My MPC500 is going back to Akai tomorrow.

Anyone who has read previous posts of mine knows that I was having problems with error messges when loading my projects or even just one sequence or program at a time. I've only had my MPC for 5 weeks. The error messages got more frequent during the last 2 weeks. It got to the point where I never knew if I would still have my project the next time I turned the machine on. That really kills you creatively! This morning, I turned on the machine and got a "SYSTEM ERROR!" message and could not load anything at all. I got on the phone with Akai. They tried to troubleshoot the problem, but they couldn't solve it. I told them that I was fed up, but I was polite and told them that I know that the MPC500 is a good machine when it does what it is supposed to do. So they are taking back this machine and sending me a new one. Free shipping, too (ground). Hopefully, the stuff that is on my CF card will load up on the new machine. Being firm with these people is good, but it also helps to be polite. Anyone with the "PC addr (read)...." messages or the "SYSTEM ERROR!" messages on their machines should seriously consider calling Akai. Worked for me.......The new machine better not be defective.

i'm having that saving/loading problem every now and then too. please tell if your new mpc is working better.

I have sent my mpc500 back to the store and received a different unit... but I still experience the same problems.

My MPC500 isn't usable, It crashes everytime I use it (one way or another).

I will never buy any Akai product again. Their product and support suck bigtime. I feel I have wasted my money.

Snerg

PS: I hope Akai will somehow fix your MPC! (I really do!)

I've been waiting for your final verdict snerg. You confirmed what I had suspected, that all units are affected, and it's just that somehow certain use patterns (probably similar to those of the programmers and beta testers) don't cause enough problems for them to notice.

I also am crossing Akai off my list, and won't be buying the MPC5000 no matter how nice it may seem on paper.

What I'm doing now is never turning the MPC500 off. I use it for whatever I need it for, and that's that. I don't bother saving and reloading old projects because it's not worth the hassle since they're always corrupt. It's basically a crapshoot, hoping it doesn't crash before I finish the song.

Thanks for the replies. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that I do not have the same problems again. I got the MPC500 because the only other product in that price range is an SP-555 or SP-606. The SP series seem like toys to me. I've used a 202 and a 505 and didn't like either of them. I better start saving my money for the MV-8800.

Jamon wrote:I also am crossing Akai off my list, and won't be buying the MPC5000 no matter how nice it may seem on paper.

I feel you on this

Jamon wrote:What I'm doing now is never turning the MPC500 off. I use it for whatever I need it for, and that's that. I don't bother saving and reloading old projects because it's not worth the hassle since they're always corrupt. It's basically a crapshoot, hoping it doesn't crash before I finish the song.

Man this friggin sucks bro. damn.