Akai MPC-4000

I bought this machine in 2002. It was a step up from the MPC 2000xl. I have been using OS v1.60 since 2004 and haven't found reason to upgrade.

Ease of use?.... There is a bit of a learning curve but for an MPC user this is no problem. If you're totally new to hardware drum machine/samplers then there is a considerable learning curve. However, once you establish your workflow and get the buttons under your fingers, you'll be sequencing drums and chopping samples without thinking.

Akai recently released the MPC 5000. I mention this in the features portion of this review because aside from the 5000's built in synth and the 8 track recorder the 4000 blows it out of the water. The 4000 is still the king of the MPC's as far as features go. I'm not going to list them all.

I have yet to use all of the MIDI capabilities of this machine. My 4000 is topped out with 512mb of RAM (the 5000 offers a 192mb maximum). Hook the 4000 up to your computer via USB and run AkSys--it makes backing up, exporting, and importing sounds easier.

The effects are not the greatest but i rarely use them. My favorite "feature" is the high resolution MIDI sequencer. At 996ppq, I can program free hand and the 4000 faithfully plays it back. I have never experienced this with any other sequencer except MPC's. This is also a big deal for me as I rarely use the quantize feature...but of course that classic MPC swing is there if you want it.

What you put in is what you get out. I use the analog eight outs and think it sounds the same as the main outs but some say the main outs are better.

It will recieve whatever your MIDI controller throws at it (aftertouch, sustain, modulation, etc) or you can edit the samples to your likeness--i'm not just talking trim and chops. You can run filters, assign modulation, add effects, resample, and more.

The 4000 is a full fledged multi-sampler. Of course you can use it as a phrase sampler as well but you can create or purchase your own velocity sensitive multi samples. No other MPC offers this (not even the 5000)

I have gigged with this machine using a blanket as a case. I have dropped a turntable on it. I leave it on constantly unless i'm going out of town. No problems.

In six years this thing has froze up on me 3 or 4 times max. The original hard drive died on me (beware the IBM Deskstar). I've had the screen replaced. And now the replacement screen flickers a little. When it goes black, a tap brings it back. The buttons are getting a little wobbly and the paint around the jog wheel and cursor buttons has faded.

I consider myself a power user though and like I mentioned, I NEVER turn her off. She is the center of my studio and aside from the devastating hard drive crash, the 4000 has been very reliable.

Never dealt with them. Have not heard good things...especially since Numark took over. But I personally have never dealt with them.

I am buying another one so i can have one in new condition (and i want to get it customized at Forat). I was gonna get the 5000 but I don't want to downgrade.

I have the 1.71 software. If you read the manual and really approach it like a textbook, you can master this machine in 3 days at the maximum. I've had this unit since the first OS update and the latest update was done by a musician and not a programmer. I say this because it's very intuitive and gives you parameters you need to create versus program. The only issue that I have is that they would condense the menus because some pages only have one funtion.

It has 64 polyphony, but it's a drum machine. Last time I checked drummers have 2 hands and maybe a double-kick pedal. I vascilated over selling this because I'm a drummer by nature. And I'd rather establish a groove instead of generating it. But like all musicians know, if you practice...the rest is history. This machine is a beast, and I've been to lion taming school! The midi has 4 outs and 2 ins. I use 1 in for my keyboard, and the other in for midi-sync. I use all outs, which you can also send 16 midi tracks out per channel in one sequence!! Do I need to say more! In theory, you can use all 128 tracks for internal and external use. The copy-paste functions are endless. I don't care what anyone says, THIS IS THE FLAGSHIP MACHINE FOR AKAI. It is worth every penny if you put you time into it. I can make a typical hip-hop beat or I can be as tasty as Dennis Chambers on this machine. With exception of the ambiguous fills drummers do these days, my drum tracks are indistinguishable on wax! Besides the average listener doesn't care how fast you can do a 1/64 fill in a 1 beat turnaround.

Like all of the other users, the akai gives you the thump you need. What I like most is that you can resample over and over again. This is helpful especially when you want to fatten up levels of old recordings. It records every midi parameter and gives you a strong midi filter to take out unnecessary messages. It really is the brain of my production studio. I will give it a lower rating in this section because some of the other types of sample instruments aren't realistic. Even with 512mb of ram some instruments just don't compare to the real thing. The only reason why drums get a fair shake is because sonically they more percussive instead of sustaining. As far as onboard effects, they are solid but the highlights are the filters. They really give you some cool altered sounds that allow you to resample and store in a 60gb harddrive.

I've had the unit for almost 5 years, and works better now then when I first bought it. Of course this is because I know how to work it better than I did when I first bought it. It's built to last. I'd buy a new one in a heart-beat--actually a used one on ebay because I believe that much in it's reliability. Never crashed.

They are ok, they do answer phone calls but they refer you to the website for most problems. Then again, I haven't had alot of problems.

I'm a keyboardist and when I was a kid I used to hate seeing other musicians play my keyboard like they bought it. The difference was they practiced more than me. I'm saying that to say this: if you really want to get the most out of this instrument, treat it like you would drums, piano, etc. I can make better grooves on this thing than most live drummers, but it's because when people ask me what I play, I tell them keyboards and the MPC. I believe in being as organic and true as possible. I have a moog, all of the Roland MKS series, an acoustic piano, and the new porta-B3. This means I hate the use of digital instruments. But this unit has revolutionized all genres of music. So rather if we will admit it or not, it is organic in it's own right. Like many of you, I had GAS and the 4000 delivered me from that foolishness. This drum machine taught me that practice is the key to success. I've gone through numerous keyboard samplers, sequencers, and even computer-based software. I don't knock anyone for using them, but hardware is almost as dependable as a pair of drumsticks and skins. If this machine turns on then it's pretty much going to work. I thought about soundproofing my house, buying mikes, compressors and all of that, but with that same time and energy I began to make beats. I've saved thousands of dollars and have learned a new instrument-- I believe it's called an MPC 4000.

1.71 Its not a terrible learning curve if your used to the akai way of working. I completely agree that akai should step up to the plate and continue to upgrade the OS so that it can at least duplicate the old mpcs functions completly. By this I mean Qlink sliders can't even flip between the new "real time control mode" back to the old "note variation"style in which they work more like a one time trigger but not as you move it, only when triggering again at a new possition... thats how half my basslines were made and it sucks I can't even do that now on the 4000. It wants to bend them as I move the slider when I'm really trying to just move to the next note then retrigger. I've mentioned this to akai many times looking for solutions. They did however implement this function into the newer 2500.. why not just add it to the software of the 4000. I know the hardware is capable of this and its very very dissapointing.

The new features are nice such as filters and it is built to last.. just needs to at least do EVERYTHING an old mpc can do as well. After all, its the flagship MPC. I'm still holding out for a new OS that will incorporate at least the note variation function..not only real time mode

The Efx aren't really that bad as others say. We just have alot of software out there that can't really be compared to a standalone unit like this. The Pads do react different than the older mpcs but this can be adjusted. I use this unit for D&B, breaks, EDM ect.

Its been very reliable for me..lovin the hard drive..beats my old zip disks. Can't even tell you how many songs I lost on my 2000 when zip disks stopped working. Great addition.

You've heard about the support.. not the greatest help in the biz. Wish they would focus on older products instead of moving on and creating new smaller mpcs every week. WE STILL NEED SOME ISSUES ADDRESS GUYS...( if they're listening :)

Like I said before.. I've owned every mpc and I would replace it. But find myself playing more with my Mac because I just can't do all I could before with just an mpc2000 and soundforge.

MPC 4000

Hmmm. Things are different these days. Dropping $2500 on a MPC60 10 years ago was more of a legitimate sacrafice back then. Quite frankly, Akai hasn't put out anything remarkable or innovative to want to spend that kind of money on a drum machine. You sense they feel the pinch too. In a little less than a few months since the MPC 2500 was introduced (crappy green LCD) the price has already dropped a $1000.00. It's not just the MPC loosing it's shine...Roland's MV 8000 has better sound quality and more functionality. Both manufacturers are guilty of a few digs however: For example...you drop 2k or more...oooOOooh, I need the $#$@$#@ FX card...how much? $300??? ok, here. Damn, I need the extra outs and the spdf...HOW MUCH??? $300 each??? What? the burner option is another 200 bones, an internal HD is another $200. You can add ROMS too! That'll hit ya for another $295 a pop. The Basic priniciple of sampling technology hasn't changed but AKAI has yet to re invent themselves. For 2g's, I can have a Laptop expandable to 2 gig (big, bright, colorful screen with another video out standard), Abelton Live, Cubase/Traktion/Logic, better sound and have more than 64 voices, etc....add a basic controller with pads for the show, voila, I'll be finishing my master or producing in the coffee shop too. You simply can't do that with a MPC. This is why the MPC is loosing it's luster. What the MPC has that's cool that's not worth the money are the touch sensitive pads and real time modulation control. You can do that with a midi controller, however. What AKAI should do is make an MPC plug-in sampler that's bundled with a better controller than the MDP 16 and includes the same midi 2in 4 out, audio ins and outs via Firewire for under a $1000. In the plugin you could play back sample rates without affecting pitch. You want that old 12 bit MPC 60 sound...no problem. The pads could light up in different colors for live fun (help you remember which pad is triggering which sample when you're not looking at the computer screen and you want to perform a little on it...maybe that would be annoying) Anyway, my guess is Akai's MPC 2500/4000 are going to blunder as did their previous samplers S5000, S4000. Either break the 2k to 4k price tag or re invent. The MPC 1000 wasn't a bad idea but for starters when the MPC 2000 has less RAM capacity than the MPC 1000 and FX are no better and there's no midi sync to delay, etc, no mastering, WHY WOULD ANYONE BUY THE HYPE? IT's simply HYPE! There's one draw back to the laptop...boot time. Flip the MPC on and you're on your way. That's the only drawback I can think of.

OS 1.71

The presets don't sound because this machine comes empty. was advertised as being sold with a few Gigs of sounds but mine never had any.

Ease of use depends on whether you are used to midi and programming
samplers. If you are a newbie, there will be a steep learning curve but if you are already used to the mpc concept, then it will be a breeze. the only complaint is that not all the values are musical. Filter values etc are standard midi 0-127. My old emu had musical values like 20hz to 20000hz for filters etc. The manual is absolute $%^& and they havent' in 3 years even been able to update the manual with all the bug fixes' and new features.

Most of the features you need are there but they aren't all quality.
the effects are absolute $%^& and don't even come as standard. $%^& mainly because for things such as delays, they don't even sync to midi. if you are changing the tempo of a track live, the delays won't follow. same for the outputs. stereo outputs as standard and had to splash out money for the ten outputs. then also more money for digital spdif. this is useful if recording to say pro tools and your sound card has spdif digital ins and ensures a clean signal path. The os isn't even complete. all updates have mainly been bug fix's and we are still waiting for some of the advertised features that were marketed when it first came out. There's plenty of midi in's and outs although some of the internal routing is a bit $%^&. the q links are great but would be greater if you could route them to a specific midi port and track, cause at the moment you can only control the external instrument track which is in the main window. not useful for live external control but usable if you are recording cc messages one track at a time in the main window. the sequencer is real tight, and the groove is killer. this is the only reason I am keeping this because I prefer the E-mu effects and the e-mu sound. for me the filters are a bit harsh and lack that umph that's present in the E-mu sampler. I would love an mpc sequecer with e-mu engine which is what I do a lot of the time by using my e-mu sampler as an external extension to the z8 engine.

Sound is on the hole pretty good although like I said earlier, I still prefer that e-mu sound. I produce electro and techno so filters
are important to me and that's where akai are a bit under par.

The sequencer is expressive and the 16 pad velocity and pitch option
really pump. if you want dance music, this is it. It's what you put in that makes what comes out so if you are a good sample program
maker or have good sample cd's then the sound shines. especially 24bit/96khz sample rate the highs are really sweet.

It's been buggy from day one and there's too many work arounds for
a flagship program. I still get weird error messages and quirks like
my mute recordings don't work in song mode and when converting a
song back into a single sequence, things go pair shaped.
AkSys doesn't work since I upgraded to mac os tiger so I'm doing without at the moment.

The worst I've ever seen. Been waiting for 5 months just for a response about mute recordings not working in song mode and no one
has been able to answer.
Sent douzens and douzens of mails to akai support and haven't had
a single answer, which is why I will never buy akai again. they don't care about their customers.

Compare that company to elektron (small tiny sweedish company) who have always managed to answer within an hour and you've got the answer about customer support, they are worthless

I can't live with it and can't live without it. it's just that I don't like to support a company that don't support their users.
I love the sequencing engine, love the live feel but can't stand
the bugs and workarounds and can't stand the silence. Akai Support
has been spallowed by a black hole and they can stay there for all
I care.

I will never support akai again.

1.71 Editing with the Mpc4k is a breeze, You can use fx effects(robot,swell,distortion and etc.) ,You can edited the sample to be shorter or extended the sample to be longer without losing it's pitch,You can increase the level of the sample by editing or decrese it,You can change the bits of the sample to 24 , 16 ,12 or 8. There are no presets sound ,what you put in is what you get out , very clean with a big sound though. You can edited a sample( one short piano note to a loop creating effect with a constant sustaing that sample note to play long chord's across a midi-keyboard creating a live sounding piano. I can go on and on. The best Mpc. ever made.

This is 64 polyphony sampler ,Built like a tank .I use this beauty without a computer (aksys system) Proberly I will incorperate mpc 4k with a cmputer software in the future . The good thing is Akai made it where you can use a computer or without. The midi capabilities are straight forward tight as a button. The sequencer is very easy user friendly,This baby produce's hit's man. Very professional. Industry standard. Most People bought it early and was use to the early Mpc's and quickly complained about this one, But it is very flexible , it has 4 midi out's 2 midi in's. Pressure senstive pads and speaks to all systems(wav. format) You can sample from an extenal device or you can sample through from the mp4k internally. Meaning you can resample a sample , after you have added effects and reshape it. You can also sample your owned song (sequences) save it to a wav. formatt and imported to another system that reads wav.

Sound? mmmmmm where do I begin other than fabulous. Let just say Big big and clean clean,very thick punchy sound for drums(espcially kick drums or bright snare or bells and toms,crashes) and very relistic clean sounds (piano,bass guitar, human voices) for keyboards 24 or 16 bit . This baby cuts through all mix's. If you want that big full sound look no futher. You can sample something from an old record and eliminate all the snow(static,poping noise) to where it is clean. The onboard effects are as good as you apply it If you want something different you can use an external device. Effects? You can slice and dice your sample in many pc's to play the slice pc's seperately on your touch senstive pads with one stroke.To many things to mention.It can slave to midi very well also being able to create program changes with in thec Mp4k meaning your can assign different program changes ex. midi ch.1 drums , midi ch. 2 keyboard sound to be controlled from mp4k by a master controller.

Never had a crash I would use this in all applications, live show and etc, But it was really made for a Proffessional recording instrument as apart as your gear for the recording studio. Don't get me wrong you can use it as an instrument for your gigs. but mainly I keep this baby im my Home studio ,covered and fixed. Put it this way, If it was stolen today I would get another one today or the nextday. This machine if use correctly is unimaginable,it can create success,maybe create to many aspiring stars (laugh)

Never needed them , But I sometimes go to websites to learn more info about it. Sean at akaipro durring the time I had purchase my mpc 4k(2003) was very helpful. as far as learning more in detailed usage of this machine.

In closing I will say overall rating A+++, have no quarms with this machine,I have used the mpc 60,2000,2000xl and 3000 and other types of samplers and drum machines and this one is by far the best of them all. The learning curve is expected, but for all those who are afraid of change, don't be fooled by "Hear Say" I own one and can tell you first hand this machine is incrediable sounding and has user friendly abilties. You can store ton's of samples and programs upon your command to the hard drive space or save all your creations on a cd( in folders), which can be pulled up just the way you created on command, no lost data.( song mode, sequences, song set-up with all drum sounds and programs midi connections and etc). Mv 8000? what you think, they tried to copy from the orginal, Man (laugh)

OS 1.71
Its straight forward, considering the complexity of what it does, sampling, sequencing, editing sequences, mixing tracks. A big plus is lots of dedicated buttons to take you to pages. A big screen GUI with lots of info on each page, soft-buttons so the menus are laid out visually, much better than the MPC2000 or Emu MP-7 with its 2 line display.
Aksys makes transfer of samples from computer very easy, huge advance over earlier MPCs
Its a sampler so no real presets.
Manual and reference guide are easy to follow, quite comprehensive in my opinion.

For me this gets me away from looking at a computer screen and I spend more time listening to the music, .....well, the sounds I make. Its a psychological thing hard to explain.
It feels self contained, with drum and instrument programs you can use this and nothing else - take it away with you to the countryside, to a friends, to a party, ok you may need a midi keyboard as well to play the instruments.
Tight midi timing for drums, I never found a computer sequencer/midi setup that could do satisfying drum tracks
And as a bonus a fully fleged sampler, I sold my S6000 after I bought this.
AkSys transfer samples from computer how convenient and easy sold all my SCSI cards, ZIP drives, so straight forward.
4 midi outs so you can drive quite a few devices with good use of midi through
Sequencer - great, step time, real time, for drums theres grid, editing more convoluted than computer sequencer, but what do you expect?

Sounds like what you put into it
Suits pattern based music, but you can define patterns very broadly so you could even do ambient/drone/nonmusic
But seems aimed at beat driven music obviously
Not really for sound designers -EMU samplers better for creative mangling, but with Aksys just do it in your computer and export.

Looks and feels very solid. Old Akai samplers are still all over the place, 15 years down the track I feel this will still be there, and theres not many bits of gear I am that confident about.
16 Drum Pads are very very solid, I dont feel afraid to hit them in case I wear out this machine, cant say the same for my EMU PX-7 Im afraid but maybe the comparison is unfair because this is priced about 5 times as much as the PX-7 - you get what you pay for.
No issues to date and Ive had it for 6 months.

Very few companies these days give personalised service I can name one who has TfPro - Ted Fletcher with his compressor, hmm thats it sorry if Ive missed anyone who was incredibly kind and helpful.

Just great. I used to have a MPC2000XL - great timing and rock solid but I sold it because I couldnt get productive with it. Id spend so much time fiddling around to get my samples and programs right, and then editing the sequences - arghh - The 4000 is more friendly and usable and self contained with the full sampler and USB computer integration, internal hard drive, big GUI screen.
I would buy it again, but only at second hand prices, wait a minute I only ever buy gear at second hand prices. Ive waited years for this to come down in price and for the bugs to be sorted out.
It definately helps me to make music.
I own lots of synths mostly and have a bit of a thing for sound design, this has opened up the world of beats for me again since I sold my MPC2000XL a couple of years back.

OS 1.71
I've been using the 4K for over 2 years now.
It's a full featured deep sampler with great specs but there is alot of information to learn to know ths machine in and out.
Manual is ok at best.

EFX are ok........ some of the time. My unit has the 8 outs and the word clock/SPDIF option. Get the 8 output card, all balanced ouputs.
Sequencer is solid and on par with th 3K IMHO. I love the MSB-LSB window for quick bank changes. MPC's have always had great sequencers.

I've used every MPC made and IMHO the 4K is the best sounding MPC. I still love the 3K's thickness but the 4K is clean and big sounding.
The ablity of the 4K to be a full sampler allowing multi layered samples is a big plus. You can load a 256MB Grand Piano and go to town.
This is Electronic music making at it's best.
Skip all the Reason, soft synth working with a mouse trying to make music and get into playing an MPC, your music will thank you.

With the new OS's the machine is solid and never crashes.
I use mine for studio use only but it has gone to NY with me, just get yourself a nice case.

AKAI makes great gear but they suck ass at customer support.
Goto yahoo groups and find the 2 MPC 4000 groups, that's the best support there is.

Mine was stolen and I did replace it,lol, I guess that says it all.

Version 1.60 Beta

The presets are ok, but like the previous revies say--who needs 'em? The only thing that takes down from me giving this are a 10 is the manual, it SUCKS. The downloadable reference manual however (www.akaipro.com) is far better than Akai's excuse for a manual.

The FX aren't what you bought this unit for because Akai's notorious for having crappy effects, but one or two are usable. They fixed the annoying fx bug and so far, this unit is almost perfect. The pressure sensitive pads are a blast to use and the sequencer is NICE. The new pad mixer is a great feature and saves time when trying to master tracks.

The unit sounds great and at 24/96 you can't find a better MPC for the money.

Basically, what you put into it, is what you get out of it. The unit works great for Hip-hop/Electronica, but could be used to create other kinds of music.

I haven't experienced the hardware crashed like a few of the people on here, but I could be fortunate. With 1.60, I haven't had a problem thus far. As far a gig-ing goes, I never use a backup and always use this as my main powerhouse.

Dealing directly with Akai isn't the greatest way to go about trying to get help.

BUT

Visiting the various message boards where Akai employees can be found such as the DPS24 boards (link can be found under the Support section at Akaipro.com) or the Yahoo Groups board are definitely the way to go.

If this piece got lost or stolen, I'd definitely want to buy it again. The past horror stories with this machine are eliminated with OS 1.60 and is worth the money I paid.

I've had this machine for almost a year now and love every minute I spend with it. I own a few pieces of gear: Event TR-6 Monitors, Digi001, Fender American Strat, Mackie CR-1604, Technics 1200 MK2's, Allen and Heath Xone:02, and a Yamaha PSR-400 as a midi controller. I also own various VST and RTA plugins so the FX issue is really not that big of a problem.

This unit is commonly compared to the new Roland MV-8000, and in my opinion is a totally different machine from the MV. If I had the time to relearn a brand new machine with the detail of how I know my 4000 now, I'd look into the MV. Not to say that it's a bad machine, I just don't have the time to learn it like I did my 4000. The new OS is the answer to alot of prayers on this and many other sites where the 4000 is reviewed, and almost corrects all of Akai's wrongs with this machine (except for the fact that it's 2 years late, but at least we got the features we wanted like...audition from hd).

I wish Akai would work with a company known for their effects and just rewrite brand new code for this area. Granted, some FX are usable but at this price they should ALL be usable.

This piece is a great way to lay down your foundation with and is my go-to machine for any idea that I have.

Download the new beta OS on the international site, and you'll be suprised at the new functionality of this piece.

This machine is easy to use. I started using it without looking at a manual. I was able to lay down a sequence in no time.

First off, the FX suck. It just seems hard to get a good sound out of them. I can sometimes use the reverb, but only in very SMALL amounts. It has 8 analog out and ADAT. I'm planning on getting the ADAT expansion. When you buy a new MPC you get the digital spdif and wordclock standard now. The pads are good. At first I had to break them in though. They would skip. Even now I don't think they are quite sensitive enough. The ability to use ak.sys allows me to connect the USB to my computer. This is awesome!!! I can edit samples on the computer and send it over to the MPC. It expands up to 512MB!! I never load it up to that much memory. Most drum samples are very small on the order of less than 100kb.

The punchiness of the percussion sounds is great. Not nearly expressive and warm as my E5000 and ASR-10. Like I said before....FX suck. The pads, again are great. This machine is definitely made for electronic/hip-hop music. If you tried making rock music I'm positive it would suck.

The main reason I wrote this review is there are no recent reviews. Since the last review on this machine there is a new OS version...1.51. This OS has fixed all the major problems. I have only had it crash on me twice. I find it very dependable.

I have only had to contact customer support and I think it went through the distributor. They did not include a power cable for my CD-ROM drive and they sent me one under waranty...no problem. Overall though...the akai customer support is suppossed to be very bad.

This thing is a blast to use. I was primarily using my computer for sequencing my E5000 and ASR-X before I got the MPC. I like using the MPC because I don't need to rely on the computer at all. I was able to buy the LE model so I added my own hard drive, CD-ROM and RAM. They don't sell it this way anymore. It's too bad because it was a much better deal to put the stuff in yourself. They are working on auditioning sounds from disks which will be very cool. I have been making music with my computer since about 98. I started playing bass back in 94/95.