Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
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By Galik-C Tue Jul 29, 2008 10:10 pm
I am still having problems figuring out the whole Load/Save thing with the 500. I read the manual front to back, and talked to Akai tech support, and they told me to SAVE ENTIRE MEMORY, save it to a NEW FOLDER, and rename that folder. When I want to load the whole thing, I was told to LOAD: FOLDER. Then they told me to Replace Same File? : Yes........... Clear Memory? : YES

Now I have to open the Project, then All Sequences and Songs, and the the Program to get back to what I was doing. Is there an easier way? I attached a screen shot what the hold CF Card looks like when I do this. In the 1st shot, GALIKC is the folder where I put my finished Projects (Songs), just call it the finished product when it's all done. The folder Billy on the bottom is the last one I was working on. The 2nd screen shot is of the GALIKC folder, and that is where, for some reason, all the samples up to Sample 27 and Shaker show up, even when they were already saved to the Be Real folder. I love using the 500, but it's a pain in the ass when I can't get the simple things like Saving and Loading to work right. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r425/Nick-Asst/MPC500ScreenImage.jpg

http://i354.photobucket.com/albums/r425/Nick-Asst/MPC500ScreenImage2.jpg
By brazeca Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:21 am
It would be nice if you explain what exactly do you want to do, man. I mean, there's no doubt about what is what in the manual, when it comes to saving or loading stuff. If you have doubts, then re-read the manual, repetition makes it perfect man ;)

As for the folders and files, it's you who is responsible for organizing them. Usually everyone has their own system for this, so there's no universal advice. My guidelines would be: 1) keep folder and filenames short, so that you can read them on MPC 500's screen; 2) make a unique folder for each project/track and put everything it is using - samples, sequences and other stuff - into it; 3) name files and folders in a way, so that you can understand what's what from the name itself.
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By Galik-C Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:59 pm
brazeca wrote:It would be nice if you explain what exactly do you want to do, man.



Basically, I try to give the Project and Folder the same name. Picture this: I assign all my samples to the pads, create the sequences, put them in Song Mode if I want to, right? I was told that if you Save: Entire Memory to that Folder and Rename the Project to whatever you want, there is no need to Save All Seq and Songs or do anything else; it should all be saved in the same place. My problem is, I save the thing, and the next time I turn it on, all the files are all over the place, just like in the picture. I don't care what anybody says about the 500 being a "toy" or whatever - I love making beats on it, and I enjoy learning new tricks and techniques. It aggravates the hell out of me when I think I know what I'm doing, then I turn it on and I'm back to the 3rd grade. Know what I mean?
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By nxnut_92 Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:57 pm
Galik-C wrote: I love making beats on it, and I enjoy learning new tricks and techniques. It aggravates the hell out of me when I think I know what I'm doing, then I turn it on and I'm back to the 3rd grade. Know what I mean?


I know what you mean bruh!.!
By brazeca Fri Aug 01, 2008 6:09 am
Ok, Galik-C, what happens is that you are saving stuff into root directory of your CF. You see, the 500's screen is so small, that it cannot even display the directory tree correctly. Instead, its OS uses text symbols to indicate the position in the folder hierarchy. Try this: create a new folder in the root directory of your CF, and name it "A-Folder" or whatever you like. Inside this folder create another one and name it "B-Folder" and inside this one create a "C-Folder". Use your PC/Mac for that. Then disable the USB mode and go to MPC screen. Switch Load mode and try browsing through the newly created folders. What you will see is, that when you are inside the root directory, you will have folder names displayed, and then file names (if you scroll with the data wheel). Now, when you highlight "A-Folder" and press "->" button you will go one level down and you will find yourself inside "A-Folder" folder, right? Now, if you see: >A-Folder> on your MPC screen, it means that "A-Folder" has some other folders inside it. Indeed, when you get inside "C-Folder" by pressing "->" button, you will finally see something like: >C-Folder (with no > sign after the folder name). That means this folder has no other folders inside it.
Similarly, you can go one level up, while being inside a folder, by pressing "<-" button.

So, probably, what happens when you try saving your project is that you highlight the folder name, where you want to save it, but you don't press "->" to get inside the folder. That's why your files are all over the place in the root directory.