MPC400 to MPC X. Upgrade?

Long time MPC4000 user here.

I'm looking to upgrade to a MPC X and I'm wondering if that's something that users of the MPC X would advise for or against. Aside from the MPC, I run a modular synth and a couple of hardware synths so the midi ins and outs are what I like, as well as the multiple outs for drum sounds from the MPC into the DAW. Would anyone suggest the One or Live II ahead of the X? I'm not interested in portability. The MPC will be the hub of my studio, just like the 4000 is now. There are fewer audio outs on the Live II and One though, or can drum hits be sent to ins on my PC DAW on individual tracks via USB? The MPC 4000 does not do that, so I have no experience of that kind of feature.

Aw great man, that's what I was hoping to hear. I recognise your name and avatar from some old 4k threads. I used to be on here but couldn't figure out of my old login so had to start again.

It's the limitation of the Q-links in particular that has always frustrated me with the 4K. It was so close to being what I wanted, but that and a few other limitations have always frustrated me.

Given that there were some oversights with the 4K, what is there about the X that makes in not quite perfect? Anything glaring that is keeping people annoyed, or is it close to perfect?

Thanks for chiming in

Well I got the Live instead for portability, but in addition to that particular convenience, to me the biggest improvement was 5 freely assignable insert effects per pad. HUGE

Also, while there are less shortcut buttons, I still find the overall navigation more pleasant. A less pre historic way of handling files was also nice. Bye bye aksys

My only real complaint is it doesn't really have a proper mod matrix

Lampdog is right, you won’t regret the X. I’m the same, was on the 4K for a long long time and the X makes so much of what you can do on the older machine easier and in many cases better.

But there are a couple of glaring omissions in the design of the X: time signatures are badly implemented, tempo maps are absent… and i really miss the modulation matrix in the 4K.

The extra q-links are a real bonus, but one more cautionary point I’d make is that they can’t be assigned globally - that’s a feature I love about the 4K.

All that aside - go get it. You won’t be disappointed

Hi guys

I'm new in here but been a long time lurker of these forums and a Hardcore MPC4K user for almost 20 Years,bought my Machine back in 2002 Brand new,its been an absolute Workhorse for me over that time its still working perfectly everyday in that time and still going strong, other than having to replace defective RAM sticks and the few OS updates its never let me down

I recently purchased the X a few days ago after having reservations on it,mainly as i felt it wasn't giving me anything major i couldn't do already on the 4K but after being on the fence over it i decided to go for it

It has blown me away with what it can do But unfortunately I'm returning it as it way too unstable to be usable at the moment whether this is the latest firmware bugs or not i don't know but its massively knocked my confidence in it.

I've had it for 4 days and made loads of beats and transitioned to it with no problems, it was hard to find where everything is at first and the numeric buttons took some time to adjust to as the MPC4K ones i'm used to whereas the X is the other way round!!!so muscle memory from the 4k caught me out a few times

the features and touchscreen are freaking mental, having the ability to draw in and adjust note parameters is really cool I dearly love the machine for what Akai have implemented, and its not that unfamiliar coming from the MPC lineage its not been that hard to find my way around it,one of the things I hated about the 4k was the sampler side of things,I never really got to grips with its functions to sample direct on it and ended up using my sampler editing software on the computer and just importing them int the 4k to use, but the X sampler is so easy to use, the looper is fantastic, the great thing is that it loads the 4K .akp files straight in so I've been able to import all my 4k samples and programs etc with no issue which was brilliant I've been able to bring across all my Sequences/Samples/Progams straight into the X without any need to convert or spend time remapping which is a huge Bonus

However I'm going back to my 4K for the time being because I've had constant freezes and hangups on the X that its knocked my confidence in the Machine big time,one of the biggest problems has been from loading sample files,I did see in the bugs report thread someone else was having the same issues its obviously is a bug but seeing as Akai have not addressed this and I'm not sure if they will? I have decided to return the Unit back to the retailer whilst Im still in my Money back return period.

I have held off buying this for a couple of years until now as I wanted to see how far Akai would take it and obviously didn't want to justify the cost when the 4K has given me so much pleasure and service, the upgrade content they've added to the X is brilliant but this experience has given me reservations, which has really pissed me off because the unit itself and the OS is fantastic and what it has over the 4K is awesome and the time I've had on the Machine so far,it has greatly improved workflow, that hopefully my Faith will be restored by Akai addressing these issues,Its such a shame that this experience has overshadowed my first impressions,because my trust in Akai products has never been in Question

I'm not in anyway dismissing the X its a **** superb machine(when it runs ok) but I'm sure you guys can understand my reservations hopefully one day I will return to this Beast once they've ironed out these probs,i only have 14 days to get my money back so rather than risk waiting for Akai to sort this out and be left with a dysfunctional unit in the meantime I am going to return it.

Lampdog wrote:I purchased an MPC X and HAVEN'T looked back since!
You wont regret the switch imo.

Get X.

I 2nd this. If you get the X...Keep the 4000 in the Studio as well. Because there are things in the Sample Engine of the 4000, that the X can't accomplish just yet.

i've got both. i think to 4k feels a littlee bit more like your standalone oldschool mpc, where the X taps into DAW territory a little bit.

downside of the X: although there are are a shitload of buttons, you have to use the touchscreen quite often, which is annoying. the f-key implenetation is clumbsy and the overall UX is not as fluid as the old mpcs.

downside of the 4k: choppin up samples is not really fun and in this area, the new mpcs are just much better.

i also wasn't really fan of the digital filters of the mpc4k, specially the low-pass.

if you are not a fan of touchscreens, i wouldn't buy the X imho.

still hoping that they are coming out with an updated MPC X hardware, with a better implementation of hardware buttons and some other small changes – but that will not happen.

I use my X everyday and I rarely ever have any crashes or issues. I bought my unit when they first came out though so I don't know if newer ones are having production issues. When I do have crashes it's almost always because of the added plugins or running out of memory. It's more likely that it was an issue with your particular unit as opposed to the entire product line. I doubt it was a hardware issue and most likely was a bad firmware install. I will say that for me controller mode has always sucked so I never use it except to transfer files but in standalone it has been solid from day one. For a lot of people controller mode works just fine. I would try a return and new unit to see if you get the same results or it works as it should.

The retailer has offered me a new unit replacement as they have just had a batch of new stock even though mine was a new unit anyway,I think it’s been sat in their warehouse for a while as it had OS 2.9 since the 2.10 has been out for a long while I’m guessing this unit is older new stock that’s been sat in the retailer for a while

I’m going to see if this unit is ok,although I do think it’s more likely a software problem as there are plenty of people experiencing these issue with 2.10,I’m thinking of maybe downgrading back to 2.8 for the time,as this seemed a little bit more stable,I will give this new unit a try out as they have offered me the chance to return this one if it has the same probs and have my money back

I hope this newer one works properly as I’m really excited by what the X has to offer so far

Lampdog wrote:

Uncle Dieppe wrote:Hi guys

What Os was that where your samples don’t load correctly?
Did you strip any and all metadata?[

I miss the 4k matrix too, X could heavily benefit from a modern version of that i stead of having many of the some of the same things in diff places…. But….. Pro’s outweigh the cons for me

I remember 1994 when I bought my ASR-10, I could sample, sequence, playback at the same time. 2kxl couldn’t, 4k couldn’t. X can (million years later catching up).

2.10

the unit I bought had 2.9.1 so I updated it,from my Mac first but then seemed to lock up and not boot properly so I reset the machine and did a fresh install from USB flash drive everything seemed ok until I loaded samples

It’s not that the samples didn’t load the machine locked up when loading multiple files one after the other,I read in the 2.10 release notes that known bugs were something to do with loading files and there’s plenty of comments from others experiencing the same

I have the replacement unit coming tommorow,ironically though I've been using the X today and its been perfectly fine however i have used it by itself and not been running my usual Midi rig

They have given me the option to try the new unit over the weekend, if its still crashing I can send it back for a refund

I'm not sure if my Hardware might be an issue that might be causing the X a problem I have 11 Synths nd several Midi controllers/Foot pedals etc,all running from the 4K with no problems but this is all hooked up via Midi cables,I wanted the X for the USB functionality as its reducing my cable count and clutter I'm currently using them via this, which i recommend for all X studio users wanting a decent rack mount USB hub,I hate those desktop boxes much prefer my USB hub tucked into the rack out the way Works flawlessly with the X


[url=http://www.thomann.de/gb/swissonic_usb_hub_1916.[/url]


I haven't had all my USB devices plugged into the X today and its was stable with no issues so will try the newer unit again with all my USB devices with them tomorrow,I'm also running a Behringer X32 Rack from this Hub into the X for inputs/Outputs so I'm wondering if perhaps there maybe a unit that is drawing too much power, although I haven't had an issue with the hub or the X whilst using them together, the freeze ups seem to be when loading files etc so i will try to recreate the scenario from Loading and see if this newer unit does the same
I am happy to downgrade to 2.8 for the time being the original unit had 2.9.1 loaded into it and the problems started after updating to 2.10,but will have to sacrifice using my X32 ins and outs and the extra content from 2.10 until they resolve the bugs,if it means its going to run a bit more consistently for me to keep it.

you can tell I'm already used to the X's Touchscreen ......Been touching my screen of the 4K forgetting its not a TUI!!!!

Lampdog wrote:Every time I've tried to update from computer it was a no go for various reasons.
I've since stuck with usb/sd card update and it works w/o problems.

Yes I think i will stick with the USB route from now on also