Considering buying an MPC4000

I'm in the market for a new toy and was considering on purchasing an mpc4000...but w/ all the talk of a buggy o.s. I'm kind of worried on spending that type of money so here are some q's:

I understand completly the whole concept of parts, multi's and programs but how does the 4000 handle all these when dealing w/ multiples of them(meaning more than one of each)? Slow? Fast? Problems?

How are the effects on it? Since I don't already have a stand alone fx processor this seems cool to to have it in the box already.

What's the learning curve compared to a 2kxl? Will I be able to jump right on it and get to work?

Last, what's the real story w/ customer support over at akai in regards to solving problems? Are all the horror stories true? I've already emailed akai w/ some of these questions but I'd rather hear it coming from actual users who have nothing to gain from telling their experiences.

Thanks,
Liz

The MPC4000 is powerful enough to load many of samples, programs, and multis. Speed is only a concern when you are using more than 256 MB of data, which is very rare for anyone. Don’t bother expanding the memory to 512 MB. It is unlikely that you will require that much memory.

The effects are generally good. AKAI has overdone it a bit with reverbs. There are too many choices in that category. Newer products have better choices of effects, but this is to be expected with a machine that is already 2 years old.

The learning curve is similar to an MPC2000XL. The MPC4000 has a much better interface. Learning the 4000 is easier than the older models. However, it is more complex than the older models. The additional features add to your learning time. Estimate at least month before you really know your way around.

The real story is AKAI is taking longer and longer to fix the bugs in the OS and deliver the features they announced 2 years ago when the machine was released. Their distributor went bankrupt and they had to get another OS developer. These issues added to the delays. As time goes it becomes less likely they will fix everything. They abandoned the S5000/6000 samplers when it was no longer in their financial interest to fix the problems, so it is possible the same thing will happen with the MPC4000 some day.

Buy the MPC4000 with the understanding that you like it the way it is now, not the way it could be in the future

I was interested in buying the MPC4000 to, but as i know more and more about the MPC ive chosen not to get the MPC4000 for the following reasons:

A: As Tutor said, Akai are unable to fix the bugs. Some basic and important functions are effected by the bugs (the pads timing for instance). As it turns out with new updates newer bugs will appear. That is a sign that there is something very wrong with the source of the OS, wich is something that never can be fixed.

B; The FX routing is very poor, there are only 4 channels, EQ and COmpression will take up the channels. When you dont have good mixing console and some other proffesional studio gear, you wont be able to make studio quality tracks with it. The FX sound moderate, the fx in the Yamaha RS7000 and the MV8000 are somewhat of better quality.

C: There are cheaper alternatives on the market, wich will offer more to poeple with a smaller budget. Think of: RS7000, MV8000

Ild suggest you dont buy it, cause it aint worth the money. In the near future there will be better machines then the MPC4000. You might wind up selling the MPC4000 for 1/4 of the price you payed for it, and selling your body to dirty old man to buy the newer one.

" Akai are unable to fix the bugs. Some basic and important functions are effected by the bugs (the pads timing for instance). As it turns out with new updates newer bugs will appear. That is a sign that there is something very wrong with the source of the OS, wich is something that never can be fixed."

that is just guesswork and misinformation presented as fact. Plus four fx busses is quite a lot... There maybe reasons to not buy a 4000 but I don't think those are they

Richard

honestly...I was 99.999% happy with 1.45...yes it was lacking..but these aren't things that "I" needed. I definitely don't need the audition from hard drive either. The thing that got to me is that w/1.5 it was like a tease...oh wow..I can fully use the mixer now instead of how I had previously been doing mixes (which neither makes it easier or more complicated...just a different way to do it). Hmm it's more convenient assigning outs.. oh there's a 16 tunings button..that I've never needed before..but cool..and tight it now saves sync setup to global and won't mess up when I name samples over 20 characters in length...

all of those things...never deterred me from making a track..never even made it difficult for me to make a track..perhaps if I sat here and convinced myself that it is a pain in the ass to flick sync setup on and change two parameters when I'm ready to dump to cubase...or change the out of program/pad in program mode...it would've affected me..but its' just not the case...this doesn't excuse akai, of course, but it doesn't give consumers a logic based excuse to look for a sub par product as a replacement just because that sub par products features work. The mpc4k is a great machine. In my eyes it's the best machine of it's type ever made...EVEN WITH THE BUGS. (unless, of course, you install and try to use it with 1.5)

Not for me, a lot of poeple like me, want a hardware sequencer in stead of software, because of its reliability and intuitive feel.
The MPC4000 is not more reliable then software, in fact its got more bugs then most software does (crashing still occurs with 1.45).

But compare the MPC4000 with recent software,,

Software can handle unlimited amounts of effects and compression. The effects do sound just as good or sometimes even better then the ones on the MPC.

The PC can handle 24/96 res processing while as long as the PC allow,s

So combining all these facts,,, makes the MPC4000 not good enough for switching from software to hardware. Concidering the price that is.

NAhhh man, im gonna buy myself a RS7000, for half the price. More bang for your buck

a pc can't handle unlimited amounts of sampling. it depends on the size/speed of your drives, and the amount of memory you have...unless you're using giga, I can't imagine a situation where you'd ever need 500MB of samples in memory...

as far as reliability i disagree.. my setup is 100% rock solid without fail when I'm all hardware....the moment i switch on the pc that' drops to 90 instantly. Cubase or windows or some random function like some midi whatever is bound to fail or lock up or just NOT work..requiring a reboot. I've never had a single os crash with any hardware piece..esp. not my 4k.


also..pc's can't handle an unlimited amount of effects and compression...these "unlimited statements" all need to be qualitified..even with the fasted available g5 you don't have unlimited anything. More..well yah..which is why I use cubase for effects etc..however...my pc (2.4ghz well equipped etc etc) slows when I try to use tons of effects and I often find myself bouncing those "effected" tracks in order to keep operation from slowing..I've never had to do this with any piece of hardware regardless of what I was doing with it from effects to whatever.

this shouldnt' be a software vs hardware debate anyhow. pc'sare inherently more unreliable than hardware. ask any gigging musician.

functions and features..well you can argue that all day long..but honestly you end up @ about the same price if you pay for your stuff. my mpc was 2300...a g5 by itself costs more than that..but let's settle for a run of the mill generic pc..$600, cubase 700, various vsti samplers another 500-700 midi interfaces..more...so price point is only a factor if you consider piracy...which I'm not downing...but let's not make the argument that pc's are better because you can steal the software.....

I already stated out that the capabilities of a pc are limited by its cpu-power.

The point im making is that the MPC4000 aint powerfull enough to attract poeple who are concidering moving from software to hardware thats all.

Ive read many comments on yahoo usergroup from poeple whove sold their MPC4k in order to move on the a pc.

Hmmmm....I think I'm gonna wait awhile to see what akai's next move is concerning the next update before I rush out and purchase a machine like this. I do know the gripes of the useres in the yahoo group and I can't say that I don't feel their frustration. It must suck to be in the dark and unsure if the machine they bought will ever live up to it's full potential as promised by akai in early advertisements. Another thing is I'm not sure if I could let this 3 grand go with the type of customer service akai is displaying. Oh well, I still got time to think about it.

thanks

Liz,

You don't have to spend over $3,200 to get the top-the-line MPC4000 as I did. Buy the LE version for $1,800. Add a hard drive and memory for another $150. With shipping the total should be $2,000. The 8 outputs board costs another $300. You can add that later when you are familiar with the MPC4000. The CDR isn't useful, so you can skip that component.

If you need parts or anything repaired that would not be a problem. I have not heard any reports of users needing repair service. The only concern is the unfinished state of the OS.

Overall, the MPC4000 works well enough. It's just bad that AKAI did not handle the product better than they have done the past 2 years.

MPC_Producer wrote:they had to get another OS developer.

AFAIK, that was only a rumour started by someone on the yahoo list and never confirmed?

MPC_Producer wrote:Buy the MPC4000 with the understanding that you like it the way it is now, not the way it could be in the future

All and all its a sweet machine, but I agree with MPC_Producer here, dont buy it thinking "they'll fix this". Buy it now and be prepared to not see another OS update or just wait and see what happens instead. I do believe they WILL fix it, the question is only WHEN will it happen....

Kalei

^^ exactly.

I mean like I said I was 99.9999% happy w/the thing..the only thing I really wanted fixed was loop truncate bug and writing sync setup to global mem. Now that I've seen the mixer I want that too hahaha..but only cuz it's fly, not cuz I need it.

I became aware of the third party OS development before that bizarre summer discussion. It wasn't their rumor (or whatever that summer discussion was) which I referred to above. I have been on the Yahoo list almost since its inception. I knew about the OS development before the forum discussed the subject. A year after the MPC4000 release it was seemed clear that AKAI wasn't doing in-house development. I remember stumbling across some clue in one of the manuals and then the rest fell together.

Speaking of the manuals, here is some advice from the MPC4000 User Guide:

"Avoid setting up the MPC4000 in the following locations ... Inside a vehicle such as a car, where it will be subject to vibration."

Too bad, because it might have been nice to bang out a couple sequences during a long summer drive.

I've had the MPC4000 ever since it was first available in stores. I am still running OS 1.45, because I hear alot of bad reviews with OS 1.50. Otherwise than the OS 1.50, I love this thing. It's my main sampler and sequencer. I've got the MPC4000 to do whatever I needed to get the job done. I mainly do R&B, Hip Hop, Gospel and remixes. You can check out some of our work at www.masmuzik.com Hope this helps anybody on choosing one.

I've had the MPC4000 ever since it was first available in stores. I am still running OS 1.45, because I hear alot of bad reviews with OS 1.50. Otherwise than the OS 1.50, I love this thing. It's my main sampler and sequencer. I've got the MPC4000 to do whatever I needed to get the job done. I mainly do R&B, Hip Hop, Gospel and remixes. You can check out some of our work at www.masmuzik.com Hope this helps anybody on choosing one.