward to some real indepth handon stuff> comparing the mpc4k to the mv in features and ease of use.Sure they are different machines but quite a few here are on the verge of getting either the mpc4k/the 1k or the mv8000 so.....in a way and in an impatient way..LOL...WE REALLY WANT TO GET THE LOWDOWN ON your OPINIONS WITH REGARD TO THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE MPC4K AND MV....if i could afford both i would get both but as i am on a serious budget i can only swing 1 unit for 2004.....so again no offence and excuse my inpatience...

I posted the memory information because I felt that this topic would be timely. I wanted others to see that choosing memory need not be difficult, expensive, or involve proprietary modules. The MPC1000 forum presently has a memory discussion with a fair amount of confusion going on. For the participants in that discussion the memory issue is not a no-brainer. They have been unable to identify a module from any vendor except AKAI. Compare the prices. MPC1000 owners are paying $110 for 128 MB and MV-8000 owners are paying $114 for 512 MB -- 4 times the amount of memory for nearly the same price. I would say this topic is very relevant.

It is impossible to give a completely thorough comparison between MPC4000 and the MV-8000 in a very short period. It takes a lot of work to understand everything about a new, complex machine. As you saw from the responses to my first review, there were a couple new MV owners who didn't even give the machine a chance and wanted to return it without having any understanding of it. Imagine returning an MPC4000 after only a week because you thought it does little, and you get the picture.

As I mentioned before, the MV-8000 has plenty of features not implemented on any MPC. You will see an example of these features in Part 3. Whatever you decide, do not rush your decision, especially with NAMM only 2 weeks away.

I wrote that i appreciate your Information about the MV, which implies that i dont dislike your reviews.
What i dislike is your style of "pitying those poor fools who use an Akai or intend to buy one" when you talk about the MV.
Maybe i am reading something inbetween the lines though, and if thats the case, i am sorry.
I am by no means on Akais' side on this, i suffered like everybody else from their less than poor support, but i think you would do the MV a better service if you kept your statements about the MPC4K a little bit more low profile.

i tried out the MV today in a local store, and i have to say i am quite impressed, . to keep it simple here the some pros and cons that i noticed on my less than deep checkup:
pro:
- well, lots of things the 4K can do, but better(that sums it up)
- the sliders (for ADSR, cutoff etc, great idea)
- better fx
- the pads seem more dynamic to me than the mpc ones
contra:
- why is it so damn big? the surface is almost empty.
- the display doesnt have much contrast
- only two midi outs, one midi in (no problem with a midibox, but hmm)

I've tried this MV out at a local Guitar Center and I have to tell you people...it is all Bullshit!! This thing doesnt even come close to an MPC4000, the sequencer is just as whack as the Fantom S...sure its got some cool FX, padsare nice but arent as good as the MPC series either, Screen has good Graphics but is kinda dim and gloomy.........If you dont like the Fantom or the MC909 then you wont like this effort by Roland either.......Roland is good at sound modules everything else they make is "user unfriendly" or just a Dumb toy like the Mc909, SP808.....You're not talking to Dummy here or an amateur,,I damn near mastered my Yamaha motif in a day and most people say that is a difficult piece. If you're gonna spend money buy the 4000 trust me I've been using MPC's forever and had recently sold my trusty MPC60 for the 4000. I've also owned a 2000xl before which I sold to buy my Sp1200 and we had a MPC3000 at this studio I used to work at for years so I'm experienced with that although it is the same as my 60 was with 3.10 Roger Linn software upgrade. Maybe Roland can get it right down the road but steer clear of this thing for now especially if you have an MPC you wont like the Roland sequencer that ish is Whack trust me. .....Hmmm maybe you should change your name to MV_Producer now since you like bashin the 4000 so much?? People it took the 3000 almost 4 years to get finished with updates on the OS so trust me the 4000 will come around soon....My guess is that by July we will see MAJOR features added like Audition from Disk, better CD burning (sessions etc).......This unit has the power...Akai Pro just suffered some financial setbacks thats why you saw Akai products disappear for a few months from store shelves...And I think it is also why they released the MPC1000.....To get that fast money back so they can develop more on the 4000, release the Software sampler and possibly another Hard disk recorder...That is also why they changed their colors...trying to turn over a new leaf....You gotta understand those boys in Japan dont speak much and I think SeanW. and David Whittle have been doing their best considering Akai closed some of its offices here when they had troubles.....The Economy is building back up and you'll see this unit completed .....it takes money to develop an OS an this MPC is more complex than all of the previous ones out...not to mention more complex than the MV8000....oohhhh yeah I always wanted to go back to 16/44.1 bit sampling when I'm doing 24/96 now.....and ooohh yeah us Hip Hop producers dont like Loop and pattern based sequencing any longer so we'll just sell our perfect timing MPC for an MV..NOT!!

The MV-8000 pads have a good feel to them. They offer more tactile response than the MPCs. My favorite pads are those on the MPC2000XL.

Because the MPC4000 and the MV-8000 are photographed from a distance users are sometimes surprised by the size of these instruments when they finally get the chance to use one. Having opened the cases of both machines, I can assure you the interior of the MV is stuffed with components. For comparision, there is less free volume inside the MV-8000 case than in the MPC4000 case. Even with the seemingly ample space on the top of the MV, occasionally I activate one of the left side controls, such as the Clipboard by accident. This hasn't interferred with its operation in any way. I just wish there was a bit more space between the controls and pads. Others might not have the same experience, so I don't want to overemphasize this point.

The display could use more contrast, but it takes some getting used to it. Roland's synth products have a similar appearance using a different color. An unusual thing I noticed is the MV display photos show a green display, but the actual delivered product has an yellow-amber display.

It is interesting speculation why Roland made this change. The human eye has a higher sensitivty to green due to our ancient ancestry in plant-based environment. On the other hand, sensitivity to yellow ranks just below green and has been show to be more effective in office enivronments with bright lighting.

Interesting anecdote: almost 19 years ago I had the chance to try the very first production model Atari 520ST. There was no serial number on the unit, which was donated by Atari to a major midwest computer user club. The computer arrived with a green monochrome monitor. When Atari released the product a couple months later it had a gray and white monochrome display instead of the green one.

When I first learned about the fewer MIDI in/outs on the MV I questioned what seemed like a lack of ports. In time I realized that Roland actually made a very wise decision as they controlled their cost by eliminating a few of the ports.

Most customers don't own a room full of equipment to connect to the MV. This isn't to say that professionals won't have a lot of gear. But the majority of MV customers are not going to be pros with a room full of synths and modules. Most of them will have a single keyboard and additional module. Some may want to control the MV from another device while the majority will use the MV as their centerpiece of control.

For acasanostrarecords and others: I have no time to respond to a multitude of long anti-MV posts from users who refuse put in any effort with MV-8000, so please do not expect a response. I began writing the reply to Needle201 before the acasanostrarecords post so I am making an exception in that case.

All readers should understand that this website is for MPC users who, by their defined interest, are going to have a strong preference for the MPC only. Many of them will not open their minds to anything new because there has been no competing product until now.

The MV is MORE complex than the MPCs. You don't understand this because you are not putting in ANY effort whatsoeverl. NONE!!!

That is all I am going to say on this subject. The next post will be on January 11th.

Personally, its not about "effort", its about the reviews isnt really touching interesting subjects for me. Where I live theres no way to go into a store to try a MV or a 4K out at all so Im stuck with Internet reviews and other peoples opinions. But, frankly, the only thing that would even make me consider to switch from the 4k to the mv so far is the realtime timestretch feature. But it all depends on how that is implemented and how user friendly it is. I still do like the 4k.

Kalei

well I for one have no intrest at all in the ram expansion ect.. but it´s very valid, and its your review so do it as you please, your doing it well.. just try to be more nutral in your posts, it does feel like you faivor the mw, is it a better tool?.. prehaps it is.. dunno in my enviroment the mpc is doing a banging job.. although I do think the mw has one very elegant feature: vari phase timestretching, while we at 4k go via usb..

aint this an mpc forum???????

Right..........Tell us exactly what is better..about the sampler, sequencer, esoterics......we dont give a rattlesnake's left nut about what kind of Ram is compatible......you wont convince me because ive tried enough Roland sequencers including the MV to know they aint up to MPC par........and it is all about the Swing ask your girl!! LOL...(jus kiddin settle down now)....Roland makes cool FX.....they go thru products so fast though.....never getting to develop them fully....Akai marinates in a product for a few years...Yeah we have OS issues but like i said this will be a classic trust me...all their units are...Why because they dont fill them with unnecessary B.S. features like Roland that never work right....they give you the meat and potatoes and We some Hungry Man producers......Hungry to work over some hot tracks without all the Drama using a B.S, linear sequencer pre loaded with techno rhythmns....lol