Reviews and questions about the entry-level MPC500
By johnboi Sat May 03, 2008 2:17 pm
i'm very close to buying an mpc 500 and just wondered what the extra memory (128mb) actually does for the mpc 500! also when you connect it up via midi to programs like reason and logic, can you link a programmed beat you've done previously on the mpc and transfer it to the softwares drum machine score, so you can tweak the beat and make it more glitchy and experimental? cheers for the help
john
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By Explicit- Sat May 03, 2008 3:39 pm
Okay the RAM lets you hold more memory of sampling... For example on my 16MB RAM I couldnt sample stuff and assign different samples to more more than 3 or 4 pads and on the 128RAM I could.

The RAM is a must get if you plan on sampling. Without it your at limits.
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By DPM Sat May 03, 2008 4:23 pm
yea def need the 128MB, but I've been told to get the 256MB because the 500 will only recognize 64MB out of the 128MB, so if your needing 128MB, you need to get a 256MB.

SOMEONE PLEASE CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG.....
By moe5888 Sat May 03, 2008 5:02 pm
Yeah johnboy the difference is 136 sec of memory compared to 24min28sec... 136 seconds ain' jack and DON'T BUY AKAI'S RAM! You can find 256mb for under 50 bones as well as a 2gig Cf card under 25 bones but both are mandatory in my opinion.
By brazeca Sun May 04, 2008 9:51 am
Re transferring the beat to Logic beat score:

There are various options for you to do that. First, you can save a midi file, transfer it to your Mac, load it into Logic or Reason, wire up a soft drum machine and make it play the midi-sequence (then you can replace samples, rearrange the midi events and etc.)

Secondly, you can use your MPC as a master device, which will send midi events into your DAW (make sure to switch Logic into a sync slave mode and wire the midi signal into a virtual drum machine; Reason is a slave to any incoming midi signal by default, you just have to enable midi sync and make some internal wiring to ensure the signal goes into ReDrum). Just press play on the MPC and it will send midi data into your DAW's drum machine. Make sure the active midi channels on both sides are the same. Otherwise it won't work.

Hope that helps!