Akai MPC-2000

I am using OS1.72-the latest. This fixes some important bugs but also adds some, eg creating glitches in your samples. Overall the unit is pretty simple to use,

Pretty basic until you add the extra boards. The sequencer section is useless though!

Uncoloured sound, as on other Akais. I suppose it's pretty good for sampling, but not very expressive as it is very basic compared to what it could be with some decent operating software for it. It is meant to have the same engine as the S2000 i think, but Akai have not implemented many of the important features eg timestretching.

Awful. The MPC is ridden with bugs, and Akai have announced that no future OS versions are planned (the MPC2000 development team is rumoured to have already split up. I would not take it out live, as it will garble your sequences, alter note durations, occassionaly mess up your samples etc. Until the latest OS, it couldn't even save midi files without messing them up.

Akai are well known for bad support. All my emails were answered with ''phone the tech support line''-not very helpful. When I told them some of the problems, Akai said they ''did not know of any similar incidents'' wwhen in fact they knew it was down to bugs in the OS which are the same in every MPC. My advice is not to even bother with Akai for support.

Very dissapointed with this. I expected a rock solid sequencer I could use instead of a computer, but this is not possible due to the bugs in the machine. I am currently trying to sell it.

Defently not something you can just turn on and it does your dishes and bakes you a cake right out of the box. Took a few days to start exploring into it and understanding whut was going on.... I went from a Sp-12turbo to this and made a few drum patterns in a few seconds
Sound is exactly whut goes in, no discoliration to the sound... this can be good/bad depending on your personal tastes
Editing samples is ok... I would say a pc is still my choice.... the screen is 2 small for me not to strain after a few hours of stairing at it

well you should know the fetures if not there is always akai's web site!
I added the efects... i find that I don't use them much... for the cash they are ok... I feel that I was some whut cheated because I was under the impression that it was a totoal 4 bus multiefex efect card it was 2 multi's and 2 reverbs
I need the 8 outs expansion so I can use my perfered box for efects
midi capabilitys are excelent... it's a midi seqencer.... pads feel great.... alot better than whut was on my old sp-12 and the ASR-X

like all akai's no coloration on sounds that you have brought in.. works for R&B, Rap, HipHop Like I said efex are decent... hard to justify the $350 cost with the low cost of outboard efx proccesors now
it makes music production easy

dependable sometimes looses parts of my seqences..... don't really know if it's the mpc or my 18th month old son who sometimes decides to visit me in my studio
I would say I would only use it in a gig if I had to... thats based on fears of distroyed/stolen eqipment

I used to be able to ask akai via email all sorts of questions and had no problem it took them 2 weeks to awnser a simple question for a DR4d opp sys upgrade
but basicly they have done me good from that point

I would replace it with a akai Mpc of some sort I like the fact of loading *.wav so it would be a mpc-2000 or newer to replace it have used it since Feb of 98 I own a few synths and synth modulals, I always fire it up first and use it daily I compared it to a outdated but highly rated Emu sp-1200,and the new ASR-X As you can tell the Mpc standard got my cold hard cash
wish it had a few voices of multitibrial sample playback in the op sys....
It makes and I mean it does all of it and does it well for whut it is...
BTW I use it with a zip drive,ezflyer,cdrom,harddrive and has worked great besides one Rom drive didn't let me load sounds out of a B partision in a s3000 disk

There definitely is a learning curve, but this is a box that does a lot of different kinds of things, so there's always going to be a little lag time in learning. It took me a few months to realize all the little hidden tricks involved with this sampler -- for example, I had no idea I could do Velocity->Filter Sweep until someone mentioned it on the Akai mailing list. Many items are hidden under menus that you can only get at by hitting 'Open Window' -- and there's no indication which menus allow you to hit 'Open Window' for more options.
Otherwise, it is a menu-driven sampler, some cute little icons. The manual was pretty good, you can download it yourself if you want to check it out on Akai's site.
I'm using OS 1.5, the newest.

The sequencer absolutely rules. I bought this box because I was sick of making music from my computer, and I needed something for live work and also just to take to rehearsals and what not. So what you can do is take a midi rack with you and have the MPC control the synth and its sampler. So I am using it as a Main Control Center if you will, controlling all my other gear.
For effects all it has built in is filter, resonance and velocity. But if you get the EB16 board (which I did), you get crazy effects; delay, distortion, modulations (rotating speaker, pitch shifting, etc...) I also run it through an off-line effects box, but that's my own taste. You can expand it otherwise with more memory (SIMMs, real cheap, up to 32MB), a SMPTE-lock card, or a multi-out & digital in.out card.
MIDI -- could be a bit better. The only way you can control IT from external midi (outside sequencer / computer) is MIDI note-on and off messages and velocity. That's it, no filter sweeps real time like the other akais. BUT - keep in mind that you do have a choice of what to get from Akai -- either this box, which is much less a STUDIO sampler and more a 'Performance' sampler, so you're not going to get a lot of that functionality. I've played with the S series boxes, and then I played with the MPC, and I decided that I wanted the MPC. I guess you could get a S-series and then buy an external sequencer, but this all-in-one deal of the MPC appeals to me.
But MIDI-out and its sequencer -- accepts everything, The sequencer has great resolution and does quantizing stuff and you can record looping measures, arrange them into songs, whatever. Can also import .MID files.
I like the buttons, they feel nice and are velo-sensitive.
The Samper part -- I like it. Not as easy to use as a computer doing it, so you're better off sampling stuff on your big-screen system and transferring it over (easy to do if you've got a zip drive, hook your computer on one end and the MPC on the other). Once you've got your samples in there, you can add effects to them individually and start composing. I've got it set up through the effects sends of my mixer so I can grab 'incidental music' as we're playing live. You've got to stop whatever sequence you're playing while doing anything else but playing samples (adding effects, changing midi channels, sampling..) and that kinda screws the improv factor up, but what are you going to do.

The "Akai" sound. As good as your samples. The effects are pure digital and work really well if you use them with restraint.
I use it for sound collage and electronic-type stuff.

I'm not going to call it 'rock solid' cause it has crashed on me (once) but that was before I got the new OS. The actual unit is a good weight and the buttons aren't going to fall off.

People on the Akai discussion list talk about Akai as if they were the devil incarnate. I can see why -- they don't update their OSes too often and there are some great feautres that could be added to the MPC that are software based that they haven't yet (a better scsi implementation, time stretching, 'multitasking')
I wrote them once and asked them a question about SCSI transfers, got a reply within a day. Most of my questions were answered on the web or on the discussion group by other users.
Upgrades are on the web and are free to download, so are the manuals.

I've been without it for 4 weeks now (am away from home at the moment) and am going through serious withdrawal. I miss it so! It has this personality attached to it and I kinda like it. If it were lost (yikes! how could I _lose_ this?) I'd get real mad at first, then I'd settle down and get it again. But that would be after hemming and hawing about whether to buy an MPC or an S3000XL (studio sampler) with a sequencer for live stuff. Again, it's a tough decision.
But overall I am crazy happy that I own it and it's helped me a ton in my musics.
I've had it for 6 or 7 months, played with it live only 2 or 3 times I think, but I've used it for countless 'sessions' and my own just screwing around. It's a good tool to experiment with, just making stupid 4-bar loops and seeing what happens, playing with effects, muting tracks and then changing tempo real-time.
I'd be in heaven if it had: beat matching/time stretching and a good SCSI implementation. We can only wait for a new OS verison.

Currently running v1.50, which is the first version worth using. You can download OS updates for free from the Akai web site - http:www.akai.com/akaipro/
You get 4 disks of sounds with the machine. They are ok, but nothing special. Remember that this machine is a decent sampler, and it can read .WAV files from a PC format disk... you can put any sound it it, and tweak it with very basic parameters (i.e. AR amp envelope, resonant filter, etc.). The manual is a little better than other japanese products on the market, but is somewhat obscure on basic operational guidelines. Not a good quick reference, but more of a take a few days to read it slowly type of thing. But in the MPC2000's defense, it is mostly very easy to figure out, and very useable right off the bat.

32 note polyphony, monotimbral (only responds to 1 or all channels). Great rubber pads for triggering sounds - they feel great, and work fairly well. They do get dirty easily. Pads produce aftertouch, which can be mapped to velocity using the note repeat function. Very handy for organic-sounding fills and rolls.
The effects option adds 4-buss effects - 2 reverb channels, and 2 multi-effects. The effects are serviceable, nothing completely amazing, but a good value for the price of the board (<>$320.00). No external control to speak of, but it does expand the capabilities of the MPC quite a bit. The effects only work with internal sounds - you are not able to process the inputs, like on Akai's other samplers.
Decent amount of options (flashROM, SMPTE, digital/multiple outs, effects) Uses standard (cheap) 72-pin mac-style simms, and standard SCSI HDs. Compatibility with PC-format drives is a big plus, since you can use your computer to format, organize, copy, and in case of emergencies, attempt to recover your MPC's drive.
The sequencer kicks ass. 64 tracks, 32 midi channels + 1 internal channel. 100,000 notes, reads standard midi files (type 1 and 0). Very flexible for live performance - you can create a very dynamic arrangement by selectively muting and unmuting tracks using the pads. Very easy to read display, even in pitch-dark clubs (mine is bright enought that I don't need any other lighting!).

It's a sampler - you basically get out whatever you put in. You do have some basic dynamically-adjustable parameters (pitch, filter, sample start, sample crossfade).

Very dependable, and relatively solid, for a cheap pice of gear. I have used mine a lot in the last year, with absolutely no problems. I have not had a single crash since updating to OS 1.5.

Akai - get your act together! I created the Protolab MPC2000 page in response to Akai's lackluster customer support.
Please visit:
http:www.protolab.com/akai.html
For MPC2000-related links, sounds, tips, tricks, and a user buglist.

This is my second MPC. I returned the first one out of frustration with the OS, and Akai's inability to answer basic questions, or to even acknowledge any problems. Six months later, they released a new OS, which was solid enough to convince me to buy another one for live performance.
It is an imperfect, but very useful piece - essential for live electronic music performance, but not that useful in the studio.
See <http://www.protolab.com/akai.html> for more info.

I am currently using version 1.50 software. The sounds on the factory supplied are ok but you have to get your own to appreciate it. The editing is ok and the manual was well written

It is good for what it does, however I think the R&D guys dropped the ball on the one I have. I have had a lot of trouble with the sequencer. If you use it for a sound source it can't be beat.

This pice of gear has not been reliable at all! it has crashed several times and the sequencer flakes out most of the time. I would never use it live without some other sequecer.

I have dealt with the customer support however they were no help. My problem is that my unit would not sync to an Alesis BRC. These guys could not figure out the problem. the upgrade did not help either. When I finally figured it out, they told me that they would try and send me some sounds for helping them out and they faked on me.

If it were lost or stolen I would not but another 2000. I hear that the 3000 is mush better so I think that I would go with that one. I just hate the fact that the 2000 is not reliable.

version1.5-love the functions. sometimes the unit freezes up.unit freeks out using paramiter copy.unit will not recognize my scsi zip.(zip works on my vs880)zip must be between the mpc and my jazz drive to be recognized.when jazz goes into sleep mode, mpc will not awake jazz.(have to eject &re-load) manual is ok.sequencing and sampling are great with this unit.i have 18 meg internal.

i worry about reliability of this unit for live.

I am running Software Version 1.5, which is the latest version. The machine comes with a few disks with preset sounds which are fair. The manual is excellent, a big improvement over the MPC 3000 manual. The manual seems to be written in english (although it is probably not) as opposed to other manuals which are obviously translated.

It has (I think, but you can verify at www.akai.com) 16 polyphony. The pads are pressure sensitive. It is expandable up to 32 Meg Ram. Has optional flash Rom. Has a great sequencer. Only come with a basic effects, but does have an optional FX card.

I think it can work well with most types of music, but especially R&B, Hip Hop, Dance, etc. It has the same sound processor of the S2000, which is a pretty high quality sampler.

Based on my experience with this and other Akai samplers, I would say it is relaiable enough to not need a back-up (although if possible, a backup is never a bad idea).

Customer support is EXCELLENT. I have dealt with other companies and have been on hold for 15-30 min +. All on my nickel. I have called Akai a couple of times with problems and each time I waited no more than three minutes! Once, while the technician was loading up the software load I had, he offered to call me back. Incredible.

I would definetly recommend this product.

It took a little time to get use to it but it was not that difficult.

check out the features on akia web site.

the sampling quality is great. although to record in digital, the 8 outboard expander is must.

I have only hade it for 1 month. no problems yet

i have not had to call yet.

i am very pleased with the unit.