This is what I need to do, will the MPC500 do it?

I play in a band where I would like to play movie quotes in the middle of a song.

I have been using an iPod, where I have ripped and trimmed the audio from a DVD movie and imported the mp3 file to my iPod and have just been playing it from there.

My problem is that the iPod is very unreliable. There is a delay in pressing play and it tends to go into sleep mode in the middle of a performance.

I need a device that will allow me to import an mp3 file to it and be able to play it back with quality and precision at the touch of a button. Is the MPC500 my answer to this?

Is the MPC500 capable of importing mp3 files and assigning each mp3 to a different pad? (The mp3 files are 15 seconds at most.) And if it is, what is the preferred method of importing the files? Do I need additional software?

Any information is truly appreciated as I have been battling this issue for some time.

Yes you can do this. It doesn't take .mp3 files but you can easily convert them to .wav files, which the mpc500 takes.
This would work well.

mp3->wav should not be a problem. Thanks for the info!

If you assign the q-link slider to them controlling pitch or filter, you could get some nice effects from them.

be aware that you can 'load' only 128 MB at one time...so if you use really a lot of these MP3's, it's quite possible the the MPC's memory is not big enough to hold them (iPod's come in Gigabytes...samplers only have Megabytes of memory...)

yes, i am getting insufficient memory errors. I have loaded files into the MPC500, but when i try to access them I get the memory error.

Zoxna wrote:yes, i am getting insufficient memory errors. I have loaded files into the MPC500, but when i try to access them I get the memory error.

You'll need to get the ram upgrade which will give you more sample time. Also for what you are doing I would look into returning or selling the Mpc 500 and getting one of the Roland SP series samplers which have alot more sample time than MPC's do. If I remember correctly the sp-606 gives you sample time according to the size of the Compact Flash card that you use(up to 2 Gigs) the sp-404 should work the same way. Just my 2 cents

Upright wrote:

Zoxna wrote:yes, i am getting insufficient memory errors. I have loaded files into the MPC500, but when i try to access them I get the memory error.

You'll need to get the ram upgrade which will give you more sample time. Also for what you are doing I would look into returning or selling the Mpc 500 and getting one of the Roland SP series samplers which have alot more sample time than MPC's do. If I remember correctly the sp-606 gives you sample time according to the size of the Compact Flash card that you use(up to 2 Gigs) the sp-404 should work the same way. Just my 2 cents

Co-sign,

The SP-606 gives you 3hrs + of sample time with a 512mb CF. But the latest 404 and 555 gives you 6hrs with 2gig CF.

If you got the dough, there's the Edirol P-10. Its looks like an SP-303 but with a 3.5 lcd screen. And that one was built for chopping video clips and playing them like an SP. Even create sequences.

I've looked into the Roland as well, I just wasn't able to see how I would import files from my computer onto the flash card, would I need a USB card reader?

PS- thank you everyone for all of your input, this has been such a (expensive) headache for me.

Zoxna wrote:I've looked into the Roland as well, I just wasn't able to see how I would import files from my computer onto the flash card, would I need a USB card reader?

PS- thank you everyone for all of your input, this has been such a (expensive) headache for me.

Yeah,....USB card reader would definitely do it. I don't think they are that expensive maybe $20 at the most. I do remember being able to connect the sp-606 straight to my PC via USB but I think this method of transfering samples to the Roland sp-606 requires you to use the bundled software that comes with the SP-606 called Cakewalk P-606....this way may be more of a hassle than it is worth for you so if you end up getting the Roland SP-606 I would suggest buying the card reader and transfering your files that way. In all honesty for what you are doing you would be better off getting the Roland SP-404 with a card reader. It's less money, and minus features you would probably never use. Oh,...both the 606 and the 404 have a hefty amount of effects to play with,...so you may actually come up with a few clever ways to use the effects with your samples,....this is a big advantage when compared to the Mpc's,.....Mpc's definitely are lacking in the effects area.