A few questions before buing the 500 (mind over matter???)

Hi,

I'm about to purchase a mpc 500. What I read so far about the 500 sounds very promising if you look at the price. I used to have a mpc 2000 xl which dissapeared due to to the fact that I was messing with the wrong crowd. Anyway I'm simply not sure if I should buy the mpc or just an akai usb pad. Basically my production work is computer based. I'm running a G5 with pro tools with the mbox 2. I know that the 500 has midi out and in so I'm pretty shure that I can use the pads to trigger sounds or midi values in pro tools. Please correct me if I'm wrong as this is the most important thing for me right now. On the one hand my brain tells me that an akai usb pad is sufficent for my production work but my hart tells me to buy the 500 for some reason. There is obviously the big advantage that you can put the 500 into your back pack and do beats where ever you want. One thing I like about drum computers is, that you just switch them on do your thing ond turn it off again without having any trouble with processor speed or latency which is nice as well. Then my brain comes back in and tells me that I don't really need the 500 but can not be bothered to place my drums on the grid or trigger drum sounds with my keyboard. My question would be how long it takes to get the hang of the 500 so you can start producing loops and patterns. Any advice would be much appreciated to end my inner fight.

peace Snowman...

Well, seeing that you already had the 2000XL you should pick it up rather quickly.

paylesstapes wrote:Hi,

I'm about to purchase a mpc 500. What I read so far about the 500 sounds very promising if you look at the price. I used to have a mpc 2000 xl which dissapeared due to to the fact that I was messing with the wrong crowd. Anyway I'm simply not sure if I should buy the mpc or just an akai usb pad. Basically my production work is computer based. I'm running a G5 with pro tools with the mbox 2. I know that the 500 has midi out and in so I'm pretty shure that I can use the pads to trigger sounds or midi values in pro tools. Please correct me if I'm wrong as this is the most important thing for me right now. On the one hand my brain tells me that an akai usb pad is sufficent for my production work but my hart tells me to buy the 500 for some reason. There is obviously the big advantage that you can put the 500 into your back pack and do beats where ever you want. One thing I like about drum computers is, that you just switch them on do your thing ond turn it off again without having any trouble with processor speed or latency which is nice as well. Then my brain comes back in and tells me that I don't really need the 500 but can not be bothered to place my drums on the grid or trigger drum sounds with my keyboard. My question would be how long it takes to get the hang of the 500 so you can start producing loops and patterns. Any advice would be much appreciated to end my inner fight.

peace Snowman...

when i first got it i wasted about a day or 2 makin little beats with the wack akai samples, then began to make it with samples off of vinyl etc. i saved my samples until i got the swing of things. it took about a week or so before i was makin some pretty dope stuff.

pz.

Contra wrote:
when i first got it i wasted about a day or 2 makin little beats with the wack akai samples, then began to make it with samples off of vinyl etc. i saved my samples until i got the swing of things. it took about a week or so before i was makin some pretty dope stuff.

pz.

Yeah, that's about how long it took me. Contra did you have any experience with mpc's prior to the 500??

Payless don't think for a minute your going to get away with not reading the manual. Just buckle down and get right to it because no matter how much time you've spent on the 2000 the layout on the 500 is different and takes some time getting used to.

Hola,

I decided to buy the akai mpd 24 as my production work is computer based anyway. That way I'm much more flexible and can still use my loved mpc pads. I am used to chop samples in recycle so I think it would p*** me off doing it on the 500. I'm sure that the 500 is worth every cent but 220 euro new price for the mpd 24 is even better value for money(I think). That way I save 300 euro so with some more savings I will be able to afford monitor speakers which are truely important...

Let me know what you think about my decision peace snowman...

Ps.: Took me half a day to get hold of a dealer in Berlin who got it in stock. I even called akai. They told me that they have over 300 mpd's pre ordered but are not able to deliver any untill April.

Upright wrote:

Contra wrote:
when i first got it i wasted about a day or 2 makin little beats with the wack akai samples, then began to make it with samples off of vinyl etc. i saved my samples until i got the swing of things. it took about a week or so before i was makin some pretty dope stuff.

pz.

Yeah, that's about how long it took me. Contra did you have any experience with mpc's prior to the 500??

Payless don't think for a minute your going to get away with not reading the manual. Just buckle down and get right to it because no matter how much time you've spent on the 2000 the layout on the 500 is different and takes some time getting used to.

yea i owned [previously] a mpc 2kxl for 6 yrs, which did kind of help transitition me in.

my trick was... i downloaded and read the manual BEFORE i got it, haha. Cuz i knew once I unwrapped that thing, i wasnt lookin in no book lol. But man, i say get the 500. Portability, the whole MPC solution, and it will trigger ur drums if u really need it to. Plus i love the sound that comes out of them so the computers great, but i feel more focused dealin wit the MPC rather than aim'in, internet, all the other computer distractions u kno. When im at my MPC, time jus passes and im so focused on that little display its crazy

Contra wrote:

Upright wrote:

Contra wrote:
when i first got it i wasted about a day or 2 makin little beats with the wack akai samples, then began to make it with samples off of vinyl etc. i saved my samples until i got the swing of things. it took about a week or so before i was makin some pretty dope stuff.

pz.

Yeah, that's about how long it took me. Contra did you have any experience with mpc's prior to the 500??

Payless don't think for a minute your going to get away with not reading the manual. Just buckle down and get right to it because no matter how much time you've spent on the 2000 the layout on the 500 is different and takes some time getting used to.

yea i owned [previously] a mpc 2kxl for 6 yrs, which did kind of help transitition me in.

Upright wrote:

Contra wrote:

Upright wrote:

Contra wrote:
when i first got it i wasted about a day or 2 makin little beats with the wack akai samples, then began to make it with samples off of vinyl etc. i saved my samples until i got the swing of things. it took about a week or so before i was makin some pretty dope stuff.

pz.

Yeah, that's about how long it took me. Contra did you have any experience with mpc's prior to the 500??

Payless don't think for a minute your going to get away with not reading the manual. Just buckle down and get right to it because no matter how much time you've spent on the 2000 the layout on the 500 is different and takes some time getting used to.

yea i owned [previously] a mpc 2kxl for 6 yrs, which did kind of help transitition me in.

i guess that means i was kinda cheating then , eh?

I finally purchased the mpad24 and can not get it to work with pro tools great!!! I should have listened to you guys...

paylesstapes wrote:I finally purchased the mpad24 and can not get it to work with pro tools great!!! I should have listened to you guys...

Yeah, getting some controlers to work with protools can be a pain sometimes.
Are you using it with reason or something of the sorts and rewiring thru protools?
If not try that

paylesstapes wrote:I finally purchased the mpad24 and can not get it to work with pro tools great!!! I should have listened to you guys...

Have you setup it properly in your computer OS?

What computer OS?

Have you enabled it in the Protools MIDI Input Device window?

Have you tried to record enable a MIDI track in Protools, and do you get any meter activity on that track when hitting the pads?

I finally got it to work with reason. Everything works even the transport. The pads are great by the way I do not regret it. It's probably the most intuitive device that akai ever produced. You can manually change the funktions on the faders and knobs. I'm sure the mpad has more to offer. I promised myself to read the manual even though it's hard.

There is one thing in pro tools I need to find out. I am using reason with pro tools(rewire). So I record midi data into pro tools. With the 2000 xl I could record in loop mode and it did not overwrie notes. I can't figure out how to set the transport in pro tools so it does not overwrite notes. I can still record one track dublicate the channel and then record the next one but it's a loooong way. In cubase there is a toggle button for the record mode but I just can not find it in pro tools. Any help would be apreciated.

One more thing

On the 2000xl there was a mode where you could play a sample in different notes. Does anyone know if this feature is avaliable for the mpd24 as well??? there is a 16 level function but it's for velocity...

Paylesstapes, You have to make sure that the merge midi button is enabled on the transport. If all of your controls are visible on the transport it will be the button next to the right of metronome count off.. That will solve your problem with
overdubbing midi!

just curious...
I read here about all these people using the 500 with their pc's .
I don't really understand that.
I got a old atari with cubase ( you know , st1024, prehistoric)
what would be the advantage to use it together with the 500?