29 July 2008 - 14:47Teh Suck
I thought I would have time to get into what I started to talk about last week, but I really don’t
But really, Akai, you have 100% let me down for the first time with the MPC-5000.
I really didn’t even expect much, once I realized that it was based on the 2500/1000 architecture and not the 4000 series.
I looked at it more like hey, I need something for the house, it’s got a smaller footprint than the 4 (which I have no room for), and it’s got a synth in it. I guess it can’t be all that bad.
Now I know, whenever you are an early adopter, you are the beta tester, and the rest of the folks will go out and wait for version 2 or something.. I can deal with that. I’m a beta tester by nature. I love playing with things before they become commercially available.
My problem here is: THIS THING IS COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE AND SHOULD NOT BE!
Some of the bugs in this thing are ATROCIOUS.
This is coming from someone who was one of the SOLE CHAMPIONS of the 4000 when everyone ran out and bought them and started returning them because they just didn’t understand the machine. It was an all new deisgn and they wouldn’t be able to pick it up and run like they did when they might have gone from the 60 to the 3000 to the 2000 and 2000xl. It was a new beast entirely and it had a bit of a learning curve, but once you got past that, there was almost nothing you couldn’t make it do. It had one or two bugs in it, but they were fairly quickly rectified, and once they were addressed, you really couldn’t find much fault with the machine. If you couldn’t use it, it was because you really didn’t want to, not because the machine was at fault.
The 5000 is NOT the successor to the 4000, and it should not be named as such.
A 3500? Yes.
(When it is actually fit to use)
By naming this machine the 5000, you are inadvertently disrespecting YOURSELVES and what you created with the 4000.
I was going to save the rest for later, (I’m a little tied up with this T.I. record right now) but screw it. I’ll get into some of my issues and experience now.
short story:
YOU CANNOT TUNE AN ENTIRE PROGRAM AT ONCE?!?!
REALLY?
IN 2008??
Look. I don’t care what you say there is no excuse for this.
You really want me to go sit there and go pad by pad by pad and tune each sample individually?
What if… you had a loop that you choppd up across 3 pad banks, and you only had to tune each one down by say +00.20.
You want me to to go and redundantly repeat this process across 48 pads?
(Via a scroll wheel that sometimes needs to be turned 3 “notches” before it realizes you are moving it, and then sometimes forgets it’s being turned. )
Really?
“Song Cry” by Jay-Z and myself consisted of 96 sample chops spread across….. 96 pads.
If I were to make a record like that now on this machine.. and I needed to slightly tune the entire sample set up just a few notches.. You want me to go and repeat that process 96 times? By the time I’m done with that.. * I’d probably not feel like making a beat anymore.. * (remember this asterisk)
You are taking AWAY from the creative process by putting the user through that. These machines are supposed to make things easier. And I don’t understand why a feature like that (that was in the 4k) is not in its “successor”
SYNTH/PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION
Hey.. so we have an MPC with a built in synthesizer? That’s great.
I can’t tell you how many times I have considered having a custom machine built with a Fantom/XV series jammed in there somehow just to make it one less machine to deal with.
So the beauty of having a setup like this should go a little something like this:
You have a nice skeleton you’ve put together, samples, drums, percussion, etc. And now it’s time for some overdubs.
You go to your synth section and scroll through sounds setting them aside as you come across the ones that fit the mood or feel of what you have going so far.
After you’ve got a few set aside you just get to work and go..right?
NO
The 5k treats the synth tracks the same as it does program (sample playback) tracks. Not necessarily a bad thing and kinda makes sense until you realize..
YOU CAN ONLY HAVE 128 PROGRAMS IN THE MPC AT ONCE..
Now on one hand that isn’t an issue.
But here’s where the problem lies.
Akai has gone and given us hundreds upon hundreds of synth patches, which is great.
However since they are treated the same as samples, you cant access all of these sounds at once to find the ones that fit your track.
They need to be loaded from the hard drive.. one…by…one..
Get this: You can’t even PREVIEW them before you load them
So now.. you have to go to the “Basses” folder for example, then sit there, load a bass, play it, decide whether or not you like it, then if you don’tlike it, go to the program window.. then open ANOTHER window from within that window, and delete it.
Wash, rinse, and repeat, until you find a bass that you like.
Oh wait.. but sometimes you have to delete a synth program 4 times before it actually gets erased from your RAM. And some will not go away, AT ALL, no matter how many times you delete them.
So I said okay, I’m going to just sit here, deal with this and load a bunch of synths and pick ones that I like and make an autoload out of them. Actually let me hook the machine up to my computer and Ill move them all to the hard drive so I can make separate autoload folders since you can’t write to the internal flash memory that the synths are stored on.
Survey says??
BUZZZZZZZZZZZ
Connecting the unit to a computer via USB only allows you to access the Compact Flash Card and the Hard Drive, not the internal flash memory.
So I really just have to sit there… sift through hundreds of sounds, load them, bang a few keys, decide then and there if like it and keep it.. and then after I have a few, save them to another folder on the hard drive so I can move all of these folders to an autoload folder eventually, without having more than say 100 of them, because remember you can’t have more than 128 programs at once.
Meanwhile I’m sitting there looking at my Fantom XR saying to myself, or I could just connect one midi cable, scroll though THOUSANDS of sounds, preview them on the fly, and be all set up and ready with a set of sounds…. in less than 5 minutes.
I could go on with this part, I won’t
Hey here’s one.. Producers, beatmakers, and users… You know how sometimes you’ll sample a ton of stuff and then want to spread it out across pads afterwards?
Well on the 4000 you could do this and as you went from pad to pad, the mpc would remember what sample you placed on the previous pad and when you went to the next pad it would place whatever sample came next in alphabetical order on that next pad. So if you had Sample 001 Sample 002 and Sample 003, and you place Sample 001 on Pad #1, and you went to Pad #2 and turned the scroll wheel, Sample 002 would assign to Pad #2, and so on.
Not on the “successor”…
Every time you go to assign a sample to a pad, it starts at whatever is the first sample in RAM.
But hey… if you have a few hundred samples in your ram already, that means that for every pad you go to assign a sample to, you are scrolling though a few hundred sounds just to get to the one you just sampled… and if you have say, 32 samples to spread across some pads.. Well hey.. you see where this is going.. see the asterisks above. It’s not tragic, just another thing that could be easily remedied with a little forward thinking and better programming.
So you know.. all that sampling I was just talking about doing?
I was doing all this on the 5k for one reason
IMPORTING FROM PREVIOUS MPCs IS BROKEN
BROKEN
BROKEN
BADLY.
Dude.. are you serious?
In 2008?
Apple computers are running Windows and OSX simultaneously through products like VMWare and Parallels..
Logic is opening Pro Tools Sessions via OMF and Digi Translator..
Mac Drive lets you use HFS formatted drives on Windows Computers..
I have Super Nintendo games on my iPhone.
Hell, there is Palm OS emulation on Windows Mobile.
Yet I can’t get my piece of Akai gear to import programs made from previous versions of Akai gear.. from the same product line?
Let me clarify:
I was able to import AKP’s made on the 4000, but as soon as I attempted to edit anything I imported (i.e. maybe just tune a 808 a bit to match something I’m working on) the pad would stop playing the sample, and would sporadically come back if i went into the sample edit page and exited it. This was the only fix I could come up with.
If I attempted to add a sound to this imported AKP program, welll… see above.
Next move was to try import a .PGM program.
Dead.. nothing.. nada.. zip
It did nothing.
Next step: Import a .PGM created in the 3rd party MPC Program Maker software
Even deader-er
I went online and did some research and came across a forum (which I can’t find now) where a user called Akai support in reference to this and after some back and forth, he was told that the software would have to be rewritten and was indeed broken.
That’s all well and good, but DON’T ADVERTISE AND INCLUDE IN YOUR DOCUMENTATION THAT IT DOES SOMETHING IT DOES NOT ACTUALLY DO!
Tell us it’s been thought about, in the process of preparation, plotted, pending, planned, post-release in a soon to be released pivotal upgrade, which we should have been previously privy to before the pondered purchase was completed…
(Carlin-ites holla at me)
And I would have been fine with that.
And oh yeah.. for some reason, this folder that I copied over a bunch of 4k programs and samples to…
Whenever I try to access this folder, I literally have to wait like 3 minutes while the unit freezes and gets itself together to prepare itself to let you scroll through files (with the weirdo wheel, see above) that it can’t properly process anyway.
I don’t know if this is a drive format issue, a drive content issue, or bad OS programming that makes your unit sh*t itself, wipe, get a diaper, and pop 2 Immodium AD’s and then say “Okay I’ll give it a shot”
Oh mind you.. this all occurred while I was trying to come up with something for.. well an album that hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s pretty major. Folks who know my writing patterns know what that means.
There were a few other major issues I had, but It’s now 9:40 am and I need to get to mastering.
But oh yeah… when it was all said and done and I actually made beat I thought was halfway decent, and wanted to save the NEW programs I made from scratch after I gave up on importing and starting fresh. I went to the hard drive.. made a new folder, selected “Save Entire Memory”
My screen said:
“Cannot Find Device… Ok??”
With an Okay button at the bottom.. that never responded when I pressed the corresponding soft key.
To the less than technically inclined…
IT FORGOT WHERE MY HARD DRIVE WAS AND NO MATTER WHAT I DID IT WAS FROZEN.
IT FREEZES WHEN YOU TRY TO SAVE ENTIRE MEMORY??
WHAT IN THE …
WHATS THE POINT OF SAVING THEN???
I said ok.. maybe it needs to pop a few more Immodiums.. So i left it on overnight.
Came in the next day.. Said screen was still in the same state I left it.
Akai FTL
FAIL.
I paid money for this thing..
I know people are probably like, “You don’t get these things for free??”
Te be honest, someone representing Akai recently did reach out in regards to doing some kind of deal in reference to the 5k, and I was considering doing it, but just hadn’t gotten around to entertaining it yet. I got the urge to mess with something new and went out and made an impulse buy of the 5000 and an MPK 49 controller because the synth thing got me a little excited.
I may have generated a few million dollars in my career, and the cash spent does not hurt me financially, but that doesn’t mean I have money to burn at the expense of bad engineering and a tad of false advertising.
I feel just as burnt as the dude who busts his back at a 9-5 just to save up enough money to go out and buy a piece of gear to pursue his dream, only to not have it work as it should.
There are some good things about this machine, and I will get into them at some point, but I really have to get to work.
And with all that said.. The MPK 49 is definitely the best standalone MIDI controller i have EVER used. I recommend it to anyone and everyone on the market for a controller. Hell, even if you aren’t on the market for one, buy one anyway. But in all honesty I also recommend that you don’t buy the MPC 5000 until they release the next operating system, IF IT address some of these issues, along with others I have read about.
There are other inconsistencies and issues I have, but I don’t want to get more worked up thinking about them again.. and I think anyone reading gets my point
Please don’t do this again Akai. As a fan, avid user, supporter, and friend. Don’t let the decline in hardware sales (or whatever is contributing to this) allow this to continue.. Quantity over Quality, Numbers over Blunders, Sales over Sincerity and Profits over Professionalism, it makes for Bad Business, Disgruntled Devotees, and Cold Hearted Customers who will Cease, Desist and Discontinue their Dilligent support of a Diluted brand. (Carlinites Unite!)
I don’t know man.. I know I sound crazy, but this really bothers me.
I wasn’t looking to have my socks blown off, just basic functionality.
I wonder who actually beta tests these things?
People in lab coats?
Do they seed them to a secret coaltion of producers?
This makes me angry.. and sad at the same time.
It’s now 10:30. I’m missing mastering.
I have to go.
Wait.. here’s a quote from their ads or propaganda or whatever..
“MPC5000’s virtual analog synth eliminates the need for users to deal with connecting external analog synth modules or working with buggy software synthesizers.”
A gun in your face and that’s the best you could come up with?
Buggy software synthesizers??
I don’t even want to do the comparison between working on something like this and say a Logic.
Because in all honesty I “feel better” working on an MP than a DAW.
But you can’t really sit there and try to go feature for feature ad throw cheap shots like that and expect people to not see through it. They do. Read the Forums.
If you can’t beat them.. join them. Make a virtual MP..
Oh wait.. someone already did.
Make your own.
I’ll help you design it.
Really.
Hell I’ll help you make the 5001 or something. Put on a white lab coat and everything.
I can’t tell you how to run your business, and in all honesty I know nothing about it.
But as an end user, I know what you are doing wrong in our eyes. And ultimately, if we are not happy…
ok I’m ranting for no reason now.
I really would though.
Bye
82 Comments | Tags: Uncategorized
29 Jul 2008 - 15:14
Gee, that sure sounds like a troublesome piece of machinery.
I’ve never used an MPC before, so I don’t know exactly how the sample chopping works, but if you needed to tune the whole thing, could you just tune the sample BEFORE you chop it?
29 Jul 2008 - 15:50
Damn Justin Blaze, that shit does suck.
29 Jul 2008 - 15:54
[…] the full review/rant and bug […]
29 Jul 2008 - 15:54
damn they fucked up
29 Jul 2008 - 15:56
Good look on the review tho cause I was gonna blow my whole savings and make this my first MP purchase and for a broke college student that’s pretty major
29 Jul 2008 - 16:25
I feel you goin off like that Blaze. Company’s rush stuff out like that especially when there sales r down. But “working on an album not yet announced”…that’s always good news if I’m thinkin what your thinkin.
29 Jul 2008 - 16:39
Man I made it halfway through that rant and wanted to spit up… how the fluck can u NOT preview first… they hustlin’ backwards… eh don’t matter, I ain’t plan on gettin it anyway. I’ll just continue makin beats with paperplates, clothespins and vintage roy rogers coffee mugs…
29 Jul 2008 - 16:48
What about a Roland MV 8800?
Obviously if you’ve been using MPC’s for years, it would be hard to make the switch, but have you tried the MV?
I got one last year, and I’m happy with it, but I’ve never used an MPC either, so I can’t say which is ‘better’.
29 Jul 2008 - 16:52
since akai and numark got together (after the mpc4000) things gone real bad. a lot of people complained about faulty mpc1000 pads, bugs, now this 5000 joint is still no better. akai heads dont understand that mpcs are used mainly by hip hop producers and beatmakers. and hip hop is sample driven music. i’ve just watched that mpc5000 promo video on their site. the product specialist was doing some wack ass dance/techno music with the mpc. come on!! dance/techno producers use software. they dont give a shit about mpcs. one thing is for sure - since mpc4000 akai has fell off.
but don’t worry people, cause we’re going to have a linndrum II by the end of the year. dave smith and roger linn are colaborating on this one. it is also going to have a built in synth and sampler. it’s going to smoke akais ass.
29 Jul 2008 - 17:09
It seems like if you want an MPC nowadays your best bet is to get a “vintage” MPC or something that has, or you can install a JJ OS on.
Check http://www.MPC-Forums.com for info on MPC’s and JJ OS.
Peace!
29 Jul 2008 - 17:39
I’ve been telling people for years Akai is just out to make a buck. The 4000 was a a far stretch for me coming from the 2000xl (which I still use today), but you can see the improvements once you got the hang of it.
I’ve always stood by the motto: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
But that’s crazy about Logic importing Pro Tools sessions. Didn’t know about that.
BTW, you ain’t seein me in Fight Night 3 (**evil grin**)
29 Jul 2008 - 17:40
Well, let’s hope the JJ OS will be coming out for the MPC 5000 too.
PEACE
http://www.jjmanual.wordpress.com
29 Jul 2008 - 18:02
[…] directly from Just Blaze’s blog . Warning: THIS POST IS KINDA […]
29 Jul 2008 - 18:09
Thanks for the heads up on the 5000, Akai has been going downhill for a while so this is no surprise.
To be honest I’m surprised you jump around so much when it comes to sequencers, why not stick to what you were happiest with?
MPC 3000 4 life
29 Jul 2008 - 18:13
“I know people are probably like, “You don’t get these things for free??””
Is that you Mex?
Eh…w/e…I don’t have any MPC’s anyways. It can’t be too much worse than the SP-303.
29 Jul 2008 - 18:20
Akai Pro is history.
Thank god Roger Linn stepped back in the ring: http://rogerlinndesign.com/products/linndrum2/
29 Jul 2008 - 18:39
“I’ve never used an MPC before, so I don’t know exactly how the sample chopping works, but if you needed to tune the whole thing, could you just tune the sample BEFORE you chop it?”
Definitely, but I’m pretty sure what Just was saying is that if, AFTER chopping a sample to bits, the decision is made to tune the entire track slightly, it can’t be done all at once on the 5000–which it should be able to do. Producers should have that control all the way through the process, not just at the beginning…
I listened to that 90s mix this AM, Just. Tight shit.
And yo–if you have a spare minute hit me with an e-mail, I got something I wanna chop up with you…
Trackstar the DJ
St Louis
29 Jul 2008 - 18:56
well damn i forgot to leave my email
djtrackstar@gmail.com
PEACE
29 Jul 2008 - 19:01
Build your own machine, dude from Trackmasters did….really sounds like with this new 5000, AKAI was trying to cater to folks who don’t sample….you know try to sway somebody like “Soulja Boy” from software to hardware. I just think that today amateurs work with software (that should be left to the pros) & the pros just stick to their guns (by continuing to use hardware they started out with swearing off anything resembling FL) ….Remember when Final Fantasy 7 dropped…..if you were a fan of the series “It SUCKED” but if you were fairly new, it drew your attention. This is a similiar scenario.
Another thing, you may have to “break it to fix it”. When I upgraded from Reason 3.0 to 4.0….that was a tough transition but after experimenting for say a week I actually preferred the successor.
29 Jul 2008 - 20:10
Man..I thought it was gonna be great cause someone told me that
there is an analog synth and a hard disc recorder etc but damn…just lol
ow well, the saddest thing is that many good engineers who had been working for Akai since 80s &90s are mostly fired…
the original Akai Company in Japan went bank ruptcy couple years ago. Hong Kong Money Game is not the only reason but it’s def one of the reason that the original Akai Company went broke as mother****
it’s not really Akai Akai anymore since the Akai has been bought up by another company from other side of the world.
I feel Sorry For the Real Akai Family though..the family did a real big thing from Zero.
Jack or whoever owns the new company ..now they are allowed to use the infamous “AKAI” Last Name ” as a Brand LOGO..and they ‘re also allowed to use the old Akai Technique ..but akai family ain’t really involved with that new business any more. but hey what can I say??
Ironically, MPC 5000 isn’t on sale in Japan yet.
I don’t know anything about engineering .
but I was talkin to my friend in Tokyo on the phone and
he said it’s not even available in Japan yet. .. lmao .. I’m like “huh? Ain’t Akai Japanese Company??!”
I guess I was wrong..it’s not like that anymore since????when???
I think Akai needs a smart engineer /producer like Just…
(I wonder if they even hear other person’s opinion..but hey tell ‘em
“”I’m smarter than ya’ll and I know what I’m doing “” LOL )
ya go ahead and make a new MPC 5001 put on TMTD logo or something
put that “RED 5ive” name on it.. insteada Akai 5001 ..cause Akai means red in Japanese..
..what a coincident ..
29 Jul 2008 - 20:26
First of all…in regards to Ecks Manolo’s statement that “amateurs work with software” and pros use hardware…NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU USE AS LONG AS IT SOUNDS GOOD! Its not the machine, its the person. Do you think it made a difference what type of piano Mozart played–the music he created was great regardless.
Let’s take some modern examples. I mean who’s to say if say, Pete Rock, came into the game and there was already a reason 4, fl studio, logic, pro tools whatever, what he would use to make beats? He might have started off on hardware or software- but i’m sure his music would still sound dope regardless. And btw most music listeners have no idea what kind of equipment producers use and i doubt they care. For example– The Beatles(one of the most successful music groups ever) put out 12 albums– the first ten were all done on mono, stereo and (quad) 4-track tape recorders…even though 8-track was available! One of their best albums (Rollingstone Magazine named it the greatest album of all time…tho granted Rollingstone isn’t the best magazine ever) Sgt. Peppers, which was on the #1 spot for 27 weeks and on the charts for 200 weeks-was done using mono, stereo, and quad. Now do u think when that album first dropped people were like…”damn, if only they had recorded “When I’m Sixty-Four” on eight-track”??? Helllll no. Everyone was more interested in actually listening to the music. They could’ve recorded that album on a phonograph and i bet it would’ve still sounded good.
Sorry for going off, but when people say that it bothers me.
And as for the post…
“Oh mind you.. this all occurred while I was trying to come up with something for.. well an album that hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s pretty major. Folks who know my writing patterns know what that means. ”
….an album that is pretty major…. I’m thinking either Blueprint 3 or, I really really hope, Wale’s first album???
29 Jul 2008 - 20:26
GET ‘EM
now thats crazy shouldn’t most if not all of your troubles have been addressed before any release sounds like basic functionality …i see u are really heated over this piece of equip…
no the less we all need a GOOD Rant now and then
thanks for the review
….4000 here i come..
29 Jul 2008 - 20:29
[…] beta testing properly? You get super-fans and power-users going on 2700 word diatrabes about how awful your product is. [For those not in the know, the author of this blog post is Just Blaze who’s put in his work. […]
29 Jul 2008 - 21:18
wow this is one piece of machinery i def won’t be purchasing…..sounds like it’s much easier to just record live instruments on good old wax…..
29 Jul 2008 - 21:23
Seriously Just fuck this MPC shit or whatever it is where the hell is SAIGON??????????????? is he signed yet??????????? let us know something!!!!!
29 Jul 2008 - 21:38
Yea, I actually seen this coming. After the atrocious MPC 1000 pad design. Yea, I always knew there was something bad bout the 500o. Its just wierd ya know? I sold my MPC 2000XL to get a MPC 1000 (until I saved up for a 4000 or a 2500) b/c I’ve read about the advantages over the 2000XL (w/ JJ Os of course). But i missed the major design flaw of the pads. Which are hard as f**k for one. Hurt the fingers, like people get Callus from playing bass guitar (Imma prolly have em after this). And they bust easily so u buying a bunch of individual pads cause they keep breaking. Then Akai comes out with the “Retro” pads to recify this which is basically the same as the previous Mpc pads. Which are $180 and are backordered like crazy. You’re telling me I gotta pay $180 for you mistake and wait 4 months to get my pads!? Akai wtf? Then they come out with the MPC 5000 atrocity. Akai you are losing customers get ya sh*t right.
29 Jul 2008 - 21:41
Its 08, use Logic…lol
29 Jul 2008 - 22:57
I knew it. Too much going on for it to work how it should. Sounds like Akai went around the corner to get next door…..
And I’m wondering what album that is…if it’s the same one Toomp was talking about, then hell yeah….
29 Jul 2008 - 23:12
Just,
Thanks for the in-depth review. Valuable info.
peace,
J
29 Jul 2008 - 23:47
I feel you Jus. Keep in mind they screwed over the early blue/red MPC 1000 users with faulty pads. Come on Akai….get your act together.
29 Jul 2008 - 23:48
Damn, i thought i was thr only one who felt this upset. Thanks blaze.
Get a quad core, ableton live 7, and you should be happie than getting this crapbox.
30 Jul 2008 - 0:06
The MK49 does look like a beast. I think Akai should stop trying to put out a new MPC every other year though. And I want a refund on my 1000, with its shitty pads. I’m kinda feelin your cosign on the 4000. I hated on it when it came out cuz it was too big, and purple, but it seems like the kind of machine you have fun learning everything it can do. I always wanted to be able to tune a whole program. If the 4k could do it, the 1k and everything after it should be able to. Seems like Akai hired a bunch of smart dumb ninjas. Open Labs hit up Timbaland to endorse their keyboard and people love that shit. Akai should holler at Just. When you watch their demos for the 5000 there’s always some nerdy white dude (no racism) making wack house beats and most electro dudes make their shit on computers. Anyway, its probably a dope machine, but the should stop billing these machine as the successor to the previous one. And for 5 grand you could get a decent computer, Reasons, a turntable and mixer, and midi controller and have cash left over for internet porn subscription.
Audi 5000
30 Jul 2008 - 0:17
yea just. i read the remix mag interview and it said u stop usin Akai products. so u still use em? just switch over to DAW man. am goin to college and in our production program we use Logic. i hope its good becuase Reason is a pain in the ass. even though DJ Khalil uses it.
30 Jul 2008 - 0:55
Roland MV 8800..it can do all he complains the 5000 can’t, plus give you a mouse and VGA output.
30 Jul 2008 - 2:22
SMH@”internet porn subscription”
I stopped the mpc thing at the 500…FL&Protools babe baby !
30 Jul 2008 - 2:59
[…] Just Blaze has a fairly thorough review of the new Akai MPC 5000, he hates it. {TheMegatronDon} […]
30 Jul 2008 - 3:15
Abosolutely!!!!!!! Correct about these companies! For example everything JB say’s about the Akai mpc 5000 was exactly sort of what i went thru with the Korg Oasys - when it came out it was as buggy as row house in the ghetto… And those guy’s working on an international level with these companies like for example in Korg’s case it is suppose to be ” Japanese ” ?? - i believe they have pride about such things such as quality - i dont know how the decision making process goes down but you gotta think how are these guys getting away with this shit?? it must be a real sweeeeeet job.. Nothing sounds like an Oasys? OK true but what is the point in having an Oasys if you can’t even use it?? And also i cannot believe that whoever job it was for sampling and sound design?? got away with using the same old wave forms in that machine for over a decade. Many if not all are wave forms from the triton and trinity family? with some new thrown in vocal voices shot’s? - Anyone who know’s korgs trinity and triton products - you can clearly hear them old sounds but they do sound great tho coming from the board nice warm and crstal clear.. Playing the keyboard and actually using it is entirely 2 different things you know what am trying to say?
30 Jul 2008 - 5:59
LONG LIVE ENSONIQ!!!!
30 Jul 2008 - 6:16
i said it before the 4k is the best machine akai ever made….shit ill help design the next 5001 too..lol
thanks Jus….
get back to work on detox!!!!
30 Jul 2008 - 6:32
Let this be a lesson to you all (especially you Just cause you own a 4000 and we all know how you get down on the tech side)……THE 4000 CANNOT BE REPLACED BY THIS PIECE OF CRAP!!! I have never even used one and I knew as soon as I read the specs that it couldn’t hold a candle to the 4000. The first thing that caught my eye as terrible about this machine was the fact that if you get the memory upgrade you can only go up to 192MB. MY 4000 CAME OUT OF THE BOX WITH 272MB STANDARD!!! So already you’re telling me that the “new and improved” top of the line MPC is capable of way less than its predecessor. Not to mention that you have two less pad banks available than the 4000, have no possible way of hooking up an external hard drive (the 4000 let you hook up USB and SCSI), and the so called huge display is a bit smaller than the 4000. Then to top off all the foolishness, AKAI has some goofy techno guy doing the demo video for the new “flagship”. Now I’m not saying that other genres of music don’t make good use of MPC’s, but lets me serious people…hip-hop producers probably account for at least 85-90% of MPC sales. I mean come on you had Pete Rock doing a photo campain on the back of Scratch Magazine (RIP) for the MPC series and you can’t get him or Just Blaze or some credible hip-hop producer to do a real demo for your flagship when hip-hop is the reason that they still even make MPC’s?! AKAI is a joke now and if you bought this machine and you’re hoping for a miracle OS update from AKAI good luck cause they’ll probably abandon the OS upgrades after one or two (ask anyone who own’s a 4000). All in all the only thing I can say they did right with this machine is include the 4 midi outs and 2 midi ins that were included in the 4000.
30 Jul 2008 - 8:11
Let this be a lesson… umm okay.
30 Jul 2008 - 8:38
Wow! Trilogy nailed this one for me. How are you gonna call an inferior machine an “upgrade”. Seriously. I rock the 4000 and the 1000, (which I’ve grown to appreciate for its simplicity), and started off with a 2000 back in 96. I WILL NOT TOUCH THE 5000. Not gonna happen. How the hell are you gonna have that low on the RAM? Seriously. That alone was enough for me to think Akai was slippin. And Just’s comment about having to load the synth patches just killed the only thing the machine had goin for it. Again, 192 max on the RAM in relation to loading the synths just killed it. It should have had 4 times the RAM if that were the case, NOT LESS THAN THE 4000!!! WTF is that???? WE NEED MORE RAM, NOT LESS!!!! Anyone considering buying this beast, find a 4000 on eBay, blow out the RAM to 512 and ignore this “thing” entirely. Having a million Q-Links will not make up for this sever oversight. This machine was NOT made with the Hip-Hop producer in mind…
30 Jul 2008 - 9:04
i’ll stick with the 2000XL.
good read.
ppl are confused on what big album is coming out? smh
30 Jul 2008 - 11:28
Public service announcement from soulja boy:
Fruity loop users unite and let it be known that we have finally won!!! Official takeover of akai forums commences on friday.
MPC users, the time has come to surrender….Join the dark side, we have previews. Download links to fruity loops 8 will be provided upon returning ur newly purchased akai goods
30 Jul 2008 - 14:38
Damn Just 96 samples what the hell is in that song? It’s like one of my favorite beats of all time. I will stick to my trusty 2000XL.
30 Jul 2008 - 15:49
one thing i wanted to address with the mpc is the lack of OS updates. it’s sad that dudes like JJ has to pick up for akai’s slack. i think companies like akai do this on purpose so they can sell you their newest product.
something that never occured to me now that JB mentioned it, why hasn’t akai made a virtual mpc yet? to prevent piracy, the program would simply require an akai midi controller. the best example is the m-powered version of protools which requires m-audio hardware in order to work. it’d be the best of both worlds by combining the flexibility of software (working on a computer monitor instead of a monochrome lcd screen) with the “feel” of hardware aka the pads. it could work as a standalone application or as a plug-in for popular DAWs. it could give battery a run for it’s money, even fruity loops if people actually bought it *cough*. and it would obviously be a cheaper alternative to buying a full-fledged mpc. with that said, akai would’ve made a killing with this combo. one can dream though.
30 Jul 2008 - 17:23
Justin, thanks for the review (diss) of the MPC5000, the only info I could find online were youtube clips from Namm and the rest with what looked like an insurance salesman and Kenny G collaborating on a bastard hybrid of house and elevator music. Akai/Numark really have joined the axis of evil with this one.
What I can’t get is how is it possible in 2008 to remove features present on an S-series Akai from 1988? That’s twenty years of de-evolution. I guess the fact they are marketing the machine to seemingly everyone except for hip hop tells a lot about how in tune they are with reality.
Apart from the poor gain structure and unusable effects, I think history will record the MPC4000 as the last decent technology plateau where the Akai legend ended and Numark turned the mpc into a half baked McMuffin.
oh the humanity
30 Jul 2008 - 20:04
I guess Roland really put the pressure on Akai. I really don’t know the full extent of MPC and MV compatibility, but I do know for a fact that PGMs do work on the MV, so it should read some of your old bangers. I say return the 5000 and try the 8800, it can’t be worse than your experience with the 5000. Holla at RZA Just, he’s up on the MV.
31 Jul 2008 - 0:18
One more vote for the MV-8800. It pulls off things even Logic can’t (and I’m a die-hard power Logic user). It’s a travesty that Akai is even considered anymore. The MPC’s only advantage is ease of use… which is mainly due to its lack of features.
Seriously. MV. The thing is sick. Best hardware sequencer ever made. Edit and arrange regions with a mouse, and you’ll NEVER go back.
But complaining that the MPC5000 doesn’t have over a thousand instantly available sounds like the Fantom rack makes no sense. Two VERY different pieces of gear. All MPCs (including the 4000) and MVs are RAM-based studio samplers—There’s no true ROMpler engine in any of them.
31 Jul 2008 - 0:49
yeah my dumb ass is a first time mpc buyer and got the 5000. ive had it for about 2 weeks and i mean this is the first time ive EVER used an MPC and I was askin myself, “hold up, i know this shit shouldnt be this fuckin complicated”. getting around is mad easy but the shit freezes up sometimes, wont delete shit sometimes, yes, the scroller is annoying is hell cause sometimes you gotta keep spinnin it for it to start working and not to mention programming shit is yellow bus dumb stupid.
what really iritates the hell out of me aside from all the glitches is that, say for example, youve chopped up and loaded up your samples and are trying to lay down the sequences…well…every time you create a new loop from a sample youve chopped up you have to create it in a NEW SEQUENCE and RE-LAY the drums behind that new sample all over again! you cant play simultanious sequences and you can only play simultanious tracks from the specific sequence its assigned to, yet in SONG mode its supposed to be made easy because you can ONLY play sequences 1 at a time down a fuckin line??? i mean hell, all i wanna do is punch in/out specific samples and layers and record it down like that. for example, something as simple as bringing in and taking out a high hat throughout the song…you cant do it. if you want to do that you got to create a whole new loop EXACTLY like the one you want to drop the hat in now and just exclude what you want, then go in and manually track that shit out.
plain and simple, Fruity Loops is easier to sequence and track shit out than this thing. and that shit is fucking unsat and laughable. i plan on sending my unit back and getting something else instead. im getting alot of good feedback from the Roland MV-8800, which is what I’m starting to think I should have got in the first place because for this much money this is a DAMN SHAME.
31 Jul 2008 - 1:44
oh yeah and one more thing, it says in the manual a Flash Card is included, but yeah… no. i mean for 25 bills the least you can do is INCLUDE all the gear you say is included. i mean damn, I’m not even complaining right now that for this much the CD-RW drive isnt included.
31 Jul 2008 - 3:03
idk wat ne of this means rly, but that was a beast of a post
31 Jul 2008 - 7:53
Just Blaze,
You claim that the MPC 4000 only had one or two bugs? I have to ask when did you get yours. Because I had one as soon as it was released in Japan which was months before it hit the US. The MPC 4000s first OS updates had so many bugs which included crashing when doing simple things. It was unusable. A steeper learning curve had nothing to do with those serious bugs.
Askia
31 Jul 2008 - 13:47
cats are acting retarded over this review lol
im not fully understanding why anyone needs to try to prove or defend this post. its a review. leave it at that.
31 Jul 2008 - 14:34
logic does import protools session only if saved in omf format .just blaze was right !i have them both .and i aslo have akai mpc 60 ,2000, 2000xl 4000, and 2500 out of all these units i use the 2000xl and 4000 more ,i dont use the 2500 nuch it doest have punch as the previous machine .when you chop samples across the pad it sounds shitty and unreal does not sound natural .i chop sampl;es on 2000xl or 4000 the samples have punch and is clean.i recently went to guitar center and tested the mpc 5000 it really sucked its basiclly a big mpc 1000 or 2500 with synth sounds.and the sounds arent that great .if you tell me your better off getting logic 8 studio with a controller .newmark design team fucked it up again im very diaapointed with akai these days .i always loved ensoniq becase when they made a sampler they actually went to hip-hop producers for input .akai needs to build a mpc that has open architect so that you can import or copy sounds from any keyboard or synth com with a vga option atleast terabyte ram and hardrive that is removable
31 Jul 2008 - 15:48
NUMARK OWNS THE MPC, …we need to take it up with them bitch ass fuckas
31 Jul 2008 - 17:19
WOW…literally 6 pages long.
31 Jul 2008 - 18:51
They should just make a virtual mpc ….so if I wanted to I could drop my pgms in from what ever mpc …. I v been doing it with battery .. but only the mpc 2000xl programs work with it …and they dont translate to battery well with all the filters and what ever tuning I v done on the mpc … so yea akai step up your game …you still haven’t came out with simult on the mpc 2500(a feature in much earlier mpcs)I had to resort to jj’s os because your machien was so buggy …what I think akai is doing now is spending less time on programing with the idea that jj will get his hands on the machine and make it useable… but yea no more mpcs for me …after my 2500 I was turned off by lack of customer support and the wack os they dropped at the start….
31 Jul 2008 - 19:31
and saigon’s album is…. where?
31 Jul 2008 - 23:52
For real…where the hell is SAI??? I mean damn, I was waiting patiently for his little Euro Tour to wrap up cause I thought maybe an announcment would come shortly after that, but nah, nothing at all.
STILL patiently waiting……….
02 Aug 2008 - 10:05
That was damn near on some Angry Video Game Nerd stats of anger. While I never got into MP’s, I can see where he is coming from. This is suppose to be the next level up and it is just a step back to the dark ages. Sad.
04 Aug 2008 - 3:35
Just, you should just leak one song for every month the The Greatest Story Never Told doesn’t get released.
or at least keep us updated on what you guys are doing behind the scenes right now. Video? Record Labels? and all the etc’s. I’ve already given up on Papoose for lack of information, it would pain me to give up on you guys too.
04 Aug 2008 - 22:50
Just are we going to get your thoughts on all the hot sweaty (pause) Rock The Bells action on Sunday…
like how Double O looked like Kelly from Saved by the Bell trying to dance with his bum leg….
05 Aug 2008 - 18:01
good read.
deep review.
thanks.
05 Aug 2008 - 22:10
Correction it was Lisa Turtle not Kelly
06 Aug 2008 - 3:52
Mr. Blaze, good sir, if I’m going to be a first time, and fairly nonwealthy MPC buyer, would the 4000 be the ideal choice? I’m trying to learn how to make music, and I’ve worked up the balls to plumet myself into outrageous debt by buying a programming machine like an MPC, I’ve also been told to check for a Roland something or other. Thanks.
06 Aug 2008 - 8:34
Just Blaze…download the new OS 1.02 for your MPC 5000 to see if it fixes that bugs your reported.
08 Aug 2008 - 9:36
[…] you are a gear nerd (like us producergeeks), then check out the Just Blaze MPC5000 review at his page. Very entertaining, and also very funny to be able to read about his bitterness towards […]
09 Aug 2008 - 0:26
Hey you will never see a JJ OS for the 5000. JJ was a programmer for Akai when they made the 2500 and 1000. When he left he kept the code. He’s not a hacker like people think he is- he has the code already and just adds to it so he can sell it. He never worked on the 5000 so he won’t be able to make an OS for it. Surprised that Akai never sued him for it but either way people have to buy an mpc to run jjos. Hope they fix the 5000 bugs tho- they have a new OS so hopefully it’s better cause the 4000 did have lots of bugs at first before the updates.
11 Aug 2008 - 21:40
My problem here is: THIS THING IS COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE AND SHOULD NOT BE!
Cheese with that whine Justin?
SCARED OF A LITTLE COMPETITION FROM THE COMMON MAN?
12 Aug 2008 - 15:13
ya ive also owned the mpc 1000 & 2500, and i also found it very annoying that you couldnt change the pitch, volume, filter, or whatever! on a whole program. That should of definitly came with the original OS on it as well as other things that u stated. Ive also owned an ASR-10 and even on that! you were able to change settings on a whole group of samples, and how old is this machine!? At one point i had the ASR-10 and the mpc 1000, i was sequencing on the 1000 and chopping all my samples on the ASR-10 because the workflow on that was so much better and easier for sampling IMO. Now i dont even fuck with that shit becuase you can do all of that shit and EVEN 1000x MORE! on Reason, and many other software, but Reason is the shit! IMO
13 Aug 2008 - 12:45
Thanks for this honest and straight forward opinion/review/rant!
I am sooooo glad that i skipped this MPC5k unit.
Actually in my opinion only the MPC60 and MPC4000 are great machines, all other units have tried to be something but didn’t really “become” it.
Anyway, i’m glad i didnt go for it, i got me the MV8800 instead,
different learning curve, different approach, but at least it does what its suppose to do.
peace bro
20 Aug 2008 - 18:07
i was gonna say but see others’ve posted. the LinnDrum II will smash the 5000 to pieces. Best to keep with the classic Akai MP’s since, in my opinion, they’re going to become more like owning a hardware 808 or other vintage machine.-like you said there’s already a virtual mpc,basically. Sampling is becoming more virtual.
Akai seems to have put more time into the MPK and XR-20, which are great for newbies like myself who need a good controller(sticking with the KorgPad for a minute though) or stock sounds to manipulate and get the ball rolling. Plus its great with things like the Arturia Analog<hardware/sotfware they got out.-there goes the synth feature, need i mention, for less than half the $ of the 5k. But to each his own.
22 Aug 2008 - 11:59
thanks for saving me £1500…i was considering getting one of these and your review or whatever has promptly put me off.
thanks
24 Aug 2008 - 3:43
thats pretty stupid all the stuff you said didnt work but i think the album that was unannounced he was working on might have been the blueprint 3 because when this was posted, jay and kanye didnt announce that yet
30 Aug 2008 - 10:56
have you received any response from akai regarding your criticism? How many of the bugs were fixed with the OS-update? Thinking of buying a 5000 despite some of the criticism it’s received. I can live without 24-bit headroom and the other benefits of the 4000..
JJ
30 Aug 2008 - 16:15
[…] That clip was damn near a commercial for Akai. Too bad they laid a rotten egg recently. […]
21 Oct 2008 - 3:59
Word up blaze i was about to cop a 5000 on a a payment plan, but then read this shit said fuck that and found myself a fully upgraded 4000 for a G and couldnt be happier. peace
29 Oct 2008 - 17:03
[…] clear that you need to load a patch into memory to even preview it. As Just Blaze says on his MPC5000 rant, this is 2008. Having to spend studio time loading a synth patch just to preview to it is […]
02 Apr 2009 - 0:40
hows the new os treating ya?
crazy how its almost a year on release date and here 2.0…
LOL
peace
22 May 2009 - 15:04
I totally agree with you Just Blaze. I brought it and the pads don’t work that to me was Shit!!!
22 May 2009 - 15:07
I think they should refund anybody that brought it and rethink the hold MPC series for at least a year!!! Because the MPC 2000-MPC3000 is out doing the MPC 5000!!! Wow what a Joke? I spent over 2,000 Dollars and rather use Fruity Loops to make my tracks!