Share your knowledge on these two classic MPCs
By Acid Mitch Fri Jan 06, 2012 11:59 am
SEED78 wrote: (sorry to be a PITA),
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No need to apologise. I'm glad to give you the practice.Your getting pretty good at it btw. :lol: :lol: :P

SEED78 wrote:
with MPC Editor I get that you can only have 1 30meg partition readable from MPC to PC - but can you tell me, once card is in the MPC can the MPC see more than one partition on the MPCEditor formatted card, or does the MPC see just 1 30 meg too - because I've heard of people just using the 1st partition for transfers and the other partitions for storage..


No, the MPC only sees 1 30mb partition.
Once formatted by MPC Editor the media only has 1 30mb partitiion no matter where you stick it.

SEED78 wrote:
time to dust off the win98 laptop then...
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I can confirm Windows XP works with MPC Editor also.

SEED78 wrote:
honestly I think I might have been possibly better of with zip+MPC Editor combo,
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ssshhhhhh!! Dont say that,you'll get flamed for saying zips might be better :lol:

SEED78 wrote:
maybe I'll use both in a chain, and use the zip for backing up samples once a session is over.

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Yes Zip or another CF reader is probably good idea.
One CF drive formatted to hold 780 and something else formatted in MPC editor for swaps/back ups.

Untill now I've used zip disks formatted in MPC editor.
When sampling I record/ edit samples in the computer, use MPC Editor to assign them to pads and then export the kit to zip and save it to hard drive,giving me a back up straight away,
I can then load the sounds in my MPC .When the 30mb partition fills up(or I finish a project,whichever is first) I back up the whole thing to hard drive and that way I get all my patterns and any changes to kits,etc .
Think I'll probably use the CF readere the same way.

I dont use many samples other than a kit I have that fits into 256k. I use my MPC more as a MIDI sequencer . Since the MPC60 only has 1.5mb memory and I'm mainly using the same sounds and saving patterns all the time, that 30mb can last me ages. Not sure how it would be if your using lots of samples in an MPC3000 with the whopping 32mb ram. Jeez, thats more than I'd know what to do with.
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By SEED78 Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:25 pm
30meg eh? uuuuummmmmm, oh dear...

I really didn't want to use any type of external, but now thinking I might use my internal with 780meg formatted in MPC, then back up important stuff with 30meg external MPC formatted zip at the end of a session.

I'm largely going to be sampling off vinyl, but want to build a library of those sounds, need to get together my drum library.

I'm gonna look into exporting samples via midi too, if there is any point.
By Acid Mitch Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:55 pm
SEED78 wrote:I'm gonna look into exporting samples via midi too, if there is any point.


Good luck with that. MIDI sample dump is seriously slow. I cant imagine transfering a whole 32mb that way. It would take literaly hours.
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By SEED78 Fri Jan 06, 2012 2:00 pm
yeah did wonder why the whole world wasn't that into it, though it might be slow. prob worth it if you are transfering from SP1200 to MPC3000 maybe.

Acid Mitch wrote:ssshhhhhh!! Dont say that,you'll get flamed for saying zips might be better :lol:


I know :? its like p*ssing in the holy grail.

But just to put it on record to save other users some serious hassle, for 3.11 OS users looking to get MPC Editor in the mix, on paper zip is better, its hot swap and doesn't cost you £100+ and a LOAD of hours of your time, who gives a ish ZIPs don't last for ever, you are backing up the files to your PC. from what we are finding CF cards don't last forever either!

If you have 3.5OS CF is next level, 3.11OS its jam vs peanut butter...

I really like my drive and am sure I'll figure out my workflow with it, but all these threads where people are like 'yeah you can fit a gazillion floppies worth of samples on to a CF in your 3000' need to be ditched! :lol:
By Acid Mitch Wed Jan 11, 2012 2:58 pm
Today I made a Flickr account and uploaded my rather amateurish photos of my card reader with some info on what the items are for, where I got them and how much it all cost.
Here's the link http://flic.kr/s/aHsjxYRqZH

In the comments/info I left there are a couple of minor changes from my last posts which are:

1. I went with a 5.25 drivebay adapter from kenable.com instead of Maplins.( I prefered colour and was cheaper)

2. A 40 pin m/f IDE cable was supplied with the Yamaha SCSI bridge, but the Acard I ended up with has a 39 pin (or holes) IDE socket. I had to cut off one of the pins on the cable to make it fit. I used small wire cutters to do this. You'll see it in the photo.

3. The holes used to mount the card reader were slightly too small for the screws that were supplied. I had to get my drill out and widen the holes slightly before I could mount the card reader anywhere.

I'm new to sharing photos online , so if there is a better way to do it than Flickr let me know.
Also if you think there is a better way to present this information, I'm all ears.
Last edited by Acid Mitch on Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By b.read Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:06 pm
I've also got some photos of the one in my 3000 buried somewhere...I'll see if I can post 'em up this weekend.
By micb Wed Jan 11, 2012 5:28 pm
Acid Mitch wrote:
SEED78 wrote:if you have 3.5 OS its a no brainer, original OS's likes ours its more of a mixed bag of good and bad - one plus, have found saving and formatting REALLY fast!!
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My MPC60 doesn't have the original Akai OS. I'm running the Roger Linn 3.10e os , so it's as good as it gets for me.
What makes the MPC3000 3,5 os better than the rest at handling media ?

SEED78 wrote:
, seems backing up to computer is the point the cards are most likely to corrupt -
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Acid Mitch. What makes the 3.5 OS superior when it comes down to saving and reading on a pc is something called hybrid partitions. This is what's stated on Rohans site specifically relating to this...

"Option to now "Hybrid Partition" a SCSI hard disk. Hybrid partitions are safe cross platform types that can be seen by computers and the MPC3000 allowing computer access to all disk data for the purpose of rapid file transfer and sound library development."

So as I believe, this would irradicate the need for MPC editor (which isn't even available anymore as far as I am aware). Hope this helps. Nice pics btw.
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By SEED78 Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:44 pm
if I had figured this out early on it would prob have had an effect on my actions - still will work with 30meg for now, then if I'm lucky enough to have 3.5os and to internal install my already owned Spyrus hotswap CF then it'll be like a dream world. if not I'll just live with 30meg, better than never backing my sounds up then loosing them all one day!!
By micb Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:29 pm
That spyrus hotswap will be a beast if you could get that working! if you do, get some piccies and info up. Don't think I've seen any 3ks with hotswap drives on them... that has got to be the cream of the crop.

Acid Mitch.... you know the ACS ide CF reader you mentioned.... I don't seem to see any on ebay. Would any of the ide cf readers work as there are a few by other makes e.g.. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/StarTech-CF-C ... 231847113a

Or is the ACS the one you need.... any info would be great. The acard 7720u is not a problem as I know where to cop that...
By Acid Mitch Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:21 pm
I dont think it needs to be an ACS iIDE CF reader.
I don't see why the one you linked to wouldn't work, but I can't vouch for it as I've never tried it.
I can think of 2 options.

1. Contact the seller before you purchase and ask if you can return it if it turns out to be incompatibile.
I noticed there are a few sellers with that particular moidel. You are guaranteed to find a t least one who will let you do this.

2. Contact Ebay seller compactflashman2011 to see if he has any ACS CF readers left or if he knows where to score one.
By Acid Mitch Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:36 am
SEED78 wrote:if I had figured this out early on it would prob have had an effect on my actions - still will work with 30meg for now,


Not sure how you missed that. The info has been hanging around for a while
I presumed everyone who had MPC Editor would know it.

SEED78 wrote:if not I'll just live with 30meg, better than never backing my sounds up then loosing them all one day!!


For sure
By Acid Mitch Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:51 am
micb wrote:
Acid Mitch. What makes the 3.5 OS superior when it comes down to saving and reading on a pc is something called hybrid partitions. This is what's stated on Rohans site specifically relating to this...
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Thanks for the info. Seeds reply had me a bit confused as I'm not sure if I like jam or peanut butter more(unless it's on doughnuts, jam wins).

Now I'm hoping Rohan is missing because he's been busy coding these features for the MPC60. :lol:

I'm glad I grabbed MPC Editor while it was still available.