Wanting to use an MPC for live sets — 2000 or 2500?

tapedeck wrote:you can for sure find one in an old computer. hit up craigslist. hit up goodwill. hell even amazon will sell you one.

i guess its hard for me to grasp because i still think of the 1k and 2.5k as 'modern' machines, but they are approaching more vintage status and they definitely require a little diy work to get them running.

honestly though you still made the right choice, a 2000 would have been even harder to work on.

dont give up.

Valid! For some reason my heartstrings are pulled for the XL but I'm super happy with what I found (especially at such a bargain).

Definitely note giving up! The chase is half the fun.

I know I can order an IDE drive online for about $70, but yeah, locally would allow me to get on it ASAP.

just broaden your horizons. i'm serious - trash stores. goodwill. salvation army. any old computer within the last like 20 years will have the right kind of drive. yall got one in a closet somewhere? cousin that finished school in 2004? something like that - you'll find one.

look on craigslist for old computers and just rip what you need out of there.

tapedeck wrote:just broaden your horizons. i'm serious - trash stores. goodwill. salvation army. any old computer within the last like 20 years will have the right kind of drive. yall got one in a closet somewhere? cousin that finished school in 2004? something like that - you'll find one.

look on craigslist for old computers and just rip what you need out of there.

I realized that we do have an old one, but I think my partner is hoping to keep the files on it. So, I'm on the hunt. Thanks so much!

tapedeck wrote:just broaden your horizons.

I was concerned about getting one from a thrift store or from some retired computer given the potential for the drive to crash.

But I just realized that the same one sparq mentions in the 1000K thread about MPC1000 Hard Drive Recommendations is on eBay for less than $15!

saltmcgault wrote:

saltmcgault wrote:https://www.amazon.com/QUMOX-Compact-Memory-Adapter-Reader/dp/B019REDBY6/ref=sr_1_7?hvadid=78683855420060&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=sd+card+to+cf+card+adapter&qid=1555447343&s=gateway&sr=8-7

If I were you I would grab 1 if not 2 of these. I wish I would have known about these adapters as soon as they came out.

don't go higher than 128gb on the sd cards that you use with this adapter though.

OK, is there a list I can refer to regarding which SD cards will work in this application?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-ul ... Id=6151257

i believe this one is the one i use. remember you’ll have to format any card or hd you get connect mpc via usb to computer and drag the samples on your computer to a designated folder that you want to keep. when you format hd or cf card in the mpc.. you’ll lose everything that is currently on it. refer to the manual on how to format.. it’s easy.

marceloasherq wrote:

tapedeck wrote:just broaden your horizons.

I was concerned about getting one from a thrift store or from some retired computer given the potential for the drive to crash.

But I just realized that the same one sparq mentions in the 1000K thread about MPC1000 Hard Drive Recommendations is on eBay for less than $15!

its really refreshing that you are taking this advice to heart and using it, vs getting butt-hurt and calling everyone around here jerks for not making the beats for you...that actually happens a lot.

i appreciate the updates and am happy you are figuring this out. keep us updated how it pans out and we're here to help when we can.

one further paradigm-shift i would suggest is, when you are learning, focus on one definable thing at a time. like right now your goal is storage, and it sounds like you are going the hd route? explore that and make it work before you do anything else serious. then, move on to installing jj. for fun though, i would say try playing around with the machine just sampling stuff with whatever os is on it while you wait. just do stuff you know you aren't going to keep, and get a feel for the way the machine encourages you to work.

saltmcgault wrote:https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-ultra-plus-128gb-microsdxc-uhs-i-memory-card/6151257.p?skuId=6151257

i believe this one is the one i use. remember you’ll have to format any card or hd you get connect mpc via usb to computer and drag the samples on your computer to a designated folder that you want to keep. when you format hd or cf card in the mpc.. you’ll lose everything that is currently on it. refer to the manual on how to format.. it’s easy.

Right on! Yeah I format cards all the time for film and photo work so I know that i'll lose everything on it. It appears that the current samples on the machine are on the internal memory, naturally, since there's currently no HDD installed and the CF reader is missing pins and doesn't work.

Thanks so much for the link! I just dropped my MPC off at the repair shop to get the CF reader replaced, so I won't be seeing it again for at least a couple weeks. Oh, the anticipation.

In the meantime I'll pick up that CF adapter and an SD card dedicated for this purpose. I have a variety of SDs now (ranging from 3GB to 256GB), but want one that's exclusively for the MPC.

tapedeck wrote:its really refreshing that you are taking this advice to heart and using it, vs getting butt-hurt and calling everyone around here jerks for not making the beats for you...that actually happens a lot.

i appreciate the updates and am happy you are figuring this out. keep us updated how it pans out and we're here to help when we can.

one further paradigm-shift i would suggest is, when you are learning, focus on one definable thing at a time. like right now your goal is storage, and it sounds like you are going the hd route? explore that and make it work before you do anything else serious. then, move on to installing jj. for fun though, i would say try playing around with the machine just sampling stuff with whatever os is on it while you wait. just do stuff you know you aren't going to keep, and get a feel for the way the machine encourages you to work.

Yeah, I have a total beginner's mindset here and am enjoying/looking forward to the process — not with any distinct goals in mind other then expression and exploration and learning.

This is who inspired me to look into the MPCs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mH8cQMMBJY. He's one of my favorite artists.

Yeah so I'm approaching storage in a two-fold path right now: getting a new CF reader installed (for pretty cheap ... and the person I bought it from is footing most of the bill). And the 100GB hard drive I ordered is also en route.

I want to keep my options fairly open regarding storage. A moving disk HDD makes me a little leery given their being fairly prone to failure. I've wondered about getting one of those really new super small SDD drives (https://www.amazon.com/KingDian-120gb-240gb-External-Portable/dp/B07B4739S7/ref=sr_1_9?fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1555533554&refinements=p_n_feature_three_browse-bin%3A14027456011%7C14027457011&rnid=6797515011&s=pc&sr=1-9) with an IDE adapter (should something like that even exist) to make it more travel-friendly. But in the meantime I'm going with this less costly/tried-and-true method to start. I have no idea if something like that would work.

While I wait for the CF reader replacement, I have the iMPC app that I will be messing with and the manual to pour over. That, and I have plenty of guitar and singing practice (and learning how to record) in general to do to keep me occupied.

Seriously. Thank's so much. You all are wonderful.

tapedeck wrote:it sounds like you are going the hd route? explore that and make it work before you do anything else serious. then, move on to installing jj. for fun though, i would say try playing around with the machine just sampling stuff with whatever os is on it while you wait. just do stuff you know you aren't going to keep, and get a feel for the way the machine encourages you to work.

One more thing, I'm admittedly not super aware of what the difference between HD storage and CF storage is. What one can do vs. the other. All part of the learning curve I'm climbing. So in that regard, I want to have both available — especially if I can do so for just a little bit of $ and some waiting around for the repair.

From what I've gathered (could be a misinterpretation, I realize), the HD is mainly for storage and the composing takes place on the 128MB? Not sure, but I imagine you all know. I just am trying to gather all the information I can and see where it leads — conforming my process to the possibilities presented by the MPC and not trying to bend the device to my own preconceived notions for what I want it to do.

yea be careful not to confuse storage with RAM. the 128mb is ram and that is how much crap you can have loaded at one time. storage is for projects and folders and sounds and is limited by harddrive or cf size.

now difference between cf and hd, well, not too many. a cf card you can move around to a computer and back, but as youve already experienced, those pins can break if you are unplugging / replugging a lot or just not careful. a hd would stay in there for good and you could access via usb.

so thats basically it - hd is less removable. ive heard of people getting ssd to work so maybe search the forum a bit for that.

HD is your hard drive (inside mpc) CF is your compact flash card. those 2 store saved samples beats drums etc etc. The 128mb you are referring to is the RAM. That would be the memory of samples/programs that are currently loaded in your mpc while its on. I hope that makes sense. I hope you printed out that manual because now its time to sit down in front of your mpc and read that thing. Read it twice. It will answer a ton of questions brewing in your head. If you still have questions after that. Hit this forum up or PM me. I'll be glad to help.

tapedeck wrote:yea be careful not to confuse storage with RAM. the 128mb is ram and that is how much **** you can have loaded at one time. storage is for projects and folders and sounds and is limited by harddrive or cf size.

Yeah, I'm not fully tuned-in to what that means yet, largely because of my lack of experience with the machine thus far. Like, let's say I have built several songs (including verse/chorus/verse/etc. parts of drum patterns and a variety of sequenced samples) that I want to perform live ... those would be on the RAM in order to play as a semblance of a backing track, or would I trigger those songs from the storage? That's what I've been wondering, and I know that I will cease to wonder once I stop pestering all you fine humans and just read and re-read the manual as I know is needed.

tapedeck wrote:ive heard of people getting ssd to work so maybe search the forum a bit for that.

I've seen a few mentions of it but there seems to be some debate on whether or not they work. And one "SSD" was really just a CF to IDE adapter someone implemented. But I'll keep digging!

saltmcgault wrote:I hope you printed out that manual because now its time to sit down in front of your mpc and read that thing. Read it twice. It will answer a ton of questions brewing in your head. If you still have questions after that. Hit this forum up or PM me. I'll be glad to help.

I have not printed it out yet (will do so soon), but it is on all of my devices so I can read whenever I have a spare moment regardless of what I have on hand.

And yes, I'll hit you up if/when I need more info! Thanks for the offer!

storage is the size of your drive. you can save as much up to that limit on there.

ram is what is active in the machine. you load things into ram and then you can use them. whenever you are working with the machine, you are working in ram. when you save or load something, you are working from the storage. so the idea is to load up stuff from storage, into ram, and then work, then save any edits back to storage.

during a live performance, you'll generally load a project into ram, use that, then just turn off the machine. saving happens beforehand.
saving and loading take time and you cannot use the machine at all while saving or loading.

time to get off the internet. go play with the thing...youll figure it out.