MPC5000 reviews, bug reports and fellow user support on the most recent standalone, hardware MPC from Akai

By christiancastagno Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:10 pm
hey scd, cool, after you have assigned the qlinks to a parameter and go back to the main page will they follow the last pad tapped?

it's too bad about the timing correct... I always thought that (particularly with all that screen real estate ) that this should just be on the top layer as timing and feel are soooo fundamental, I for one would definitely rather bury the midi/track assignments than have to go to separate window for timing, wouldn't it be the greatest to tap a pattern and while listening be able to adjust the shift and swing on the front page? I don't know, I'm disappointed with Akai in this regard, I would be very curious to hear if this is as important enough to the other mpc users here to relay to Akai... I just seems so obvious... But enough bitching, no further questions, as they say... Once again, thanks for taking the time to inform us, it's very nice of you...
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By scd Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:23 pm
christiancastagno wrote:hey scd, cool, after you have assigned the qlinks to a parameter and go back to the main page will they follow the last pad tapped?


Indeed.

it's too bad about the timing correct... I always thought that (particularly with all that screen real estate ) that this should just be on the top layer as timing and feel are soooo fundamental, I for one would definitely rather bury the midi/track assignments than have to go to separate window for timing, wouldn't it be the greatest to tap a pattern and while listening be able to adjust the shift and swing on the front page? I don't know, I'm disappointed with Akai in this regard, I would be very curious to hear if this is as important enough to the other mpc users here to relay to Akai... I just seems so obvious...


Yes, well. I understand what you mean. On the other hand. For other persons (even like myself), the midi/track assignments are way more important. It's just what your "core-business" is with the mpc.

Then again, I too see that improvements in the T.C. area are desirable.

Cheers, Boele
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By scd Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:26 pm
OFF TOPIC: for once and for all, I always struggle with "then" and "than". WHAT is the difference? when to use then and when to use than? Can someone explain that to me in short please? :?

By christiancastagno Sun Feb 24, 2008 11:03 pm
I'm no english major but you can think of it like this:

If Akai put all of the timing functions on the front page then I would be happy...

it implies a relationship, sort of like "if" but definiteor speaking of timing then can refer to the past...

MPC are funkier than MV8800's

than in this case refers to an object... as in greater than or lesser than

I found this for you:

When comparing one thing with another you may find that one is more appealing “than” another. “Than” is the word you want when doing comparisons. But if you are talking about time, choose “then“: “First you separate the eggs; then you beat the whites.” Alexis is smarter than I, not “then I."

hope that help as much as you've helped us...

By b-righteous Sun Feb 24, 2008 11:14 pm
Than is used to make a comparison. Then is used to qualify a preceding statement or for time.

It looks like the T.C. works the same as the 2500 but with strength and window available for the off line process.

By BAT Sun Feb 24, 2008 11:15 pm
Sorry for my English ...

My question is:

You can have the sound of MPC60 or MPC3000 with the MPC5000?
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By scd Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:07 am
So, the 5k is better than the 4k but then again, some people on this forum disagree. Right? :D
Thanks for the explanation. Will try to remember.
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By aaron_bliss Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:00 pm
SCD,

thanks a mill for this by the way. I am a long time member and tend to stay away from posting unless I can really help someone and I really have to say that I am very great full for what you are posting here.

I personally am a MPC fan and tend to upgrade when the new one comes out because I am a firm believer in technology and when there is an upgrade I go for it. This MPC5000 looks like alot of fun and I look forward to it.

So what I was wondering is this...

The MPC2500 isn't the best when it comes to saving things and I feel like at times has too many options for saving. ie.. all memory, save a pgm, a project and so on.

I was wondering if you have tried creating a new PGM and writing a small diddy with efx and synth, you know... the works. Then I was wondering if you tried saving and re-playing the sequence.

for some background...

I have wretting a ton of music on my latest MPC the 2500 - one thing thats odd is, I will create the pgm, write the seq with efx and then save the PGM and the seq but sometimes when I load it the next day the efx settings are gone.

do you know if this is fixed on the 5000?

thanks!
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By mp3 Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:35 am
scd wrote:Not sure why the asker for this wanted specifically a bassdrum sound as source but hey, you'll ask... I play.


Simple. Its the most important sound in every single one of my tracks. Because of the traditional Akai filters, the MPCs are limited in the range of kick drum sounds they can use. Not to say that the akai filter sounds bad, it just sounds good doing the one sound it can do. Hence, aditional filter models are very important to me because they afford a wide variety of kick sounds. One of the main reasons I've kept my EMAX I is for the filters.

By the way, those first three, the LP, HP and BP sound exactly like the ones in the 1000. Glad they kept them around. But I wish you could still have two filters per pad...

scd wrote:No matter what, these filters on the 5k are very diverse and usable to my opinion. As a synthfreak I have heard quite some filters in my life :)

Some are very "perfect" like the LP and HP, some are very characteristic like the Model2 and the VocalFormant and also the Bandstop filters. There is juice for everyone I should say.


Thanks a million man! Now I just gotta come up on another $2475 :D
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By scd Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:15 am
aaron_bliss wrote:The MPC2500 isn't the best when it comes to saving things and I feel like at times has too many options for saving. ie.. all memory, save a pgm, a project and so on.

I was wondering if you have tried creating a new PGM and writing a small diddy with efx and synth, you know... the works. Then I was wondering if you tried saving and re-playing the sequence.

for some background...

I have wretting a ton of music on my latest MPC the 2500 - one thing thats odd is, I will create the pgm, write the seq with efx and then save the PGM and the seq but sometimes when I load it the next day the efx settings are gone.

do you know if this is fixed on the 5000?

thanks!


Hi, as far as I know this was never an issue on the 5k. I've done quite some songs and tests already on it and used synths, samples FX, miditracks etc. etc. but never encountered lost FX settings.
There was a moment some time ago that arps got lost after reloading but that's already fixed. So no worries on that subject.
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By scd Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:19 am
By the way, those first three, the LP, HP and BP sound exactly like the ones in the 1000. Glad they kept them around. But I wish you could still have two filters per pad...


Well, as a workaround you could assign the same sample to two pads, attach a different filter to both pads and link them (hitting one pad will play both pads). I know, you'll play two samples then and only can have two filters in parallel, but on the other hand, you have full control over panning for instance.
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By mp3 Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:16 pm
scd wrote:
By the way, those first three, the LP, HP and BP sound exactly like the ones in the 1000. Glad they kept them around. But I wish you could still have two filters per pad...


Well, as a workaround you could assign the same sample to two pads, attach a different filter to both pads and link them (hitting one pad will play both pads). I know, you'll play two samples then and only can have two filters in parallel, but on the other hand, you have full control over panning for instance.


Oh there's always a workaround for every weakness of every machine... Since I like the filters in series, mine would be to resample. Which is no big deal, as I do that now, using software filters, and other effects when I need them. But on the plus side, the modeled filter is 24dB/oct, which means that it could take the place of two linked 12dB filters. The last problem for me would be not being able to run a LP (rumble) and HP (hiss) in series on vinyl samples.
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By scd Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:22 pm
mp3 wrote:
scd wrote:
By the way, those first three, the LP, HP and BP sound exactly like the ones in the 1000. Glad they kept them around. But I wish you could still have two filters per pad...


Well, as a workaround you could assign the same sample to two pads, attach a different filter to both pads and link them (hitting one pad will play both pads). I know, you'll play two samples then and only can have two filters in parallel, but on the other hand, you have full control over panning for instance.


Oh there's always a workaround for every weakness of every machine... Since I like the filters in series, mine would be to resample. Which is no big deal, as I do that now, using software filters, and other effects when I need them. But on the plus side, the modeled filter is 24dB/oct, which means that it could take the place of two linked 12dB filters. The last problem for me would be not being able to run a LP (rumble) and HP (hiss) in series on vinyl samples.


I am just thinking: you *can* set filters in series 8) Take a look at the effect section :D

So assign a LP to the sample and send it to an FX as insert choosing a HP filter.
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By LvngDead Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:37 pm
This wil probably be the last question from me and it'll help me decide if the 3500 is right for me.

I have the number of bars/measures in a sequence set to 20 bars and the tempo is at 120. SCD, this is regarding that linear sequencing I was asking you about. Then, I find me a sample. The sample is not 120.0 BPM and I don't care about that. All I wanna do is lay down whatever pattern I want with this sample and then add my drum patterns to it. Problem is, since I'm not following the Tempo nor the number of bars I have set, chances are that whatever beat I laid down will finish way before the 20th bar is reached.

My question is, am I able to specify the loop region of a sequence down to any of the 960 ticks per quarter note? This is something the MV allows and it's such a damn beautiful feature.

I'm gonna go ahead and download the 5000 manual and see if I can come up with any answer for myself. Thanks bro.

edit: I just checked teh manual. Seems like there is no option to set a loop within any of the 960 ticks. Just whole bars. Wack, for me at least.
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By scd Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:54 pm
LvngDead wrote:This wil probably be the last question from me and it'll help me decide if the 3500 is right for me.

I have the number of bars/measures in a sequence set to 20 bars and the tempo is at 120. SCD, this is regarding that linear sequencing I was asking you about. Then, I find me a sample. The sample is not 120.0 BPM and I don't care about that. All I wanna do is lay down whatever pattern I want with this sample and then add my drum patterns to it. Problem is, since I'm not following the Tempo nor the number of bars I have set, chances are that whatever beat I laid down will finish way before the 20th bar is reached.

My question is, am I able to specify the loop region of a sequence down to any of the 960 ticks per quarter note? This is something the MV allows and it's such a damn beautiful feature.

I'm gonna go ahead and download the 5000 manual and see if I can come up with any answer for myself. Thanks bro.

edit: I just checked teh manual. Seems like there is no option to set a loop within any of the 960 ticks. Just whole bars. Wack, for me at least.


Now I finally understand what you meant. That is indeed a freaky feature! No, the MPC 5k can't do that unfortunately. So you can adjust the barlength to the sample length, right? That is cool.