Re: [linux-audio-dev] Re: Akai's MPC4000 Sampler/Workstation Open Source Project

From: Jens M Andreasen <jens.andreasen@email-addr-hidden>
Date: Sat Jul 29 2006 - 17:49:26 EEST

On Fri, 2006-07-28 at 23:48 -0500, Renich Bon Ćirić wrote:

> Well, the system has some major, important bugs. You could search a list
> of it on the unnofficial support forum, www.mpc-forums.com, since akai
> doesn't even have a bug tracking system, at least outside.
>

Ehh ... I looked around a little in:

   Exchange tips and tricks for the Akai MPC4000
   26864 Posts, 3600 Threads

Is that the one? There is no search function in the forum, and quite a
low noise to content ratio. I can understand if akai is not willing to
manually browse through it all ...

I found one report of a "missing file", but nobody chiming in with a "me
too", so there is no pattern there to follow. On the surface, that
report could also look like a "dog ate my homework" :-)

> The last version was released 1.5 years ago. The update has a great
> number of bugs still in it. This bugs could be corrected easily, the
> developers say, but they haven't been corrected.
>
What developers, akai? Open source advocates?
And again, what bug? Saying "a great number" is hard to follow up on.

In the forum I see many suggestions that could be compiled into some
kind of wish-list. I would recommend that those people pick up some
abondoned PC from the garbage bin, install Linux, and then join us
here.
The chance of akai open sourcing their application is next to nil. They
would (and should) consider their knowhow to be trade-secrets, which
means that everything would be under an NDA. Furthermore, it would also
be riddled with licensed patents, so of very little use to us.

That the OS (or application) is not being updated is not nescesarily a
bad thing. It might be so that the real bugs have been ironed out and
compliance with specifications have been achieved. For that matter, the
OS for my hardware synthesizer haven't been updated since late '84 (or
was that early '85?) The OS misinterpreted an "all-notes-off" to be a
"system-reset", which was the end of fun with inter-operability. Despite
that there are no further updates after that, I am still happy and I use
it every day :-)

> Support from akai is very strange, you do have a support@email-addr-hidden
> email, but they usually just say that akai has nothing to do with it and
> that you should forget it.
>
> The hardware is great... the service isn't... they could be so
> successful,..

It's a $3K unit! If they have managed to ship, say 3000 units, they
would be close to (or beyond) break-even. My guess is, from an
accountants POV, that they are successful.

High profiled synthesizers are like Lambourginis and Ferraris: Everybody
knows what they look like and what they can do, but only the few select
can afford to actually own one and use it. Talking of which: Porshe
still haven't fixed the bug in the back-suspension of the 911
Carrera ...

()

-- 
Received on Sat Jul 29 20:15:18 2006

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