Just purchased an MPC - Few questions before it arrives

I just bought an MPC1000 on ebay with maxed ram and an 80GB HDD for $420. However, I have a few questions/concerns before it arrives as I may need to order some cables and a CF card...

1. Where is the OS stored and the stock samples? The seller said the unit does not have a CF card only a HDD. Does this mean the OS is internal or on the HDD. Are they stock sounds internal or would they have been on the CF card?

2. For JJOS 3 do I need to buy 1 and 2? Also, is a CF card necessary for the installation?

3. I have a SATA II SSD HD, could I install this in the HD tray, or does it only house IDE drives? Moreover, whats the proper method to format an SSD for HDD to work with the MPC?

4. The unit comes with RCA cables. I have a focusrite saffire 6. In order to have sound output through my speakers, will I have to get an XLR cable and run it to the input of my interface?

5. Using the connection I described in number 4, would I be able to record each track from the MPC into logic with an application such as sound flower which allows you to route the output of your interface back into the computer?

Any help is greatly appreciated as I am trying to obtain this knowledge ASAP so I can order the things I need in time for the MPC to arrive.

lyons238 wrote:4. The unit comes with RCA cables. I have a focusrite saffire 6. In order to have sound output through my speakers, will I have to get an XLR cable and run it to the input of my interface?

I would plug the stereo outputs of the MPC1000 into the front panel inputs of the Saffire 6 using normal unbalanced 1/4" jack to jack instrument/guitar cables.

The MPC1000 has unbalanced 1/4" jack outputs, so if it comes with an RCA cable, that should be a 1/4" jack to RCA cable, so you could buy RCA-1/4" jack adapters, and use that supplied cable to connect to the front panel 1/4" jack inputs of the Saffire 6.

lyons238 wrote:5. Using the connection I described in number 4, would I be able to record each track from the MPC into logic with an application such as sound flower which allows you to route the output of your interface back into the computer?

The sound goes out of the MPC1000, through the instrument/guitar cable, and into Logic through the front panel inputs of the Saffire 6.

You do not need Sound Flower at all, that is only for routing sound between applications inside the computer.

lyons238 wrote:1. Where is the OS stored and the stock samples? The seller said the unit does not have a CF card only a HDD. Does this mean the OS is internal or on the HDD. Are they stock sounds internal or would they have been on the CF card?

flash card or hard drive, same thing.

lyons238 wrote:2. For JJOS 3 do I need to buy 1 and 2? Also, is a CF card necessary for the installation?

you only buy the version of jj you want. the mpc will show up as a usb device when plugged in to the computer so you dont need a card.

lyons238 wrote:3. I have a SATA II SSD HD, could I install this in the HD tray, or does it only house IDE drives? Moreover, whats the proper method to format an SSD for HDD to work with the MPC?

ide only. format as fat32.

lyons238 wrote:4. The unit comes with RCA cables. I have a focusrite saffire 6. In order to have sound output through my speakers, will I have to get an XLR cable and run it to the input of my interface?

rca cable dont make sense as the mpc is all 1/4". im not sure what inputs a saffire 6 has but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out - look at the unit you have and whatever input it has, get that on one end and a 1/4" on the other. mono only.

lyons238 wrote:5. Using the connection I described in number 4, would I be able to record each track from the MPC into logic with an application such as sound flower which allows you to route the output of your interface back into the computer?

you don't need soundflower and you dont record mpc 'tracks' necessarily (i think some advanced versions of jj might allow this), you record pads which are routed to your outputs. the 1k has 4 aux outs and then the stereo mains. so at the most basic, you can record 4 channels at once, but with some hacking you could do 6.

lyons238 wrote:Any help is greatly appreciated as I am trying to obtain this knowledge ASAP so I can order the things I need in time for the MPC to arrive.

dont worry so much about it. do you have headphones? thats all you need. get the rest of the stuff as you need it, or prepare to disappoint yourself when you inevitably make some mistakes as we all do.

Saffire 6 is only 2 inputs, so can't do any more than stereo recording.

Probably easier to record/bounce the tracks internally within the MPC1000, and transfer the files to the computer via USB/CF to load into the DAW, rather than recording them, if wanting more than basic stereo transfers.

thanks for helping the new guy out. i appreciate it. iv always been a software dude so not too much experience with hardware out side my monitors, interface, and a midi controller.

so a balanced trs out of the left output wouldnt work? i already have extra trs cables, but no mono 1/4s, i suppose i could order a set from monoprice. should i get 2 sets, one for in, one for out?

also, regarding the exporting, what more would i want to do than stereo outs? im not so sure i understand how i could record into logic and the deal with the tracks or pads. i figured you could just record each track in at a time.

and lastly, so what is the best method of adding some flash storage to this baby. will the mpc1000 read a 32gb CF? why do i see some people putting it in the hard drive bay?

would this drive work? it came up in google for an IDE SSD. id like to replace the 80gb mechanical drive in the mpc and go flash for reliability. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 4Aod2BkAYg

TRS-TRS, or TRS-XLR, should work OK, the MPC1000 output connectors are TS unbalanced, so the R(-/cold) side of the TRS balanced cable into the Saffire 6 might be floating at the MPC output, or shorted to ground, which should be fine.

When sampling into the MPC, inputs are TRS balanced, but again you can use TS unbalanced perfectly fine as well.


If you are recording a track at a time into Logic, through only 2 computer audio interface inputs, you would have to sync up the MPC to Logic, via MIDI Time Code or MIDI Beat Clock, so that all the tracks line up correctly once inside Logic, after the multiple recording passes.

This is also sometimes done with some sort of sync pulse/tone/sound/sample at the beginning and/or end of each track/recording pass, which is then lined up visually across all the tracks once inside Logic, and zoomed in, to ensure that all tracks/recording passes are in sync/time with each other.

More audio interface inputs means more MPC output channels can be recorded at once.


Recording each track to a WAV file inside the MPC, transferring and loading the WAV files into Logic, and lining them all up against the same start time is another way to do it.

SimonInAustralia wrote:TRS-TRS, or TRS-XLR, should work OK, the MPC1000 output connectors are TS unbalanced, so the R(-/cold) side of the TRS balanced cable into the Saffire 6 might be floating at the MPC output, or shorted to ground, which should be fine.

When sampling into the MPC, inputs are TRS balanced, but again you can use TS unbalanced perfectly fine as well.


If you are recording a track at a time into Logic, through only 2 computer audio interface inputs, you would have to sync up the MPC to Logic, via MIDI Time Code or MIDI Beat Clock, so that all the tracks line up correctly once inside Logic, after the multiple recording passes.

This is also sometimes done with some sort of sync pulse/tone/sound/sample at the beginning and/or end of each track/recording pass, which is then lined up visually across all the tracks once inside Logic, and zoomed in, to ensure that all tracks/recording passes are in sync/time with each other.

More audio interface inputs means more MPC output channels can be recorded at once.


Recording each track to a WAV file inside the MPC, transferring and loading the WAV files into Logic, and lining them all up against the same start time is another way to do it.

ok i get it, thank you. i will have to look into it more once i get into it though. it will all come with time.

as far as the TRS output, your saying i can safely put the TRS from the right output of the MPC to the right input of the saffire 6?

and how about that SSD i linked up there, would that work? How should the drive be formatted for the MPC? Fat32 makes things extremely slow, it doesn't read any other formats or?

lyons238 wrote:and how about that SSD i linked up there, would that work? How should the drive be formatted for the MPC? Fat32 makes things extremely slow, it doesn't read any other formats or?

IDE... and you format it from the MPC load/save mode... you just choose to format and it does the rest... fat32 is what it does. If you format it outside of the MPC pop it in there, be in HD or CF, the MPC may not read it

Edit: You may be able to use a SATAtoIDE adapter. I did that for my 5k when I changed form the 80GB IDE to a 2TB SATA. I had 1k and remember that itsa 2.5" drive where on the larger units you can go with 3.5" or 2.5" with small tray modification

MPCTNT wrote:

lyons238 wrote:and how about that SSD i linked up there, would that work? How should the drive be formatted for the MPC? Fat32 makes things extremely slow, it doesn't read any other formats or?

IDE... and you format it from the MPC load/save mode... you just choose to format and it does the rest... fat32 is what it does. If you format it outside of the MPC pop it in there, be in HD or CF, the MPC may not read it

Edit: You may be able to use a SATAtoIDE adapter. I did that for my 5k when I changed form the 80GB IDE to a 2TB SATA. I had 1k and remember that itsa 2.5" drive where on the larger units you can go with 3.5" or 2.5" with small tray modification

good idea im going to try the sata to ide adapter to save myself some money.

by the way how much is jjos3? and how come i see some people say you newed yo buy jjos1 to get 2, what about 3? i dont even see a price for 1 and 2. the site is rather confusing...

From my recollection,..... The hard drive adapter is a perfect fit so there will be no room for an adapter

*Pilchard* wrote:From my recollection,..... The hard drive adapter is a perfect fit so there will be no room for an adapter

oh true i didn't think about that, thank you. hmm i wish there was another way, i have this extra 128gb SSD SATA 3 drive just laying around...

*Pilchard* wrote:From my recollection,..... The hard drive adapter is a perfect fit so there will be no room for an adapter

I havent had my 1k in several yrs so I coudl not remember. I know I had a 350GB IDE/pata drive in it and it sufficed for a long time. Never even 1/2 filled it.

MPCTNT wrote:

*Pilchard* wrote:From my recollection,..... The hard drive adapter is a perfect fit so there will be no room for an adapter

I havent had my 1k in several yrs so I coudl not remember. I know I had a 350GB IDE/pata drive in it and it sufficed for a long time. Never even 1/2 filled it.

yeah, im not so worried about that. i would be fine with 80gb or so i just want it to be an SSD. and i was hoping i could use the ssd i have laying around.

but it seems like i have two options for an ssd

1. buy a CF and an adapter
2. buy a PATA/IDE SSD, but then don't you have to solder something on the HDM10 for the master or whatever?