Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000
By cleansocks Fri Aug 21, 2020 10:57 pm
hi,

I was using my MPC when I accidentally loaded too many samples and 0 wav memory well right as I was going to turn it off the machine froze and the screen woudlnt move. if I pressed the pad it still made sounds though. Anyway, it froze. I boot it up and I go to LOAD and boom, only my USB stick is there, the Hard drive is gone!

When I boot it back up again I notice it's a lot quieter, probably because I don't hear a drive spinning in there. Could this be what happened? As the Disk was from 2002 as noted on the machine. Could that be it? Is replacing it an easy fix?
By cleansocks Fri Aug 21, 2020 11:23 pm
Alright I'm pretty sure My Hard Drive died I've rebooted it several times nada, it's dead. I decided as much as a pain in the ass this machine is I love it to death and can't wait to finally master it, so I'm gonna upgrade it.

In order to do an SSD upgrade, I read I need an SSD, a 2.5 to 3.5 inch drive bay, and a SATA to PATA converter to attach to the mobo. In that case, would these items work?:

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Dri ... r=8-5&th=1

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-530-Seri ... N&LH_BIN=1

https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Adapter-Mo ... 668&sr=8-3
By cleansocks Sat Aug 22, 2020 8:56 am
dryad-66 wrote:Or just use the USB on the front.Then you can organise sampleS on the computer.Just loads and saves a bit slower.


I like to have Internal hard drive to save it in for later and update my samples / sequences / whatever

As for the Startech, there is something I am confused by where the ports go. Does the SATA drive plug into the Startech, and the Startech Pins go into the MPC? Or do the Startech molex pins connect to somewhere on the MPC? basically, I am just confused where exactly it would hook up to. The most detailed video I could find is just some guy grumbling and not really going through the ins and outs of his connections and how he got there.
By cleansocks Sat Aug 22, 2020 8:57 am
I hope this was obvious but when i said connect somewhere on the MPC i meant internally...as this is an internal hard drive. Is there a specific slot I put the pins / molex in? and if so which connection is it
By dryad-66 Sat Aug 22, 2020 1:01 pm
cleansocks wrote:I hope this was obvious but when i said connect somewhere on the MPC i meant internally...as this is an internal hard drive. Is there a specific slot I put the pins / molex in? and if so which connection is it

Open her up and check the hard drive,connections ect.Might just need adjusting.Anyhow upgrade I’d you want the hard drive.The mole from the startech will connect into the board same as the OG drive.The startech will connect straight to your new SSD and the Sata cable from you OG HD with plug into the other connector on the Startech.Its just a adapter.Four globs of silicon on each corner of the SSD with hold the SSD in place,create a bit of cushion for knocks.And easily removed too.Let us know how you get on...
By CharlesRandolph Sat Aug 22, 2020 1:55 pm
dryad-66 wrote:Open her up and check the hard drive,connections ect.Might just need adjusting.Anyhow upgrade I’d you want the hard drive.The mole from the startech will connect into the board same as the OG drive.The startech will connect straight to your new SSD and the Sata cable from you OG HD with plug into the other connector on the Startech.Its just a adapter.Four globs of silicon on each corner of the SSD with hold the SSD in place,create a bit of cushion for knocks.And easily removed too.Let us know how you get on...


I removed all the hard drives out of all my MPC 4000 and use a 256 GB flash drive in them all. What do you think the benefits of having a hard drive would be, when most people aren't using Ak Sys anymore.
By dryad-66 Sat Aug 22, 2020 2:21 pm
CharlesRandolph wrote:
dryad-66 wrote:Open her up and check the hard drive,connections ect.Might just need adjusting.Anyhow upgrade I’d you want the hard drive.The mole from the startech will connect into the board same as the OG drive.The startech will connect straight to your new SSD and the Sata cable from you OG HD with plug into the other connector on the Startech.Its just a adapter.Four globs of silicon on each corner of the SSD with hold the SSD in place,create a bit of cushion for knocks.And easily removed too.Let us know how you get on...


I removed all the hard drives out of all my MPC 4000 and use a 256 GB flash drive in them all. What do you think the benefits of having a hard drive would be, when most people aren't using Ak Sys anymore.

Speed !!!!! If you use the USB drive on the front its a bit slower to load and save.At least with my stick.Otherwise its a done deal.So you can just swap samples with the comp ect.In fact i share samples between my Pioneer SP16 and the 4000 and the MBP.But i think its good to have both installed.Just in case.
By CharlesRandolph Sat Aug 22, 2020 3:12 pm
dryad-66 wrote:Speed !!!!! If you use the USB drive on the front its a bit slower to load and save.At least with my stick.Otherwise its a done deal.So you can just swap samples with the comp ect.In fact i share samples between my Pioneer SP16 and the 4000 and the MBP.But i think its good to have both installed.Just in case.


I optimize all my sounds so the load and save time aren't really that bad, considering they're 18 year old machines. :nod: I'm using two 4000, MIDI together, going 20 out into digital snake and being patched via Dante.
By dryad-66 Sat Aug 22, 2020 3:34 pm
CharlesRandolph wrote:
dryad-66 wrote:Speed !!!!! If you use the USB drive on the front its a bit slower to load and save.At least with my stick.Otherwise its a done deal.So you can just swap samples with the comp ect.In fact i share samples between my Pioneer SP16 and the 4000 and the MBP.But i think its good to have both installed.Just in case.


I optimize all my sounds so the load and save time aren't really that bad, considering they're 18 year old machines. :nod: I'm using two 4000, MIDI together, going 20 out into digital snake and being patched via Dante.

Its not too bad.But the bigger the sample load obviously the bigger the difference.Im often saving the whole 512 mb on a regular basis so shorter time are mor favourable.....And saving on both mediums is a good practice for backup.
By CharlesRandolph Sat Aug 22, 2020 3:45 pm
dryad-66 wrote:
Its not too bad.But the bigger the sample load obviously the bigger the difference.Im often saving the whole 512 mb on a regular basis so shorter time are mor favourable.....And saving on both mediums is a good practice for backup.


You use 512 MB in one project? What sample sets are you loading? What's the load time for a projects with 33 mins of music? 15 minutes. :popcorn:
By dryad-66 Sat Aug 22, 2020 5:06 pm
CharlesRandolph wrote:
dryad-66 wrote:
Its not too bad.But the bigger the sample load obviously the bigger the difference.Im often saving the whole 512 mb on a regular basis so shorter time are mor favourable.....And saving on both mediums is a good practice for backup.


You use 512 MB in one project? What sample sets are you loading? What's the load time for a projects with 33 mins of music? 15 minutes. :popcorn:


I’m using the 4000 as a processor/remixer.I re-record passages of audio onto the pads and effect them.Often long passages.I give the audio a little bump of onboard compression on the way through.Then use peak 1 filter model controlled by the 2 sliders cutoff and resonance and maybe touch itt up with the digital eq plus put pitch on q link ect.This is my favourite processing route atm.Crazy.And then can chop and sequence easily and tweak Away.Adds a real old school flavour and is not murky like real older samplers.Plus love working in the 4000.Back in the day tracks were often pieced together like this with parts of the songs split up on pads and resequences.Of course then it all gets live recorded into the daw......