Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
By master-ceo Wed Oct 21, 2009 12:13 pm
MPCMaid

Its a 12 pad and 16 pad .pgm maker and you can chop

Works on PC and Mac
By fouramdesigns Sat Oct 24, 2009 4:12 am
Just picked up a DSI Mopho. I set the 500 to Master, never intentionally got the DSI to trigger, but somehow stumbled across it at one point. One thing I noticed, even though I have two mono cables (L-R) going from DSI to 500, and the 500 set to stereo, I can only hear Mono on play through. I tested the outputs on both, seem to be working properly (using cheap pair of cans, Ultrasones are in storage). I also pulled up the Quick start tutorial, browsed through it, to just record a basic sample from the synth. I got "insufficient memory" ( I thought it had 16MB internal), but the one sample that did record, was just "noise" not the whole waveform. And on playback, the sample played in Left, and the triggered synth in Right. Then I somehow lost the synth trigger playback, and the stock samples where on the Seq A1. So what am I doing wrong here?


Secondly, how many stock sounds do these ship with? I have Hip Hop, Top Gun and Sunny Side. Seems a bit sparse.
By master-ceo Sat Oct 24, 2009 4:47 am
No the MPC 500 does not come with RAM in the slot. You have to purchase it separately. However, It does come with 16mb built in.

Make sure your Batteries are Charged up if not running on AC.

Check your cables, and Inputs on the 500

Try to sample from a different source and see what you get.

When on a midi track, make sure to turn Program OFF

All the stock sounds are located, and can be accessed in the "INTERNAL" folder on the factory memory card.

See Manual for sound list
By fouramdesigns Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:10 am
checked the cables, seem to be fine. Only getting audio input in one channel, I have "Stereo" selected on the MPC. Why would there be insufficient memory with only one sample?
By master-ceo Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:35 am
fouramdesigns wrote:checked the cables, seem to be fine. Only getting audio input in one channel, I have "Stereo" selected on the MPC.


If thats the case you should take it back/exchange if you can.

fouramdesigns wrote:Why would there be insufficient memory with only one sample?


You might have recorded a lot of air in a sample and didn't realize it, is the only think I can think of.
By fouramdesigns Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:40 am
bought it used from Craigslist. Wonder if it's still under warranty. Guy seemed real reputable, drove up in a Lexus SUV, middle aged, owns two studios here in town. Never know...hopefully it's user error. Plan to hit the main manual tomorrow, this was just a rough test.
By fouramdesigns Sun Oct 25, 2009 8:38 pm
Is the left input, tried with my headphones as an input (old lofi mic trick) and I got no input, right is good to go. Emailing Akai to see if it's still under warranty. If not, recommend a good Akai repair shop?


Edit: I can see/hear low input (L), meter is reading very low.

Edit 2 : Just went through the manual, re followed MIDI/Master setup, cannot trigger Mopho, nor get samples to assign to pads. Seems my whole unit may be bad. Any tips, suggestions to troubleshoot?
User avatar
By Captain Hook Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:17 pm
I know with some cables if you put them in half way they work better it depends on how many rings are on the cable i think mono is one ring stereo is 2 or something like that thats all I can think of.
By fouramdesigns Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:22 pm
Yep, Mono, one ring tip, stereo 2 ring tip. I've tried both ways, Left output is very weak, almost inaudible. And the guy has not returned my email. This should be fun.