MPC2500 - No sound output

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MPC2500 - No sound output

By pgrewal Tue Jul 08, 2014 12:46 am
Hey guys,

I bought an MPC2500 about 3 to 4 years ago and I made a few songs on it, but either than that, I haven't used it much to be honest. I guess I just prefer to make music by putting a microphone up to whatever I'm playing.

Anyways, I want to sell my MPC, however, I want to keep the music I've already made on it. So in the process of salvaging my works, I painfully found out that whenever I load a sample and assign it to a pad, it won't play any sound. When I'm in the LOAD screen, I can't hear the sample when I click and hold play. Weirdly enough a small high pitched beep plays at an incredibly negligible volume - I'm surprised I even noticed.

Sorry for my lack of experience with the MPC, however I'm a quick learner and will post up any info you guys need to help me out. All buttons are fully functional, it's just that there's no sound. I'm ready to buy a modular synth, so if anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them! Thanks guys!
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Re: MPC2500 - No sound output

By Matriks Fri Jul 11, 2014 5:22 am
Hey

To start with the simplest things: How did you connect your MPC with the other audio components? Are all the faders, knobs (volume etc.) at your sound system open?

Do you hear sounds & samples if you connect your headphones to the MPC?

Re: MPC2500 - No sound output

By pgrewal Fri Jul 11, 2014 1:45 pm
Hey thanks for the response!

I connected my MPC to studio monitors via outputs 1 and 2. I checked to make sure the output was full on the Mixer, also when I plug headphones in there is still no sound. :(

What does "open" mean? Excuse my unfamiliarity with certain audio terms.

Re: MPC2500 - No sound output

By LZ Roberts Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:07 pm
Try connecting to the Stereo Outs instead of 1&2. Look at which output the sound is assigned to via MODE-PAD8 Mixer for that Pad. The default output is L&R and then you assign a sound to the other channels (1&2, 3&4, 5&6 etc)
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Re: MPC2500 - No sound output

By Lampdog Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:11 pm
Matriks wrote: (volume etc.) at your sound system open?

pgrewal wrote:the output was full on the Mixer


Same thing.

LZ Roberts wrote:Try connecting to the Stereo Outs instead of 1&2.

Re: MPC2500 - No sound output

By pgrewal Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:33 pm
LZ Roberts wrote:Try connecting to the Stereo Outs instead of 1&2. Look at which output the sound is assigned to via MODE-PAD8 Mixer for that Pad. The default output is L&R and then you assign a sound to the other channels (1&2, 3&4, 5&6 etc)


I will try to connect to the stereo outs ASAP. But although I was connected to outputs 1 and 2, I still made sure that the output was assigned to those on the the Mixer.

Re: MPC2500 - No sound output

By pgrewal Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:48 pm
Alright, I got back from work and immediately tried your guys' suggestions:

Once I connected my studio monitors to the stereo out, I had a little success. Now when loading samples I can hear them when clicking and holding the play button. However, when I load a program with samples already assigned, I can't hear any sound when I strike a pad. I checked the mixer, and the outputs for the pad are correctly assigned to Stereo.

Thanks for the help so far guys! Anymore suggestions?

Re: MPC2500 - No sound output

By LZ Roberts Sat Jul 12, 2014 10:46 am
Try loading a single sample into an empty program and put it on Pad 1. Set the mixer channel to L&R, all the volumes should be 100% anyway - I'm presuming you won't be hearing any sound because of the problem.

On my OS (JJOS1-5.55) there is a Global window on Mode-Pad 10, which indicates the number of voices that I'm using. When the pad is struck, then it shows up that I'm using one of the voices. On my Global screen, it also shows the global output volume settings, this should be between the 0dB and -12dB range. There is a 'PAD' tab on Mode-Pad 10 on my OS which gives the input velocity meter when the pads are struck.

On Mode-Pad12 there is the master output EQ & Compressor if the gain on the compressor is right down then this may effect the output volume.

If nothing appears to be playing then try the sample on a different Pad like A-16 & see what happens there. Also try a different bank, click in Bank-B and load the sample into a B-Bank Pad.

If you have a midi keyboard then try inputting from there. You will have to set up the midi in Mode-Pad 9 and see if the sample plays from midi.

Hopefully this may narrow things down a little bit.

Re: MPC2500 - No sound output

By pgrewal Sat Jul 12, 2014 10:09 pm
LZ Roberts wrote:Try loading a single sample into an empty program and put it on Pad 1. Set the mixer channel to L&R, all the volumes should be 100% anyway - I'm presuming you won't be hearing any sound because of the problem.

On my OS (JJOS1-5.55) there is a Global window on Mode-Pad 10, which indicates the number of voices that I'm using. When the pad is struck, then it shows up that I'm using one of the voices. On my Global screen, it also shows the global output volume settings, this should be between the 0dB and -12dB range. There is a 'PAD' tab on Mode-Pad 10 on my OS which gives the input velocity meter when the pads are struck.

On Mode-Pad12 there is the master output EQ & Compressor if the gain on the compressor is right down then this may effect the output volume.

If nothing appears to be playing then try the sample on a different Pad like A-16 & see what happens there. Also try a different bank, click in Bank-B and load the sample into a B-Bank Pad.

If you have a midi keyboard then try inputting from there. You will have to set up the midi in Mode-Pad 9 and see if the sample plays from midi.

Hopefully this may narrow things down a little bit.



Okay so I first loaded a sample without assigning it to any pads. I then navigated to MODE- Pad 7 (Program) and I assigned that sample to the pad. I then clicked main and tried to play the sample through the pad, and it didn't work. I tried this through a couple of different pads.

Next, I went to Mode - Pad 10 and my global output is set to -12dB. There isn't an area that shows me the voices playing, however, on the PAD tab in this section, it reads the velocities of all of my pads...but for some reason there's no sound.

Lastly, I navigated to Mode - Pad 12. My compressor and EQ were off, and the gain was at +03. I tried turning them on individually and together, I also tried adjusting the gain levels, but nonetheless, the MPC will still not make sound :? :cry:

I tried all the above on multiple pads from multiple banks.

Also, I will have a midi controller in a couple days, I currently don't have access to it.

Anymore suggestions? I don't understand why it can play when loading a sample but not in any other situations.

Re: MPC2500 - No sound output

By LZ Roberts Sun Jul 13, 2014 11:33 am
It does sound like a very curious problem. Especially as you are hearing the sound when you are on the load page.

I'm assuming that when you are on the LOAD page and you press PLAY then you are getting sound through your L&R outputs and your headphones. This would indicate that your audio board is working. Obviously the pads are working to be able to select the all the Modes & pages. The CPU seems to be fine so I'm left wondering if the OS might have been corrupted in some way :hmmm:

Perhaps a reload of the OS. You may have to use the original Akai CF to do this though as other CFs are a bit hit and miss with OS loading, especially with Akai OS.

I've also just noticed a Initialise To Factory Presets on page 115 of the manual. May be worth a try.
http://www.mpc-tutor.com/files/mpc-manu ... manual.pdf

In the service manual there is mention of a special Test OS. This seems to be an almost mythical creature that isn't readily locatable. (If any other forum members can help out here?)

http://www.mpc-tutor.com/files/mpc-serv ... Manual.pdf

If all this doesn't work it could be an idea to open the box up and try and re-seat the connectors between the boards and re-seat the memory. Sometimes things that are on the edge of working respond to this sort of thing.

Anyway, if you are really not getting anywhere, and as you are selling your MPC, it could be an idea to strip it down and sell all the parts separately. I had a friend who got a well dodgy MacBook from some ebay twat and after a couple of days of tears I told him to sell it in bits. He made more money than he paid for it. :lol:

Good Luck with all that. And fingers crossed. :)

Re: MPC2500 - No sound output

By pgrewal Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:58 am
If I were to move everything from the MPC to my computer, could I keep all of my projects, samples, data, etc. before erasing everything to factory settings?

Although my previous projects on the MPC weren't that great....I'm just one of those people who like looking at old music projects years later :)

Re: MPC2500 - No sound output

By LZ Roberts Thu Jul 17, 2014 5:20 pm
Sorry, not been on the forum for a couple of days.

The Factory reset only effects the internal flash memory. All the other data on CF or Hard drive will not be touched. You can always disconnect the HD or unplug your CF when doing the reset.

But it could be an idea to dump your music all to computer through your usb. It sounds like that side of your MPC should work. Also if your stuff is on CF then you can always get a USB CF reader for your computer - I've been meaning to get one myself.
The data is all in a format that the computer will read.

When you've got a working MPC, it should all go back in without a problem. :)

Re: MPC2500 - No sound output

By pgrewal Mon Aug 04, 2014 2:02 am
Alright, I finally got some time to try a factory reset out, and it worked! Thanks for everyone's help, especially LZ Roberts :P

I hope this helps other people with similar problems out. Also, I already bought my synth, and now that this thing is working again, I think I may keep it :lol:
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