Akai MPC 5000 review

The guy was asking for opinions on the various available Akai sample packs and not the one that ships with the 5K.

My personal opinion - there's better out there but expect to pay more.

Coz wrote:The guy was asking for opinions on the various available Akai sample packs and not the one that ships with the 5K.

My personal opinion - there's better out there but expect to pay more.

We both agree on this. But the sample library that does ship with the 5k are from loopmasters hip hop library check it out. The addresses have already been posted in the thread several times no need to repost it again. Plus on the Akai site you can listen to demos of the sounds they are selling with the MPC 5k which is why we are talking about loopmasters in the first place.

I'm assuming you are "black". Have you encountered any "racism" there?

LvngDead wrote:I'm assuming you are "black". Have you encountered any "racism" there?

Yes I`m another American brother out of gang of us over here. Alot of brothers from Ghana too.

Bigots yes, KKK-wanabees NO But this is off topic. It is pretty cool over here and I been over here for a minute. Yes over here all foriegners can have 5 ears and three eyes cuz we aren`t Nihonjin but hey the girls like it so who cares. Lamp, Jahrome, and some of the others can agree that Japan especially Yokohama is a pretty nice city to live.

Now back to the 5k or send out a pm or post in off topic.

hey i give away free samples on my website check me at [email protected] for the link dont wanna place it here just incase they close the thread....

hope you guys like them/////

I feel what you are saying about the samples homie... I was just questioning the dated part(meaning possibly elaborate)... which of course is your opinion

As a producer, I would never depend on another producers ear to tell me about sounds, cause I could hear something that might be beneficial to me, that could help me better my sound...

Askia Shaheed wrote:Guitar Center and Sweetwater are among the companies in the US that have a limited supply of MPC 5000s. Sweetwater shipped a few. I was #3 on the list for their next shipment. Today, I just happened to call my local GC and was suprised to find out that they just set up a demo unit and had one additional model in stock. I rushed there to pick up my unit during my lunch break Everyone else in my area will have to wait because they are not sure when the next units are coming.


As far as using the MPC 5000, I am not sure if the pad sensitivty menu is behaving properly. While in this menu, I press the FULL LEVEL key. When I hit a pad, it doesn't always register a velocity of 127 as it should no matter how soft you hit a pad. Also, when recording a sequence, some of the pads I hit didn't record although the pads are still set to FULL LEVEL.

The pad sensitivity menu will always show you what velocity you inputed with your hand. This menu is a diagnostic menu and is not tied to the sequencer or the FULL LEVEL option.

I'm not sure how the term 'dated' could ever mean elaborate...

In the past I have bought a few dud sample packs so i'm quite cautious now. What at first appears to be a great deal (say 500 samples), then take away the 300 drum hits and around 50 bass loops and you're not left with much. The advantage of buying Akai specific packs of course is that all the programs will be nicely edited and layed out. A lot of peeps will probably love that, and i'm sure some will be able to combine the samples to create some great tunes. That's all good.

One sample producer that blew me away when I got some of their stuff was Equipped Music. Well worth a listen.

MUSIII wrote:

Askia Shaheed wrote:Guitar Center and Sweetwater are among the companies in the US that have a limited supply of MPC 5000s. Sweetwater shipped a few. I was #3 on the list for their next shipment. Today, I just happened to call my local GC and was suprised to find out that they just set up a demo unit and had one additional model in stock. I rushed there to pick up my unit during my lunch break Everyone else in my area will have to wait because they are not sure when the next units are coming.


As far as using the MPC 5000, I am not sure if the pad sensitivty menu is behaving properly. While in this menu, I press the FULL LEVEL key. When I hit a pad, it doesn't always register a velocity of 127 as it should no matter how soft you hit a pad. Also, when recording a sequence, some of the pads I hit didn't record although the pads are still set to FULL LEVEL.

The pad sensitivity menu will always show you what velocity you inputed with your hand. This menu is a diagnostic menu and is not tied to the sequencer or the FULL LEVEL option.

Thanks for your input.

However, I own the MPC 2500 as well (which the MPC 5000 is base upon)...the pad sensitivity menu is linked with the FULL LEVEL option (Akai OS 1.23, JJ OS 1&2). When FULL LEVEL is turned on, that DIAGNOSTIC MENU will register 127 velocity everytime you touch a pad. If you TURN OFF FULL LEVEL, it will accurately record the velocity. So..based upon the MPC 2500, the MPC 5000s PAD MODE is not responding correctly.

Blue Haze wrote:

Coz wrote:I have 3 Loopmasters libraries (bought as a package) and they are ok at best. You get what you pay for, it's as simple as that.

The samples on the Akai site sound useable but certainly not inspirational. The one thing I have learnt through many years of sampling is that you can't polish a turd! If your source samples are top quality you save yourself a lot of work.

Well good for you. And I know you are not counting on Akai to provide you with sample library along with the mpc are you???


I have Loopmasters Funky Houser series and Deep House series which were fine for me. No I didn`t pick up any Hip Hop series from Loopmasters but I have bought drums samples here at MPC-Forums and various other sites. Even with my 2xl, 1k, 4k, and 3k I never ever, ever depended on any stock stocks that came with any mpc. So why worry you can SAMPLE!!!!

And yes I`m in Yokohama, Nippon ne!!

I lived in Sasebo from 1990-1992, while in the Navy! Japan is expensive. You'll pay more than $2700 for a MPC 5000, if you get it over there.

The MPC4000 is still Akai's flagship!!!

This is far from an MPC review..but typically, MPCs in Japan cost equal to or less than MPCs in the USA. From my experiences, Japan retailers are more professional and its easier to get a better price than US retailers. Also, if you can find an MPC 5000, its probably best to buy it online out of state to avoid taxes.

As of this date, the MPC 5000 isn't being advertised by any major Japanese retailer. However, the 4000 is. It can be the flagship but I don't want one..the MPC 4000 has its own forum.

JD08 wrote:can you tell me if it is possible to dot the following things:

1) use the 2 midi ins together

2) use 2 tracks at the same time in 1 sequence

what i want is record 2 instruments together at different midi channels and in 1 sequence

i do want to midi multitrack with different ports and channels at the same time

Thanks a lot !

The MPC 5000 can only record on one track at a time. You cannot record on two or more tracks at a time. The MPC 5000 can be placed in mult-timbral mode to act as a sound module that you can record into your DAW from its analog or ADAT outputs. However, I have found a bug where if the MPC receives MIDI from both its MIDI INs at the same time, some notes won't play.

Askia Shaheed wrote:

MUSIII wrote:

Askia Shaheed wrote:Guitar Center and Sweetwater are among the companies in the US that have a limited supply of MPC 5000s. Sweetwater shipped a few. I was #3 on the list for their next shipment. Today, I just happened to call my local GC and was suprised to find out that they just set up a demo unit and had one additional model in stock. I rushed there to pick up my unit during my lunch break Everyone else in my area will have to wait because they are not sure when the next units are coming.


As far as using the MPC 5000, I am not sure if the pad sensitivty menu is behaving properly. While in this menu, I press the FULL LEVEL key. When I hit a pad, it doesn't always register a velocity of 127 as it should no matter how soft you hit a pad. Also, when recording a sequence, some of the pads I hit didn't record although the pads are still set to FULL LEVEL.

The pad sensitivity menu will always show you what velocity you inputed with your hand. This menu is a diagnostic menu and is not tied to the sequencer or the FULL LEVEL option.

Thanks for your input.

However, I own the MPC 2500 as well (which the MPC 5000 is base upon)...the pad sensitivity menu is linked with the FULL LEVEL option (Akai OS 1.23, JJ OS 1&2). When FULL LEVEL is turned on, that DIAGNOSTIC MENU will register 127 velocity everytime you touch a pad. If you TURN OFF FULL LEVEL, it will accurately record the velocity. So..based upon the MPC 2500, the MPC 5000s PAD MODE is not responding correctly.

Yes. This is different for the 5000. Previously, the usefulness of the Pad Sensitivity page becomes meaningless when FULL is on, with no benefit. Now you can still see what you are inputing, while still sequencing at full level.

bomb beats wrote:

Blue Haze wrote:

Coz wrote:I have 3 Loopmasters libraries (bought as a package) and they are ok at best. You get what you pay for, it's as simple as that.

The samples on the Akai site sound useable but certainly not inspirational. The one thing I have learnt through many years of sampling is that you can't polish a turd! If your source samples are top quality you save yourself a lot of work.

Well good for you. And I know you are not counting on Akai to provide you with sample library along with the mpc are you???


I have Loopmasters Funky Houser series and Deep House series which were fine for me. No I didn`t pick up any Hip Hop series from Loopmasters but I have bought drums samples here at MPC-Forums and various other sites. Even with my 2xl, 1k, 4k, and 3k I never ever, ever depended on any stock stocks that came with any mpc. So why worry you can SAMPLE!!!!

And yes I`m in Yokohama, Nippon ne!!

I lived in Sasebo from 1990-1992, while in the Navy! Japan is expensive. You'll pay more than $2700 for a MPC 5000, if you get it over there.

I`m ex-air force but i came here from Hawaii and stay, married and settled down. Jah is right there isn`t any news or displays of the 5k yet in Japan since this is a U.K and U.S product. But remember the dollar is at a all time low, in Japan customer is king, plus we work with the bonus system here. I can just walk in put a down payment or nothing down and take it home the same day. And pay the thing off monthly or 6mthns to a yr later with the summer and winter bonus in one lump sum if I wish. But I`ll wait to get it used if that some months or a yr later.