Repair for the MPC Live?

Hi, I went onto AKAI Professional's site and followed the links to repair service providers.
Nobody wants to touch repairs for the modern MPC family.
It looks like any local music store who ever put in a PO for some MPKs got added to the list of authorized service providers in New England. But nobody really wants the business.
Is MPCStuff.com the best game in town?

Looking at the inside of the thing and knowing the industry, there isn't much in the way of 'repairs' really. The inside of this thing is like some of the projectors and monitors my work makes, it's just a series of boards interconnected and none of our repair techs replace components on the boards. When an issue is diagnosed, component on the board is bad, the whole board is swapped, fired up, flashed if it needs firmware, tested to make sure its running and its back to work.. We won't even replace display panels if those die or break. Don't have the clean rooms needed to properly do it and the cost always comes out to more than buying a new monitor does so we just replace the whole unit.

Technically all you really need to do is replace the main board (I think you said that's where the audio outputs are right?) and reflash the firmware and you're good to go.

Monotremata wrote:Looking at the inside of the thing and knowing the industry, there isn't much in the way of 'repairs' really.

Brilliant approach to the future of these things isn't it? Ensoniq did the same shit, and now we just have a ton of dead Ensoniq boards everywhere.

Although, I think any of the buttons,encoders or jacks could be replaced on any MPC.

jabberwalky wrote:

Monotremata wrote:Looking at the inside of the thing and knowing the industry, there isn't much in the way of 'repairs' really.

Brilliant approach to the future of these things isn't it? Ensoniq did the same shit, and now we just have a ton of dead Ensoniq boards everywhere.

Although, I think any of the buttons,encoders or jacks could be replaced on any MPC.

Oh yeah the buttons/encoders/etc that's all 'serviceable' stuff. Technically the boards are too but all of that shit is SMT, and nobody wants to spend the time or money to setup a proper shop to replace that kind of stuff. I can't work on that kind of stuff myself because it's just too small and I don't have the steady hands to work on it. Regular old through-hole components like old synths and Roland rack gear, hell yeah, I'm fixing it! All these newfangled micro components suck hah. I really hate those thin flat ribbon type cables they use for the board interconnects too. I've broken a bunch of those in MacBooks in my time because they're so fragile. If you're not careful, they can snap just bending them when you put the laptop back together!

Check out https://www.mpcstuff.com/mpc-repair/
I think this guy/company repairs almost every akai. Plus the picture on the page shows a newer mpc live 2 being worked on (if I'm not mistaken)
I've gotten in touch with them in the past about an old mpc 1000 I have that has a few non functional buttons. They seem pretty down to earth and knowledgeable

CTown wrote:Check out https://www.mpcstuff.com/mpc-repair/
I think this guy/company repairs almost every akai. Plus the picture on the page shows a newer mpc live 2 being worked on (if I'm not mistaken)
I've gotten in touch with them in the past about an old mpc 1000 I have that has a few non functional buttons. They seem pretty down to earth and knowledgeable

I know Mike (the owner of the company) very well, and yes, he's very knowledgable about all things MPC (and Akai gear in general). Can source OEM parts, makes his own parts when the originals are NLA, and offers a repair service.

Digging up this old thread rather than start a new one!

Anyone successfully repair or replace any 1/4" audio outputs on one of the new gen MPCs?
I tried to get inside my MPC Live to try take a look at the main out left channel to see if there's any obvious damage, but I couldn't even get inside the thing to have a proper look without taking the entire machine apart completely..

I've mentioned this on a previous thread before, but when I bought the used Live earlier this year, I found the tip of a 1/4" jack head lodged in the left main output - I got it out as carefully & delicately as possible, but the connection is still dead.

I've a local guy to go to that I trust, he has all the proper tools & experience - but just curious if it's not fixable, how much of a nightmare would it be to replace? For example - are they fairly generic sockets, or a specific Akai item I'll need to try find?

Thanks folks, curious to hear any stories or experiences, positive or negative!

Moot wrote:Digging up this old thread rather than start a new one!

Anyone successfully repair or replace any 1/4" audio outputs on one of the new gen MPCs?
I tried to get inside my MPC Live to try take a look at the main out left channel to see if there's any obvious damage, but I couldn't even get inside the thing to have a proper look without taking the entire machine apart completely..

I've mentioned this on a previous thread before, but when I bought the used Live earlier this year, I found the tip of a 1/4" jack head lodged in the left main output - I got it out as carefully & delicately as possible, but the connection is still dead.


And for dudes that say this thing cannot be repaired, You dudes are just not familiar with hot air, techniques, and precision works, electronical elements only gotten smaller so microscope is needed and a lot more patience. These things are no different than a macbook and there are folks that repair "unfixable" macbooks without service manual.

I've a local guy to go to that I trust, he has all the proper tools & experience - but just curious if it's not fixable, how much of a nightmare would it be to replace? For example - are they fairly generic sockets, or a specific Akai item I'll need to try find?

Thanks folks, curious to hear any stories or experiences, positive or negative!

I'm 98% sure without even looking that this port is standard amphenol or neutrik TRS thru-hole mounted TRS connector.

And loose tip on s**t quality plug bend the tip hook in this socket. If You are feeling lucky, try to beng this hook in socket with some small screwdriver, be delicate !

OK that's encouraging info regarding the ports, thank you & hopefully that's the case if I need to replace it!

The Screwdriver method sounds tricky but I'll look into that & see if it's something I may be able to attempt without making matters worse!! Thanks again!

this is the port: it takes literally 5 minutes to desolder it if you need it. There are three springy tabs that make contact with the jack, in order to remove detached tip, you need to lift all three tabs so it can fall outside. Afterwards insert a new jack in the socket and make sure that all three tabs make contact with the jack. BTW. only port 1/2 can be fixed this way without desoldering as the tabs in sockets 5/6 7/8 are facing towards adjacent socket without any room to insert anything between them. So if you need to remove the tip from ports 3/4 or 7/8, you will need to desolder the socket. As I said at the beginning it's a 5 minutes job (it takes more to disassemble the chasis that to desolder the socket) but at the same time, I'm saying it from the perspective of a guy who will take his soldering iron down to (or sometimes below) 1206 before reach for hot air and soldering paste

dustyslices wrote:this is the port: it takes literally 5 minutes to desolder it if you need it. There are three springy tabs that make contact with the jack, in order to remove detached tip, you need to lift all three tabs so it can fall outside. Afterwards insert a new jack in the socket and make sure that all three tabs make contact with the jack. BTW. only port 1/2 can be fixed this way without desoldering as the tabs in sockets 5/6 7/8 are facing towards adjacent socket without any room to insert anything between them. So if you need to remove the tip from ports 3/4 or 7/8, you will need to desolder the socket. As I said at the beginning it's a 5 minutes job (it takes more to disassemble the chasis that to desolder the socket) but at the same time, I'm saying it from the perspective of a guy who will take his soldering iron down to (or sometimes below) 1206 before reach for hot air and soldering paste

heat gun and the old *smack* on the table lol.

Try using a corkscrew. Worked for me on a different device.

Thanks guys! The photo is very helpful!
Yep, it's on;y the 1/2 main outs that need a fix, all the others are fine.