HELP! I've got a 60II but a cheap 3000 has come up! you I sw

Hey, Can I get your opinions please. I've got a 60II with no scsi card port ( so That will cost me a bit if I want to install a card reader) and I'm thinking of changing to a 3000 that has come up locally so I can install a card reader aalot more easily.

I've been rocking the 4000 for about 7 years (love it!) and bought the 60 a while back to see how i felt about the swing 'X factor' and the lower res sound from the 60 that everyone goes on about? I like the 60 and it does seem to make simple beats have the head knock factor! Problem is I don't really like saving to disk - It's real pain in the arse and just too slow for me.

If I go for the 3000 what do you think I stand to gain and what will I lose - the valaxi OS sounds dope! and being able to save to card would be awesome! will i miss the sound of the 60 or will I be happy with the 3000? I believe all the sequencing is essentailly the same so the swing thing shouldn't be a loss.

Also once i get the card reader installed as the 3000 is 16bit can I then load 16 bit samples onto the card using my computer and then import them into the 3000 to trigger internally? ( I believe there may be some sort of conversion software I will have to run them through first?)

Any ideas? PS have to make my mind up pronto so holla back with your call on it asap!

Hi.

Ok I'd go for the 3000. The 60 II is a great machine but Vailixi makes a massive difference and turns the 3000 into the best mpc in my opinion (if it wasn't already).
With Vailixi you can transfer sounds - but bear in mind that its not as straightforward as you'd think. If you're going to be doing a lot of file transfer, I suggest you get a linux box from somewhere. You'll need it for sure.

Z

zippertafari wrote:Hi.

Ok I'd go for the 3000. The 60 II is a great machine but Vailixi makes a massive difference and turns the 3000 into the best mpc in my opinion (if it wasn't already).
With Vailixi you can transfer sounds - but bear in mind that its not as straightforward as you'd think. If you're going to be doing a lot of file transfer, I suggest you get a linux box from somewhere. You'll need it for sure.

Z

zippertafari whats the whole linux vibe for ? does it work better with hybrid partitions?

yep. I've got a 3000 with Vailixi. Basically you have an option of formatting a disk so it can be read by BOTH pc and mpc 3000 (I don't think this is possible without Vailixi - but am not certain).
However, you can't just format a 2 Gb disk as one big partition that can be read by both. You will end up with a disk formatted into loads of different smaller partitions. I think each partition is about 32mb or something.

Nothing too bad you may think. However, Windows XP will ONLY read the first of these 'hybrid' partitions on a disk. So lets say you have a zip disk of 100mb. You have 3 partitions of 32Mb and each partition is a special 'PC/MPC 3000' readable partition. Well if you have a Windows box - you will see just the first of the 3 partitions (and be able to drag and drop files no problem). But you won't see the other 2 partitions. Get hold of a linux box however (I use ubuntu) and you will suddenly see all the partitions (and be able to transfer files over).

Zip

zippertafari wrote:yep. I've got a 3000 with Vailixi. Basically you have an option of formatting a disk so it can be read by BOTH pc and mpc 3000 (I don't think this is possible without Vailixi - but am not certain).
However, you can't just format a 2 Gb disk as one big partition that can be read by both. You will end up with a disk formatted into loads of different smaller partitions. I think each partition is about 32mb or something.

Nothing too bad you may think. However, Windows XP will ONLY read the first of these 'hybrid' partitions on a disk. So lets say you have a zip disk of 100mb. You have 3 partitions of 32Mb and each partition is a special 'PC/MPC 3000' readable partition. Well if you have a Windows box - you will see just the first of the 3 partitions (and be able to drag and drop files no problem). But you won't see the other 2 partitions. Get hold of a linux box however (I use ubuntu) and you will suddenly see all the partitions (and be able to transfer files over).

Zip

oh ok that windows thing makes sense, i seem to remember reading you can mount them as a folder rather than a drive letter.

as fair as I know you can only do the hybrid partition with Vailixi.

(i might be wrong, i've havent got a 3000 yet. Im still waiting for 3000 in the post!)

thanks for the info, I'm probably gonna get Vailixi when the 3000 turns up. JJ was such an improvement on the 1000 and I've only heard good things about Vailixi

If you are using a SCSI card reader (like our CF-CARD drive) with your MPC3000, formatting a compact flash card will create twenty-six 30MB partitions, for a total of 780MB of useable space. The rest of the card is ignored. This is true of both the Akai os and the Valixi os. However, with the Vailixi os, you can create the twenty-six partitions as "hybrid" partitions which makes them all accessible on a Mac or Ubuntu computer. I believe that on a Windows PC, you would still only see the first partition even using the hybrid partitions.

scsiforsamplers.com wrote:If you are using a SCSI card reader (like our CF-CARD drive) with your MPC3000, formatting a compact flash card will create twenty-six 30MB partitions, for a total of 780MB of useable space. The rest of the card is ignored. This is true of both the Akai os and the Valixi os. However, with the Vailixi os, you can create the twenty-six partitions as "hybrid" partitions which makes them all accessible on a Mac or Ubuntu computer. I believe that on a Windows PC, you would still only see the first partition even using the hybrid partitions.

ok thanks for clarifying that.

because the card is classed as a removable disk, i think if you can make windows think it is a fixed disk then it may let you see more partitions

oxide54 wrote:

scsiforsamplers.com wrote:If you are using a SCSI card reader (like our CF-CARD drive) with your MPC3000, formatting a compact flash card will create twenty-six 30MB partitions, for a total of 780MB of useable space. The rest of the card is ignored. This is true of both the Akai os and the Valixi os. However, with the Vailixi os, you can create the twenty-six partitions as "hybrid" partitions which makes them all accessible on a Mac or Ubuntu computer. I believe that on a Windows PC, you would still only see the first partition even using the hybrid partitions.

ok thanks for clarifying that.

because the card is classed as a removable disk, i think if you can make windows think it is a fixed disk then it may let you see more partitions

That is correct - if you can make Windows think the drive is fixed, then all partitions would be accessible for reading or writing. It is a flag in the device header that must be changed and I know that there must be utility programs out there to do this but I have not found one yet.

Thanks for your input. I'll wait and see where this auction goes...and I may just come up with the 3000. Talking to the guys who's selling it has got me reinspired about the 60II (which he is keeping). apparently if you overdrive the pre amp in the 60 it does create a bit more punch and grit than the 3000. That card reader would be awesome though....Thanks

i googled earlier and all i came up with was using a program called windows enabler that lets you trick windows disk administrator into letting you partition a memory stick into multiple partitions, all they were doing was actually tricking windows into re-enabling the delete/create new partition menu items in disk administrator. ( i know how, but this is an MPC forum not a windows sdk one ) so i don't think it will help as the card would already have been partitioned by the MPC. but I may have a play with it tomorow. it could be usefull not having to re-boot into linux.

scsiforsamplers.com wrote:If you are using a SCSI card reader (like our CF-CARD drive) with your MPC3000, formatting a compact flash card will create twenty-six 30MB partitions, for a total of 780MB of useable space. The rest of the card is ignored. This is true of both the Akai os and the Valixi os. However, with the Vailixi os, you can create the twenty-six partitions as "hybrid" partitions which makes them all accessible on a Mac or Ubuntu computer. I believe that on a Windows PC, you would still only see the first partition even using the hybrid partitions.

Hi, I am on the AKAI OS 3.1. and my Mac can see only 1st partition A ...

Will a Mac OSX 10.6.3 be able to see all partitions of an external SCSI Zip Drive with Vailixi?

zippertafari wrote:Hi.

Ok I'd go for the 3000. The 60 II is a great machine but Vailixi makes a massive difference and turns the 3000 into the best mpc in my opinion (if it wasn't already).

Z

I've just got MPC3000LE 3.11 and love it's Groove/Swing "mojo"
instantly right out of the box !

But before upgrading to Vailixi I would like to know
a crutial feature for me:

Does Vailixi screws in anyway that MPC60/3000 swing
or rather keeps the original and just adds xtra features to the
swing?

grassroots wrote: apparently if you overdrive the pre amp in the 60 it does create a bit more punch and grit than the 3000. That card reader would be awesome though....Thanks

Yeah but the filter and output level of the 3k just makes your samples knock so hard.
You really have to hear both to see which you prefer.

jazzroom wrote:

zippertafari wrote:Hi.

Ok I'd go for the 3000. The 60 II is a great machine but Vailixi makes a massive difference and turns the 3000 into the best mpc in my opinion (if it wasn't already).

Z

I've just got MPC3000LE 3.11 and love it's Groove/Swing "mojo"
instantly right out of the box !

But before upgrading to Vailixi I would like to know
a crutial feature for me:

Does Vailixi screws in anyway that MPC60/3000 swing
or rather keeps the original and just adds xtra features to the
swing?

You asked this in another thread already...

3.50 doesn't change the PPQ of the MPC 3000. So, this means that the system resolution is unaffected by 3.50. However, 3.50 adds additional quantise values to choose from. So in other words, the "mojo" is retained in 3.50, but you have more timing correct options than with any Akai OS.

Also Vailixi is only currently available for the 3000, so im not sure why you mentioned the 60 in your question.