Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
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By horriblyodd Fri Feb 26, 2021 7:59 pm
Hey there! New to the forum, first post. Been heavily diving into threads over the past week having just got a new (to me) MPC 2000XL that I'm trying to modernize to fit my workflow.

Currently in the process of getting a Gotek USB Floppy Emulator to work. Is there a go-to recommendation for how to configure the jumpers? I've tried how it arrived to me, then various different options across M0, S0, S1, etc. with no luck in terms of the MPC detecting a disk at all. The current emulator I'm trying has the OLED screen so I'm able to confirm that I'm selecting a partition and loading a partition whether blank or even just the pre-configured OS disk options. But the MPC never sees anything from what I can tell. This 2K XL did have a different Gotek emulator installed in it when it arrived. So the only thing outside of the jumpers that could be causing issues is maybe the cable? It has 4 of the wires twisting between the two connectors and from what I can tell it doesn't look like the factory cable did that at all. Any guidance? I've already got a replacement original cable on order. But I know the jumper config seems to be a bit of a hot topic as well and that's the only thing I can really mess with at the moment.
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By richie Sat Feb 27, 2021 3:34 pm
Return the Floppy emulator to the person that sold it to you. There should be no reason to fumble around with jumpers if they sold it to you pre-configured.

Also for future reference, don't buy a floppy emulator for the XL, Especially if you want to "modernize" things.

Based on your description of it coming with an OLED screen, it's fair to say that you paid more for that floppy emulator than what it would have cost you to buy a proper SCSI2SD card reader.

https://store.inertialcomputing.com/SCS ... 1&CartID=0
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By horriblyodd Sat Feb 27, 2021 9:15 pm
UPDATE!

Everything's working perfectly with a new floppy cable, jumpers configured as the emulator arrived. I'm aware of the issues with any kind of lengthy samples with floppy emulation and all of that. My ideal workflow was going to be a floppy emulator for having preset partitions for various vintage drum machines or setups I've personally put together, then actually saving compositions and used samples + longer samples onto a SCSI setup of some kind utilizing the rear port. Or just finishing up the session by recording some takes into Ableton. But also having that SCSI storage to keep projects on the MPC so I can return to the project there sounds ideal.

All that being said, going just SCSI probably would've been fine right? Was a bit tricky to nail down whether or not hotswapping / ease of use for adding samples through an application on my computer if I wanted to do that / general ease of use creature comforts like that would be easy with SCSI. Still new-ish to a lot of this so I really appreciate the guidance. Overall I'm just having fun experimenting with all the options.
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By joecoop Sun Feb 28, 2021 12:09 am
horriblyodd wrote:UPDATE!

Everything's working perfectly with a new floppy cable, jumpers configured as the emulator arrived. I'm aware of the issues with any kind of lengthy samples with floppy emulation and all of that. My ideal workflow was going to be a floppy emulator for having preset partitions for various vintage drum machines or setups I've personally put together, then actually saving compositions and used samples + longer samples onto a SCSI setup of some kind utilizing the rear port. Or just finishing up the session by recording some takes into Ableton. But also having that SCSI storage to keep projects on the MPC so I can return to the project there sounds ideal.

All that being said, going just SCSI probably would've been fine right? Was a bit tricky to nail down whether or not hotswapping / ease of use for adding samples through an application on my computer if I wanted to do that / general ease of use creature comforts like that would be easy with SCSI. Still new-ish to a lot of this so I really appreciate the guidance. Overall I'm just having fun experimenting with all the options.


This that's how I use my mpc 2xl as well and the floppy emu was cheap and easy. My MP does the drums and midi and my keyboard does all the melody sounds.
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By richie Sun Feb 28, 2021 10:15 am
Yeah seems like you're a bit confused to be honest.

Everything you listed in your "ideal" setup would be easier to accomplish with the SCSI2SD.

It's hot swap and the ability to have multiple directories that can easily be transferred to and from any pc or mac without the requirement of additional software makes are more sense.

Not being limited to the 1.4mb per virtual disk image as the floppy emulator would be is another reason. Where as with a card reader, I'm only limited to the ram available on the XL. Everything can be stored in individual folders without having to crouch down and navigate through a little display on the floppy emulator.

The new SCSI2SD update also makes it easier where I could connect a usb cable directly to it and my computer, all the saved folders already show up, allowing me to backup or drag and drop .wav files as I see fit. So no need to eject the micro sd card and connect it to a card reader on the computer.

I can go on and on but it's already well documented on here.

Introducing a floppy emulator in addition to a SCSI drive on the back port makes no sense as it is introducing an extra step to no benefit to your workflow.
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By horriblyodd Mon Mar 01, 2021 4:56 am
richie wrote:Yeah seems like you're a bit confused to be honest.

Everything you listed in your "ideal" setup would be easier to accomplish with the SCSI2SD.


Hahaa, certainly seems like it then! ;)

Seriously though, I appreciate the suggestions. Will likely swap everything over to a SCSI based card reader setup of some kind down the line. For now I'm having a ton a fun regardless of the limitations as long as I'm in a spot where I can track things into Ableton after adding longer samples etc. Plus it's kind of fun to experience what people had to deal with on release if that makes any sense. But clearly it sounds like there's no downsides at all going with what you're suggesting so I'll pursue that for sure.