Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
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By mr_debauch Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:01 pm
I am actually really curious what it would take to re-create the FMX008M f-rom 8mb expansion for the 2000 or if maybe it would be possible to make an even bigger one...

Image


you guys are for sure the ones to ask about if that is even possible or doable at a decent price.
By envisionelec Fri Feb 17, 2012 10:57 pm
mr_debauch wrote:I am actually really curious what it would take to re-create the FMX008M f-rom 8mb expansion for the 2000 or if maybe it would be possible to make an even bigger one...

Image


you guys are for sure the ones to ask about if that is even possible or doable at a decent price.


Ok, so it's available for the 2000XL, but not the 2000, correct?

We are evaluating a USB flash drive to replace the floppy. Would that be useful?
By omarphi215 Fri Feb 17, 2012 11:16 pm
A USB drive would be sweet since my iMac doesn't take compact flash memory cards without an adapter of course. All I would need is a nice mpc editor for Mac an I would be gravy!
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By Tapuno Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:15 am
envisionelec wrote:
mr_debauch wrote:I am actually really curious what it would take to re-create the FMX008M f-rom 8mb expansion for the 2000 or if maybe it would be possible to make an even bigger one...

Image


you guys are for sure the ones to ask about if that is even possible or doable at a decent price.


Ok, so it's available for the 2000XL, but not the 2000, correct?

We are evaluating a USB flash drive to replace the floppy. Would that be useful?

its for both. uses the spare 144 pin under the machine.
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By mr_debauch Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:37 am
well for the XL it isn't nearly as useful (the f-rom expansion) as it would be for the 2000 (in theory.. I never used that expansion so I dont know in practice) because first of all, the xl has an IDE port and scsi.. however the 2000 has only external scsi that can be removed and brought back internally... plus it needs that damn boot disk unless you use a hard drive.

It's just another accessory port that the machine has and 99.9% of the 2000's and xl's aren't using that port because the expansion is rare as hell... plus nobody wants to pay so much for only 8 megs if they are blessed with locating one for sale.

In all my years of looking at online postings for music stuff, I once saw just the expansion for sale a couple of years ago and once I think I may have seen a 2000 classic for sale on ebay that had it installed.... I think (at the time I remember not really knowing that it was rare or what it really did)
By szr Mon Feb 27, 2012 11:28 pm
Got my envision screen a few weeks ago, many times I have not been able to save my projects as the screen would no longer update! Didn't matter what buttons I tried pushing. I think for many people that will be more than a deal breaker!

Sorry to be so honest, but the reason most people have not mentioned that the mp2k becomes a pain in the ass after installing this along with the ground hum/buzz issues it introduces, is because they are trying to save their investment. If I try to sell my 2k on ebay and have to mention all these issues that are apparently features of this replacement product no one will buy it.
I appreciate that you guys stepped up and provided the screens that everyone wanted, but the execution is appalling.
By JVC Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:26 pm
envisionelec wrote:
mr_debauch wrote:I am actually really curious what it would take to re-create the FMX008M f-rom 8mb expansion for the 2000 or if maybe it would be possible to make an even bigger one...

you guys are for sure the ones to ask about if that is even possible or doable at a decent price.


Ok, so it's available for the 2000XL, but not the 2000, correct?

We are evaluating a USB flash drive to replace the floppy. Would that be useful?


FMX008M expansion board is kind of useless for XL users. For 2000 classic user it is nice to have, because 2000 Classic requires a boot disk (annoying!)
But, a SCSI CF reader (hot swappable) would solve all that, but SCSI CF readers are so hard to find, that's the only problem.

Unless you can manufacture FMX008M clone cheap, I doubt that there will be enough interest for it.

envisionelec wrote:We are evaluating a USB flash drive to replace the floppy. Would that be useful?

HxC Floppy Emulator does exactly that, although it uses SD cards, instead of USB stick.

I don't know whether or you can do this, but SCSI CF reader (or even SCSI SD cards) that work with MPC-2000 series, MPC-60 (w/ scsi expansion), and MPC-3000, and MPC-4000 (well, it has CF reader already, so I guess MPC-4000 users won't need it) would be much more useful.

szr wrote:Got my envision screen a few weeks ago, many times I have not been able to save my projects as the screen would no longer update! Didn't matter what buttons I tried pushing. I think for many people that will be more than a deal breaker!

Sorry to be so honest, but the reason most people have not mentioned that the mp2k becomes a pain in the ass after installing this along with the ground hum/buzz issues it introduces, is because they are trying to save their investment. If I try to sell my 2k on ebay and have to mention all these issues that are apparently features of this replacement product no one will buy it.
I appreciate that you guys stepped up and provided the screens that everyone wanted, but the execution is appalling.

Is this true? Does any one else having similar or same issues?
User avatar
By peterpiper Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:50 pm
mr_debauch wrote:well for the XL it isn't nearly as useful (the f-rom expansion) as it would be for the 2000 (in theory.. I never used that expansion so I dont know in practice) because first of all, the xl has an IDE port and scsi.. however the 2000 has only external scsi that can be removed and brought back internally... plus it needs that damn boot disk unless you use a hard drive.

It's just another accessory port that the machine has and 99.9% of the 2000's and xl's aren't using that port because the expansion is rare as hell... plus nobody wants to pay so much for only 8 megs if they are blessed with locating one for sale.

In all my years of looking at online postings for music stuff, I once saw just the expansion for sale a couple of years ago and once I think I may have seen a 2000 classic for sale on ebay that had it installed.... I think (at the time I remember not really knowing that it was rare or what it really did)



Yes, 130 EUR is too much for 8MB.
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 0720213426

This is the FMC01 board (8 MB) and a forum member(kebzer) wrote that it will fit in the 2000classic and the 2000XL although you'll have to do some mod (riser board) to fit in the XL.
The FMC02 is a 16MB board and I dont know if its compatible with the 2000XL but I've read that it definatly is not compatible for the 2000classic.

It would be great to get an alternative to the FMC01 board. The OS on Flashboard would be very nice. Also some of the important samples on it would be cool (808 Kick, some Bass tones etc whatever is important for you.)

BTW the origianal Akai version is called FMX008 and FMX008M (8MB) I dont know the difference between them and FMX016 (16MB)

peace
By omarphi215 Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:28 pm
I having issues with my screen. We all know it has a latency issue. My main problems with the latency is the recording level, and the lag when I hit record. I can't tell of its recording until a second after I hit the butto. Something I can get used to but it is really irritating. The worst part is my screen has gone blank at least twice since I got it. I can't do anything until I power off and in the unit. This is real wack and thankfully I was not in the middle of creating a track. I am no electronic engineer and I really commend envision on taking on this project and getting new screens out to us, but they don't work properly. I have yet to discover any other problems caused by the latency.
By envisionelec Wed Feb 29, 2012 1:53 pm
szr wrote:Got my envision screen a few weeks ago, many times I have not been able to save my projects as the screen would no longer update! Didn't matter what buttons I tried pushing. I think for many people that will be more than a deal breaker!


This is the first time I've heard from you about this. If you're experiencing problems, the first thing you need to do is contact mpcstuff and alert them as this is a warranty issue and will be corrected on a case by case basis. We will support our products and customers.

I'm not sure how the display can introduce noise as it uses the same power supply as the original. A buzz/ground loop is caused by two separate ground potentials and is often the result of a connections made external to the unit.
By envisionelec Wed Feb 29, 2012 1:56 pm
omarphi215 wrote:I having issues with my screen. We all know it has a latency issue. My main problems with the latency is the recording level, and the lag when I hit record. I can't tell of its recording until a second after I hit the butto. Something I can get used to but it is really irritating. The worst part is my screen has gone blank at least twice since I got it. I can't do anything until I power off and in the unit. This is real wack and thankfully I was not in the middle of creating a track. I am no electronic engineer and I really commend envision on taking on this project and getting new screens out to us, but they don't work properly. I have yet to discover any other problems caused by the latency.


Please see my reply above about warranty claims.
By envisionelec Thu Mar 01, 2012 5:27 am
szr wrote:I'll get in touch with mpcstuff as advised, sorry if my post was hasty.. I assumed it was another known glitch like the lag.


I spoke with Mike and we're going to try to duplicate what you're seeing. One thing to point out is that we can't always know what keystrokes cause this kind of response. We're hoping to narrow it down to a specific global system function like MIDI/SCSI access or a "Shift" function where the MPC is expecting a particular "word" response and just isn't getting it.

We worked tirelessly to capture all types of scenarios, but these things do happen...

The best thing we can do is offer unconditional support for the products. I personally handle everything my company does when it comes to customer support. I will see to it that you're satisfied.