MPC//SAMPLESECRET GUIDEBOOK BIBLE
CLASSIFIED // LIVING RECORD · SYNC · FW

MPC Sample Secret
Guidebook Bible

The ultimate living record of Akai's mighty tiny machine. Page 01 is the cheat sheet: every control on the panel mapped, the whole SHIFT layer, and four flow-state recipes that take you from an empty project to a performed, printed beat. Hover or tap anything. Hold your keyboard SHIFT to flip the panel to its second layer, the way the hardware does.

MODEL AC50 LAUNCH 24 MAR 2026 · $399 FIRMWARE MANUAL 8×16 PADS · 32 VOICES · 60+ FX BATTERY ~5 h
hover or press-and-drag down the labels to magnify · tap a control or label to pin its pop-up · esc closes · print the one-page sheet
  • PHONES3.5 mm TRS. Plugging in mutes the speaker.
  • SYNC OUT3.5 mm TS, 5 V clock pulses. PPQN set in MIDI Config.
  • MIDI OUT · IN3.5 mm TRS Type A. Needs TRS-A ↔ DIN adapters.
  • AUDIO OUT¼″ TRS line outs, L/R.
  • AUDIO IN¼″ TRS mic/line. Rear L or R works mono.
  • REC GAINInput level for the rear inputs only.
  • USB-C5 V 2 A power · audio · MIDI · SD disk · web updater at 192.168.155.1.
  • POWERHold to force off if frozen.
  • microSDLeft side of the unit.

Layout traced from the Features chapter of the official User Guide . Internal pad notes and panel details come from community reverse engineering .

// FLOW STATE

Empty project → performed beat

The four moves you'll do 90% of the time, in the order you'll do them. Each step is the literal button press.

01

Sample → pads

RECORD · TRIM · CHOP
  1. SAMPLE RECORD then K1 picks the source: Rear (stereo) · Rear L/R · USB (phone/computer audio) · Mic · Resample. K3 threshold auto-starts on sound; K2 Seq records exactly one sequence length.
  2. Tap an empty pad to start. Tap other pads mid-take to drop chop points live. Tap the pad or STOP to end; SAMPLE RECORD ends and jumps to the edit page.
  3. Missed the moment? recalls the last ~25 s onto the next free pad.
  4. SAMPLE → K1/K2 Start/End, with to zoom. normalizes, trims for good.
  5. CHOP → K3 type: Regions 16 for loops, Threshold ( sets sensitivity) for breaks, Manual to tap your own. Pads now play slices.
  6. Keep the good ones: extracts a slice to the next free pad.
  7. Loading instead? SAMPLE SELECT → B2 switches to the SD card → ENCODER turn, then push to load.
02

Record the beat

SEQ · TEMPO · TAKE · FIX
  1. SEQ → tap a dim pad (empty sequence slot).
  2. Hold B1 + turn ENCODER for BPM (or tap TAP TEMPO). K1 bars · K2 Q (try 1/16) · B3 record quantize.
  3. count-in · metronome On/Rec.
  4. SEQ RECORD → PLAY. Finger-drum. Hold NOTE REPEAT for hat rolls (B1–B3 = rate, SHIFT = triplets). It keeps overdubbing every loop.
  5. SEQ RECORD again stops recording but keeps playing; STOP stops both.
  6. Fix it: undoes the whole take · recalls a jam you played without recording · → B2 all pads → K1 Q, K3 swing → B3 Do It.
  7. Variation: copies the sequence to new slots; doubles it before you add the B-part.
03

Perform it with FX

QUEUE · MUTE · PAD FX · FLEX · KNOB FX
  1. SEQ + PLAY, then tap pads to queue the next sequence (it flashes until the bar line).
  2. Hold MUTE and tap pads to drop parts (red = muted). Let go to snap back. Works from any mode.
  3. PAD FX: press harder for more. Try pad 6 LP Filter, 13 Beat Repeat, 12 Granulator. B1 latches; up to 4 stack.
  4. = Flex Beat: pads 2–16 chop, scratch and gate the whole beat; PAD 1 = dry. K1 one-shot ↔ loop, K3 mix.
  5. → pick Pumper or Tape Delay → B2 all pads → KNOB FX → ride K1–K3.
  6. Glue: → B1 COLOR → K3 amount. Live swing: K3 in Seq mode.
  7. Train-wreck? STOPSTOP (double-tap) kills every voice.
04

Print & ship it

RESAMPLE · SONG · EXPORT · SAVE
  1. → tap a pad: the whole sequence, FX and all, becomes one sample. Frees voices and bakes in your one Knob FX.
  2. Song: tap a sequence pad → B3 insert → repeat → PLAY.
  3. B1 Export → B2 audio mixdown (WAV) or B3 new sequence, so you can perform and automate FX over the full arrangement.
  4. → Save Project. Name it with the ENCODER (SHIFT = caps) → B3 Do It!
  5. Move it: Project → SD Card Access → copy over USB → eject on the computer → B1. It opens in MPC 3.8+.
Autosave is onPower off mid-jam and it comes back where you left it. Saving copies the project to a named location, internal or SD.
// QUICK HITS

Panic buttons & power moves

Kill everything

STOPSTOP double-tap stops all audio.

Feedback, runaway loops, a 20-minute sample you hit by accident.

Time-travel recall

= last ~25 s of input · = last loop of pad hits.

It's always listening. Jam first, decide later.

Silent select

selects a pad without firing it.

Edit a sample mid-performance without the crowd hearing it.

Zoom (not on the panel)

/ / zoom at Start / End / Loop.

Reviewers called it the missing feature; it's just hidden.

Hybrid mode

keeps the Seq screen with sample pads.

Watch BPM, Q and bars while you play drums.

Tempo from anywhere

BPM pop-up in any mode.

Push the encoder in BPM windows for decimals.

Bank teleport

jumps to bank A–H.

SHIFT + PAD BANK steps back one.

Live erase

while playing wipes that pad's notes as the playhead passes.

ERASE + a knob kills that knob's automation.

Update mode

Power on while holding .

For the desktop updater (Windows 10) and recovery.

Battery LED code

■ green 100–30% · ■ amber 29–15% · ■ red 14–5% · ▣ blinking red <5%, plug in. Use a 5 V / 2 A USB-C source; with some cables it only charges while powered off.

Knob not moving?

Knobs and fader are absolute. Since fw 1.3, knobs default to Scaled takeover and the fader to Pickup. Change it in → Takeover: Pickup / Scaled / Instant. Fader LED brightness shows the stored value.

// SHIFT + PADS

The 16 secret buttons

Laid out the way they sit on the hardware: pad 1 bottom-left, pad 16 top-right.

Sixty-second flips

  • SP-1200 dust: → Vintage Emulator → K1 SP1200 → B2 all pads. Feather Pad FX 10 LoFi for bitcrush bursts.
  • Sidechain without sidechain: Knob FX Pumper at 1/4, then in FX Select tap the kick pad off (dim = unaffected). Everything pumps around the kick.
  • Hum a melody: sample yourself on Mic → normalize → 16 LEVELS, then until Tune. PAD 4 is the original note.
  • Vapor drop: Pad FX 1 Half Speed, K1 x2, B1 latch on the last bar, then to print it.
  • Real hats: closed and open hat on the same Mute Group (Play page, K2). The closed one chokes the open one.
  • Trance-gate breakdown: Flex Beat → K1 Loop → find the gate pad → K3 mix ~70%.

More recipes, every FX parameter and the full combo codex are on 03 Secret Manual.

INCOMING · PROJECT 06

MPC//SAMPLE.WEB

A full MPC Sample replica that runs in your browser is in the works. Prototype pads are already live on page 05.

Play the prototype ▶