What Else Should I Get When Purchasing a MPC1000?

If I were to buy one, what else should I get with it? What else is necessary and what is highly recommended. Mind you, im trying to get started as far as learning how to sample and whatnot. The only equipment I have is a Tascam DP-01/FX and a Casio Keyboard, a mic and some monitors.

So, can you really get started making beats or is there anything else that I might wanna get like memory or extra piece of equipment...etc.

Please respond.

Thanks

Get a turntable, a Compact Flash card or hard drive (see the stickies on the top of the forum for recommendations), get some extra RAM (256 laptop rAM, also check the stickies for help with choosing this). Also maybe some cool headphones for on the go being that it is portables.
And the most important thing to get for your new MPC is the JJ OS. Newer operating system that gives you more features and builds upon features already included in the original Akai OS.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

hereo wrote:Get a turntable, a Compact Flash card or hard drive (see the stickies on the top of the forum for recommendations), get some extra RAM (256 laptop rAM, also check the stickies for help with choosing this). Also maybe some cool headphones for on the go being that it is portables.
And the most important thing to get for your new MPC is the JJ OS. Newer operating system that gives you more features and builds upon features already included in the original Akai OS.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Well, can you clarify what is necessary and what you recommend?

Im not exactly up on the whole sampling. Do I really need a turntable and do I need it right off the bat? Maybe it sounds ghetto, but can you sample off of a CD?

I'll assume the Compact Flash card is needed right off the bat. But about the newer operating systems, how do I go about getting them? Where do I get them from and what are the prices?

Lithion wrote: Talent

Thanks, do you know where I can get some for cheap?


But I believe my talent will show itself as I learn. 2 years ago, I wasn't really into music...a year later, i found out I could sing, and Now I play a little bit of the piano. I want to go to school for piano/music and audio engineering. I don't know if I can make music that you make, but I believe I can have enough talent to atleast qualify for being worthy of a MPC 1000.


If not, it should still be fun.


MUSIC RUNS IN MY FAMILYS BLOOD!

Yes, you can samples off of CDs. You need something like a RCA to 1/8" cable. And then to go with that a pair of female RCA to 1/4" converters.
The compact flash is a must off top cause you need some kind of media to store your samples and beats on. I recommend a hard drive cause these days they cost about the same or @least the price difference is so small that you might as well cough up $10 and get 40 GBs instead of just 2 GB.
And the new OS has 2 versions. 1 is free, its great! And the other is $30. You can download it and use all the features for free, but you can't save anything. To save you need a password, and that's where the $30 comes in. Here is the link to the site
http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/%7Empc1000/

And there is also a forum on this forum site about that OS. Go check it out.

So basically, get a compact flash card and a new OS.


Which is better? A compact flash card or a hard drive...aside from size difference? Or is that the only reason to upgrade with a hard drive?

Blackwiz wrote:So basically, get a compact flash card and a new OS.


Which is better? A compact flash card or a hard drive...aside from size difference? Or is that the only reason to upgrade with a hard drive?

extra space is pretty much the only reason to go with a hard drive

for just starting out, bare essentials you just need a CF card -- they are really cheap so I think you will probably be best off just getting a 1 or 2 GB card for now

the hard drive can come later

the only other thing is to make sure you have the right cables for sampling and hooking up to a sound system (unless you just want to exclusively use headphones)

all the jacks in the MPC are 1/4" mono (excluding the digital S-PDIF in/out and the headphone jack which is stereo 1/4"... oh and I guess the footswitch jacks are also 1/4" stereo)

if you want to sample from a cd player, first find out what cable the cd player outputs too and then find a cable that goes from that plug to a split 1/4" plug

for instance, if your CD player outputs a 1/8" mini stereo jack, find a cable that is 1/8" split to double mono (left and right) 1/4" jacks.

or if your cd player outputs RCA (the red and white kind like on a TV) then just get two cables that go RCA to 1/4"

or if you could go the S-PDIF route if you have capable equipment

Get a sh*tload of wicked records! CD is OK, but vinyl is better for more than just aesthetic reasons - just a few off the top of my head -

- much easier & quicker to cue up vinyl
- your turntable will have a pitchshift control, normal household CD players usually won't
- much weirder/ cheaper/ random stuff available on vinyl
- controls on mixer (eq & stuff) usually better for shaping original source than on CD

there are more reasons too, but this isn't gonna be an essay!

I got the DP-01 aswell! (no FX) Its a great bit of kit. I currently have mine as master to the mpc and groovebox via MIDI. I find this the best way to run my stuff ( i use a lot of live instruments& audio as well as sequences) How have you got yours set up?

Get an 80GB hard drive. They're dirt cheap and you'll be glad you did. CF is kind of a pain in the ass.

You should also get a USB cable to be able to transfer stuff from your computer.

You don't need a TT right away. I have 2 Technics and believe me, you have a lot more to worry about when you get started than the better sound aesthetic you might be able to get from vinyl over digital. If you decide you want one, pick up a TT later on.

Also, besides the JJ OS, you should consider the ebook they have for sale here. Lots of good info for when you are getting started. Not all applicable now that we have the JJ OS, but there's loads of basic info that will help to boost the learning curve.

Also remember, don't get too much gear at once. It's hard enough learning one machine let alone several.

mixer, turntables, vinyl, monitors, max out your mp, vinyl, pc with midi interface with recording program ie. protools or multitrack recorder, vinyl.... what else... time. ummm...




thats about it.





oh yeah you can never have enough vinyl.

Murahachibu wrote:Get an 80GB hard drive. They're dirt cheap and you'll be glad you did. CF is kind of a pain in the ass.

You should also get a USB cable to be able to transfer stuff from your computer.

You don't need a TT right away. I have 2 Technics and believe me, you have a lot more to worry about when you get started than the better sound aesthetic you might be able to get from vinyl over digital. If you decide you want one, pick up a TT later on.

Also, besides the JJ OS, you should consider the ebook they have for sale here. Lots of good info for when you are getting started. Not all applicable now that we have the JJ OS, but there's loads of basic info that will help to boost the learning curve.

Also remember, don't get too much gear at once. It's hard enough learning one machine let alone several.

thanks, so get a compact flash, but push for a hard drive. I believe I have a USB cable somewhere. I was thinking about getting a couple of these ebooks....and I also saw some MPC 1000 dvds.


Does anybody know about those dvds that show you how to work the MPC? Are they worth buying?

http://www.samplekings.net/Merchant2/me ... _Code=AM1P

smokymcbucket wrote:Get a sh*tload of wicked records! CD is OK, but vinyl is better for more than just aesthetic reasons - just a few off the top of my head -

- much easier & quicker to cue up vinyl
- your turntable will have a pitchshift control, normal household CD players usually won't
- much weirder/ cheaper/ random stuff available on vinyl
- controls on mixer (eq & stuff) usually better for shaping original source than on CD

there are more reasons too, but this isn't gonna be an essay!

I got the DP-01 aswell! (no FX) Its a great bit of kit. I currently have mine as master to the mpc and groovebox via MIDI. I find this the best way to run my stuff ( i use a lot of live instruments& audio as well as sequences) How have you got yours set up?

Well, im still trying to learn everything. I messed around with little projects, because I play a little piano and some singing. When it got down to it, i felt like its just a recorder and I need something else. I do have and use at the moment an alesis sr16 drum machine. It was passed down from my late pops. But as far as setup, Iono. I just have my keyboard hooked up to my dp-01 along with my mic. I have my drum machine hooked up to my tascam(im not that up on tech terms), but i have to switch it up to get it recorded on my tascam.


When I get my MPC 1000, I eventually want to have it hooked up to my tascam dp-01 and synch everything to the tascam. Can you explain your setup to me, maybe i'll do what you are doing.(unless im doing that already.)

By the way, what PC programs should I get for the MPC? I was looking at the Roland sp606 and it has cakewalkp606 program. Does the mpc1000 have a program or something? Or is everything just done on the box?

there are some good software programs for the MPC1000, on the mac i think its called Pad187 and the PC is called BlueBox, or something.... basically they let you create Programs on your PC you can import into the MPC. it saves you time from manually building everything inside the MPC, although if you are sampling breaks and building kits in the MPC you'll probably get fast with the just building kits inside the MPC itself.

i would recommend the internal memory upgrade (check the sticky in the MPC1000 thread), this will increase the sampling time available to you.

i don't know about paying a lot of money for DVD's on using the machine, there's plenty of youtube videos out there to look at first....

a 2Gb compact flash card is pretty necessary and much easier than finding the hard drive upgrade kit (last time i checked my local Guitar Center had stopped selling them). then again i already had one sitting around i used for my digital camera so it cost me nothing to go this route

the JJOS is definitely worth checking out!

beyond the MPC itself, if you already have a keyboard and drum machine you may want to look into using MIDI to connect all your devices and PC together. there's a website called Tweakheadz, google it for home studio setups, it gets into the gnitty gritty of all the components and ways to hook em up! a mixer would be a good investment if you plan to expand the amount of gear you have, but resist the temptation to keep adding new stuff before you learn the stuff you already own!