Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000
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By Remedial Mon Apr 26, 2010 4:15 am
Okay, so I just gave Ak.sys 2.61 and it was quite the pleasant experience. It definitely makes sending samples to the 4k THAT MUCH easier.

Now, here's my question: After I'm finished using Ak.sys and I'm ready to call it a night, should I close Ak.sys first or turn off the 4k first. I decided to just go with turning off the 4k first tonight because I'm worried about closing Ak.sys first and it then maybe sending errant messages to the 4k or something. I know, paranoid, but, I'm just trying to err on the side of caution.

I noticed that, after doing this, Ak.sys basically went blank, which is expected since the unit that it's getting it's info from is no longer available.

So, am I doing it right or does it really not matter?

Lastly, one thing I noticed in Ak.sys is that the playback mode in the sample list appears to always stay at "No Loop", even if you change that option within the MPC (haven't figured out how to do it yet within Ak.sys or if it's even possible) and hit refresh.

Let me know if that is just the way it is or if it's possible to have the information updated at all.

Thanks.
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By dabmeister Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:41 am
I've always practiced closing a program first then shutting down the supporting hardware. So closing ak.sys first would seem to be the more appropriate means of coming out of that.

Now as far as the playback mode problem goes, I'm thinking that since the user is responsible for selecting a sample editor, of course that editor is where the loop feature would be turned on or off.

Or it could be that there's no loop features directly associated with ak.sys itself, which would mean that the feature lies within whatever editor you're using.

I've setup soundforge to be my editor and it works great for what I need it to do.
User avatar
By Remedial Mon Apr 26, 2010 4:57 pm
dabmeister wrote:I've always practiced closing a program first then shutting down the supporting hardware. So closing ak.sys first would seem to be the more appropriate means of coming out of that.

Now as far as the playback mode problem goes, I'm thinking that since the user is responsible for selecting a sample editor, of course that editor is where the loop feature would be turned on or off.

Or it could be that there's no loop features directly associated with ak.sys itself, which would mean that the feature lies within whatever editor you're using.

I've setup soundforge to be my editor and it works great for what I need it to do.


Yeah, I agree with your method dabmeister. It's just that I've bricked gear before and that has left me mad paranoid. I'm surprised the Ak.sys manual didn't mention anything about the order of connection or turning on of gear, program, etc...

But, after I saw the program just go blank after I turned off the hardware, I figure I'll be closing the software first.

I'd like to say to everyone though, that, the number one way to avoid bricking gear is to NOT turn off the hardware while transferring data and ESPECIALLY while updating the OS.

Had this happen to me with my Waldorf Blofeld, but, I'm not fully to blame as that piece of gear is NOTORIOUSLY buggy as all outdoors.

I haven't had to use the "open editor" feature in Ak.sys as of yet since I do most of the editing to my samples before I load them up in the program anyway. But, it's just funny that I can change the sound to one-shot within the MPC, refresh within Ak.sys and it just stays listed as "No loop". Well, no biggie though, as I know what it truly is.

Thanks for the advice, as always.