1k's arrived!/1k improvement program....

exciting news (for me at least).

had the front panel off already, and the switches look like bog standard 6mmx6mm tact switches:


except the Rec, Overdub, Stop and Play buttons, which are 12mmx12mm, again though, standard:


i should think the q-links are standard linear pots, though i have yet to measure their values. also of note: the encoder has a standard pin layout, so no difficulty to replace, should it go wrong, or of course to replace if you don't like its cheap feel!!

YES.

back on the team, mr modnar.

thanks for looking at those tacts and sliders. VERY good to have you do that. if you ever look into good sliders please let me know what ones you put in there

i will ebay on these 6 by 6 tact switches. forget paying 7.50 for akai parts.

Antonym wrote: if you ever look into good sliders please let me know what ones you put in there.

will do.

this jjos is some crazy sh!t. it's like i left the planet shortly before fire was tamed, and then returned in 2007. one small jap for mpcs, one giant leap for modnaRkind. excuse the racism there, it fitted better with the words of Neil Armstrong!

-shaking head in disbelief-

Thanks for sharing the specs Modnar.
I'd definitely like to install more durable components at a cheaper price, so i gotta check mouser.com or possibly even a local electronics shop that my brother was telling me about.

no problem, although i have a feeling that most, if not all, 6mm tact switches are of a similar quality, so you'll probably not get too different an amount of usage of any others, it's just the price that makes them worthwhile. the encoder's the one to look at really, it feels horrifically cheap compared to others i have tried.

-shaking head in disbelief-

at the racism (cos i really didn't mean that!)?

what about the rotary encoder, modnar? i have my old one which i took apart completely to see how it works. is this anything you/other midibox people could look at specs unseen and say "oh that's a _________ you can get those for 50 cents a pop on ____"

it's just a standard encoder, there are different sizes and shapes of course, but i think it's alps compatible, with a short shaft.

here's one with panel mount facility (which we don't need, but doesn't matter either way), and longer shaft, but look at the pin layout:


the other thing to worry about is the pin order, as some are different, but once the 1k's encoder has been tested, it's just a matter of looking at some spec sheets.

good. it'd be really nice to be able to find one with a good deal of durability, mine lasted something like a year-year and a half (i forget exactly when i swapped it) before i had to change mine out. not a terrible repair by any means but i'd like to have something really durable in there that i could expect to last at least twice that long.

2nd - if durability isn't a possibility, it'd be cool if we could find silent or smooth encoders - ones that either don't make an audible "click" while circling, OR ones that both don't "click" and don't snap to a value, but rather make uninterrupted smooth turns without tactile increments (rotations would still have to be encoded, of course)

another thing about the r.encoder

i was looking in/at my mpc the other day when i realized that all force directed at the buttons/rotary encoder is not dampened by the steel case - instead, the force of application/turning is all directed right at the tact switches/encoder/PCB

whle reading about the mackie120vlz i noted that all their knobs/sliders ride above the steel case. this means that say you drop something on your knob - the force is directed to and dispersed by the steel casing. this is not the case in the mpc1000 - if you were to give your data wheel a solid tap or if you dropped a shotglass on it (whatever, people are strange) the force would go straight to the encoder/PCB

the trouble with un detented encoders is their tendency to 'jump' values, the detents are there to ensure that set values stay there. you can remove the detent yourself if you so wish, but i wouldn't recommend it. there are much better quality detented encoders, however, which i would recommend.

re: the durability

these type of encoders have physical contacts inside, and as such, they wear out. you can get optical encoders, which don't wear out, but i think you may have trouble finding a compatible one, as they need another power and ground pin pair for the led inside, they are also a bit more expensive. in my view, it'd be better to just get a good quality normal encoder, as they would probably give a much better lifespan than the current ones.

Antonym wrote:another thing about the r.encoder

i was looking in/at my mpc the other day when i realized that all force directed at the buttons/rotary encoder is not dampened by the steel case - instead, the force of application/turning is all directed right at the tact switches/encoder/PCB

whle reading about the mackie120vlz i noted that all their knobs/sliders ride above the steel case. this means that say you drop something on your knob - the force is directed to and dispersed by the steel casing. this is not the case in the mpc1000 - if you were to give your data wheel a solid tap or if you dropped a shotglass on it (whatever, people are strange) the force would go straight to the encoder/PCB

that's a good point, that.

i may be able to come up with something to fix that, as i noticed the same yesterday and have been mulling it over.

the trouble with un detented encoders is their tendency to 'jump' values, the detents are there to ensure that set values stay there. you can remove the detent yourself if you so wish, but i wouldn't recommend it. there are much better quality detented encoders, however, which i would recommend.

good point. that could be incredibly frustrating and not worth the effort. Detented it is. it might be worth noting that undetention may have been the problem with my last encoder - when i got a new one and put it in, the first thing i noticed was that it made a more definite click. comparing the old to the new, the old was much less audible and you could barely feel the dentent as you scrolled the data wheel.

looks like a future, detented, well built encoder is a must.

bit by bit, we can turn the mpc1000 into a completely unbreakable, fully loaded tank...although i haven't had a problem with the plastic buttons breaking (yet) there may be some kind of ingenius button idea in the works.

lol i can see it now, all the gangster rappers getting their 1ks bulletproofed, and carrying them with them at all times. t-shirt reads: 'My 1k saved my life, no thanks to Akai'

what i don't understand is why akai released service manuals for all machines until the 4000, available and sold to the public

and then STOPPED with the mpc1000.
the service manuals are only in pdf form now, in the hands of akai technicians such as VST.

i don't understand what they have to lose (maybe you could fill me in?) on releasing the service manual and/or open sourcing their OS. seems to me that modders/coders would go nuts...