sander
_
Hier is part 1. Er komt nog meer.
Review is gedaan door Mike Goins van midicase en mpc2000xl.com
ook runt hij de unofficial Akai mailinglijst.
!!!!!!!!!Misschien handig nog effe geen reply's er tussen te zetten totdat de rest
van de review binnenkomt. Dan staat het namelijk allemaal makkelijk en overzichtelijk
onder elkaar.
First in a several part series, primarily from an MPC owner's view.
MPC1000 arrived today. It is suprisingly heavy for it's small size. LCD is
slightly larger (longer?) than the MPC2000 series and the green light LCD is
very easy to read. It seems Akai also re-worked the display layout so the
words somehow seems larger than the previous models.
The pads are the same width as the eariler models but not quite the same in
height. However, they are spaced a little farther apart to accomodate this.
The 2 Q-link knobs have a shorter run length then the other MPC's, but this
also allows them to be placed over each other. Going back to the recessed
thumb slider like the MPC60/3000 is nice as opposed to the `DJ like` slider of
the MPC2k series. Having the headphone jack on the front is very good. I also
like having the footswitch jacks on the front (MPC2k series did not even have
them).
There are two access plates on the MPC1000. One is for the memory. One nice
addition to this model is that the MPC performs a series of tests when memory
is installed to ensure compatibility. This helps to avoid a series of issues
that plagued the older MPC series in regards to memory being recognized but not
performing properly. The other access plate (I had suspected this from the
first images) is on the front panel around the CF and phone/foot jacks. Tucked
inside this little beast is a laptop drive bay (much like you find on the
Roland VS recorders). Given that this feature has not been announced, I
suspect the internal port has not been fully implemented in the OS (apologies
to Akai for spilling the beans on this one). This does lead to a few more
questions like if the hrd drive drive be visible to a computer via USB. I
suspect it
will.
There a couple things worth noting that are different from the older MPC
models. When you are on a setting in any screen that has an underlying OPEN
WINDOW feature, the translucent OPEN WINDOW button lights up. This is a very
nice addition to serve as a reminder that there can be addtional settings
made. Also, Akai also improved access to some of the machine settings by
allowing several different access points to them. For example, just about
anywhere you see the Program name, pressing OPEN WINDOW gets you to the program
settings. Also, while the machine is playing, there is a small blinking
indicator next to Track and Seq on the main screen that flash when events
occur. When loading and saving, there are now small icons to indicate what
type of file is currently selected.
Connecting the MPC to the PC was very easy. Just go into the LOAD/SAVE screens
and select USB and then connect. While in USB mode the MPC is `locked` into
this state until the USB cable is removed. This is mildly annoying. It would
have been nice if it included a software internal disconnect to avoid
unplugging/replugging, but I suspect this helps to avoid older non-hot-
disconnecting computer OS's.
I'll cover some more operation reviews in the next part.
_______________________________________________
The ability to sample off the main outs is great. You can trigger a sample
with effects or play a sequence to re-sample.
Effects handling is significantly different on the MPC1000 than the older
MPC's. Effects settings are saved as part of the ALL file (seq/songs). You get
20 locations to store FX1, FX2 and Master. It will help greatly once you decide
what effects to use for the current work to go into the beginning of the seq
and enter an Effects Change. This is done by going into Step Edit, pressing
Insert and scroll until you find Effect, and press Do It. Select the Effects
number that you are using under the Effects Select section of the machine.
This allows you to change what effects settings you are using at any time. This
makes effects settings independant of the programs used (like the former models
did).
You can also load individual effects settings from one ALL into another so you
can keep re-using your favorite settings. This can be selected from the
conformation screen you get when opening the ALL file.
More soon.
Review is gedaan door Mike Goins van midicase en mpc2000xl.com
ook runt hij de unofficial Akai mailinglijst.
!!!!!!!!!Misschien handig nog effe geen reply's er tussen te zetten totdat de rest
van de review binnenkomt. Dan staat het namelijk allemaal makkelijk en overzichtelijk
onder elkaar.
First in a several part series, primarily from an MPC owner's view.
MPC1000 arrived today. It is suprisingly heavy for it's small size. LCD is
slightly larger (longer?) than the MPC2000 series and the green light LCD is
very easy to read. It seems Akai also re-worked the display layout so the
words somehow seems larger than the previous models.
The pads are the same width as the eariler models but not quite the same in
height. However, they are spaced a little farther apart to accomodate this.
The 2 Q-link knobs have a shorter run length then the other MPC's, but this
also allows them to be placed over each other. Going back to the recessed
thumb slider like the MPC60/3000 is nice as opposed to the `DJ like` slider of
the MPC2k series. Having the headphone jack on the front is very good. I also
like having the footswitch jacks on the front (MPC2k series did not even have
them).
There are two access plates on the MPC1000. One is for the memory. One nice
addition to this model is that the MPC performs a series of tests when memory
is installed to ensure compatibility. This helps to avoid a series of issues
that plagued the older MPC series in regards to memory being recognized but not
performing properly. The other access plate (I had suspected this from the
first images) is on the front panel around the CF and phone/foot jacks. Tucked
inside this little beast is a laptop drive bay (much like you find on the
Roland VS recorders). Given that this feature has not been announced, I
suspect the internal port has not been fully implemented in the OS (apologies
to Akai for spilling the beans on this one). This does lead to a few more
questions like if the hrd drive drive be visible to a computer via USB. I
suspect it
will.
There a couple things worth noting that are different from the older MPC
models. When you are on a setting in any screen that has an underlying OPEN
WINDOW feature, the translucent OPEN WINDOW button lights up. This is a very
nice addition to serve as a reminder that there can be addtional settings
made. Also, Akai also improved access to some of the machine settings by
allowing several different access points to them. For example, just about
anywhere you see the Program name, pressing OPEN WINDOW gets you to the program
settings. Also, while the machine is playing, there is a small blinking
indicator next to Track and Seq on the main screen that flash when events
occur. When loading and saving, there are now small icons to indicate what
type of file is currently selected.
Connecting the MPC to the PC was very easy. Just go into the LOAD/SAVE screens
and select USB and then connect. While in USB mode the MPC is `locked` into
this state until the USB cable is removed. This is mildly annoying. It would
have been nice if it included a software internal disconnect to avoid
unplugging/replugging, but I suspect this helps to avoid older non-hot-
disconnecting computer OS's.
I'll cover some more operation reviews in the next part.
_______________________________________________
The ability to sample off the main outs is great. You can trigger a sample
with effects or play a sequence to re-sample.
Effects handling is significantly different on the MPC1000 than the older
MPC's. Effects settings are saved as part of the ALL file (seq/songs). You get
20 locations to store FX1, FX2 and Master. It will help greatly once you decide
what effects to use for the current work to go into the beginning of the seq
and enter an Effects Change. This is done by going into Step Edit, pressing
Insert and scroll until you find Effect, and press Do It. Select the Effects
number that you are using under the Effects Select section of the machine.
This allows you to change what effects settings you are using at any time. This
makes effects settings independant of the programs used (like the former models
did).
You can also load individual effects settings from one ALL into another so you
can keep re-using your favorite settings. This can be selected from the
conformation screen you get when opening the ALL file.
More soon.
