Darn!!!! My pads are double triggering!!!!!

I just bought a used MPC that I had for about 3 weeks. After playing with it, I noticed my pads double trigger very easily even when tapping them lightly. Also, if I play a sequence and tap a pad quickly with the note repeat function engaged, the note will just stick as if the pad was held down. Does all MPC 4000s do this or do I need to look at getting the pad assembly replaced? Or could it be the OS? I'm running 1.50. Has 1.50 been known for these problems and have they been resolved in 1.70?

I'm going to go ahead and upgrade my OS immediately. I hope this do the trick. Boy I just hope this do the trick!!!!!!!!! I hope I don't have to get a new pad assembly. I've read somewhere on this forum they are pretty expensive. At least the 4 screws on the top make it easier to install. If the OS doesn't fix this problem and I do need to get it serviced, I wonder if I would have to send the whole thing to Akai (that'll probably take for ever considering they haven't even started shipping new 4000s yet!!!!!!) or if I could just have Guitar Center (an authorized Akai dealer) order a new pad assembly and have them install it when it arrives.

I hope this is just an OS bug and nothing more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yo - first off change your os asap! os 1.50 was the worst os ever! upload any other - be it 1.13! my advice is to upload 1.70!

for the double triggering: its ment to be like this. you gotta learn or get used how to bang those pads. just mess with them and dont be affraid to hit em hard - quite some people comin from a 2k or 3k complained about it when they got there 4k ... sp ypi best just play with your 4k and 1. u ll get used to it 2. you ll find ways to workaround it when not desired (ie set plophony in prog mode to 1) and 3. u ll appreciate that it worx like this - at least i hope so for you ... i like them the way they are!

hth

its not the machine, its the user. i mean that in the nicest way possible but, you just need to practice and learn how to strike the pads properly, i think this happens to nearly everyone when the get the mpc..

as far as the sticking of the note repeat..that must just be a 4k thing..

Thanks. I actually agree with the both of you. It's probably me. I'm coming from a MPC 1000 - MPC 2000 background and the pads are different compared to the 4K. I'll get used to it. Since the 4K is new to me and I'm so used to the 1000 and 2000 and assumed the pads on the 4000 were similar, I just thought something was wrong with my 4000 when the pads double triggered. Maybe I just drew my own conclusion too fast. I bought this machine based on specs without playing one first, assuming they all had the same feel. Don't get me wrong, I like everything about the 4K featurewise, otherwise I wouldn't have purchased one. I'll just have to get used to hitting them hard. I didn't know the pads were made to take a beating as I'm so use to tapping them softly as if hitting them hard would damage them. Ahhh but get this.... One thing I have noticed on my 4k is the harder I hit the pads, the less they double trigger. I guess they are made to be hit hard and not gentley tapped. You know, that could be a good thing too. Maybe the fact you have to hit them harder could mean the pad assembly on the 4K is actually better built than the ones on the other cheaper MPC models. After all, the 4K is AKAI's flagship MPC.

By the way, my 1000 double triggered to (slighty but not much) when I first got it until I got used to it. I guess you have to just break in your MPC as if you bought a new pair of shoes.

It's good to know nothing is wrong with the pads or the machine and I will definitely upgrade that OS. I've been planning to do that earlier but just kept putting it off. I guess now is the time to do it "before I make another beat!!!" hahahaha.

Thanks again.

you gotta break the damn thing in......you have a case of the stiff pads
.....upgrade the os and start bangin

Originally posted by BeatHeadz:
you gotta break the damn thing in......you have a case of the stiff pads
.....upgrade the os and start bangin

Thanks for the diagnosis. I'll get over this illness pretty soon. Now it's time to start making some tight beats!!!!!!!!! and bobbing my head.[/i]

I just installed OS 1.70 and I'm not sure why but my samples do not play back the way they are suppose to (some of them not all). The 808 kickdrum sounds like it's digitally distorted or something as if something was currpted during in the process. Also, after loading the tr808 program and going to the sample edit list, none of the samples played back correctly when scrolling through each sample and hitting the pads. This is a major problem that I didn't have before upgrading the OS. I used the OS Loader program to install 1.70 via USB.

Now, I'm going to downgrade to 1.60 and see what that'll do.

----------------Later On ------------------------------------------------------

Ok, I've installed 1.60 and I'm still having problems when playing back certain samples that played back just fine in OS 1.50. It distortion sounds more like a bit rate problem. My samples just don't sound as clean as they used to sound (suppose to sound) I wonder if the new OS is handling the AD/DA converters improperly. Or, is it something I'm doing wrong again? I installed the OS properly in every case and discovered two ways of loading it.

1. Use the Akai OS loader software to load it via USB and reboot your MPC once the installation completes.

or

2. Copy the OS file from your PC harddrive to your MPC harddrive using Akaisys and USB. Then load the OS on your MPC as if it was a program or sample. Then follow the on-screen installation instructions.

Regardless which way I load it, my sample problem still exists. I'm going back to 1.50 and see if that remedies my troubles. If it doesn't, then maybe there's a setting in the machine that I need to find out regarding bit-rate conversion or something dealing with how my samples are played back. I'm using the same samples I've used before and they sounded perfect before I started fooling with OS upgrades. I hope it's just me and not the OS. Maybe I just have to figure out what the proper settings are if they exist. I don't know what it could be. Let's try 1.50 again.

That's strange, there's no 1.50 on AKAI's website!!!!!!!!!!!!! There's 1.51 and 1.45 but no 1.50. I guess I'll try 1.51

Oh well, 1.51 OS file was currupt so I put 1.70 back in.

I bought this machine used with the RAM already expanded (maxed out). Could faulty RAM cause samples not to play correctly? I'm not saying my RAM is faulty but I can't rule out the possibility. I feel like it's something else.


Hopefully, I can figure this one out.

Bad RAM sticks could be the cause indeed. Akai changed the use of sample RAM in either the v1.60 or v1.70 OS (sorry can't remember right now). Instead of a bottom up approach, they now use a top down approach when filling the RAM with samples. Several users reported problems similar to yours, because their bad RAMs were being used for the first time.

Not saying it IS bad RAM, but it sure is an option.

i had exactely the same problem, ring sound added to the samples and i couldn't audition the samples from hard drive either.
it was a RAM problem i changed the chip and now everything is fine on 1.70

Originally posted by phunk:
i had exactely the same problem, ring sound added to the samples and i couldn't audition the samples from hard drive either.

Thanks. That's a good way to describe it (a ring in my samples), which is what my samples are doing. I can still still audition from the hard drive though. It's just the fact my sample don't sound properly. I might look into replacing my RAM memory. Any recommendations on what kind of RAM to buy and what brand to get?

it is definitly ram. I had a ram issue when first movint to os 1.6. I contacted akai. They said the reason I never noticed before, was that they changed the order of loading for ram chips. before od 1.6, ram was loaded in the botoom chip first, now ram is loaded in top chip first.

I changed ram, witha stick from my computer, everthing is fine now.

Thanks for the info. I'm definitely getting me some new RAM then. I hope it's not too expensive to put in 512MB. Hopefully, I can get quality RAM for under $100. Can I use a well known brand like "Kingston" for high quality RAM or does AKAI have RAM chips available, like on the MPC 1000?

kvmoore wrote:Thanks for the info. I'm definitely getting me some new RAM then. I hope it's not too expensive to put in 512MB. Hopefully, I can get quality RAM for under $100. Can I use a well known brand like "Kingston" for high quality RAM or does AKAI have RAM chips available, like on the MPC 1000?

I would suggest getting Kingston. That's the kind of RAM I have in Mine, and I have no Problem.

Thanks, guys. You all have been VERY helpful in helping me find a solution to my problems. I just can't thank you enough. I'm going to go ahead and fix my RAM problem so I can make some beats and master my MPC. Then I'll come back and return the favoor by posting to assist those who I can help in solving their problems. Once I install my new RAM, I'll update you guys on how it works out. I suppose the manual should tell me what type of RAM to get. Then, I'll go to a computer store and see if there are any Kingston chips that meet the specs.

Thanks again.

word up, Sun!