Feedback for Akai

I'm starting this thread up so that folks with the 2500 can post and discuss features, bug fix requests, and feedback we'd like to pass back to Akai. Perhaps Jehrome or another person with a feedback loop to Akai can help pass these along.

I'll start out with some.

FEATURE:

When using Chop Shop I'd like to be able to have more EDIT options per region. Currently you can EXTRACT, COMBINE, and DIVIDE. I'd like to be able have all EDIT options available that I have in normal sample trim mode such as REVERSE, NORMALIZE, PITCH, etc. Having this would allow for some interesting and fast Sample edits where I could experiment with really twisting a sample up. Currently the way I'm doing this is Chop Shop'ing the sample, and converting it to a Program with a RELEASE of 0. I then go in GRID EDIT and step-record in the beat slice by slice. Then I can go in a edit the sliced Samples in TRIM mode and twist up portions. Once I have something I like I can resample it back into a single loop. This works but it takes a fair amount of effort and it would be cool if I could just play with this stuff in Chop Shop and then use the COMBINE feature to stick all of the regions back together again. Maybe there is an easier way to do what I'm doing?

BUG:

When resampling I don't see any LEVEL in the RECORD window. What's up with that? Am I missing something? Is this a bug or is it just that when resampling you can't affect the level anyway so they just don't show it?

I've got some more but I have to run. I'll try and enter some more later.

zs941 wrote:BUG:

When resampling I don't see any LEVEL in the RECORD window. What's up with that? Am I missing something? Is this a bug or is it just that when resampling you can't affect the level anyway so they just don't show it?

if i'm not mistaken, that is not a bug, it's like that on the 1k as well. when sampling from the main out (resample) or sampling from a digital source, you can not adjust the gain.

Good idea, zs941. Do we have any input to AKAI though? I could help with the manuals. I found maybe as many as 50 errors/typos in them. I wouldn't want to go through those documents page by page and make a list unless someone would actually read the list and make the corrections. The manuals are now on the U.S. website, not just the Japan website, so we can assume they have been officially released.

FEATURE:

I want to be able to have an event parameter assigned to a Q-Link slider/knob that can be assigned to more than one pad. For example, if I sequence a series of drum loops at any point in the performace I want to be able to grab Q1 and effect the filter CUTOFF on whatever drum loop happens to be playing at that time. The simplest way I see implementing this would be to create an option in Q-Link that would let you apply a Q-Link to a mute group which would ensure that only one sample is receiving the Q-Link data at that time (I'm guessing that is a limitation of the unit) Then you could assign samples to mute groups and always be able to tweak stuff with the q-links. This would work equally well for traditional mute group settings like hi-hats as well as for sequenced loops in single samples. The other idea would be to create a new REAL-TIME event that would allow Q-Link assignment and you could just sequence that: 001.01.00 P: A02 Q1 CUTTOFF1. I personally think that the mute group option would be better.

FEATURE:

Allow both sets of Q-Link to be used in MIXER mode to effect LEVEL and PAN. That would allow for some creative mixing real-time.

FEATURE:

Allow a Q-Link Slider/Knob to be assigned as a crossfader to allow cross fading between samples. Being able to set the fader curve as a parameter would be dope...

I'm sure I'll come up with more...

I have made a contact through Akai USA...but you know they are just the middleman. I do have a fax number for Akai Japan if I want to submit any findings directly.

As far as the record level function when sampling from the MPCs outputs, I informed Akai already. It would be nice to see the levels just to reassure me that it is actually recording something.

The manuals will have mistakes. That's what happens when trying to translate Japanese to English. Akai is not the only ones though. I find the manuals for all the Japanese gear I own unnecessarily difficult to read/understand. This is why I rarely read manuals. I just use them as a reference when needed.

i already have an influential contact with akai USA. and as i stated, the english version of the manual that is floating around does/will have mistakes. based on what is put in this thread, i can pass it along to my contact. (requests/suggestions within reason)

jahrome wrote:IThe manuals will have mistakes. That's what happens when trying to translate Japanese to English. Akai is not the only ones though. I find the manuals for all the Japanese gear I own unnecessarily difficult to read/understand. This is why I rarely read manuals. I just use them as a reference when needed.

This isn't just a translation problem, but if no one is interested in an error-free manual then I'm not going to create and distribute a list documenting the many errors in the manual. It would probably take a week to go over every page and not miss anything. I don't know how many typos and problems are there. When I find as many as 3 or 4 of them on a given page I have to assume the total must be somewhere around 50 in these two manuals.

I'd like to read more feedback. If no one wants a clean manual then I won't bother. PM me if you prefer.

Hurricane Producer wrote:Do we have any input to AKAI though? I could help with the manuals. I found maybe as many as 50 errors/typos in them. I wouldn't want to go through those documents page by page and make a list unless someone would actually read the list and make the corrections. The manuals are now on the U.S. website, not just the Japan website, so we can assume they have been officially released.

YES, I DO HAVE INPUT TO AKAI and no, it's not just a middleman

Hurricane Producer wrote:This isn't just a translation problem, but if no one is interested in an error-free manual then I'm not going to create and distribute a list documenting the many errors in the manual. It would probably take a week to go over every page and not miss anything. I don't know how many typos and problems are there. When I find as many as 3 or 4 of them on a given page I have to assume the total must be somewhere around 50 in these two manuals.

I'd like to read more feedback. If no one wants a clean manual then I won't bother. PM me if you prefer.

just spoke to my source and i told him abou this thread. he told me once we have a good list going, for me to send it to him. like i said before, he is very influential at akai US. he can make things happen.

re manual typos.

yeah, i've found a lot and it would take a long time to go over. honestly, i think that those typos will be easy for akai to find and fix but if there is something that is just plain wrong (feature that doesn't exist or work as documented) then i'd say post it. if they mispelled words or have poor grammer i say either forget about it or email them directly.


nobody else has feature requests yet? the 2500 is dope...but it ain't perfect!

zs941 wrote:but if there is something that is just plain wrong (feature that doesn't exist or work as documented) then i'd say post it.

nobody else has feature requests yet? the 2500 is dope...but it ain't perfect!

exactly. or if there are significant amount of bugs, post it. i could gather all of that up and send it in.

sparq wrote:
just spoke to my source and i told him abou this thread. he told me once we have a good list going, for me to send it to him. like i said before, he is very influential at akai US. he can make things happen.

Hmmm. I hope Akai USA can actually get these units to customers in the US. Distribution has been horrible in the past year or so.

As far as the manual, it was translated from Japanese to English. Yes, it was a translation problem as well as grammer and spelling. It appears that a non-English speaker/writer did the editing...a very poor job. But I won't clown Akai USA just yet (I wonder if any of the US employees had a hand in this unit at all) unless they start selling MPCs without fixing these errors in the manuals

I have to add that I am hoping for more dialog with actual MPC 2500 owners. Fellas/ladies..where yall be at

Jahrome, could you test if THIS TRICK also works on the 2500?
It's possible since it has the same sample engine...
Check this MP3 demo of the effect.
I used a sample of Funky Drummer cause everybody is familiair with that.

LINK TO MP3

First you'll here the original sample (no glitch).
Second is with a bit of cruch
Third is more crunch
Fourth is James Brown on crack(again)
These are just some examples setting, you can choose anything inbetween also.

If Jehrome spent more time using his new 2500 and less time gabbing about it, we would all know whether or not the OS is stable and glitch free.

PhonoquO wrote:If Jehrome spent more time using his new 2500 and less time gabbing about it, we would all know whether or not the OS is stable and glitch free.

If you spent more time reading these forums before making assumptions, we would all know whether or not your brain is stable and glitch free. :p