Really Like the MPC 500

I've owned a 1k for a quite a while, and lately I've been wanting to be a bit more mobile and have fewer cables running around. I bought this one used off of ebay, which has the potential to be scary. When it arrived it wouldn't even boot and only the backlight was coming on. So obviously it was getting juice, but it didn't work. On closer inspection it looked like there had been some electrical damage on the back because the plastic was melted. It also didn't help that the whole face was covered in crud, I'm not sure what this poor guy had been through but it was a little more than the ebay listing's "almost unused, near new condition".

So after giving it the once over I decided to reseat the memory and the batteries and wash it down with some paper towels and windex. It looked a hell of a lot nicer but it still wouldn't boot. I figured maybe batteries weren't the way to go so I tried it off of the outlet. At this point it got stuck booting and was just cycling, holding stop would force it into the memory test but it would then just lock up.

Removing the batteries, putting it on power and taking out the compact flash did however seem to fix it as it has been working fine for a while now. As far as the electrical damage, I decided to sand it down to make it look a bit nicer. As I was sanding it down I could smell that super glue smell... whoever had owned it previously apparently had the bright idea to super glue cables to the case. I can only imagine why.

So far this used .5k is working out pretty well for me, upgrading from 1.14 to 1.31 was pretty easy, and besides a headache with batteries that were just capable of getting the backlight on but not the system to boot I'm now rolling. A few rechargeable batteries and I'm not good to go.

Already I've been able to work on some beats while in my studio, chasing my daughter around the house, on my front porch, at my dining room table, laying in bed. Sure I could do all these things with the 1k, well maybe except chasing my daughter around, but frankly the 1k is a tad heavier than the .5k, and no matter how portable it is you're still stuck to an outlet.

I was worried that being 'spoiled' by JJOS that I might not be able to 'get into' the workflow, but so far I haven't really had to hit up the manual a whole lot to figure anything out. Sure it requires a few more button presses, but I have to say that this is the MPC workflow that I've come to love.

A few things I'm curious about from other users...

How long can I expect rechargeable batteries to last? How far can you push it passed the warning?

Any good shoulder bags/backpacks that I should look into to lug this guy around?

Any other good battery powered device to look into or are they not worth the headache? I'm thinking along the lines of the kaoss pad mini.

Is there any good software for putting MPC500 programs together? I saw a few freebies, but nothing official.

Has anybody done Nym's 1k pad upgrade and had good results? I turned my pad's sensitivity all the way up and I feel like I still need to hammer on them to get full velocity.

Any tips/tricks I should know about?

A few comments...

This unit was sold with a 32gb CF card. The card itself is some non name brand piece of junk and as such is slower than dirt, but it actually works. Anybody looking for large class storage options should be able to get something this large and get it to work.

I'd really like to have input thru, but it seems that this is not a feature in the MPC 500. I'd like somebody to prove me wrong here.

Recording off of my iPhone has been cool so far. I'll have to check out some of the synth apps to see if there is anything that is worth while.

I can imagine this with a netbook for synths might be a good combo too. I'm more worried about the screen brightness/battery life on a computer though. I suppose I can always record samples at home and take them on the road with the .5k though.

I love it and glad to join another part of the family.

NearTao wrote:A few things I'm curious about from other users...

How long can I expect rechargeable batteries to last? How far can you push it passed the warning?

Any good shoulder bags/backpacks that I should look into to lug this guy around?

Any other good battery powered device to look into or are they not worth the headache? I'm thinking along the lines of the kaoss pad mini.

Is there any good software for putting MPC500 programs together? I saw a few freebies, but nothing official.

Has anybody done Nym's 1k pad upgrade and had good results? I turned my pad's sensitivity all the way up and I feel like I still need to hammer on them to get full velocity.

Any tips/tricks I should know about?

Sorry mate, I do not use batterys fo it. As a backpag I just use my Jansport that I use for everything, works good enough for me, I usualy wrap it in some bubblewrap. I have no experience with koaspad so cant help you there. I only know of freebies, nothing official as far software goes. There is a tips and tricks thread, ill try to find it for ya..

There you go

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=114181&start=15

NearTao wrote:How long can I expect rechargeable batteries to last? How far can you push it passed the warning?

I think the manual said batteries will last about 4 hours with the backlight on. However, I dwindled the batteries down to 5 or 6 volts before I lost cf card and usb functionality.

NearTao wrote:I love it and glad to join another part of the family.

Good shit man, enjoy your new found mobility.

MPC 500 arn't that good imo .....YEAH THERE DOPE.....but the sequencer just jars me and that tiny calculator screen mmmmm

Congrats.

Batteries last a long time in the MPC500. Way over 4 hours, and more like some days.
I use Sony Rechargeable batteries.

Buy a new case for that sucka and bang out.

How much did you Pay for it BTW?

I paid $350 usd for mines brand new and it came with memory.

I will never sell this thing.


You got my mind going with the Iphone synth thing. I will have to check this out.

Iphone + MPC500 = A Lethal Weapon

master-ceo wrote:How much did you Pay for it BTW?

I paid $350 usd for mines brand new and it came with memory.

I will never sell this thing.


You got my mind going with the Iphone synth thing. I will have to check this out.

Iphone + MPC500 = A Lethal Weapon

I paid $350 with the memory and 32gb CF card. I swore I wouldn't pay more than $300 for a stock unit, the extra $50 isn't too bad. The unit was supposed to have 18gb of samples on the CF card, but it was all junk. Honestly didn't care though, I've got plenty of samples myself already so I wasn't really going to sweat that.

I had picked up BeatMaker for the iPhone prior. It's a really good phone sampler, much better than I would've expected for $19.99, but I've already stopped using it now in favor of the MPC. techno box is decent, but you can load up all of the samples that it generates from sample libraries anyways. pocket tune radio has been one of my favorites... worth every penny for me so far.

I'll post an update when I check out some other synth apps.