Bremerton, Washington, USA
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So, I have decided to take a little sabatical from using a computer for music. I'm going to get an MPC 1000 within the next few months, and I know they are complicated and easy to get wrong. I understand the work flow of them, and I am confident they can do what I want. I just don't want to get burnt like so many people apparently did.
So, I need your expertise: JJ OS, do I need it? Any reason I should stay away from the numerous scratch and dent MPCs being sold by music retailers(they're going for about $849)? Am I right that the blue one had screwy pads and I only want a black one? Whats the situation with adding a hard drive to these? So give me the primer about what I should get. I know I can research this, but I really trust the em411 community more than I trust the "HEADZ."
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edited: Sep 12 2008
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KidQuaalude
JJ OS, do I need it?
Yes. Its much better than the stock Akai OS in soooo many ways. There is a free version too, so get started with that.
Any reason I should stay away from the numerous scratch and dent MPCs being sold by music retailers(they're going for about $849)? Am I right that the blue one had screwy pads and I only want a black one?
The most recently manufactured black ones have the 'good' pads (not ALL black MPCs - mine has the old pads  ), older ones dont. I cant remember exactly what printed on the ones that have the new pads...I think its MPC1000BLK-N or something (consult mpcforums.com for answer)
Whats the situation with adding a hard drive to these?
Its about as complicated as installing a laptop HD (piece of piss). There's a list online of compatible drives...again check mpcforums.
09/12/08
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KidQuaalude
09/12/08
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infradead
i have a blue one that needs new pads..
right now i have jj os1 on it.. i've been meaning to upgrade to os2 but the pads are a higher priority for me right now..
i haven't put in a DS yet but it seems really simple..
09/12/08
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deltasleep
So now I am wondering if that big scratch and dent market has anything BUT machines with the old pads. I remember how pissed everyone here was about that. And infradead, it looks like JJ OS is up to like 4 something.
09/12/08
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infradead
JJ OS is funky..
there is the free one
OS1 and OS2
and they all have their different versions..
they have slightly different features
JJ OS feature comparison
09/12/08
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infradead
i got mine used off a cat of futureproducers.com for around 500 with some nice extras.. it does need new pads and have 1 button (that i've never needed missing) i did know about the dying pad when i bought it.. 850 seems like to much for me.. but i like craigslist and such..
09/12/08
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infradead
man i'm talking alot..
new pads for the mpc seem to be out of stock / backordered everywhere.. food for thought
09/12/08
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astroid
indulging our gearlust are we?
09/13/08
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ssscientist
I've seen a bunch on Chicago CL for what seem to be good prices - like $500.
In my opinion, if you go into a blue one with the bad pads with your eyes open it's better to have one than not.
And the JJ OS 2 is an absolute must. It has all the file loading and saving advantages of OS 1 and adds very clever ways to get visual editing on a tiny screen. It also has many other workflow niceties that you instantly take for granted. OS 2 is $90 and it's the best $90 I've ever spent on gear..
09/13/08
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breakscience
There are tons of new things the JJOS1v4 can do, but ADSR envelopes and non destructive chop made JJOS2 a must for me.
I just recently figured out how to get single cycle waveforms working without clicks and sounding like the original (which isnt as easy as you might think). So now with full envelopes, I can right simple synth parts away from the "studio".
The non destructive chop keeps everything so organized and flexible. It replaced the drum racks from ableton that i felt I couldn't live without...in a box!
09/13/08
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zifcak
with full ram i didn't really need the hard drive, or a card bigger than 128. in the studio i would just load the whole contents of the card on power up and never have to deal with loading samples.
jj os is definitely better than the akai os. i never bought os2, but just os1 adds a bunch of useful features, like grid editing, and switching between sequences in the middle.
09/14/08
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deltasleep
Thanks guys! I guess you could call it gear lust, but I just got a job in a tech support position and some how the prospect of working with computers after work just sounds a lot less appealing. I'd like a cozy chair and a set of headphones next to my record collection to play with. I think I'll be doing a little work with the MPC, and then combining it with my PC's ability to do multitrack recording.
09/14/08
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WhiteBox
I would advise getting the 'Beat Making with MPC1000' ebook from mpcsamples.com - it has JJOS tutorials in it too.
09/14/08
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WhiteBox
Sorry that should be link (forgot the hyphen). Oh and just for piece of mind get a new one with the new style pads. I had a blue and Red one - I now regret selling it - the pads were fine though.
09/14/08
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WhiteBox
O yeah - don't buy the AKAI branded RAM - just use Kingston or another generic type - you'll save quite a bit of $ like that. Check the MPC forums for the spec.
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