Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000
By dustymaestro Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:21 pm
Lampdog wrote:bluetooth dongle works perfectly on 4k front port.
I have and use MX 5500 Revolution kybd.

Pretty sure rf will work as well.


I was wondering about that. Thanks!
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By Lampdog Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:26 pm
Like was already stated, it's easy and is BETTER than jog wheel. Still want the jog to be decent though.
But yeah, keyboard is a breath of fresh air.
My mx5500 (normal size kybd) required no extra software or install of anything.
Press connection button on back of keyboard and it's done.
I would think anything that REQUIRES software installation won't work.
By Bomber4000 Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:38 pm
Looking at the schemes i think i figured out what happened.
The original encoder on the 4K died and with the problem of finding the exact replacement part another encoder was used, one with the switch option.
Since those 2 pins were not connected (and also not carried by the 4K) the encoder acted just like the factory one.
This explanes the pushbutton experience i had and never understood. It simply was the only available encoder at the time i figure.

We'll see how it all works out once i solder on those 4 wires and put that baby back together. :mrgreen:

Thanks guys.
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By SimonInAustralia Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:40 pm
Does the new encoder you have match the original part number?

As I mentioned on the previous page, could possibly use the switch for a backlight on/off switch, if you had the REC16A25-201C.

Or maybe wire it to a footswitch input?
Last edited by SimonInAustralia on Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
By Bomber4000 Sun Jan 05, 2014 8:44 pm
SimonInAustralia wrote:Does the new encoder you have match the original part number?

As I mentioned on the previous page, could possibly use the switch for a backlight on/off switch, if you had the REC16A25-201C.



The sealed bag it came in says REC16B25-201C

The REC16A25 version is the one with the switch capabillity.
By Bomber4000 Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:01 pm
I think it would simply supercharge the encoder and could be usefull with chopping and such. However when using it to change values just a bit i think you would frequently change the value a tad too much.

I'll stick with factory for now, first gotta make it work normal and after that we could always experiment.
By Bomber4000 Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:58 pm
Looking and playing with the old encoder makes me see the weak side of this setup.
The encoder shaft turns pretty roughly for such a smal encoder.
Holding the encoder base firmly in 1 hand while turning the silver plasticwheel in quick circles clearly shows that the shaft wiggles a bit under the relative force as the wheel is fairly big compared to the shaft diameter.

I think this causes the encoder to wear fairly quickly thus causing issues.
By MPCdawk Mon Jan 06, 2014 3:05 am
Bomber4000 wrote:Looking and playing with the old encoder makes me see the weak side of this setup.
The encoder shaft turns pretty roughly for such a smal encoder.
Holding the encoder base firmly in 1 hand while turning the silver plasticwheel in quick circles clearly shows that the shaft wiggles a bit under the relative force as the wheel is fairly big compared to the shaft diameter.

I think this causes the encoder to wear fairly quickly thus causing issues.


You shouldn't have this problem for a long time with the new encoder - it is an optical encoder rated to a 1 million revolution lifespan.

That old one you pulled out looks like a mechanical encoder to me. If it is, they are rated to 50,000 revs and just rubbish with no business being on a piece of pro gear.
By Bomber4000 Wed Jan 08, 2014 2:03 pm
Well, i soldered it in and it works like a charm !

I don't see the point of going through the soldering removal of the pcb and all, unless you really really REALLY want to keep it bonestock as if it came from the factory. Mine was butchered so i had no other option but evenso i would do it this way again if i did have the factory style pcb and all.

Since these encoders should have a long lifespan i would advise to solder it straight on the wiring harness.
It's so much quicker and easier and requires no special tools like a soldering sucking device.
Anybody with even a little soldering experience can do this and i would even recommend it to beginners as it just requires 4 wires to be soldered.
This really is the difference of having it done and pay dearly for it in some shops or doing it yourself and be done within the hour (including opening and closing up your 4K).

You can cut away pin 3 and 4 on the encoder if that makes it easier for you (extra room for soldering) if the soldering tip is not narrow. That way you can solder each pin on the outside of each encoder pin which would work with even the biggest soldering tip and not have the chance of soldering 2 pins at once.
Just for the record, those pins (#3 and #4) are redundant, they serve no purpose whatsoever.


Here is the tested and tried soldering method schematic:

Image

As you can see you just solder the 4 wires of the wiring harness (remove the connector end), splice the wires, and strip the ends) onto the encoder pins.
Just lose the whole pcb board and stick the encoder through the black (4 direction button) encasing, screw on the nut from the top and it sits firmly.
You can add some doublesided tape to the top of the encoder if you like and make sure it doesn't have a change of spinning while operating the encoderwheel, but the nut and the supplied friction ring will keep that mother sitting tight for many years.

Red/white is the 5V, Yellow/white is the 0V (ground), the White wire (It's 2 colored but mainly White color) wire is for signals , and the Blue/white one is the other signal wire.
It's that simple.
NOTE: as for counting, note the 6 and 1 on the encoder decal next to the COPAL name. They show the actual pin numbers, you start counting at rightside (pin 1) and count your way up to the leftside to pin 6.

There is no need for an adaptor unless somebody prefers a plug and play solution that does not involve soldering.
I reckon that the demand would be too low to make that worthwhile.

If you don't want to solder this yourself i am sure that any radio shop could do this for you within 10 minutes and should cost no more than $10 realisticly, it's just that simple.