MPC 1000 and USB port...

Hello all,

I'm thinking of selling my MPC2000XL and getting the smaller, more affordable and modern MPC1000. I did not like the fact that I had to use the outdated and expensive SCSI cables with my MPC2000XL to save data on my computer and the fact that I had to get the right software to do this (Disk2file software, for example). What I want to do: use the MPC 1000 to build programs, build sequences, build songs, and save ALL three of these things on the compact flash cards or on my PC using the USB (my PC has USB capabilities) and maybe burn back ups on CDs. First, can I save PROGRAMS, SEQUENCES and an entire SONG on the MPC 1000's compact flash cards or can I only save SOUND BANKS (programs)? Second, could someone please explain to me, in plain english , how "USB MASS STORAGE CLASS" works... what is it? I have Windows 98 on my PC and I hear USB mass storage won't work properly. Do I need USB MASS STORAGE (and therefore Windows 2000 or better) to save sounds, sequences, and songs to my PC or can I still use the USB to save things even though I have Windows 98? ...as you can see, I really don't know what this "USB mass storage" thing is? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks very much!

Yves

Samples, sequences, and songs can be saved to the CompactFlash card. When the MPC1000 is connected to your computer with a USB cable the MPC appears as a drive icon in the computer. Files can be transferred either way from the computer. You cannot access the computer from the MPC because the MPC is a slave device. Windows 98 does not work well with USB, but you will not know for sure how well your system works until you try it with the MPC. If it does not work, then you will have to upgrade to a better OS, and possibly a new computer.

There hasn't been many problems since win95 osr2 when microsoft first implemented usb support and some chip standards where not worked out between intel, via and others. but win 98 was the first operating system with native support for usb. The mass storage class became standard on me. I have a usb card reader that is a mass storage device and with a driver install it worked perfectly fine on my win98 machine. And with no driver install for my win2000 machine.

Thanks very much gentlemen, good help. I still dont understand the concept of mass storage class. Is it just a type of driver that you can get installed on your PC to allow you to store large amounts of information? I don't get it.

It's a device that you can attach to your computer which allows you to store data. A CF card that has been inserted into the 1000 acts like a mass storage device when the USB connection is plugged into a PC or Mac. The use of the term is pretty much just for impressive sounding marketing purposes...although there is ease of use / functionality that was not present with the Zip drive on the 2000xl.

You'll find a definition here.

good stuff man, thanks very much.

help!! my sounds i downloaded to my mac sound terrible im using a full speed shielded usb cable could that be the problem?

"can I still use the USB to save things even though I have Windows 98?"

Not on the MPC1000 itself.

From Akai's website:

(*) You can use "USB MASS STORAGE CLASS" devices with Windows 2000/Me/XP (or later) and MacOS 9.x/10.x. Requires a USB connection on your Mac/PC plus the appropriate support in your computer's OS

The USB cable is one way to transfer files... but you can also just eject the card and move it over to a CF card reader on the computer. That can even be faster, since the MPC1000 link is USB1, but you can get USB2 CF readers for the PC, or a PCMCIA adaptor for a notebook slot (very fast).