Bought a 500? Then sold it? Why?

battery power...

thats about it...

Upright wrote:Since when does the 500 allow you to adjust the velocity for the entire track? I know this is possible per pad but I didn't think this was possible per track.

Mode -> Seq Edit -> Edit Velocity - You can edit the velocity of just one pad or all pads. I keep it set to all so I can reduce the velocity of the whole track. It's quick and simple.

Compared to the 2500's step editor the 500's is a nightmare IMO.

That's a grid style, right? No, I still prefer this older MPC60/3000 style step edit. I actually wrote to Akai way back asking them to put this in the MPC4000. They never did.

I respect your opinion Avenue, but may I ask you where are you getting all this use out of your 500?? If it's in the studio right next to Your 4000 I gotta ask. What's the point?? I mean do you travel much or are you constantly away from the 4000?

No u in the name, thanks In the studio, around the house, wherever I take it. I don't travel that much, but it's still great to be able to pick it up so easily, have it in the kitchen while I'm cooking or whatever.

How long have you had the 500?

Since they first came out, September. Bought it in NY while I was there, used it at the airport and on the plane trip home.

I didn't see the need to have 2 mpc's. Now that I look back on it,it was a waste of money. I thought It was going to be a wonderful investment but it ended up just sitting mostly due to the fact that after a person(myself) gets use to the workflow on the 2500 the 500 is a very limited and less user friendly machine. The 500 would be great with a JJOS adding some desperately needed features, but like said before as is the 500 is ok as a "my first mpc" or for the producer "constantly" on the go. If you don't fall into 1 of these 2 categories IMO your wasting your money.

No, it can more than a "my first MPC" if you learn it inside out. This is my 4th MPC (I started on the MPC60 back in 1991), and it runs off batteries which is a feature I've wanted for years. That is one powerful feature alone that no other MPC can match! You don't even have to be on the go all the time to appreciate that. I kind of agree about just having one MPC though. Makes things less confusing. Which is partially why my MPC4000 is now up for sale. It's been a bit neglected for a while and there's a personal loan I'd like to pay off. So that's why I've been learning to do everything I do on the 4000 just using the 500. So far so good. Now that the 500 can hold 128 programs means I can just have one big bank of sounds for any music I do on it. And the more I find ways around it's limitations, the more fun it becomes.

What desperately needed features do you think a JJ OS could add to the MPC500? The only desperately needed feature I can think of is a filter envelope, and that's not even a JJ feature. Personally, I can't see the point of an MPC1000 or 2500. All that extra money for a bigger screen, 4 extra pads, more outs and a few extra features I'd never use. At least the MPC4000 can be used like a synthesizer with portamento mod routing options and all which I found quite powerful. Essentially though, they all do the same thing. A grid edit, auto chopping features, real time pitch shift, etc won't make anyone a better producer. As for the screen, not once have I ever felt restricted by the MPC500's little screen. And having a 4000 aswell, you think I would. The simplicity of it is brilliant.

At the end of the day, I dig the idea of doing more with less. The MPC500 fits that role perfectly.

Hopefully you won't regret selling your 4000....personally if I had to get rid of one or the other I would opt to keep the machine with more features in case I decide to experiment with them in my music, but that's just me...anyway whatever you choose, have fun.

I've had it for 5 years and to be honest, haven't done as much as I should have done with it.

I'm gonna be completely honest. I saw the Dr. Dre commercial where he was sitting on an airplane making a beat, and I thought that would be so **** cool I almost nutted in my pants. I thought about it. I fantasized about it. It was much like buying one of those useless dvd machines for flying when half the time you just sit there and stare off into space on a plane any fukking way. So basically I paid 700 bucks for the 1-2 time opportunity for some old white lady to look over at me in amazement while I bang away at pads. Then when she taps me on the shoulder I casually remove my headphones and in that ohh so cool manner I was yearning for explain to her that I am a hip hop producer, and I make beats on the go, because thats how fukking cool I am.

Dear god the workflow issues of the 500. I learned on the mpc1000 and so I kind of had an idea about how quick you can chop, slice, load, sequence, step/grid edit with ease, but not at all so on the 500. With the 500, I spent so much time navigating through useless sprawling menus and the step edit that I lost my creativity in the process, and that was just a small little slice of hell.

so for me it was a combination of fooling myself into thinking I would be cooler with a 500, and the clumsy navigation and workflow of the 500. I thought I was gonna be the cool guy in my group of friends that always walked around with his mpc and just was really deep and really spiritual and musical. Instead I was the douche who constantly pressured his friends into giving him courtesty compliments every single time he wanted to interrupt the group discussion because he just had to have you listen to his new million dollar beat that was 'pure fire'. What an ****.

Lithion wrote:With the 500, I spent so much time navigating through useless sprawling menus and the step edit that I lost my creativity in the process, and that was just a small little slice of hell.

You obviously didn't spend enough time learning your way around it. For a small screen those menus are so well layed out. They make perfect sense. Turn the data wheel, make your adjustments, hit the 'Do it' button. How simpler could it be? Even with a bigger screen, you still have to move the cursor from one parameter setting to another. On the MPC4000's big screen, this can take a while, which would explain why I find the MPC500 quicker and more immediate to use. Same would apply for any other MPC with a larger screen. And the step edit in this thing is brilliant! Only one event visible at any time, that's how it should be, a lot less confusing.

As for trying to impress everyone with it.. haha. If I take it anywhere and I'm using it, I'll keep to myself. Anti social I guess, but then at least one or two people usually want to have a listen.

It seems to me that the people who have a tough time figuring out the menu's on the 500 are owners of the bigger MPC's. I'm glad that the 500 is my first MPC for that reason.

I got my 500 about 4 days ago. I honestly cant figure out what people are complaining about. The headphone volume is great, the pads are very responsive and consistent, and the workflow is the best out of any machine I have ever had.

I know 4 days isn't enough to really even scratch the surface of this machine, but I've never been able to create beats faster in my life. I also have a Korg PadKontrol and Reason at home. There are some things I can do with the PC setup that I havent figured out with the MPC, but the MPC is so fast.

I almost bought an MPC1000, but I am sooooo glad I didn't. I will get one in the future I'm sure. But for how mobile I am the mpc500 is the shit. Consider these two scenarios that happened in the first 4 days of ownership:

Saturday night I was 5 miles from the BC border on the Colville Indian reservation camping, no power outlet for 20 miles. Late that night I had some great ideas, I sat by the fire and laid them down.

Last night (Sunday) I went over to a buddies house on my way home from camping. They were all partying and passing the mic around freestyling. I plugged their mic into my MPC and made a sample of one of them flowing. Then I sat down with my headphones and framed their freestyle session with a beat. 20 minutes later I let them all hear it. You should have seen their faces. "Holy shit dawg!! You just made a track?!?!?"



Maybe I should make a commercial out of that shit lol.

[quote="wax808"]It seems to me that the people who have a tough time figuring out the menu's on the 500 are owners of the bigger MPC's. I'm glad that the 500 is my first MPC for that reason.quote]

I feel the same way. But not all have a hard time. They just dont like the small screen and the workflow. But again..if its your first and you dont know what the bigger ones are...then it all gravy.

dj_idea wrote:

wax808 wrote:It seems to me that the people who have a tough time figuring out the menu's on the 500 are owners of the bigger MPC's. I'm glad that the 500 is my first MPC for that reason.

I feel the same way. But not all have a hard time. They just dont like the small screen and the workflow. But again..if its your first and you dont know what the bigger ones are...then it all gravy.

I agree. ......and awesome story Wax, I'm glad to see you getting some good use out of the portability aspect of the 500!!!1