Akai MPC 2500 - Upgrade Hard Drive to SD Card - Tutorial

Upgrade your MPC 2500 hard drive to an SD card! Up to 128Gb.
This is an easy upgrade to do and will make it so you can potentially store your whole sample library on your MPC 2500 for fast and easy access.
SD card reader can be purchased from this eBay seller:
www.ebay.com/it...
SD cards can be purchased from any electronics store and online from many sellers and stores.
Have fun.

[@santaslilhelper4945]

My CF reader has a broken pin, I was gonna buy another PCB, but this looks so much easier to install. It's definitely a lot cheaper as well. Thanks for this!

[@twist1ne]

Thanks for doing the research on this. Using this mod with a 128GB SanDisk micro SD card, along with an SD-to-CF adapter with another 128GB SanDisk micro card in the memory card slot (thanks to MalaKai over on the MPC Forums)! Everything saves and loads fine between the two and I now have roughly 242GB of solid state storage in my 2500!!!

[@lazoo2000]

Daaamn. Took it to a whole new level. Thanks for sharing.

[@yungshinto7224]

That sounds incredible! I have a 2500 on the way and this got me even more hype! Can’t believe you can use an adapter for the cf reader and get 128 gigs!

[@padlockbeats151]

Thanks!! Just swapped out the old crusty 160gb IDE drive for this with a 200gb sandisk and works a treat. Confirmed 200gb sandisk SD card works and can utilise all 200gb!

[@lazoo2000]

Niice!! Thanks for the info.

[@yungshinto7224]

Thanks for this! 🙏 got my first 2500 on the way in the mail pre loaded with jjosxl. It’s got a 60 gig hd but I think this swap is a super smart move considering how many drives I’ve had fail on me in the past!

[@ApexDubb]

I successfully did this upgrade this afternoon in less than 10 minutes Thank you very much

[@lazoo2000]

You're welcome... glad it worked out.

[@michaelbain6402]

It works! Thanks again, I actually find that using the Micro SD allows you to preview sounds faster.

[@lazoo2000]

Sweet! You're welcome. Glad it worked out.

[@da23ad]

If I was getting $1 every time you say "fuck", I'ld probably be rich pretty fast.

[@Paddydacook]

quick question... when i start the mpc, i have this demo project loaded. is there a way to delete this? i wanna have it all blank when i start it. also my "window" button dont work (only led) is this essential to work with the 2500? sorry i'm a noob😅

[@Metamophisis]

Cool 😎 video man! A buddy of mine on ig recently did this. Great 👍🏽 tutorial video👀

[@hethaerto1]

Thank you for doing this video. I just did the same upgrade/conversion to my ancient Akai DPS16 multitrack recorder. It was easy and dirt cheap. Machine is virtually silent now. Little fan still runs but I can't hear it. *salute

[@lazoo2000]

congrats on the upgrade!... enjoy the quiet.

[@ph4z_]

Thanks for the vid! The four isolated pins on the left are actually drive select and not power. You correctly hooked up power on pins 41 to 44, all the way on the right. You can google "ide 2.5 pinout" to see. It's kinda confusing the HDM10 kit indicates pin 1 incorrectly, but luckily videos like yours show how it is done.

[@lazoo2000]

Thanks for the info!

[@chapc7030]

Where can I find this item for my MPC 5000? Thank you.

[@anonymous_friend]

Thanks for sharing man! Are you using JJOS or stock Akai firmware? Is there a size limit for the CF card? I've got a bunch of 16 GB cards laying around. Still trying to decide on getting a 2500 vs 4000 if you have any input on that also?

[@lazoo2000]

Hey PJ. I'm using the stock Akai system and I think your 16gb card will work fine as there is a comment below where someone is successfully using a 128gb card. Never used a 4000 so I can't speak to that, but the 2500 is pretty cool and you have the jjos option for expanded features and functionality as well. peace

[@Jdubb111]

Im looking into purchasing a 2500 and it does not currently have a hard drive. Can I just do this upgrade straight away?

[@lazoo2000]

Yes... you just need the adapter and an SD card.

[@modulationmusiclibrary]

Worked like a charm, thanks!

[@66SecondShorts]

@lazoo2000 i put my adapter in the incorrect way to the middle of the tray and left as well as being upside down and i my drive doesnt at all read anymore. do you think i have to replace the whole drive/or try or both? im using the free jjos 3.13 btw.

[@lazoo2000]

hey, sorry to hear... i would try to install it correctly, then if that doesn't work, try replacing the SD card.

[@CyberYarns]

Hey man, Im about to uograde my 2500.. so glad for your vid. justr wanted to know, once you formatted the SD drive did you have to remove it and load your samples on it again??

[@lazoo2000]

You can if you want... I just hook it up to my pc via the usb jack to transfer my samples.

[@CyberYarns]

@@lazoo2000 sick one, thanks. Didn’t consider that would be quicker than how it is transferring to the internal drive. Appreciate it!

[@CyberYarns]

Hey lazoo2000 do you know of a size limit of the card you can use? I’m wanting to get a 512Gb or even 1T card for it but unfortunately can’t find info on the net about it. Thanks mate

[@shihamangalasseri]

Thanks for the idia How can buy this

[@tjs6025]

So you can’t take out the SD card from within the machine once installed? Would more want to replace my CF card reader with an SD and be able to pop it out and back in from time to time. Does hooking the MPC up via USB show the SD card on your computer fine?

[@lazoo2000]

Yup. You can access the SD card or the CF card on the computer and transfer files back and forth.

[@WestonStephens]

I use a CF to SD card adapter. Around $10, no issues after many years of use.

[@sethsmith927]

when i attempt to format the hard disk it gives me an "insert a memory card" error. kinda weird. i have a CF card in and am not accidentally formatting the CF instead of the HD. Any idea what to do? 5 minutes later.... I just took it out and back in maybe twice. no need to format. weird but okay.

[@Ashad2012]

Wouldn't the saving habits of the MPC have an adverse affect on the write cycles lifespan of the SD card?

[@lazoo2000]

Hey Tarik. Thanks for your question. From the internet: Flash memory indeed has limited write cycles. However, by now it is unlikely that you'll encounter this within the normal lifetime of such a card. Usually this is in the order of 10,000 to 100,000 write cycles depending on the card. Today SD cards include circuitry to manage wear-leveling, that is, spread out writes over the storage media evenly to avoid "hot spots"-pages that are written too frequently and therefore failing early. Most people would have changed to a newer card before the old one can be worn out. If you are worried that your SD card may die on you, regularly backup important files. People are putting up to 200gb cards in this machine. With a card of that size (or similar) one may only see a few write cycles in its lifetime. The card I installed is only 64gb and I have only used around 6gb so far. Hope this helps.

[@keekemouse1669]

Very Helpful!!!! Thanks a tone!!

[@lazoo2000]

Glad to hear... 👍

[@That125Kid]

What is the biggest hard drive you can install instead of a SD card?

[@lazoo2000]

Good question... definitely a 128gb, but I would bet a 256gb would work as well... and maybe even a 512gb drive... not sure and have not tested the 256 and 512 tho.

[@That125Kid]

@@lazoo2000 what size again for the 2500 fits is it 3.5 or 2.5?

[@lazoo2000]

2.5 drive.

[@lazoo2000]

Also remember it takes an IDE drive, not an SATA.

[@lazoo2000]

If you have an older laptop, you could potentially use the drive out of that.

[@charlietango48]

Nice! Just ordered the same SD to IDE adapter before finding this video. Glad to know it works. Any reason to do Micro SD over SD?

[@lazoo2000]

Nope... just happened to be what I had available. Thanks.

[@michaelbain6402]

thanks for the tut bro! I tried this with a CF card but no matter how lined up the pins it never recognized it. I'm gonna try your idea.

[@Broyale26]

How is this working out for you these days? Are you having any issue with loading and saving?

[@lazoo2000]

Still working perfect with no issues at all. Highly recommended upgrade. Thanks for watching.

[@Broyale26]

I upgraded my 2500 with the SD to IDE card adapter and now I got 60 gigs in my machine! I was so impressed with how it worked, I ended up buying a second one with a Sandisk 128 gig Extreme Pro card. Thanks for making this video and helping out us MPC heads!

[@lazoo2000]

you are welcome.

[@joshk2181]

this looks great, any link to what you bought?

[@lazoo2000]

Sure, here's a link to the U.S. seller where I bought mine: www.ebay.com/itm/HI-Speed-SD-SDHC-SDXC-MMC-Memory-Card-to-IDE-2-5-44Pin-Male-Adapter-Converter-/301628732162?hash=item463a793302:g:ZaAAAOSwA3dYXbLN I misquoted the price in my vid. You can get them for around $6, but you have to order from China and it will take a month to arrive, otherwise it's around $15.

[@ssaidov77]

3.13 verse updated???

[@charlesgonzales1287]

hey brother can i get the info for the SD card reader u installed I'd like to purchase the same one. thanks

[@lazoo2000]

www.ebay.com/itm/SD-SDHC-SDXC-MMC-Memory-Card-to-IDE-2-5-Inch-44Pin-Male-Adapter-Converter-BNY/372496880859?epid=17003211007&hash=item56ba8b54db:g:OFoAAOSwylhb5qLD:rk:1:pf:0

[@lazoo2000]

www.ebay.com/itm/SD-SDHC-SDXC-MMC-Memory-Card-to-IDE-2-5-44-Pin-Male-Adapter-Converter-US/262079393302?epid=516522725&hash=item3d05262e16:g:idYAAOSwN81WEhts:rk:7:pf:0

[@lazoo2000]

This is the one... CA seller and NY seller depending on where you are.

[@charlesgonzales1287]

thank you brother 👍

[@kadovisk76]

Oi amigo, você sentiu uma melhora significativa na velocidade em comparação com HD?

[@lazoo2000]

Hello. I never used a hard drive in this unit so I couldn't tell you if it is faster, but it is 100% quiet and judging from what I know about solid state technology, it more than likely is as least as fast as a hard drive.

[@LG-ro5le]

Sound like aaron paul haha good vid

[@jessestevens460]

Can this work with the mpcx?

[@lazoo2000]

The X has a SD card slot already... and a 2.5″ SATA bay for HDD or SSD drives, so there’s really no need for this mod.

[@keepitphatt9674]

Is there a way to do the same thing to the 2kxl?

[@lazoo2000]

Yes... you can replace the floppy or Zip drive with an SD card reader/writer.

[@Ashad2012]

Remember the 2kxl has some formatting restrictions that will hinder the size drive you can use based on the changed made with OS 1.2 which is needed for most readers. OS 1.14 will partition a drive but works with fewer drives.

[@Nudekwood]

Why do you use a MicroSD and not just a SD Card?

[@lazoo2000]

You can use either. It's just what had laying around at the time.

[@Nudekwood]

Thanks for the tipp anyways, I tried it with a SD to IDE adapter in the HD slot and a CF to SD in the CF slot, both with a SanDisk 128 GB card and it works great.

[@lazoo2000]

Glad it worked out.

[@AnthonyBerg]

Hey thanks for the great vid!! I actually ordered some parts and am excited to experiment!! I did notice something that is probably worth mentioning: I believe the adapter limits the actual write speed of the card to only 25MB/s, this is much slower than a hard drive where a 5400rpm hard drive can provide 100MB/s and a 7200rpm hard drive can provide 120MB/s. I believe the main benefits to this mod would be creating greater storage reliability due the the lack of moving parts that can fail or be broken, and also decreased noise level of a spinning HD. @7:16You do mention that load speed has been improved, does this mod really improve read speeds?? Anyway here is the article that brought this all to mind: goughlui.com/2019/02/03/tested-generic-sintechi-fc1307a-based-sd-to-ide-adapter-sd35vc0/ Any thoughts? Thanks again for taking your time to put this together!!

[@lazoo2000]

Hey Anthony, thanks for the info... 25MB’s per second write speed is more than one will ever need or use with this unit. After loading ones samples and files, all the work is done from the RAM which I have never seen glitch or hiccup no matter how much I have going on... unless I max out the ram, which I’ve never done. The real limitation of this mpc is the 32 voice polyphony and in my experience, one will run out of voices before anything else. As you mentioned, the reliability and the lack of added noise that a spinning drive will cause are the main benefits of this upgrade. Let us know how it goes. Peace.