Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
By Felix Box Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:57 pm
After some consideration I got an mpc 500. I've been having a lot of fun with it except for one glaring issue that I couldn't find anything out about so far.

So after creating a programm and a sequence over multiple tracks it will play just fine for a while. Then all of a sudden, all pads will start to mute each other and mangle the sequence.

This happens very frequently but only if I either change the sequence, change the programm or load a file. If I then change save, shut the mpc off and reload, the project will be fine only to be destroyed again once I perform any of the three actions mentioned above.

And yes I know about mute groups/polyphony. I've checked those as well. None of these change when this "glitch" happens.

Does anyone know why this happens and maybe how to remedy this? I really like the mpc aside from this, but this (saving, rebooting, reloading) really kills the workflow.

Many thanks! :worthy:
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By NearTao Sun Jan 24, 2021 4:16 pm
Do you have a project you'd be willing to share and steps to reproduce? Otherwise I think we'll just be guessing at issues and unlikely to be able to help much.
By Felix Box Mon Jan 25, 2021 11:36 pm
NearTao wrote:Do you have a project you'd be willing to share and steps to reproduce? Otherwise I think we'll just be guessing at issues and unlikely to be able to help much.


After spending some time with it I can now say that it simply happens at random. A sequence will play normally, then suddenly the pads will cut each other off and destroy the sequence.

Funnily enough it will go back to playing normally after a couple repeats sometimes.

I'll try uploading a video of this tomorrow. I'm just really upset and am starting to think I've been sold a faulty unit
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By NearTao Tue Jan 26, 2021 12:02 am
I wonder if the pads are registering very light hits that are causing a double tap and effectively cutting out the audio... what happens if you switch to another track that has no program on it?

You might try lowering the pad sensitivity and seeing if it changes the behavior.
By Felix Box Tue Jan 26, 2021 1:26 pm
NearTao wrote:I wonder if the pads are registering very light hits that are causing a double tap and effectively cutting out the audio... what happens if you switch to another track that has no program on it?

You might try lowering the pad sensitivity and seeing if it changes the behavior.


Like I said this happens apropos of nothing. Plus I have the sensitivity turned up to full level so I doubt it's that
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By NearTao Tue Jan 26, 2021 1:30 pm
If you have sensitivity turned up to full level (16) then it is the most sensitive and softer touches will be registered as pad hits.
By Felix Box Tue Jan 26, 2021 1:52 pm
NearTao wrote:If you have sensitivity turned up to full level (16) then it is the most sensitive and softer touches will be registered as pad hits.


But like I said. It's got nothing to do with me even touching the machine.
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By NearTao Tue Jan 26, 2021 2:14 pm
Have you tried a firmware reset? Hold ERASE/UNDO button and then turn the power own. Release ERASE/UNDO button once the MPC500 shows ###MB installed.

The link says the folder is empty... cannot see whatever you were trying to link to.
By Felix Box Tue Jan 26, 2021 2:23 pm
NearTao wrote:Have you tried a firmware reset? Hold ERASE/UNDO button and then turn the power own. Release ERASE/UNDO button once the MPC500 shows ###MB installed.

The link says the folder is empty... cannot see whatever you were trying to link to.



Sorry, the upload is complete now. Check it again.

Hmm, I'll try that then
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By NearTao Tue Jan 26, 2021 2:35 pm
Watching the video it's hard to tell what the problem is... it could be the hardware, it could be how the program or samples are setup... it could be a bug... might be a lot of things... without a project to look at it'd be pretty hard to try and reproduce, but my suggestion would be to try and find something that you can do that reproduces the issue and share it so that somebody here can try and help you narrow the issue down.

BTW... Do you know if this happens when you play the autoload demo?
By Felix Box Tue Jan 26, 2021 2:56 pm
NearTao wrote:Watching the video it's hard to tell what the problem is... it could be the hardware, it could be how the program or samples are setup... it could be a bug... might be a lot of things... without a project to look at it'd be pretty hard to try and reproduce, but my suggestion would be to try and find something that you can do that reproduces the issue and share it so that somebody here can try and help you narrow the issue down.

BTW... Do you know if this happens when you play the autoload demo?



What do you mean with a project to look at? Should I record a video of me going through the project, track by track, pad by pad or simply describe it?

For this project (and any others) I used the pre-loaded Programm and added some of my own samples to it (as to not having to manually load the Programm into every single track).

The glitch doesn't occur when I power the mpc on and play the demo as is. But when I create a new sequence and work within it, then load up the demo, the same thing happens.
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By NearTao Tue Jan 26, 2021 3:29 pm
What I mean is to do a save all, copy it off of your MPC, and upload it someplace for others to try and load into their own MPC to see if they can reproduce the same issue(s) you are experiencing. It will at least help you to clarify if the issue can be reproduced elsewhere which would indicate it is something with either the firmware or how you have setup the program... or if it is something that only exists on your MPC 500.
By Felix Box Tue Jan 26, 2021 4:31 pm
NearTao wrote:What I mean is to do a save all, copy it off of your MPC, and upload it someplace for others to try and load into their own MPC to see if they can reproduce the same issue(s) you are experiencing. It will at least help you to clarify if the issue can be reproduced elsewhere which would indicate it is something with either the firmware or how you have setup the program... or if it is something that only exists on your MPC 500.



I see. Do I have to copy the samples as well or is the .All file enough?