Almost there .....

Fisrt up, a big thank you to all of you who gave me your take on which was best for me to start out on between the 500 and the 1000 - very much appreciated.

As stated, I made my choice which was the MPC1000.

So, I started looking around a for a good value and in good condition used unit here in the UK. Thankfully, I have found a couple of what look to be fairly good buys.

The first is a black MPC1000 which is apparently about 18 months old. The seller advises that it is in good condition and has only been used at home. The unit is not upgraded in any way and still has just the basic 16 meg memory. There are no extras with the sale. He wants £400 for the unit ( about $750 US ).

The second unit is the Blue unit with red side panels. The seller is a live drummer that has no need for it, as it was only used in a two album studio based project. he has sent me pictures and it does look to be in good shape. he is also giving away a 1 gig CF card, plus five sound CD's to go with the unit. The only thing that I am concerned about at the moment is that I vaguely recall having read somewhere that those older Blue units had problems with their pads. Can anyone comment on this or add anything further that I might need to think about here. Oh, the seller has asked for £350 for it ( about $650 US ).

Many thanks ....

definately black unit with pad fix already installed.

750 is little steep, especially for completely stock mpc.

unless that's the average going rate where you are.

I know in europe gear is more expensive.

100 bucks isn't that much more, go for the newer one.

yeah go for the newer one, you are paying extra for the pad fix, and also a bit for the fact that is was only used at home and not lugged around. Also you can grab the ram if you find out you might need it at some point. (you might not, because if it was absolutely required to make beats I bet akai would have made it impossible to upgrade the ram)

Actually it's the older Blue/Red one that IS the cheaper machine that has been far less used than the more expensive black one !
The red/blue is also upgraded to 128 megs ram and has a 1 gig CF card thrown in with 5 sound disks, plus box and manual. I am very tempted by this unit, although I keep worrying about the 'Pad Issue' ... the seller swears that the pads are absolutely fine - but, based on the comments above, it's a matter of time before one, some or all of them go and need replacing. To be honest, I am not enthralled at the prospect of having to open the unit up and perform major pad surgery anytime soon, u know ?!!

dude you asked, we told you. Do what you gona do! but relize that you get out what YOU put in. learning to put my own upgrades in was half the fun and a learning experience.

Getting out what you put in is generally the story of life, my friend !

However, for the record, I just got a used Black MPC1000. It has slight cosmetic damage to one of the end panels and is missing one of it's rubber feet.

It is the newer kind with the decent pads, so little to worry about there. Also I was very fortunate as the guy still had the Akai 128 ram chip in it's box unopened and he threw that in, along with a 128 meg Akai soundset CF Card ... and all for the price of £300 sterling ( about $440 US ) ... was also still with original box and packaging ( manuals included ).

So, the only thing I have had to purchase has been a PNY 2 gig CF Card. I installed the Akai Ram and it shows up fine in the unit. I will probably buy a hard disk and the Install Kit in the New Year....

Obviously Xmas is right upon me and I will focus on the MPC once the festive period is out of the way - can't wait !

Do Akai throw a USB cable in the package or are you expected to supply your own ?

inthemix wrote:Getting out what you put in is generally the story of life, my friend !

However, for the record, I just got a used Black MPC1000. It has slight cosmetic damage to one of the end panels and is missing one of it's rubber feet.

It is the newer kind with the decent pads, so little to worry about there. Also I was very fortunate as the guy still had the Akai 128 ram chip in it's box unopened and he threw that in, along with a 128 meg Akai soundset CF Card ... and all for the price of £300 sterling ( about $440 US ) ... was also still with original box and packaging ( manuals included ).

So, the only thing I have had to purchase has been a PNY 2 gig CF Card. I installed the Akai Ram and it shows up fine in the unit. I will probably buy a hard disk and the Install Kit in the New Year....

Obviously Xmas is right upon me and I will focus on the MPC once the festive period is out of the way - can't wait !

Do Akai throw a USB cable in the package or are you expected to supply your own ?

I dont think the usb cable is very expensive either way. But if you have a card reader on your computer it wont matter anyways really.

Yeh, Debauch, I do have a crad reader for my Pc, so this isn;t much of an issue at all really, no I thought about it more.

Thanks.