Really happy with the 500.

i´ve been with the 500 for a couple of months and i´m in love this little beast.i´ve been use the xl for 4 years(still use it) but i´m using the 5oo all the time right about now.You can make any kind of music with it but i see this thing for electronic type of shit.I use with a laptop with ablenton,a korg keyboard,an sp an a electribe,and the mp is with no doubt the center.One thing i really like is how fast you can operate with it.You can sample you keyboard drums and sounds and then you start playing with it(no need to go to the trim page).Also i really like that you can play over the sequence with you keyboard(on record mode) .Also i think the timing it´s excellent.Also the manual is alot of easier to read than the xl,in just one day i learned how to operate all the functions.Props to akai for this one.

Yea well said man - and for relatively cheap too! On the sequencing of MIDI from a keyboard, I was wondering whether the 500 can deal with pitch bend or is it just note on off stuff?

That's great.. glad to hear you're enjoying it. There's too many people out trying to write it off as being a toy, or not a real MPC, but it is and is simple to use.

i love mine too, haha i wanted to start a 500 love thread.

its my first one and its the dope ish!

I like mine so much I had a custom bag made for it that fits like a glove.

Snerg

Yeah, I love mine. Ive had it for a couple months, works great for the way I work. Nice and small, fill the CF card with some kits...... money!

Thats great to hear. I love my 500 also. Ive had it since April. I use it whenever I have the chance to. If its at my sons baseball practice Im using it, or at my lunch break at work Im using it, or even just chillin in my living room on my couch...I dont have to be near an outlet to use it.

I already told my story about how I was at my buddies house when he was freestyling, I recorded him and framed it with a beat in 20 minutes.


Last night I was at a BBQ out in the country at a friends house. We were all hanging out and taking turns punching out beats. It was great.

I use it all the time at lunch, in my backyard, in the car. etc.. The thing is insane.

I like my MPC500 a lot too:

Battery powered operation is sweeter than I thought at first
It's nice and portable (and looks sexy)
It sounds good, better than my Yamaha samplers for sure
It's limited but capable, which leads to creativity
It's modern(USB, compactflash) in stead of SCISI and ZIP
The sequencer is tight

Some things I don't like:

Limited polyphony
Effects could be a bit better
No Hi/Band-pass filters

I really hope that Akai keeps producing these hardware sampler/sequencers since a lot of people work 'software only' these days. I feel a MPC is like an instrument you learn to play, we need them around.

Snerg

Have any of you MPC500-lovers had problems like "SYSTEM ERROR!" when trying to edit a sequence or "CPU Addr (read)" error when loading?

I'm now on my 2nd MPC500 and it is still SO unreliable.

It looses my songs all the time. I can't work with it.

I'm gonna take it back and demand my money back.

Hey Dubness,

Sorry to hear about that. Did you use anything on your second MPC that you were also using on your first? RAM, CF card, anything like that?


Also, did you format the CF card with the MPC500?

Hi Wax808

I did have a 2gb CF card and extra 128mb RAM in there but I thought that might be causing the problems so now I'm just using the factory hardware. And it's still dodgy.

I've re-installed the OS and formatted the CF card and even re-processed my wav files so I know they're alright.

Still the errors come. Do you guys never get these problems? Should I give up on the MPC or get another?

Ive never had any problems with my MPC500. Im starting to see more and more people having problems. Godd luck

I've been scouring this forum for clues as to why my 500 is so sh*t and have found that people either get a whole load of problems with system errors and the OS hanging or they get next to none.

That must be due to hardware. As I've only been using the factory installed hardware, I have to conclude I've been unlucky twice in a row.