Share your knowledge on these two classic MPCs
By zeusmajor Thu May 21, 2009 6:10 pm
I recently got a ADTRON NDISK 9gb from JD Wilson over at SCSIFORSAMPLERS

It's solid state (for everyone who likes CF and betta :wink: ) , so no noise, lightwieght e.t.c

Formatted the drive, and Saved/Loaded files.

I'm running Vailixi 3.50, and as I do with every new storage device I first tried it with Multi Sector Data Transfer: Off

First thing I noticed is that in Single Sector Mode, the HDD Reads/Writes files faster than my CF reader will in Multi Sector Mode.

Next I tried the ADTRON in Multi Sector Mode and....

yeaaaAAAAAHH!!!! wooooooo!!!!!!!

Far and away the fastest thing I've ever seen with the MPC3000.

In conclusion, there are 2 reasons to get this thing ASAP.

1. It's the fastest Storage Device you can get for either an MPC3000/60.

2. Even if you don't have the far superior Vailixi 3.50 os for your MPC3000 (wtf is wrong w/you!?!) this will still work!

SCSI for samplers link : http://www.scsiforsamplers.com/adtron.asp

Software Update for the MPC3000 : http://www.mansell-labs.com/products.html
By zeusmajor Thu May 21, 2009 9:13 pm
950skweezyotitties wrote:waht do you do when its fullback it up to something?

Pretty much. Don't see that as a bad thing.
950skweezyotitties wrote:you can only format 750mb of the drive

Yea... It'd be cool if the MPC3000/60 could see all 9gb, but that said, it's $50

These Drives are in the same league as the SPYRUS ones which , as u already know , are built exceedingly tuff.

$50 for the fastest completely silent MPC3000 compatible storage solution is a good deal in today's market.
By scsiforsamplers.com Thu May 21, 2009 10:27 pm
Thanks for the good review, Zeus! And 950skweezyotitties (nice handle btw) has a point - 785MB isn't much space. But let's look at the options for the MPC60 and MPC3000 samplers:

Zip drive: cheap and useful but bound to fail.

Card Reader drive: has to be SCSI and will cost $200+ these days.

NDISK internal or external: $50 for 785MB of your most used samples and beats, ready to load in an instant. Reliable, totally quiet. Go to the gig or another studio and you've got all your tunes or best samples in one place and requiring no extra anything, instead of juggling zip disks.

All storage options have their pros and cons. You have to buy what is going to work best for your needs. I believe this product will have a spot and some folks will find it very useful as long as they understand the limitations.
User avatar
By DJ Supreme Thu May 21, 2009 11:02 pm
[quote="scsiforsamplers.com"]

Card Reader drive: has to be SCSI and will cost $200+ these days.




Actually if you get a ide to scsi convertor, you can put a ide card drive in the mpc. I got the acard one of ebay for $30 bucks. IDE internal card reader works perfectly in my mpc3000....
By scsiforsamplers.com Fri May 22, 2009 12:09 am
And that is a great deal for a SCSI Card Reader. However, it will only remain that cheap until the guy on eBay runs out of the $30.00 ACard SCSI-to-IDE convertors. They sell for around $145 everywhere else.

But that is beside the point - I think what Zeusmajor was saying and I know what I'm saying is these are all good solutions and you just need to look for the one that works best for your needs. The drive I'm selling is fast and quiet - some folks will value that above all else. And some won't.
By Acid Mitch Fri May 22, 2009 7:02 am
scsiforsamplers.com wrote:And that is a great deal for a SCSI Card Reader. However, it will only remain that cheap until the guy on eBay runs out of the $30.00 ACard SCSI-to-IDE convertors. They sell for around $145 everywhere else.


Anyone know if these Acard thingies are compatable with the MPC60 ?
Also what Acard model number are ya'll using ?
By scsiforsamplers.com Fri May 22, 2009 1:01 pm
The Acard model number is AEC-7720U. I have not tested them myself on an MPC60 or MPC3000 but I'm betting they would be compatible with the right IDE card unit. If you are interested in that option, I have several of the IDE card drives/Acard convertor units available that work great for all the samplers I have tested them on so far. They are not hotswappable but if you can live with that, the cost for them is $60.00, which is the exact cost of the materials ($40 for the Acard and $20 for the IDE drive). If it didn't work, I would accept it back, so there is no risk to you.

You'd also need my internal cabling kit for $44.00 (KIT-MPC60 or KIT-MPC3000). This kit keeps the external SCSI port active and provides an internal SCSI port. Neither the MPC60 nor the MPC3000 have an internal SCSI port without my kit.

The only thing I am concerned about on this type of setup is that the Acard card sits up pretty high when you connect it to the IDE drive and I'm not sure it will fit inside the MPC60. It might be necessary to rig up a different way of connecting the Acard card to the IDE drive using a short IDE cable. We won't know this for sure until someone like you gives it a try!

If you or anyone else reading this is interested in trying this in their MPC60 or MPC3000, please PM me or email/call me through my website. LIke I said, this is a good way for someone to give it a try without getting stuck with the components in case it doesn't work. I'll give a full refund (less shipping) if the setup isn't compatible.
By Acid Mitch Fri May 22, 2009 2:35 pm
scsiforsamplers.com wrote:If you or anyone else reading this is interested in trying this in their MPC60 or MPC3000, please PM me or email/call me through my website. LIke I said, this is a good way for someone to give it a try without getting stuck with the components in case it doesn't work. I'll give a full refund (less shipping) if the setup isn't compatible.


This sounds like fun :) I'm up for it.Check your PM's
By scsiforsamplers.com Fri May 22, 2009 3:43 pm
They are not swappable and it is a limitation of the IDE card reader. I don't know where to find any of the IDE card reader units that are swappable and from what I've read, no one else knows either. But if you can live with that little restriction, it's a good way to get an inexpensive card reader into those samplers. If you need swappability, the Spyrus or a Microtech is still the only game in town.

Looks like Acid Mitch isn't going to be my tester because he is missing the Marion SCSI interface in his MPC60. In case I didn't make this clear, you MUST have the SCSI interface because this ends up a SCSI drive. It would have to be SCSI because IDE doesn't work in those samplers, only in the MPC2000XL.

But anyone else with either a 60 or 3000 (or both!) who would like to try this card reader at no monetary risk, please send me a PM. The total cost would be $114.00 including Priority Mail shipping. If it doesn't work (or even if it does but you just don't like it), you'd be able to return it and get back $104.00.
By Acid Mitch Fri May 22, 2009 7:53 pm
scsiforsamplers.com wrote:They are not swappable and it is a limitation of the IDE card reader. I don't know where to find any of the IDE card reader units that are swappable and from what I've read, no one else knows either. But if you can live with that little restriction, it's a good way to get an inexpensive card reader into those samplers. If you need swappability, the Spyrus or a Microtech is still the only game in town.

Looks like Acid Mitch isn't going to be my tester because he is missing the Marion SCSI interface in his MPC60. In case I didn't make this clear, you MUST have the SCSI interface because this ends up a SCSI drive. It would have to be SCSI because IDE doesn't work in those samplers, only in the MPC2000XL.

But anyone else with either a 60 or 3000 (or both!) who would like to try this card reader at no monetary risk, please send me a PM. The total cost would be $114.00 including Priority Mail shipping. If it doesn't work (or even if it does but you just don't like it), you'd be able to return it and get back $104.00.



Dam. I thought it was the other way around and it converted SCSI drives to IDE/ATAPI. :(
By mpc3000le Sat May 23, 2009 2:56 am
Acid Mitch wrote:Dam. I thought it was the other way around and it converted SCSI drives to IDE/ATAPI. :(


The ACARD SCSI<>IDE/ATAPI bridge converts communication protocols between SCSI and IDE/ATAPI drives... only ! ( which is pretty amazing all the same )

The ACARD SCSI<>IDE/ATAPI bridge does not add hot swappable media capabilities to an IDE/ATAPI storage device that never had them in the first place.

Rohan.
By scsiforsamplers.com Sat May 23, 2009 2:51 pm
I believe it has to be ATAPI/IDE in order to support hotswapping and no one seems to be making those anymore.

I called Amtron yesterday looking for some and the guy was like WTF, we haven't made those in years, why are you even asking? I said because your webpage comes up first when I type in "ATAPI card reader" that's why. He said they didn't even know that page still existed on the website. Jeez.