I would not recommend the mpc 5000. The 1000 or 2500 with jjos is a different story IF you are from that cloth.
Hahahaha…uhm thanks for telling me what memory types are
. I actually studied programming and networking.
What I mean is: What do they do inside the MPC5000, what is each type of memory is responsible for?
For sold/completed MPC 5000’s on Ebay for July/August average price is between $500-$700 so definitely do Rytm + cash on that trade if you decided to do it. Something like the MPC + $500. You already know this but, the Octatrack pretty much does what you need: MIDI sequencing your Blofeld/external gear. If you don’t want the OT then maybe trade it for an external sequencer like the Pyramid)? Then use Blofeld’s multitimbral ability, Blofeld can do kicks/basslines/synth pads, etc…Then down the road, slowly add things back IF you want to?
FWIW, I didn’t enjoy working with Push/Ableton, it took me out of working with hardware so not sure you’d like Maschine if you enjoy making music with hardware.
Care to elborate? I am not an MPC user, never touched one. I am drawing from similarity to the Maschine.
Oh my bad, you can see how I thought you were asking that though lol
CF card is used to save all your samples and projects etc, hard drive is an extension of that but with tons more space, store full albums to chop/ huge drum libraries
When you load a project or samples it goes into RAM, if I’m right it’s got 512mb(?) so you can only load that mug at a time, that’s still quite a lot though, certainly enough to work with. I don’t think the 5k does disk streaming but someone may correct me
Thanks. So it’s pretty much same as in Elektron. The thing is that hard drive is close to 10 years old, due for an upgrade…
The stock RAM is 64 MB (same as Rytm or OT, I think) can be doubled for about $100
Yes certainly,
Google MPC 5000 operating system.
I used to own one and sent it back. I also owned multiple mpcs previously including A 4000 which is worth every penny. The 5000 was supposed to be the flag ship product from akai but unfortunately the operating system is FUBAR!! The operating systems for the 1000 and 2500 were pretty much crippled too and the hardware was totally beyond usable requiring multiple fixes but jjos fixes everything software wise for a small fee and an easy pad upgrade for the blue units will resolve a major hardware overlook. they are great boxes still used by many users to this very day but the 5000 is still unsuitable for anyone.
dud unit imho look elsewhere.
Thank you very much for your info. It’s a valuable thing to know. Unfortunatelly I can’t find a detailed list of what was wrong witht he original OS. But I did find that the unit was pretty short lived. They also released 2.0 software. Have you tried your unit with original software or with 2.0 before you sent it back? Also have you tried the JJOS? Maybe I could just get the prmium version of that (if the price is right). Of course I still haven’t made up my mind and knowing this already makes me reconsider. I guess being stupid (and asking a question) have paid of.
One thing to consider even though my setup may be a little crippled (Rytm + Blofeld + Reaper) is that at least Elektron gear is built like a tank and has free upgrades and it something that I know has been good to me.
I dont think you can run jjos on the 5000 to my knowledge I may be wrong.
I ran two mpc 1000 after selling my 4000 for years and made banging beats
great units if the blue ones have the pad upgrades, I would also recommend the RS7000 for the midi job function alone why elektron cannot offer that is understandable but is not impossible 
Hope the info helps you out just stay away from the 5000 I was lucky to get my money back tbh.
If you’re used to using maschine MPCs sequencer is simpler and nicer imo. You load samples into ram from your sample list and then create programs (pgms). Pgms are your drum kits basically. You can use the four pad banks to create big kits across multiple pages . Each track has its own PGM and you can set each tracks midi channel so you can either play/sequence a pgm from something externally should you choose to or use a track to sequencer external gear. Anyway what would be a scene in maschine is called a sequence on the MPC. It’s just simpler than maschine, set your sequence length, play what you want on each track, make a new sequence. You can set sequence changes to be instant or quantised for live jamming and song mode is just a list where you put your sequences in whatever order you want. That’s the gist of it though, hope it clears things up a bit for you
The Mpc 5000 OS can not be trusted. I wouldn’t do it. Look elsewhere for something else / hold off.
Just wanted to reply directly to you so hopefully you see this. You can not, I repeat you can not get JJOS for the Mpc 5000. The OS on the 5000 will never be fixed and it’s got bugs! They’ve been known to work and then randomly freeze at boot or worse just never turn back on again. What Mpc fan boys call “Nuakai”. Do not trade a working machine for a paper weight. No matter what it says on paper of what it can do that machine is a ticking time bomb. Here is a rant from Just Blaze on the 5000 when it first came out back in 2008. It was not a good machine from the get go.
http://www.xxlmag.com/news/bloggers/2008/07/just-blaze-rips-akai-and-the-mpc5000-a-new-one/
The only MPC that offers JJOS are the Mpc 1000 and the Mpc 2500 look at those machines if you want cost effective feature rich OS with OS fixes like Elektron.
Thanks for sharing that interesting read!
Ive got a 5000 here.Been working on it a lot recently.Small projects Ive also owned one before.Ran it next to the 4000.If your unlucky enough top buy a dud then thats unfortunate.It runs with out hitch fot me so far.Has tons of features.Its big and bold.Lots of potential plus built in synth.Its easy to use.Can knock up big complex beats in no time if you know how to program /mix.Its got a very bad rap but quite often unjustified.Some heavy users have reported no problems.Saying this…the 4000 is obviously the better machine quality wise.But the 5 kicks Butt too.Depends what you want.5000 vs 10002500 (same machine) -5000 has a lot better FX,a lot more and better filters,big nice screen,Adat,2 in,4 out midi,turntable in,built in HD,3 osc synth,tons pf sliders and knobs that directly control eq and effects mixer,high res sequencer,HD recording 8 tracks to HD and other quirky things standard so you dont have to also buy expensive JJ Os.Im selling mine so i dont care but just giving it its due.Its other name is ‘The Beast MPC’ so…
Are you the guy who wants to trade with OP? 
Seriously though, good to read that the MPC5000 doesn’t seem to be the landmine it is made out to be.
‘The Beast’
+1 for MPC Live. Good hardware. Good tech.
Yeah, so I backed out of the trade. I couldn’t agree on the money and couldn’t have a peace of mind regarding the issues. I was offered 5000 + $200. My AR is being sold for $1200. All Canadian dollars by the way, not U.S. Meanwhile there was a 5000 for sale in my area for $800. So there was already 5000 + $400 to be had from another seller. I would have been more comfortable with a 5000 + $400. The thing is the unit still has the original hard drive, so that means it’s 10 years old, it’s about time to change it. Most computer hard drives are changed at 5 years give or take, so at 10 I would need another $100 to change that. Then the RAM it’s 64 MB, for a machine that relies on samples I don’t find it enough. Yes it has synths built in but I do not know if I will or will not nee dmore RAM. Analog RYTM also has 64MB but it has many synth engines and covers many tracks so the 64MB will only be used for a ytrack or two and for me seems quite enough.
In short I think I can just wait longer sell the AR and get Mashine MK3 and not worry about anything. Or perhaps I can just learn to work with the odd workflow of sequencing AR and computer ysnths speraretly in Reaper.
In the UK there about the same price now.Its fun working with the 5000 but fun also with the RYTM.The 5 is a bit large and a bit overkill when you now have the live.Based on the same effects and sample engine.Did a shoot out with the software last night mirroring exactly the same path and samples and they sounded the same lol.Altho i feel the 5000 sometime has a grungy feel to it.A bit of character but thats not always what you want…
Am I the only one who prefers the MPC X over the MPC Live? I had the Live and at the worst of times it felt like I was using an iPad with an MPD218 attached to it…talk about menu diving and fiddling around on a touch screen. At least the MPC X feels more like actual hardware rather than a PC + (integrated) midi controller.
Not being polemic, just wondering.