Is my new MPC 2000XL a lemon?

I just bought a (new) MPC 2000XL with a zip 100 drive about two weeks ago. Since then, I have maxed the memory to 32MB and installed the EB16 effect board. Everything was working great for a week, until today when I loaded a zip and was unable to get any sounds other than nasty, short, distorted "clips" and "pops". I thought maybe the RAM I purchased was bad, so I uninstalled them and the EB16 board, and still had the same results. I thought maybe the pad contacts were loose, but when I looked at step edit, all the sequence data was there, which leads me to conclude that either the onboard RAM is corrupt or I have bad outputs. I suspect the RAM, because before I installed the EB16 and additional RAM, I had my sequencer freak out, sending random numbers and data flying out the display, with random sequences playing back. Granted, this happened ONCE and went away when I rebooted the thing, so I had dismissed this, UNTIL NOW. Is this kind of thing common? I spent a few hrs trying to troubleshoot with the exact same results. I have worked with many different samplers and I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this. I currently use a Yamaha A5000 as well, and that things ALWAYS works. I still have the warranty, but I wanted everyone's feedback before I send it back. could the last batch of 2XL's before the 2XL MCD all be lemons?

MPCs are not lemons, they are samplers/sequencers, if you are after lemons or any other fruit for that matter, try your local supermarket.
Trying to use an MPC as a lemon can cause technical problems, especially if you squeeze it, or try to eat it even
I think you have wasted a lot of money, if you take the MPC back you can probably get hundreds of lemons to fulfil your fruit needs.
By the way, do not go and purchase fruity loops instead, as this software has NOTHING to do with lemons either. You don't even get strawberries with it - Like i said try your local supermarket and I'm sure you'll be satisfied

Scott

lemons: meaning "defective", smartass...

anyone who isn't a aspiring "comedian" wanna take a crack at this?

Well I didn't understand.
But are you saying your lemon is fine now?
If it is then just forgeddaboutit,
make sure you got the latest OS (1.2)

must be a British thing... like Mr. Bean or Benny Hill. or maybe yr just a rude limey (lemony?) bastard. whatever man, if you want to be helpful, ditch the contrived witticisms and stick to some practical advice... thanks, I'll try the OS update.

sorry im just stressed and when im stressed im like that

Scott wrote:MPCs are not lemons, they are samplers/sequencers, if you are after lemons or any other fruit for that matter, try your local supermarket.
Trying to use an MPC as a lemon can cause technical problems, especially if you squeeze it, or try to eat it even
I think you have wasted a lot of money, if you take the MPC back you can probably get hundreds of lemons to fulfil your fruit needs.
By the way, do not go and purchase fruity loops instead, as this software has NOTHING to do with lemons either. You don't even get strawberries with it - Like i said try your local supermarket and I'm sure you'll be satisfied

Scott

u are a complete jerk off.

i would try to reinstall the os and get new ram. if that doesnt work call up vst service. they are found on the akai pro website.

binger0 wrote:u are a complete jerk off.

have you tried sampling sounds via the stereo jacks. also check if your sounds are 'note-off' you might wanna change them to mono
( in params ). cause you might not be holding the pads down to play out the duration, therefor giving you the glitchy sounds you hear.

binger, nanoloop... thanks for the suggestions.

I tried a reinstall of OS 1.14 as well as OS 1.2, both with the same results. I also uninstalled the 32 MB that I put in, so it's just the factory RAM thats in there now.

I did test the sampling inputs by trying to monitor and record sound from the inputs. I managed to get (slight) levels on the meters, and the sound I played was very faint, even with the output volume and rec gain fully cranked.

when I recorded the sample and played it back, it sounded the same as the samples I tried loading earlier. Most of the time, a short clipped, distorted glitch or little to no sound.

I have disabled the loop settings and have the samples set to play out the whole sound, so I have discounted that theory.

I guess I should get the thing serviced, huh?

yup i would
http://www.vstservice.com/contact.htm
give them a call. they are the akai certified service center in the us.

palimpsest_73 wrote:binger, nanoloop... thanks for the suggestions.

I tried a reinstall of OS 1.14 as well as OS 1.2, both with the same results. I also uninstalled the 32 MB that I put in, so it's just the factory RAM thats in there now.

I did test the sampling inputs by trying to monitor and record sound from the inputs. I managed to get (slight) levels on the meters, and the sound I played was very faint, even with the output volume and rec gain fully cranked.

when I recorded the sample and played it back, it sounded the same as the samples I tried loading earlier. Most of the time, a short clipped, distorted glitch or little to no sound.

I have disabled the loop settings and have the samples set to play out the whole sound, so I have discounted that theory.

I guess I should get the thing serviced, huh?

Yeah, that sounds bad. I would take Bing and Nano's advice if it were me cause that sounds WAY wrong. I was about to post the same troubleshooting advice but they beat me to it.

"u are a complete jerk off."
Co-sign, that was WAY uncalled for.

"anyone who isn't a aspiring "comedian" wanna take a crack at this?"
"or maybe yr just a rude limey (lemony?) bastard."
ROTFLMFAO

must be a British thing... like Mr. Bean or Benny Hill.
Heyy, I like Mr. Bean

whatever you do............dont tell them you installed the ram or the effects board yourself!!!!!!!!!

i think it voids the warrenty.....just keep them out, have them service it, then reinstall them.........but make sure you de-static yourself before you do it.

read up to make sure your didnt void your warrenty

Raising his hand from the back row
Excuse me but if it's only 2 weeks old, that's not service that's a return.
Contact your dealer.

ntalec wrote:Raising his hand from the back row
Excuse me but if it's only 2 weeks old, that's not service that's a return.
Contact your dealer.

good point. I plan on trying to get a straight swap for another 2XL from my dealer first. Yeah, I figured I shouldn't mention anything about installing the options either, but it's not like I'm opening up these things for my health. I mean who here HASN'T performed "home surgery" on their beloved MPC? It seems silly on the part of Akai to only offer these options as "self-install" when they leave that sneaky caveat of voiding the warranty when you open the machine up for ANY reason. It seems like you HAVE to open the damn thing up to even make it usable (adding RAM, for instance)... (sigh) thanks everyone, for your input!