// Studio utilityBeta
MPC 2500 Kit Builder
A free kit maker and kit creator for the MPC 2500. Drop your own sounds on the pads and export a .PGM program with its sounds, sized to fit the machine's memory.
Drop a sound on a pad, or click an empty pad to choose a file. Drop several files to fill the following pads. Press a loaded pad to hear it. The switch above each pad sets how it plays: Poly lets hits overlap, Mono cuts the previous hit, and Note on plays only while the pad is held.
Have a modern MPC expansion instead? Use the Expansion Converter →
Step by step
How to build a kit for the MPC 2500
- 01.Sounds
Drop sounds on the pads
Drag audio files onto the pads, or click an empty pad to choose a file. Use the A, B, C and D buttons to reach all 64 pads. Press a loaded pad to hear it.
Reads WAV, plus the formats your browser can decode
- 02.Memory
Stay inside the memory
Choose how much memory your machine has. The meter shows what the kit needs; mono and trimmed tails make it smaller. Export is only possible when the kit fits.
16 MB standard (11.5 MB for sounds), 128 MB expanded
- 03.Export
Export and load
Name the program and export a ZIP with one .PGM and its .WAV sounds. Copy the folder to a CompactFlash card and load the .PGM on the MPC 2500.
Output: ZIP with the .PGM and its .WAV sounds
Documentation & FAQ
Questions and answers
- Which audio files can I use?
- WAV files of any bit depth and sample rate, including 24-bit and 32-bit float. Other formats such as MP3 and FLAC work when your browser can decode them. Everything is converted to 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, which is what the MPC 2500 plays.
- Is the program in the MPC 2500's own format?
- It is written in the MPC 1000's program format, which Akai lists as loadable on the MPC 2500, with 16-bit, 44.1 kHz .WAV sounds next to it. The MPC 2500 reads it directly; it is not the slightly newer format the MPC 2500 itself saves.
- Can I set tuning, decay or mute groups here?
- No. Besides placing sounds on pads, the Kit Builder only sets how each pad plays (Poly, Mono or Note on) and leaves every other setting at the machine's default. Those settings are better adjusted on the MPC 2500 itself, while you listen to the beat.
- Which note does each pad play?
- The same note it plays in a new program on the machine: pad A01 is note 37, A02 is note 36, and so on through bank D. Sequences recorded with the default pad assignment line up with the kit.
- What happens to my sounds if I switch to another machine?
- They stay where they are. The MPC 2000XL, MPC 1000 and MPC 2500 have the same 64 pads, so nothing moves between those. The MPC 500 has three pads in a row, so sounds on the fourth pad of each row (pads 4, 8, 12 and 16) are left out of an MPC 500 kit and come back when you switch away from it.
- Are my samples uploaded?
- No. The sounds are read, converted and packed into the ZIP in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server.
- Can I convert a modern MPC expansion for the MPC 2500?
- Yes. In the Expansion Converter, choose MPC 2500 as the machine. It receives the same .PGM programs and .WAV sounds as the MPC 1000, which the MPC 2500 loads, with up to four layers kept on each pad.