MPC5000 reviews, bug reports and fellow user support on the most recent standalone, hardware MPC from Akai
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By mjames4208 Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:37 am
I heard that they were supposed to be like the 3000... could be just a rumor, though.

By k1 Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:25 am
earwolf wrote:but the 2500 has had recognised issues. and the softness has been lost. are you telling me this is not true?


I don't know if the actual rubber-pad is the same on the different models, but I must say I didn't notice much difference when switching from 2000XL to 2500.
Of course the pads felt firmer but only until you "break them in" sort of speak... It took me a couple of weeks I guess to get them nice and "weary"..hehe
And, if there has been assembly issues on some 2500's, that sucks!... but on a WORKING piece of equipment you shouldn't notice much difference... and since the pad sensor is the exact same as before you should be able to expect the same lifespan as well ;)
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By scd Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:41 am
b-righteous wrote:BTW scd, have you heard anything yet from Akai about the output/converters of the 5000 and if they are the same or improved over the 2500?


Nope.

My personal test between the 4k and 5k proves that the 5k has the same or even beter audio quality when using 16/44.1 samples.
So if anyone here know about/did a quality test between the 2500 and 4000 that should say something?

By Synthdance Mon Mar 03, 2008 8:56 pm
Hi, I am new here, so hello everybody :wink:

I have a few questions about MPC5000:

1. How big is the difference in screen resolution in comparison with MPC4000 (I mean, MPC5000 has smaller resolution - is the level of details - amount of information shown at once the same as with MPC4000, especially in grid and piano roll edit mode)?

2. Is it possible to use external midi keyboard to play the built-in VA synth or is it just to be played by pads?

3. Does Akai have any plans to include (drum programs only) compatibility with S1000 and/or S5000? I have a bunch of CD-Roms in S1000 format and how on earth I am suppose to import those into MPC5000? I am talking about drum programs of course, like in example on "Dance Mega Drums" CD-ROM. Do they really expect me to do all the converting by hand?
Right now, it seems that in order to convert those CD-ROMs into MPC5000 I need to buy Z4/Z8 or MPC2000XL...

4. Are there any plans to make an editor for Mac and PC, kind of AkSys or virtual remote control panel via USB?

Cheers,

Mac
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By The Grublet Tue Mar 04, 2008 5:07 am
REPPIN SON.

COP DIS ISH

Image
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By scd Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:16 am
Synthdance wrote:Hi, I am new here, so hello everybody :wink:

I have a few questions about MPC5000:

1. How big is the difference in screen resolution in comparison with MPC4000 (I mean, MPC5000 has smaller resolution - is the level of details - amount of information shown at once the same as with MPC4000, especially in grid and piano roll edit mode)?

2. Is it possible to use external midi keyboard to play the built-in VA synth or is it just to be played by pads?

3. Does Akai have any plans to include (drum programs only) compatibility with S1000 and/or S5000? I have a bunch of CD-Roms in S1000 format and how on earth I am suppose to import those into MPC5000? I am talking about drum programs of course, like in example on "Dance Mega Drums" CD-ROM. Do they really expect me to do all the converting by hand?
Right now, it seems that in order to convert those CD-ROMs into MPC5000 I need to buy Z4/Z8 or MPC2000XL...

4. Are there any plans to make an editor for Mac and PC, kind of AkSys or virtual remote control panel via USB?

Cheers,

Mac


1. The screenresolution of the 4k seems to be higher, but all the info is much smaller then on the 5k. I personally like the 5k approach better.
Since the screen of the 4k is a little bit higher, it spans about 2 octaves in gridmode, while the 5k has 16 notes in one screen (being a complete padrange.) In edit mode the differences are small.

2. yes.

3. The 5k only supports S5000 wav files for now according to the manual. I do not know akai's plans for this in the future.

4. Not that I am aware of. Part of Aksys is not necessairy anymore. The usb2 connection makes transfers of files between the 5k and computer easy and fast.

Regards, Boele

By Cheebatone Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:22 am
Hi Boele, just thought of another...

How many samples can you assign to one pad - and can you cycle through them randomly, or does it have to be in a certain order?

Cheers!

P.S. The more I think about my earlier question about the ADAT outs carrying the HD tracks and the analogue outs carrying the samples, the more I think it's an essential upgrade. Please hassle whoever you have to at Akai to see this one through. 64 voices and 18 outs would make the 5k a killer live machine.

Thanks again...
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By mp3 Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:00 pm
Cheebatone wrote:Hi Boele, just thought of another...

How many samples can you assign to one pad - and can you cycle through them randomly, or does it have to be in a certain order?


the manual should be able to answer that.

Cheebatone wrote:P.S. The more I think about my earlier question about the ADAT outs carrying the HD tracks and the analogue outs carrying the samples, the more I think it's an essential upgrade. Please hassle whoever you have to at Akai to see this one through. 64 voices and 18 outs would make the 5k a killer live machine.


That would be a hardware upgrade. Not hapnin.
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By scd Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:34 pm
It's 4 samples per pad.

And indeed, the ADAT dream won't happen on this 5k for sure.
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By LvngDead Fri Mar 07, 2008 9:34 pm
scd, i got a question about sample cycling. Besides the random cycling with 4 samples per pad, is it possible to audition different samples on the same pad while the sequence plays?

Say I got a drum pattern going, but I wanna see how different snares sound on the pattern. Can I perhaps cycle through 10 different snare samples (that I have loaded into the MPC) on that same pad WHILE the sequence plays? Someone on the MVnation forums told me that this was a feature on the MPC4000. Thank you.

By 8chez Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:06 pm
Hi guys. I'm seriously looking to buy a 5k, as it looks like a missing piece to my current set up. I've never used ANY sampler before, and I've tried my best to plow through this wonderful thread (and other not-quite-as-wonderful threads too).

But still...I got a probably very silly question...so bear with me :oops:

I've got some outboard gear that I'd like to use after samples have been laid down to a track. Can I SIMUTANEOUSLY (1) play the track, (2)have it output through digital out (for processing), and (3) have the HD record the processed track, so that I can use the new track and maybe make a new sample out of it?

I'm guessing it should be able to do that, right? But will it cause some kind of feedback? Or is there any trick to avoid the feedback? This is important to me because if this is possible, I won't need to get another computer or sampler. And in this case, the HD mode is probably gonna get used a lot, even if not for real time recording--this kind of 'outside re-sampling' (dunno if there's a better word for it :roll:) is pretty cool!

BTW, thanks so much for doing all this, scd!
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By scd Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:20 pm
Lvgdead and 8chez. I will answer. Little patience.
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By scd Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:07 pm
LvngDead wrote:scd, i got a question about sample cycling. Besides the random cycling with 4 samples per pad, is it possible to audition different samples on the same pad while the sequence plays?

Say I got a drum pattern going, but I wanna see how different snares sound on the pattern. Can I perhaps cycle through 10 different snare samples (that I have loaded into the MPC) on that same pad WHILE the sequence plays? Someone on the MVnation forums told me that this was a feature on the MPC4000. Thank you.


You can, while a sequence is running, go into program mode and change samples per pad, so the answer is yes. BUT, you have to keep in mind that if you use more than 1 sample per pad (for velocity purposes etc.) this won't work anymore, since you can not change three samples per pad at the same time.
Then again, if you know which of the used sampes is sounding you can choose that particular one and scroll through your loaded samples.
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By LvngDead Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:50 pm
scd wrote:
LvngDead wrote:scd, i got a question about sample cycling. Besides the random cycling with 4 samples per pad, is it possible to audition different samples on the same pad while the sequence plays?

Say I got a drum pattern going, but I wanna see how different snares sound on the pattern. Can I perhaps cycle through 10 different snare samples (that I have loaded into the MPC) on that same pad WHILE the sequence plays? Someone on the MVnation forums told me that this was a feature on the MPC4000. Thank you.


You can, while a sequence is running, go into program mode and change samples per pad, so the answer is yes. BUT, you have to keep in mind that if you use more than 1 sample per pad (for velocity purposes etc.) this won't work anymore, since you can not change three samples per pad at the same time.
Then again, if you know which of the used sampes is sounding you can choose that particular one and scroll through your loaded samples.


yes, very good, thank you.
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By scd Sat Mar 08, 2008 6:56 pm
8chez wrote:Hi guys. I'm seriously looking to buy a 5k, as it looks like a missing piece to my current set up. I've never used ANY sampler before, and I've tried my best to plow through this wonderful thread (and other not-quite-as-wonderful threads too).

But still...I got a probably very silly question...so bear with me :oops:

I've got some outboard gear that I'd like to use after samples have been laid down to a track. Can I SIMUTANEOUSLY (1) play the track, (2)have it output through digital out (for processing), and (3) have the HD record the processed track, so that I can use the new track and maybe make a new sample out of it?

I'm guessing it should be able to do that, right? But will it cause some kind of feedback? Or is there any trick to avoid the feedback? This is important to me because if this is possible, I won't need to get another computer or sampler. And in this case, the HD mode is probably gonna get used a lot, even if not for real time recording--this kind of 'outside re-sampling' (dunno if there's a better word for it :roll:) is pretty cool!

BTW, thanks so much for doing all this, scd!


What you actually ask is if the digital output + analog input can be used as a send/return plus that you wan't to record it and monitor it. Interesting question.

I have no digital input on any effect at the moment so I can not feed with the digital out of the mpc,. I have to do this test with two of the sub outs (which will have a big advantage as well):

Set up:
On the mpc:
A two track sequence with on track 1 a piano and on track 2 a drum.
In mixer mode track 1 (piano) goes to the main outs, track 2 (drums) to sub outs 1+2.

sub outs from the mpc go into a roland FX and the wet signal goes back into analog input 1 and 2 from the MPC (I also tried the digital input which works ok as well).

On the mpc: in sample mode, the sample input is set to analog input 1 and 2, monitor is set to ON.

With this setting I have created a send/return than can be sampled while the mpc is playing and monitored as well. Works fine here 8)

However, I think you will have trouble monitoring this when you use the digital outputs as send. Because that is a mirror of the main outs. So when that wet signal returns into the 5k it will get summed with the dry signal from the 5kgoing straight to the main out from the mpc (understand this?)

But you still can sample that wet signal while the sequencer is running.

Conclusion: what you want is possible. 8)