Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
By qiuhaf7qyh Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:42 pm
mainly it's a freeze issue. first happened couple days ago when admittedly i had been using the unit for a couple hours at least . ive read on here that after long time of use at once it may react uncooperatively. also this was pre - RAM upgrade (which i just did today).

first time it happened was a freeze, during play/record. i couldnt get out of play/record had to power off. i was pretty sure id at least saved 1-2 times but a couple of sequences were lost when i turned it back on.

secondary problem i noticed was it also randomly changed measures of some sequences to 5/4 or 2/4 when they originally were 4/4 and no way in hell i did that myself. that happened twice and it ruined a couple beats i had to redo them.

after it froze a couple of times i began saving entire mem -->project every time i made any change but then when i turned it off and on again to make sure it had worked the sequences were still missing.

i started a new project file with only the one song i was working on (thought maybe that would help if it was a RAM issue) and STILL wouldnt properly save entire mem-->project. eventually i was able to make it save all the work by saving sequences separately.

today i installed the RAM (which worked, increased my sample memory from 0m0s to 22msomething) and first thing i did was load the sequences manually that i wanted to save to project and saved the entire mem-->project , turned it off and on and guess what, still didnt work.

ideally what i want is to have a performance ready project that i dont have to load separate sequences or load new project files in the middle of a show to play at least (at the v **** least 5-6 songs). i think total amount of program files i was using was around 10 of which i probably used a total of less than 100 samples. at the moment i have stuff spread around like 4 project files , in addition to which the latest song literally refuses to save so i have to load sequences manually. and im in constant fear of it freezing while i'm playing at a show.


NEW EDIT WITH ALL THE NEW SHIT I TRIED TO GET AROUND THIS STUPID BUG


after reading most of the posts on here i could find that dealt with similar problems seems like this is probably an OS issue.

it seems like no matter how many new projects i make the closest i can get to a auto-loading project that includes all my sequences is to have it auto load some of the sequences but there are still a few sequences that i always have to load manually.

i noticed it always tends to be the same sequences (and they happen to be the ones i was working on the first day that i encountered freezing errors) which makes me think something in the sequence files are corrupted as a result of the freezing. i tried changing the names of the sequence files on my computer , loading those sequences and then saving project file and that doesn't work either. i've also tried saving entire to autoload and saving entire to internal. (neither worked)

in addition i tried saving allsongs/sequences to internal and to a folder but that also won't properly load the problem sequences.

Finally i have noticed in a couple of instances that samples which previously had been assigned to pads mysteriously disappeared.

any clues how to work around this buggy shit? i dont care if it happens once in a while, but the idea of never being able to save my work the way i want to ever again is really frustrating.


new edit, new bug


i am starting to think **** this mpc. loaded a sequence from one project into a new one. changed one of my samples from a1 to d1 for no reason. thought since it's an easy beat ill just redo it. when i did "erase all pad d1" it said "insufficient memory" despite having new RAM with over 10 minutes of stereo recording space. also unsure why the **** it would cost me more memory to delete something than for it to be there... whatever. so i just went to record over the track as a whole and got the freeze again. samples are showing up in various sequences with ? in front of their name , not playing. wtf happened this machine worked perfectly until this week???
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By medearis Sun Apr 10, 2011 9:17 pm
As a future MPC500/1000 owner - reading this scares me away from the 500, A LOT!
I'm very, very suprised that no hardware hacker has ripped into this little guy yet,
the 500's basically begging to be moded.

Why does it seem like AKAI has completely dropped their support of the 500? Was this a gimmick product by them to make a few bones off the ones that "couldn't" afford the 1000? Why even release something like that.
Bad **** business right there. The 500 might have a smaller screen and shit but there's absolutely NO reason for any company making hardware to abandon a product that's STILL BEING SOLD NEW IN STORES.

Really seems like the 1000 w/JJOS is THE way to go. I just wish I didn't want/need true portability as much as I do or else it'd be an easy choice between the 500/1000.


Seriously.... two **** years for a firmware update? AKAI's lazy as balls. I was under the impression that AKAI cared but after reading some of this shit I really don't think that is the case at all these days.


Go back to the old AKAI.... please? At least they gave a **** about their customers and future fans....
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By DPM Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:25 am
for some reason i felt compelled to reply in this thread about the the OS 1.31.....I've had the OS 1.31 since it came out and my 500 has only crashed once or twice in the 3 maybe 4 years since it came out.

some people i figure have more luck than others. The best way to avoid this is just make sure to save frequently, and purge all the unused samples that are taking up space.

dont let this tiny problem keep you from picking up an MPC 500 if your looking into one, its a really great machine...i'm a proud user/owner since 2006. 5 years going strong, its a beast!
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By m:t:c Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:19 am
Hmm.. should we move / copy paste these bugs to akaipro's community site so that if an update is done these are really addressed?

http://community.akaipro.com/

They seem to reply & acknowledge issues quickly.
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By Sm0keydaBear Wed Feb 01, 2012 4:58 am
I'm having a constant issue here with loading programs. When I already have a program loaded and I go to load a new program while overwriting the old, sometimes the pads will not play initially and I have to go into the submenu "Program" and press a pad in order to get the samples to play. Dunno if this has already been posted.
Last edited by Sm0keydaBear on Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
By domotron Sat Sep 01, 2012 5:44 pm
Had the 500 for a couple of weeks. The whole thing seems a little off. When overdubbing in sequence mode the tempo changes erratically sometimes speeding up and sometimes slowing down. Then when I play back what I've recorded it seems to play back all sorts of random stuff (snare when snare wasn't hit and then a pad is muted one time, and then the next time it plays?)

Most confusing. I'm pretty new, and need to add that the samples I'm using are internal.
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By m:t:c Tue Sep 04, 2012 5:49 am
domotron wrote:Had the 500 for a couple of weeks. The whole thing seems a little off. When overdubbing in sequence mode the tempo changes erratically sometimes speeding up and sometimes slowing down. Then when I play back what I've recorded it seems to play back all sorts of random stuff (snare when snare wasn't hit and then a pad is muted one time, and then the next time it plays?)

Most confusing. I'm pretty new, and need to add that the samples I'm using are internal.


Read about timing correct (among other things) from the manual.
By domotron Tue Sep 04, 2012 11:33 am
It's not the timing correct. I had an Akai xr-20 for ages and am fine with using sequencers (currently have two Roland SP-404s). I'm fairly good with music hardware, just new to the MPC, however it seems to be very buggy.

The issue is not the timing correct, I can record a very simple 8 beat, using the internal program 'DJ Hip Hop Set' and during the play back of the sequence the timing is all out. It will speed up and slow down randomly, and in some parts not even repeat what I've played. I'm wanting to use this machine to create sequences that I can re-sample to create loops for each pad, but it's just so inconsistent.

I have also read the manual all the way through. I understand the way this machine works, just don't know why it is behaving so strangely. I cannot see from this thread that anyone has had problems with such a basic level of operation? Do you think i should send the unit back for replacement as I've used someone else's MPC500 and had no problems. Works like a beaut!
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By m:t:c Tue Sep 04, 2012 12:06 pm
Do you think i should send the unit back for replacement as I've used someone else's MPC500 and had no problems.


Then, for sure.. if you've had a go with someone else's machine and yours isn't working as expected just return it as you've only had it for 2 weeks.
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By S.I.C.K THE DRUMGOD Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:00 pm
Not sure if this is a bug.Maybe it's a personality trait.Lol

I just noticed you have to keep tapping the pads constantly in TRIM mode as opposed to the Data Wheel or you won't get an accurate update of your sample points .It would be nice to hold down the LOOP pad and adjust the Data wheel and get results in real time.

There's also a delay when adjusting the Bpm while the sequencer is playing .Nothing to get upset about or NOT BUY a 500.I'm still learning the machine and haven't come close to mastering it.A lot of bang for the Buck.