Warning to potential buyers of the MPC500

SSneddon said it pretty well, but I'll add my two cents.

There are very few things in the world that are perfect.

Pointing out imperfections doesn't bother me. In fact, I do it myself all the time. Most users here are trying to help each other work through limitations of their device or situation. That's what makes this community so great.

Using imperfections to apply sweeping generalizations to a larger company or group of people just makes you sound like a 13 year old dick. Jamon - you fall into this category. You might be right about some of the bugs, but you FAIL at the larger argument because of your drama.

"....despite all the hype, it is a lemon."

- FAIL. Many of us are using these machines on a regular basis despite their limitations.

"But this entire scene of MPC users is filled with people caught up in some delusional fantasy world."

- FAIL. MPC users are from all walks of life. If you can't see that then there is no hope for you. BTW - Best single example of delusional fantasy world = Beat Kangz - Beat Thang demo on youtube.

"Wearing baggy pants.."

- FAIL. See above.

"...tapping on an overpriced little box while you talk like you're local to Brooklyn.

" - FAIL. See above.

"Akai is a con."

- FAIL. Again...see above.

"All you people..."

- FAIL. *sigh*

cda it needs to be said. There are many people who are in debt and get caught up in the hype surrounding commercial hip-hop. It gives them hope, but it is false. It is very much like the pro-wrestling business. It is sad to see these guys drop $600+ on a device mostly because it is an "MPC", and that is like a prerequisite to be a "producer". There are people struggling over this little box, when it's not what it claims to be.

Being a producer isn't a special achievement. We are kids playing with toys. Your grandma would have no problem laying down a beat. This is for fun, it is art. But when an entire industry pretends it is some big thing, and links their little game and products to images of flashy fortune, then everyone falls over themselves to fall in line and try to compete. Then companies like Akai can take advantage of this by cloaking their defective boxes as fashion symbols.

It is a problem on two levels. One is that the guy falling into the trap for competitive reasons, because he wants to be some glitzy high-status hip-hop head with expensive women, cars, and club action is wasting his time and money on a con game. Two is that the actual artists who don't care about the status and are in it for the fun and creative process are being ignored because the companies are busy trying to target-market the other guys in it for the hype.

eimer knows, they blew me off in email too. They can get away with pretending the bugs don't exist, and being uncommunicative with tech-minded customers trying to help them work them out because of the people in category 1. See, they have plenty of business from those guys, and they don't go too deep into the internals because they are in it for fashion and competition, not art. So Akai can get away with ignoring the % of their customers that actually want a stable tool.

If "Akai MPC" was not a flashy name, and there was no hip-hop hype around it, then Akai would have to listen to eimer because he would represent a higher ratio of the type of customer buying their gear. But instead, thanks to the commercial hip-hop con game, a large percentage of their customer base are not actually musicians and are tapping out preset samples and loops to fulfill their fantasy of being a millionaire with half-naked bitches shaking asses everywhere they go.

That is why it is relevant to the bugs issue. Akai would be out of business by now if the majority of people buying their gear were using it as the tool it intends to be. There was a MPC5000 video posted recently of an Akai employee showing off their new model, and everything he did was so basic it could be done on something way less featureful than the MPC500. That is what keeps Akai alive, people being so impressed by the impressive show that they buy more than they need.

People who just want to make music end up drowned out by all the hype-culture, and after Akai blows them off they give up and disappear. But if the fakes kept quiet for a few minutes long enough for the techies to wake up and have their say then Akai would have to listen. It's not too much to ask for firmware that does what it claims to do, and does it stably. That is why many people using MPCs use them and not PCs. Otherwise if you wan't all random bugs and crashes, why not use a PC?

It's why I think the audio industry needs a new way. See PCs are great for flexibility, but they are terrible for audio because the audio has to go through too many layers to offer the same realtime, low-power, direct flow that something dedicated can. But these manufacturers don't get it. They are losing out to PC-based stuff because they can't keep up with the high-speed development of software. So we need a new platform of hardware that is a generic audio framework.

Imagine if there were lots of generic MPC-type devices, all with slightly different hardware. Some have cheap AD/DA converters, some have 16 outputs, some have 2, etc. Then they all share the same basic development framework, so once you buy this low-priced hardware, you can load firmware off the web. The SDK is public and open so anyone can code for it. Imagine, if one OS for your device sucks, you just go to the next. It'd be the best of both worlds, PC diversity + hardware precision.

But the music gear producers today are so busy trying to make boxes where you just push a button and entire songs appear, so people can pretend they are musicians, that the actual artists are being left out. Personal Computers are not optimal for creative expression. They are excellent for technical audio engineering, but are terrible interfaces for being played like an instrument. External controllers are closer, but the actual PC has the severe flaw of too many hardware layers and bloated OS.

Things like MPCs and other multitrack recorders, samplers, synths, sequencers, etc. are what we need, but not if the company keeps the source code closed and fails at delivering quality. If they'd just release the SDK and stop pretending this is 1980 then we could have 50 JJ-type alternative OS' pop-up overnight. The bugs would be squashed in a community-form, and we could have versions setup specific for different workflows. There could be a simple beat machine mode, or complex workstation, or live instrument.

But Akai already makes money, and has a loyal fanbase who will put up with all their faults, so why would they change?

If you don't like the 500, sell it and get the **** out of here.

I've owned a 2000xl and a SP-404 and I prefer the 500 to either of those, no question.
Because I like the 500.
It works for me.

If you don't like it then don't use it and stop writing 12 paragraphs of your ranting.



By the way, do you consider your favorite producer "a kid playing with toys"? Or just the people in these forums who would have helped you with your problems if you would have asked like a normal person?


And I do not blame Akai for purposely limiting the 500 to make us buy the other ones. I wish they wouldn't but I know why they do.

Jamon, with an attitude like yours towards a piece of musical technology, I'm surprised you make it out your front door in the morning to face the world... and then home again at the end of the day.

!! The pad problem is now gone. The slightest touch to trigger, with full range of expressive control.

Next up, the firmware. Anyone in touch with JJ? Any info or source code would help with reverse engineering.

And then we work on racism and everything is cool.

I would love to help but I'm tied up having fun on my 500.

Ill-Green wrote:I would love to help but I'm tied up having fun on my 500.

stop trying to be black

ssnedden wrote:

Ill-Green wrote:I would love to help but I'm tied up having fun on my 500.

stop trying to be black

But I want the phat chain and the champagne, big booty girls suping me like Lois Lane.

suping me like Lois Lane,
then I fill my nose with cane,
numb like novacane,
flow like some ocean waves,
ball like the Oakland A's,
Poke 'er like I'm holdin spades,
**** up ya shoulda blades,
give ya glasses broken frames,
**** ya girl on my couch, that shits a fold-a-way,
I'm smokin haze, I got the golden chain
to explain,
that I'm loaded, mane'

This is what it's all about:

I hae two daughters and support a family of four. I work extra hours to be able to buy gear and the minimum I'm asking for is a working equippment. not some half finished product. is that too much to ask for? a stable os that doesn't misteriously make my songs dissappear, does what it says in the add. That's it

That's from "Feb 22, 2006" on this forum talking about the MPC4000. Guess what today is? "Feb 22, 2009". Exactly 3 years later, to the day.

What's that tell you?

In every modern MPC model it is the same story. Do a search. With the recent 5000 they made an extra point to promise that they'd do frequent OS updates and listen to the community. They made it sound like the unstable unsupported OS of the past was over.

Hy, i have the same problem, after doing a whole work, i seve the projet and when i load it again, the efects seting are lost, some samples (programs) are lost and when i loas it individualy they are 1 semitone down........... HELP ME PEASE

Nothing changed. Just like the 500, the $2,600 MPC can't even save and load reliably. If it can't do that, when this is the "flagship" model with all their attention, then what does that tell you?

It tells us that Numark fails at software development.

What is the solution? Surely they must be trying their best. They aren't sitting around playing cards. But they can't keep up.

So release the source!

They don't have to support it. Put a big disclaimer that anyone loading anything other than the official OS is voiding their warranty and receive zero support.

It's not like if a few hackers takeover their job they are going to go out of business. If anything it'll boost sales since the OS depends on the hardware.

Why is this so difficult for companies to grasp? All hardware should have basic specs published for helping hackers. It is in their interest!

Emails were sent to JJ and Akai. There is a nice big port in the battery compartment, possibly for accessing some sort of console. The binary has strings referencing "CStaticPageBuilder_*" for the GUI. So for instance the record mode screen is, "CStaticPageBuilder_RecordPageBuilder". The 'C' may hint at the language used, either for just the GUI, or maybe the whole OS.

Wouldn't you like to be able to have the freedom to modify the device you own? How is it fair to be at the mercy of a company who acts as gatekeeper holding the brains of the device hostage when they can't even manage it correctly? You bought it, why not customize it? You could if you had the source code. The bugs could be found and fixed, features added, in an open public way.

This should be something you expect and require before you lay down the cash. If you did, we could fix the probs and make this machine more valuable for everyone involved: the artists, and the manufacturer. We could pay Akai their hostage fee to get them to open it up, everyone pitch in a little. JJ probably won't want to help either since everyone is greedy in trying to keep secrets.

But it hurts you, because the MPC could be so much more.

There is a small percent of the population that wears tin-foil hats and think everything is a conspiracy.
There is a small percent of the population that buys MPCs and makes beats/songs.

This dude is in the even smaller population that is both.


Yes, the MPC could be better. But if there is something that is better than the MPC for a comparable price, go buy it. If not, be gracious not angered.

I've only had 2 problems since the new OS came out and I was able to work around one of them easily. If you have a good 500 and RAM and the new OS, there shouldn't be a problem with saving and loading or anything basic like that. If you want the advanced shit, maybe you shouldn't have bought the baby MPC.

>Do you have information or source code you can share to help with reverse engineering MPC500 firmware?

It does not have.

Thanks JJ.

Eh um.

I bang babes with braids with two shades of kool-aid
Backstage or on trains I leave puu with cum stains
Backaches and arm strains, buttcheeks with odd names
Boyfriends with no game, who thinks that I'll be tame
Smoked out and insane I leave butts with bruised vains
Light a blunt leave her room in a fog
Wiping sludge on her rug, grease smudged on her doorknob

Jamon wrote:!! The pad problem is now gone. The slightest touch to trigger, with full range of expressive control.

Next up, the firmware. Anyone in touch with JJ? Any info or source code would help with reverse engineering.

You learned how to change the sensitivity on the pads!

YAAAY!