MPC5000 reviews, bug reports and fellow user support on the most recent standalone, hardware MPC from Akai
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By MPC-Tutor Tue Apr 07, 2009 6:36 am
Yep, that did it - I think yesterday I must have had a random glitch though, as nothing would get that Q2 to work for me. :?
By 5000ways Tue Apr 07, 2009 6:56 pm
So...when your MPC 5000 is SLAVED to MIDI Clock and your press play in Pro Tools, does your MPC start playing? Does it play at the same tempo as Pro Tools? What do you expect the MPC to do? And what does it actually do?


In my case with a similar setup with a 16 bar loop. Hitting play in Pro Tools causes the MPC to maybe start late
then catch on for 4 bars fall off or it may start on then fall off after 4 or 8 bars. I never used My MPC as master
or use time code so I'm not sure if the problem exist syncing in those routes.

With everything exactly the same with 1.02, I have not had any problems.
I want my keygroups...

2.01...with akys. 1.50
That's what is needed to make it a Beast.
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By Askia Shaheed Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:58 am
5000ways wrote:
So...when your MPC 5000 is SLAVED to MIDI Clock and your press play in Pro Tools, does your MPC start playing? Does it play at the same tempo as Pro Tools? What do you expect the MPC to do? And what does it actually do?


In my case with a similar setup with a 16 bar loop. Hitting play in Pro Tools causes the MPC to maybe start late
then catch on for 4 bars fall off or it may start on then fall off after 4 or 8 bars. I never used My MPC as master
or use time code so I'm not sure if the problem exist syncing in those routes.

With everything exactly the same with 1.02, I have not had any problems.
I want my keygroups...

2.01...with akys. 1.50
That's what is needed to make it a Beast.


Well...I have my keygroups :P

But on a serious note, I don't have the same problem when setting the MPC 5K as the slave and my keyboard as the Master Sending MIDI clock when I use it in a typical fashion. I can set the MPC tempo directly from my keyboard and even use the keyboards cursor buttons, data wheel, and transport to control the 5K. However, if I set the 5K to bar 25 and then have my keyboard start playing at bar 1, my MPC will not sync correctly or not sync at all. There is no real world situation where I would want to do this though. I have found no other way to cause my 5K to lose sync with my keyboard.

From your comments, it is not out of the ordinary for the MPC to trigger a few seconds later after pressing play in Pro Tools. You should leave a few empty bars at the beginning of a track in order to give your devices time to sync.

* Now if I set my keyboard to play a 16 bar loop...when the sequence loops at bar 16, my MPC will not play the first sound I have at bar 1.01.000. But it still stays in sync.
By 5000ways Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:50 pm
Lucky Bastard.... ??? j/k


There is some confusion on setup.
I am guessing you are talking about having a Keyboard as master.
I am dealing with having the Pro tools as master for Midi Beat Clock.
My MPC is slaved sync source for all of my external gear along with VI's.
My MPC and Computer talk through Motu Midi Timepiece.
Thanks for pointing out the wait for note ,but I tried that
and I still had the same result where the MPC drifted in and out of sync.
It's not just a sample thing. Where the sample is not starting on
1.01.00.
Running the VI"s with individual drum sounds programed on the MPC
would also go out of sync.

I have had this setup for years now and never had it where it was so extreme.
Of course you expect a little midi lag, but drifting is a whole new
factor I have never experienced with owning multiple MPC's.

I don't know why, I did not change anything with my setup but using
1.02. No problem syncing..
By b-righteous Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:17 pm
Sounds like a bug. Anyone else who notices this able to resolve it by reverting to 1.02?

I noticed the MPC at GC now has a slight lag all over the place with OS2. I mean the menus and parameters pause while scrolling. It's not snappy when navigating or changing parameters like someone else noted. Not just that, it causes you to jump to higher values suddenly when it catches up. Makes adjusting trim and other parameters a pain. It's like the new OS is putting a strain on the processor or memory and the 5k can't quite keep up.


One thing you guys may want to check for the timing issues. In my experience with other samplers, when the processor is strained by using up the polyphony it will cause the timing to suffer. You may want to make sure you are not using up your voices. Also, program change messages can cause this along with excessive after touch data. Normally the AT data is filtered by default so check that it is and make sure there are no unwanted PC messages. Also try using MTC instead of clock to see if it improves.
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By Askia Shaheed Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:53 am
5000ways wrote:Lucky Bastard.... ??? j/k


There is some confusion on setup.
I am guessing you are talking about having a Keyboard as master.
I am dealing with having the Pro tools as master for Midi Beat Clock.
My MPC is slaved sync source for all of my external gear along with VI's.
My MPC and Computer talk through Motu Midi Timepiece.
Thanks for pointing out the wait for note ,but I tried that
and I still had the same result where the MPC drifted in and out of sync.
It's not just a sample thing. Where the sample is not starting on
1.01.00.
Running the VI"s with individual drum sounds programed on the MPC
would also go out of sync.

I have had this setup for years now and never had it where it was so extreme.
Of course you expect a little midi lag, but drifting is a whole new
factor I have never experienced with owning multiple MPC's.

I don't know why, I did not change anything with my setup but using
1.02. No problem syncing..


Thanks for the additional info. I will try that out once I complete my own tests.

I am doing it with a keyboard first to eliminate computer, software, and MIDI interface. If there is a problem with slaving the MPC to Pro Tools, then there should be a problem with slaving the MPC to keyboard workstation. MIDI sync is MIDI sync.

Has any of you guys with this problem tried to duplicate this potential bug with a keyboard workstation?
By b-righteous Sun Apr 12, 2009 3:59 am
Spent some time with the 5k today. First, I must say that it sounds nice unlike the 2500. The effects are decent too and thats an MPC first.

Now I know what the others are saying about the timing. This is regarding the quantize. I record with it off first. If I use TC and drop the strength to just 96% it seems to be off. Tried with different patterns and made sure my playing was close and in pocket. It just aint right. Ive been doing this for a while on different MPC's and other boards with strength settings so it isn't me. It's just off sometimes. I did not notice this when making beats on OS 1 Not sure if this is related to the sync issues but Akai need to fix this. One thing was I did use the alternate metronome sound. Don't know if that makes a difference. Anyway.
By b-righteous Sun Apr 12, 2009 9:28 pm
SCD, is Akai looking into this or is the 5k going to be stuck like this?

An MPC with bad timing and sync is a total embarrassment. The lag between screens and unresponsive GUI is unacceptable.

The slow load, lack of unused program purge and chop features need an update too.

JJ is still a better OS overall unless these are addressed.
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By Askia Shaheed Mon Apr 13, 2009 2:35 am
The MPC 5000 is the first and only MPC with strength and window so it is impossible that you tried this with the older models. Perhaps this is user error or you expect it to perform in a way it wasn't designed to.

If the MPC 2500 and JJ OS is better, then stick with that to ease your frustrations.

If you can't or unwilling to give specific details on what you believe is a bug, then it will not get fixed. Akai is aware of these reports.
By 4dahaterz Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:51 am
I got a new idea... tomorrow, since I have time off... Im going to first make a track on the MPC 5000, and then im going to slave it to the 2000XL and see what it does...
Last edited by 4dahaterz on Mon Apr 13, 2009 5:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
By b-righteous Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:53 am
The MPC 5000 is the first and only MPC with strength and window so it is impossible that you tried this with the older models


Who said it was an MPC. Akai was the only modern SAMPLER that does NOT have strength until the 5k. JJ has strength now too and it works fine as expected. When I tried 5k OS 1 it did too.

Perhaps this is user error or you expect it to perform in a way it wasn't designed to.


Nope. I know exactly what to expect. At 96% strength it is at almost full on. As long as your playing is in the ball park it should be on point so long as you use the right note value and I did. Usually when I quantize I only use 70% Trust me I know when these things are off and others are reporting the same. Don't dismiss it so easily as there is a chance it will never get fixed. Maybe you don't/can't notice it but that doesn't mean others can't. Not actually owning a 5k I don't have the ability to test further. I think there has been enough info in this thread for Akai to do their own testing.

As far as the 2500, it doesn't sound that good to me and so my interest in the 5k's future.
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By Askia Shaheed Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:59 am
Actually..samplers don't have strength...that is a feature available on some sequencers. MPCs not having strength certainly didn't negatively impact its status as the industry standard.

If you actually read my posts in this thread, you will see that I am not dismissing anything. But no one has yet to provide specific details about the sync problem although I made numerous requests. This is what will delay this bug being fixed..if it is a bug.

Now if you are claiming you have problems with the strenght, then post your settings. Provide details about the sequence. Just saying that you have a problem doesn't mean its a bug.
By 4dahaterz Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:24 pm
Askia Shaheed wrote:If you actually read my posts in this thread, you will see that I am not dismissing anything. But no one has yet to provide specific details about the sync problem although I made numerous requests. This is what will delay this bug being fixed..if it is a bug.


There is no specific way... what details do you want... Its happening in most ways of being used as slaved(to me and alot of others)... whether you use it as MIDI and/or the samples in it.

Here is what you do...
1. Make a beat with the MPC 5000, make about 15 tracks, 8 Bars
2. try to track the beat out into your DAW(about 16 bars... so you let it go around twice)
3. Make sure you are slaving the MPC using MIDI Beat Clock
By b-righteous Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:43 pm
Actually..samplers don't have strength...that is a feature available on some sequencers. MPCs not having strength certainly didn't negatively impact its status as the industry standard.


You know what I meant. No one was saying the MPC sucks because it did not have strength. This little ticky tack stuff is not helping to resolve the issue so lets stay on topic.

I understand it is best to list specifics to reproduce the bug but I can't do that without having more time with it. I will test a little further when I get a chance.

As far as others, like I said before there is enough info for Akai to look into it and do further testing. It's real nice for users to pin it down and do all the beta testing for them but that does not mean they should not be looking into it. Any other company would have had someone let us know they are looking into it to try and help. Or let us know they still intend to support the product with bug fixes and possible upgrades but people are left in the dark.
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By Askia Shaheed Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:22 am
You must have missed the part where I said it was being looked at. A lot of work went into testing 2.0. Obviously, if this is a problem, it was missed during testing. Since I read about some users here having problems with sync, I tested it myself. I can't find a problem with syncing. If you give specific details, that would go a long way towards confirming this potential bug and getting it fixed.

4dahaterz wrote:
Askia Shaheed wrote:If you actually read my posts in this thread, you will see that I am not dismissing anything. But no one has yet to provide specific details about the sync problem although I made numerous requests. This is what will delay this bug being fixed..if it is a bug.


There is no specific way... what details do you want... Its happening in most ways of being used as slaved(to me and alot of others)... whether you use it as MIDI and/or the samples in it.

Here is what you do...
1. Make a beat with the MPC 5000, make about 15 tracks, 8 Bars
2. try to track the beat out into your DAW(about 16 bars... so you let it go around twice)
3. Make sure you are slaving the MPC using MIDI Beat Clock


Alot of others have not given any details and we are just going around in a circle.

So what happens exactly happens when you do the steps above?