Found cheap MPC2000xl, need help making sure its functional

I found a mpc2000xl for 350 dollars out of state that I am very interested in buying, but I don't want to drive 230 miles to get a broken piece of equipment. I plan on asking the owner if they can send a video proving it functions correctly. I don't know enough about the mpc to know exactly what to look for function wise to know that I am not getting scammed. Could someone knowledgeable here write me a checklist so I can be positive the drive will be worth it? The only problem that is mentioned on the ad is that its missing the volume slider, but I found a replacement for 10 dollars online so that is no problem considering the absurdly low price.

Thank you

Welcome to the forum.
The Note Variation slider is very easy to solder in.

Things to look out for:
- check the condition of the outside case isn't beat up. that is a sure way to tell if the MPC was "loved".
- check the screen doesn't have lines.
- Check for RAM memory. Max is 32MB.
- check if it has a floppy drive or Zip drive or flash card reader. Card reader is best, then floppy then Zip which it will die on you eventually.
- when you turn it on, there are hidden screens to check the buttons, RAM, jog wheel and pad sensors: From the main screen hit SHIFT + 5 (TRIM) then SHIFT + F1 http://www.mpc2000xl.com/secret.htm

mr_debauch wrote:oh, i see what you mean.

well obviously the first thing you need to check is the screen. if there is any lines, missing pixels, anything at all like that.... don't buy it. One missing pixel means it's begun happening and the whole screen going missing is coming soon.

the outputs... make sure the sound is coming out the machine properly. it probably will be.. but if there is something wrong with that, it would suck.

buttons... make sure all buttons work properly. Sometimes the tact switches under the plastic buttons wear out... that can be fixed with soldering, but it's a **** to do that work on a newly bought machine.

check the note variation slider. it isn't the most used thing on the mpc... you may never use it... but hold shift and push the after button to pop the screen up for it and try it out.

pads... they wear out over time. you can install new sensor sheets easily enough... but if pads are completely dead with 100% non functionality.. you can't use the machine properly until that is fixed.

floppy drive or cf reader... check if those work properly. they probably will, but sometimes people break their stuff.

Dr.Foo wrote:the os aint a big deal as you can download it from the akai pro site.
#1 check the memory, on the load screen it should tell you how much memory is available, make sure its what they say it is, either 2, 16 or 32 mb.

#2 make sure the stuff they sell as "add ons" are there and working, open the case and make sure the eb-16 efx board, 8 outs unti and digi stuff are there, then check them, check the 8 out by going into the mixer and assigning a sound to each of the 8 outs and tesiting it, same w/ the digital i/o, the eb16 test the same way.

#3 test the floppy or built in zip to see that it formats disks and readas em, although id this aint working it can be easily replaced by u for less then 10 bux (the FDD)

#4 check to ensure all the pads work, and are velocity sensetive, IE dont let him hit "full level" since when you take it off full level the velocity stuff may be messed up and u didnt know.

#5 check the butins, make syure they all weork
#6 check the jog wheel, its not supposed to be loose and is a major apin in the butt to fix.
check the screen it should not be dim, nor should the higes be loose, replacing a screen costs some serious $$$ too.

#7 check the knobs and the sampler.
I suggest sampling a sound, and then using that sound to test all the other stuff to save time,

#8 last, check the midi and ensure all the midi I & O can recieve/send midi data.

#9 last but not least, there is a thing called "implied warranty" simply have the seller write down, "this mpc 2000xl, serial #XXXXX with add on gear serial # XXXXXX is working 100% perfectly to the best of my knowledge, has no problems etc."
this is good if its a pawn shop or store, if it is broken or craps out fast, the law (in CALIFornia anyway, but it should be similar throughout the US and canada, since we all have similar consumer protectoin laws.) states that a seller, by selling it as a unit they imply that there is a warrany period, determined by your state, it could be 1 month it could be a week. its a consumer protection law to stop people from selling lemon cars to people.

but it applies to all gear NOT sold "as is" and even to that "as-is" stuff in some cases, IE if its sold as is, but they guy dont tell you "the eb16 isnt working and the memory is bad" he is liable for lying to you, since even though its sold as is, he REASONABLY should have know that the memory was bad and the EB16 was too (kinda like they cant say "oh! I didnt know the car I sold you needed a new transmission!")

this is froma buddy who copped a reg. 2000 from a pawn shop only to have it break in 6 days. he went down and argued with the dude, then went to the cops, reported him and called the better business bureau, the shop called him to refund his loot. this is why I suggest buying used gear from the pawn shop. they are heavily regulated and watched and no owner wants some bs "i sold some broken gear" on their head when the cops come looking for some stolen property, they try to stay clean, so I'd skip ebay and buy it used from a music shop or a pawn shop. if its not an ebay thing, and its and individual some of the same rules apply.

if you dont live in the USA hell, good luck.

JUKE 179r wrote:Check that it turns on,
that it doesn't have a fkd up screen,
find out how much memory it has,
if it has a floppy or a Zip or card reader installed,
check the pads have sensitivity,
check the note variation slider works,
check the rotary knob for changing values,
check the operating system,
ensure all the inputs/outputs, MIDI and SCSI connections work.

Also make sure this is what you really want... a 10 year old outdated sampler.

JUKE 179r wrote:Things to look out for:
- check the condition of the outside case isn't beat up. that is a sure way to tell if the MPC was loved.

Plenty of great points.

Yeah, get pictures of the case to make sure there is no rust. Dings and scratches aren't bad, but if you see the paint bubbling there are some hard decisions to replace stuff. You don't want to have to get a tetanus shot from your MPC. It isn't too hard to pop the top off to get a picture or two of the inside. I've seen soda/beer/who knows what spilled inside, and it can look fine from the outside, but be a disaster on the inside to get things fixed.

Hey guys, thanks for the list! I'll be sure to make sure all of these things arent broken. Ram isnt a huge deal to me since I can buy the 32 MB for like 15 bucks. Ill definitely be asking the seller to open up the case to make sure its not corroded. I have a question about the zip/flash drive, though. The seller (FB Marketplace) says that it is an "Original Akai 2000XL MPC w Zip disk installed. Also comes w a CD rom drive to upload to zip.". I'm assuming that the zip disk will be used to save songs/samples. Does it save midi information of the songs if so? And how would this CD rom drive work? My plan was to circumvent the entire storage issue and send audio to my PC through the stereo out ports and record it on there. I don't know if this affects audio quality or not but it seems to make sense to do this.

He sent a picture of the screen and it has a line in it. It looks like replacement screens average around 150 so all in all it'll cost me 500 by the time the screen dies, which isn't so bad. Do they usually shit the bed pretty quick, or could I live with it for a few months?

The stock screens eventually get worse from what I believe is from leaving the XL turned on for long extended times. the newer blue LED screens are easy to install and look great.

Ask him which Zip drive is installed. From my experience, Zip750 was the best Zip drive for me if you really want to use a Zip, then a Zip250 was a-ight but still had the potential to die from the COD .... click of death, then the Zip100 drive was shitty because it will definitely die.

Yeah, don't bank on the Zip drive lasting... you'll probably want to replace it or use something else at some point. As JUKE says, the Zip100 will die eventually, and it will be a sad time.

Personally I'd look at that being an early replacement if you decide to stick with the 2kxl. The screen line you can live with for a while before you replace... but a dead drive will stop you cold in your beat making tracks.