Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
By domotron Tue Dec 04, 2012 12:23 pm
Managed to get my MPC500 returned. Was completely duff unit, and have been aware of several others. I have video evidence of the problem, so if anyone on here needs the links to compare with their problems give me a shout. It took akai THREE times to acknowledge the problem. Bought my MPC in July and couldn't get a beat on the thing!!!

I upgraded to a MPC1000 and it is working fine. By all means get a 500 but be aware, Akai offer terrible customer service. And the price of a 1000 nowerdays is sooo cheap, why not just go for something with a bigger screen :)
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By inflict3 Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:40 am
can we get an update here!!!????
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By mr_debauch Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:24 am
yeah a friend of mine is no longer even using his because of issues with it freezing when saving or loading or something like that.. I told him to always track out the project before going into the save menu so he doesn't loose his idea. I am not sure if it's freezing when he is tying to save... or is it when he turns it on next time to reload his saved thing.... or is it both (possibly at random times)
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By inflict3 Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:28 am
mr_debauch wrote:yeah a friend of mine is no longer even using his because of issues with it freezing when saving or loading or something like that.. I told him to always track out the project before going into the save menu so he doesn't loose his idea. I am not sure if it's freezing when he is tying to save... or is it when he turns it on next time to reload his saved thing.... or is it both (possibly at random times)


damn, that sucks!! mine never has done anything like that, has he tried a different memory card?? i dont think that is the os man, i think its a bad unit or something is wrong, cause mine has never done no shit like that, wonder if its the card, or the ram??
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By mr_debauch Tue Feb 19, 2013 9:23 am
inflict3 wrote:
mr_debauch wrote:yeah a friend of mine is no longer even using his because of issues with it freezing when saving or loading or something like that.. I told him to always track out the project before going into the save menu so he doesn't loose his idea. I am not sure if it's freezing when he is tying to save... or is it when he turns it on next time to reload his saved thing.... or is it both (possibly at random times)


damn, that sucks!! mine never has done anything like that, has he tried a different memory card?? i dont think that is the os man, i think its a bad unit or something is wrong, cause mine has never done no shit like that, wonder if its the card, or the ram??


he doesn't have the ram expansion, and he has like 10 or 15 different cf cards... it didn't used to do it on the older os (the one right before the latest version) and we upgraded it because of some odd hickups here and there... it seemed to be working as well as it could but then he ran into that.. I have not checked it out in person though.. I am not sure wtf it's doing that causes the freeze exactly.

The bottom line is, it isn't reliable... it shouldn't be possible to get it to freeze even if you wanted to. That is why he isn't starting beats on that anymore.. just in case.
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By inflict3 Wed Feb 20, 2013 7:17 am
maybe dude should try pulling the stuff off the card and saving it to the computer then reformatting the card on the new os. the reason i say its prob not the os is cause everyone would have this problem, unless something went wrong while updating the os and u guys downloaded it from a shitty wireless signal, or there was a glitch while downloading and some lil thing got left out...dude should try redownloading the os and reinstall and if its still screwy try the cf card reformat.. shit, its worth a try...
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By mr_debauch Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:13 am
inflict3 wrote:maybe dude should try pulling the stuff off the card and saving it to the computer then reformatting the card on the new os. the reason i say its prob not the os is cause everyone would have this problem, unless something went wrong while updating the os and u guys downloaded it from a shitty wireless signal, or there was a glitch while downloading and some lil thing got left out...dude should try redownloading the os and reinstall and if its still screwy try the cf card reformat.. shit, its worth a try...


yeah you know what? I might do that... I dont know if something he had going on with autoloading may have screwed it up... the OS is installed fine. I installed it. But maybe a format, fresh card.. all that stuff is what he needs to do. Is there a card brand recommendation for the 500 like there is for other models like the 2000xl? Or do they all tend to work alright? I know he must have 10 or 20 cf cards.. some should be blank.

Yeah and by the way.. projects he had from the older version dont load up with the update.. that sucks.. because you cant find a copy of the old version to switch it back for a quick minute to track the beat. I mean he could rebuild the track with the sounds... but I felt bad updating his os and he finding out that when I just assumed it would work no problem.
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By inflict3 Sat Jul 06, 2013 6:52 am
fuk a bug list, akai has proven themselves and looks like they aint never gonna fix any of yalls problems...lol.. **** a ren, **** a studio and **** a fly.. i aint giving them another dime to screw me again... :popcorn:
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By BGREEN Fri Jul 12, 2013 4:21 am
The 500 is broken when you buy a brand new one. Straight out of the box it has always been, and will always be broken. You have to rig it if you want to make a beat. BRAND NEW!

The fact that its abandoned by It's creator and will NEVER be fixed attracts me to it.

Kinda like my girlfriend. :nod:

You can beat her to death but she still wont work.

Don't matter how many pads you try, she is always going to be a pain in the ass.

But once you find her sweet spot, the girl can cook.

It's a love hate relationship..

I love her very much.
By alexrod13 Thu Nov 21, 2013 3:34 am
CPU Addr (read)
PC(884b0660)

i just recently bought it and it was working perfect. there were beats on there so i reset everything after that everything stopped working. i browsed around and did the os update. anybody got anything to help out?
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By S.I.C.K THE DRUMGOD Wed Dec 18, 2013 2:42 pm
At this point,two years in,I`ve found the 500 to be solid and most of my complaints were just newbie mistakes.I don`t regret my purchase,I WILL buy another one,and I would gladly suggest that others buy it.

My only critique is the small screen.Other than that no complaints.You just have to learn how to use it.
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By Eponim Tue Mar 18, 2014 3:58 pm
Totally agree.
I've mine from 4years now, and all is working fine.
The machine isn't perfect but once you know how to deal with, it's extremly reliable.
Just be aware to have the ram well installed, change the pad sensitivity and place an alert at 5,95v for the battery and you're ready to go.
I'm using mine essentially in trains, planes, parks and beaches and it's so cool to see others producers asking to buy one when they're looking at mine.

The portable sampler BEAST for a long time !!!
I think mpc fly dudes can't beat this litlle monter.
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By BGREEN Wed Jul 16, 2014 7:07 pm
Worked on a beat for about 3 hours today.. Suddenly BAM "SYSTEM ERROR" when trying to delete a track. OK so I try to delete the sequence NOPE "SYSTEM ERROR". Then I try to copy a sequence "SYSTEM ERROR".

I'M AFRAID TO SAVE MY BEAT!!!!

Also sometimes after I erase notes from a track the sequencer timing goes crazy.

WTF AKAI SUCKS!!!!!

THE 500 SUCKS!!!

And any FOOL to say it's STABLE is blowing sunshine up your A555!!!

NOT stable. I've had it for years and have tons of issues.

I have a LONG LIST of problems, missing features, and bugs..

STOP saying it's stable, your misleading people.

Guess I'll turn it off and waste my day. AGAIN!
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By inflict3 Thu Jul 17, 2014 4:30 am
^^sorry to here that man, maybe ur shit is messed up…I've never had a system error and have had my 500 since 08' and i use mine heavily.. all i can think is ur 500 is **** up, maybe the main pcb, or maybe u have a screwy ram, or cf card. but i love my 500 and i think i can only remember mine crashing once the whole time i had it.. that sucks homie, i would be pissed just like you if mine was being a lil **** like that.. good luck!
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By SimonInAustralia Thu Jul 17, 2014 6:56 am
BGREEN wrote:And any FOOL to say it's STABLE is blowing sunshine up your A555!!!

NOT stable. I've had it for years and have tons of issues.

I have a LONG LIST of problems, missing features, and bugs..

STOP saying it's stable, your misleading people.

Maybe it is a problem with your particular MPC500, and maybe it is you misleading people?

Have you tried removing the RAM, if you have any installed, and running it on the internal 16MB RAM?

Have you tried reflashing the latest OS, and initialising parameters after doing so?