Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000

By TCHARLZ Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:10 pm
Yes it sounds the same....
Another odd thing is when in sample/trim page, the pads are not triggering the same crackle....for example, pad 13 makes a long crackle whereas pad 15 makes a short one...

I loaded a sound from akai cdrom, assigned it to a pad, still crackle

By the way this crackle sounds like oold vynil crackle.....

Thanx USER GUY
User avatar
By MPC USER GUY Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:39 pm
Well, the long/short crackle sound doesn't really matter because you're listening to the same sample at different pitches.

TCHARLZ before we go any further, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, it sounds to me like you have a serious problem. It doesn't sound like the PCB i/o ADDA(which handles the input and output), it sounds more like the PCBoard CPU Block(I consider it the MAIN PCB or "heart" of the MPC) which handles the processing.

You could try different things if you want, like checking the REC GAIN, REC IN INPUT SELECT, but it sounds to me like something more in depth, being that it happens with both recorded and loaded samples.

I would normally ask you to open it up, but since you just purchased it, I would contact the seller and discuss this with him and figure out your options at this point(returning it or getting it repared at the sellers cost).

Now this is my opinion, as with anything else in life, you could get a second, third...opinion on this. But I have seen this behavior on and off this forum; it usually is an internal issue(Faulty PCB's).

Let us know what you plan to do...
Your fellow member,
MPCUSERGUY 8)

By TCHARLZ Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:14 pm
That's what I figuerd out....
Also, do you think it coulbe related to certain Ram or HDD not approuved by akai
User avatar
By MPC USER GUY Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:21 pm
Yes, It could be the RAM. RAM has been the culprit of many strange behaviors; but at this point I don't think the HDD has anything to do with it.
A quick RAM test would be to remove all of the RAM sticks and check to see if the bad behavior remains the same or not. But, again, since you just purchased it, talk it over with the seller as to what your options are and what you want to do.

I feel terrible for you. :(
Let me know what happens, ok?

Your fellow member,
MPCUSERGUY 8)

By TCHARLZ Thu Feb 22, 2007 10:36 pm
Oh well, I just feel very frustrated, the seller was like "I don't understand, I tried it yesterday, it worked perfectly, I don't know what to say..."

Thanx anyway User guy, I appreciate a lot, and sure I will let you know what happens...

By TCHARLZ Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:27 am
The seller (I got it second hand) said the ram installed was second hand too... so maybe it's only ram...

Also when I audition a wav sample from akai libraries cdrom, I also hear the crackle noise...is ram involved for auditionning from a cdrom?
User avatar
By MPC USER GUY Fri Feb 23, 2007 3:01 am
That's a good point!

To my knowledge, when auditioning samples, it's a real time process so that what you hear is being "played" directly off of the media. I don't think RAM is involved.

I understand that you're trying to troubleshoot the problem, but shouldn't it be the responsibility of the seller? Are they nearby? If so, maybe you should get your money back until they repair it?

MPC USER GUY 8)

By TCHARLZ Fri Feb 23, 2007 3:21 am
Well, the seller is near for a week...so I will get to meet him again and show him...but you know, it's second hand...He seems he can't believe it, cause he "tried it yesterday and all was perfect..."I paid him part money and part check...So he's like he don't know, and seems he doesn't want to feel responsible for the issue...but he's reachable at the moment, and seems worried about this (he seems honest, but the issue is here, I don't know...)[/i]
User avatar
By MPC USER GUY Fri Feb 23, 2007 3:43 am
TCHARLZ, I'll be logging off in a few minutes and if you're still seeking help maybe some of the other valuable and quite knowledgable members can step in but what I think is...

Being that the seller is near as you mention, and it went through an IDEAL transportation, and it worked fine the previous day, and doesn't today, and when he says that he "seems he doesn't want to feel responsible for the issue" when you JUST purchased it leads me to think that something isn't honest here. I think you should return it and get your money back.

If you really want to deal with this seller any further, insist that he repair it, and check it well before you hand over the money again. OR you could take the responsibility for the repairs yourself(I wouldn't advise it).

I understand how excited you are to get this great machine, but at the expense of having to do some possibly serious repairs, it may not be worth it. That's completely up to you and how you personally feel about the situation.

Blue Haze mentioned recently that another MPC will be released this year
and maybe that one will be easier to purchase when available. Maybe you'll want to wait? I don't know that it will be the successor to the MPC4000, being that AKAI is pretty much a new company now and the product architecture seems to have changed a bit(MPC500) and so has almost everything else at AKAI.

I hope it works out well according to how you want to handle this situation,
Best of luck TCHARLZ and Good night,
MPCUSERGUY 8)
By renegadebliss Fri Feb 23, 2007 6:21 am
MPC USER GUY wrote:That's a good point!

To my knowledge, when auditioning samples, it's a real time process so that what you hear is being "played" directly off of the media. I don't think RAM is involved.


MPC USER GUY...

Are you sure that auditioning samples doesn't hit the RAM at all? Im not a hardware guru by any fair stretch .... but I can't see a CPU doing something and NOT loading it into RAM. From the 1.60 Addendum it states this:
**
- Some samples can't be streamed (i.e., "loaded" as virtual samples).
When auditioning, if the sample can't be loaded as a virtual sample,
it's loaded as a temporary memory sample. So any samples (including short ones) should audition correctly by being pre-loaded into memory automatically (which could take a long time in some cases).
**

From the above, I'm seeing that if you pre-load the sample (shift + audition), then it will pre-load it in RAM before playing it... but i do still believe that it is "loaded" into RAM, in a streaming sample, just not pre-loaded.... Of course, this is all speculation... but I can't see it not using RAM to stream the audition.


As for Tsharlz, I too feel REAL bad for you... and I hope that you are able to resolve this to a satisfactory ending. But I wanted to remind you of MPC USER GUYS earlier advice in a different thread

** And USER GUY,"neither would I attempt to install one at the risk of ruining any of my PCB's"
**

and
**
As far as that quote on the HDD relation to possibly ruining the MAIN PCB is concerned, I was referring more to the price of the main PCB which is $700 not including labor costs, should you accidently burn it out.
**

I'm hoping that by removing the RAM (or having the previous owner do it!) that it is the issue for you. But if not, remind the previous seller that he did do something that is very likely a possibilty of burning out the PCB boards...

Best Regards,
Dave

By TCHARLZ Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:15 am
Thanx a lot USER GUY and Dave, I'm pissed off but you guys are very helpful and that's some support!
Well, I'll see with the seller and cross myf ingers that it ends well....
But yes I'm looking at this machine, it's such a beauty compared to my xl, and scrolling thru the menus gave me a very good impression....but this beauty is seriously ill....so frustrated...

And Dave, what you say about ram gives me some hope, if it's the very issue, that would be great...

I'ma check and see with seller and let you know later.

Thanx again.
User avatar

By hyena Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:57 pm
i think that the later events who hitted me, tcharlz and ToastRockwell has all three something in common:

1- the 3 units were all bbouught second hand
2- the three units were all delivered via a courier.

this tells me that:
1-sellers are lying
OR
2-the 4k is a very fragile machine, handled with no care (as the common fast couriers do, and there is no FRAGILE sign that gonna make this change)some internal parts will be damaged
AND
3-maybe the majority of techies are totally incompetent on the 4ks because they barely saw one in their lives (i had to mail the service manual to the repair centre because if else id had to wait till nukai delivered the service manual by snail mail to em!!!!)
User avatar
By MPC USER GUY Fri Feb 23, 2007 6:05 pm
Hi Hyena! How goes it?

Thank you renegadebliss for clearing that up! According to the 1.60 Addendum quote you posted, that IS the way it works. Thanks again!

Although, with this problem I'm not sure it's the RAM; it may be, but I have a feeling it's not. The seller "said" that "he tried it yesterday and all was perfect." Hmm...Sounds strange. Ifthe trouble is isolated to the temporary memory, then I hope it's the DIMM RAM(removable)and not the hardwired 16MB.

renegadebliss, you're an extremely valuable asset to this forum as well!
I'm glad I joined this forum!

TCHARLZ: I hope everything works out well! Keep us posted!

Just trying to help out where I can,
MPCUSERGUY 8)