MPC2000 MODS

File names. The SYS for the MPC2000 Classic must be named MPC2000.SYS and the BIN for the MPC2000XL must be named MPC2KXL.BIN; the Classic installer finds the SYS by that name in the folder, disk or image you point it at. Only an HFE or IMG image can have its own unique name.

File formats. Currently supported formats: HFE for Gotek, IMG, and regular SYS file for floppy or card - if You're setup needs another image like .cfg or image for ZULU/SCSISD cards - You have to do them themselves. Create with updater regular MPC2000.SYS file and create image suited for Your device. We cannot simply support all formats, because there is too many of them.

Classic: HFE image with a Gotek

1. Open MPC2000 Classic Installer, drop your original HFE image into the window or use Choose Image…, and wait for Ready to update.
2. Click Apply Update. It updates the SYS inside the HFE in place and saves a backup HFE beside it first. An HFE image can have any name of its own.
3. Copy the updated HFE to the USB stick used by your Gotek. Keep the previous working image under a separate name.
4. Select the new image on the Gotek the way you normally select disk images. A folder on the Gotek’s USB stick is not a folder inside the floppy that the MPC sees.
5. Power-cycle the MPC with the image selected. Switching images while the OS is running does not reload MPC2000.SYS.
6. Once the OS has loaded you can select a separate data image and open LOAD. After changing the medium, use the native drive refresh or reselect the drive.

The updated HFE contains the updated SYS and the unchanged original EXE. HFE is a track image for a compatible floppy emulator, not a raw sector image for writing to a physical floppy.

Classic: SYS and EXE on a floppy disk or card

1. Make sure the disk or card (or a copy of it) has your original MPC2000.SYS and MPC2000.EXE at its root.
2. Open MPC2000 Classic Installer, drop that disk or card into the window or use Choose Folder…, and wait for Ready to update.
3. Click Apply Update. It updates MPC2000.SYS in place and saves a backup beside it; MPC2000.EXE is untouched. The app does not supply the EXE or check the other files on your disk.
4. Restart the MPC with the disk or card in place to load the update.

Renaming an extension does not convert a file: IMA, BIN and EXE are not supported inputs.

Classic: IMG image for an SD/SCSI card

1. Get an unpartitioned FAT12/FAT16 IMG of your card (up to 8 MB) with your original MPC2000.SYS at its root.
2. Open MPC2000 Classic Installer, drop the IMG into the window or use Choose Image…, and wait for Ready to update.
3. Click Apply Update. It finds MPC2000.SYS at the root of the image, updates it in place and saves a backup IMG beside it first. Every other file, the boot sector and the image size stay the same.
4. Write the updated IMG back to your card the way you normally write images for it, and start the MPC from the card.

The installer edits the IMG file itself; it does not write to a card or drive directly, and it does not create a card image for you — see File formats above.

XL: updating MPC2KXL.BIN

1. Copy your original MPC2KXL.BIN (524,288 bytes) and keep the untouched original somewhere else. The copy keeps the name MPC2KXL.BIN.
2. Open MPC2000XL Updater and choose the copy. Selecting a file only checks it.
3. Click Apply Update. The selected file is changed in place.
4. Store the result in a clearly named folder. Keep it apart from the original: both files have the same name and size.

XL: start the updated OS from your card or floppy disk (recommended)

1. Copy the updated MPC2KXL.BIN to the root of your card or floppy disk. It must be named exactly MPC2KXL.BIN.
2. Insert the card or floppy disk into the MPC2000XL.
3. Switch the MPC on while holding REC + OVER DUB. The MPC starts the updated OS directly from the card.

We recommend starting with this. The OS stored in the MPC (flash ROM) is not replaced. To go back to the original OS, switch the MPC on normally, without the keys.

Notice. Not every card reader or card is supporting this feature, the floppy is best way to do it.

XL: write the updated OS into the MPC (optional)

1. Copy the updated MPC2KXL.BIN to the root of a floppy disk or SCSI drive. It must be named exactly MPC2KXL.BIN.
2. Insert the floppy disk or connect the drive, and switch the MPC2000XL on.
3. SHIFT + 3 LOAD. Set Device: to the medium that holds the file and select MPC2KXL.BIN in the File field.
4. Press F6 DO IT. When the screen says This writes OS to Flash memory, press F6 DO IT again.
5. The MPC shows loading, block erase and Flash memory write progress. Do not switch it off.
6. Some users report that it stuck around 96% for minute or two then it finish it without error, please be patient.
7. When it finishes, press any key to restart.

To go back to the original OS, load your original MPC2KXL.BIN the same way. Only load files made for the MPC2000XL: a BIN made for another machine can damage the OS in flash memory.

Removing the update

1. Classic: select that same folder, disk or image and click Restore Original. It puts your original MPC2000.SYS back in place using the backup the update made; for an IMG, only the SYS content is restored, not necessarily every free byte of the earlier image.
2. XL: select the updated file and click Restore Original. It reverses a recognised update and can restore a recognised partial write.

Unknown or damaged files are rejected. If a Classic update is interrupted, use the backup copy the installer saved beside your original instead of restarting blind.

Field names, not cursor counts. The steps name the field to select instead of counting cursor presses, because the starting position depends on earlier work and the remembered state of the OS.

Pad, note, sample and program are different things. A pad points at a program note; a note has parameters and an assigned sample. Two pads pointing at the same note share its parameters. In REGIONS, different pads can play different slices of one source note.

Tune one note

1. SHIFT + 6 PROGRAM, then select the program in the Pgm field.
2. Press F2 PARAMS.
3. Hit the source pad, or select the note in the Note field.
4. Move the cursor to TUNE.
5. Set the value with DATA. When typing digits, confirm with ENTER. OPEN WINDOW on TUNE works too, and the new range applies in the native window as well.
6. Check the pad or sequence, then save the program (PGM or APS).

TUNE is a program note parameter. It is not a whole-program transpose, and it is separate from the sample-level tuning in TRIM / the Sound window, which has a different format and range.

Typing digits (Classic): the native signed-number editor can keep the previous sign. To force a positive value from zero, first turn DATA one step to the right; for a negative value, one step to the left. Then type the digits and press ENTER. Turning DATA alone is the simplest unambiguous method.

AUTO (XL)

1. On the main PARAMS page select the note and set the source TUNE.
2. Press F5 AUTO.
3. Use the native AUTO form to spread the tuning, and confirm with the key shown on the LCD.
4. Return to PARAMS and check the generated values on the notes, then save the program.

The mod changes the value range and the clamp, not how AUTO spreads notes. F5 stays AUTO on the XL; ALL on the main PARAMS page is F2.

Classic: TRANS window

1. SHIFT + 6 PROGRAM, select the program in Pgm.
2. Press F1 ASSIGN.
3. Press F5 TRANS to open the transpose window.
4. Set the value with DATA, in whole semitones.
5. F6 PLAY auditions the selected note; releasing the key ends the audition. F5 ZERO resets the transpose.
6. F4 CLOSE returns to ASSIGN. The change is live at once; CLOSE is not a disk save.
7. Save the program (PGM or APS).

XL: Transpose field

1. SHIFT + 6 PROGRAM → F1 ASSIGN, select the program.
2. Move the cursor to the Transpose: field.
3. Set −36…+36 with DATA, in whole semitones. To go back to no transpose, set 0.
4. Play the notes of the program, or a track that uses its DRUM part, then save the program (PGM or APS).

Do not look for F5 TRANS on the XL. There the transpose is a field on ASSIGN. On both machines the final sum of TUNE and Transpose is limited to ±36 semitones: TUNE +360 plus Transpose +12 still ends at +36, not at six octaves.

Set up an open / closed hi-hat pair

1. Load two samples and assign them to two different notes of one program.
2. SHIFT + 6 PROGRAM → F1 ASSIGN.
3. Select the first pad or note and move the cursor to the mode field, where you normally see NORMAL, SIMULT, VEL SW or DCY SW.
4. Turn DATA to MUTE 1.
5. Select the second note and set MUTE 1 there as well.
6. Play the first note as a long sound, then the second. The second stops the voice of the first.
7. To separate a sound from the group, give it MUTE 2 or NORMAL instead.
8. Save the program (PGM or APS).

MUTE is not VOICE OVERLAP. POLY / MONO / NOTE OFF is set on PARAMS and controls voice handling; the MUTE group is set on ASSIGN. A group belongs to the program note, not to the physical pad: two pads pointing at the same note share one state. MUTE occupies the same field as NORMAL / SIMULT / VEL SW / DCY SW, so a note cannot be MUTE 1 and SIMULT at the same time.

Repeating the same note on the same pad is governed by Voice Overlap, not by the group. The four groups are independent: MUTE 1 does not mute MUTE 2.

Copy a parameter

1. SHIFT + 6 PROGRAM → F2 PARAMS.
2. Select the program, the source note and one of the seven supported parameters, then set the source value. Confirm typed digits with ENTER.
3. Select the pad bank A / B / C / D that a BANK copy should target.
4. Open ALL: Classic F5 ALL, XL F2 ALL. From the native Filter and Voice windows of the XL, use F3 ALL.
5. Check the parameter name and bank in ALL FOR:.
6. F4 BANK copies the value to the notes mapped to the 16 pads of the remembered bank. F5 PROGRAM copies it to all 64 note records. F2 CANCEL leaves without copying (MAIN cancels too on the Classic, OPEN WINDOW on the XL).
7. The copy runs at once and returns to PARAMS. Save the program if the change should survive a restart.

Only the chosen parameter is copied. FREQ does not copy RESON, TUNE does not copy Transpose, VOICE OVERLAP does not copy MUTE. ALL does not appear on the Pgm and Note selectors.

BANK uses the real pad map (including MASTER), not “the first 16 records”. OFF and invalid notes are skipped, and a note shared by pads in two banks stays shared after the copy. The target, program and value are captured when the confirmation opens; changing PAD BANK with the window open does not redirect the copy. CANCEL does not undo a value you edited by hand before opening ALL.

Enter a folder from LOAD

1. SHIFT + 3 LOAD → F1 LOAD.
2. Select the drive and, on SCSI, the partition.
3. Move the cursor to the File field and select an entry marked <DIR>.
4. F6 DO IT opens the folder. Another <DIR> and F6 goes deeper.
5. .. <DIR> and F6 DO IT goes one level up.

The LCD does not show a full path. A .. entry means you are inside a subfolder. Changing the device or partition returns to the ROOT of the new context. Switching from LOAD to SAVE on the same medium and partition keeps the folder.

File list with F3 OPEN

1. On LOAD, put the cursor on the File field and press OPEN WINDOW.
2. Highlight a row in the list. You can scroll the list.
3. F3 OPEN: a folder opens and the list stays open; .. goes up and the list stays open; a file is selected, the list closes and the native LOAD / DO IT procedure starts.
4. F5 CLOSE closes the list without that shortcut. F2 RENAME stays the native list action.

SND, WAV, PGM, APS, ALL and SEQ go to their normal loaders and questions. OPEN does not skip the confirmation before data is replaced.

Create, rename, delete

1. In LOAD, go to the directory where the change should happen. To rename or delete a folder, highlight it in its parent directory; do not enter it.
2. F5 FOLDER opens FOLDER MANAGEMENT.
3. F3 NEW creates a folder, F4 RENAME renames the highlighted one, F5 DELETE removes an empty one (DELETE EMPTY FOLDER?).
4. Type the name with the native editor: 1–8 characters, A–Z, 0–9, _ and -.
5. F5 DO IT confirms and needs no extra ENTER. F2 CANCEL backs out.
6. After the result, use F2 BACK to return to LOAD. Find the new <DIR> and open it.

Only empty folders can be deleted, and the .. entry can be neither renamed nor removed. Supported media: FAT12 on floppy / HFE and FAT16 on SCSI. There is no FAT32, exFAT or VFAT long-name support. Limits: 16 nesting levels, 256 clusters and 4094 sectors per directory. Folder unavailable can mean a limit, a read error or an invalid FAT chain.

Save into a folder

1. In LOAD, enter the target folder, then switch to F2 SAVE. On the same medium and partition the folder is kept.
2. Choose the save type (sound, program, program set or ALL), the source object and the file name.
3. F6 DO IT and confirm the native save window. When saving a program with audio, choose to save the samples in the same flow.
4. Return to LOAD and check the files in the same folder.

The Replace question refers to the file in the current folder: a file with the same name that exists only in ROOT does not block the save. Changing partition A/B returns to ROOT, so select the folder again. Names such as SOUND030 and SOUND030C do not collide on their first eight characters. Saving has no power-loss transaction guarantee; use a new name when you want to keep the previous file.

1. SHIFT + 5 TRIM and select the sample.
2. Move the cursor to St or End.
3. Press and hold AFTER.
4. Move the NOTE VARIATION slider. Its absolute position (128 steps, bottom = minimum, top = maximum) sets the point within the current range of the editor.
5. Release AFTER, then fine-tune the value with DATA.
6. Save the sample to keep its TRIM points.

Pressing AFTER alone does not move the point. Changing the field while moving disarms the shortcut: release AFTER and press it again for the new field. VARI lets a point move through the whole sample; FIX moves the window and keeps its length (set it with OPEN WINDOW on the point → Smpl lngth → FIX, then close the window). The shortcut works on the main TRIM screen, not in LOOP or the fine windows.

Drums and bass in one sequence

1. Load at least two programs with their samples into different program slots.
2. Press MAIN, select the sequence and track 1, and make sure the track type is DRUM.
3. Move the cursor to the field after Drum:.
4. Turn DATA to 1P, the internal program in slot 1.
5. Select track 2 and set 2P.
6. Record separate parts on both tracks. Playback takes parameters and samples from each track’s program.
7. Save ALL to keep the track assignments, plus the programs and samples.

1P means internal program 1; 1A–16B are MIDI output channels, and the Pgm field remains the external MIDI Program Change, so do not use it instead of 1P / 2P. OFF keeps the earlier reference to the current program; use explicit 1P / 2P for a repeatable arrangement. ALL does not supply a missing program or its audio.

The four-program limit

Slots 1P–24P can all be selected, but new notes are limited to four different programs at once. At PLAY, the first four different programs on used DRUM tracks, scanned from track 1 to 64, take priority. Two tracks with the same program occupy one place. Muting a track does not change the order.

While four other programs are still sounding, a new note of a fifth program is skipped. It is not delayed or played later. Note Off always passes so earlier voices can end. Polyphony stays a shared pool of 32 voices, not 32 per program. 5P can play if it fits within the first four different assignments: the limit is not “slots 1–4 only”.

What a region is

REGIONS divides the TRIM range of a source sample into 16, 8 or 4 slices playable from the pads. It does not create 16 new SND files or new entries on the Sound list: the system keeps the source and a map of its boundaries, and prepares extra PCM copies for playback. A recording stores the source note and region number, so changing the source’s map also changes previously recorded REG events. EVEN means an equal split of the length. There is no transient detection, time-stretching or loop tempo matching.

First split

1. Load a sample and a program with its pad / note assignment.
2. Press STOP. Edit with the transport stopped.
3. SHIFT + 5 TRIM: set the St / End range that should be sliced.
4. Back on MAIN, select the right track and program (Classic: explicit 1P / 2P in the field after Drum:; XL: the native DRUM part).
5. Press 16 LEVELS and select the source note or pad. Check the sample name shown at Note.
6. Move the cursor to Param and turn DATA to REGIONS.
7. F5 Turn ON starts playing regions from the existing map or an initial even split. F2 EDIT opens REGION EDIT.
8. In REGION EDIT, F3 cycles the count 16 → 8 → 4 → 16 and commits an even split at once.
9. F5 APPLY commits manual points so the pads play them, and stays in the editor. F6 DONE accepts the changes and returns to MAIN with 16 LEVELS on.

With 16 regions pads 1–16 play; with 8, pads 1–8; with 4, pads 1–4 (pad 1 is bottom left, pad 16 top right). Inactive pads do not play a region. Turn ON, APPLY and the automatic rebuild after a count change silence active voices before the buffers are rebuilt. F2 EDIT only appears for REGIONS; other Param values bring back the native frame.

REGION EDIT keys

BACK cannot undo a split committed by F3. If you have sixteen hand-placed slices and press F3, the new even split of 8 is real; save the earlier map in an ALL file first if you want to keep it. Going from 4 back to 16 also creates a new even split. It does not restore old manual boundaries, but it can bring back recorded REG 5–16 events that were silent at four regions.

Pads play the last applied map. If a moved point makes no audible difference yet, press F5 APPLY to update what the pads play without leaving the editor. Press F6 DONE only once you are finished; it accepts the changes too, and exits to MAIN.

Manual START / END editing

1. In the editor, hit the pad of a region, or use cursor up / down to change the region number.
2. Cursor left selects START (St), cursor right selects END.
3. Pick the digit row. Classic: the outer DIGIT ring (left = higher row, right = lower). XL: hold SHIFT and press cursor left / right, then release SHIFT.
4. Turn DATA. The step follows the selected digit: units = 1 sample, tens = 10, hundreds = 100 and so on.
5. For coarse moves, hold AFTER and move the NOTE VARIATION slider, then fine-tune. Changing the field or region disarms it, so press AFTER again.
6. F5 APPLY commits it so the pads play the change; press F6 DONE once you are finished editing.

Values are PCM sample positions, not bytes, milliseconds or sequencer ticks: 44,100 samples is one second at 44.1 kHz. For N regions there are N+1 points, so the END of region 1 is the START of region 2 and moving one moves the other. The editor never allows an empty region or crossed boundaries. The dark highlight covers the field up to and including the selected digit, as in TRIM. F2 EVEN takes the current TRIM range again and can replace a manually narrowed outer range.

REGION EDIT opens on the whole-sample view. F4 ZOOM cycles four views: the current region, about ±128 samples around the active boundary, about ±1024 samples, and the whole sample with the selected region inverted. The waveform is computed in the background, so a long source can need a moment to refresh.

Voice modes and choking

Regions inherit the parameters of the source note. Set VOICE OVERLAP on PARAMS for the source note (with 16 LEVELS off): POLY lets starts overlap, MONO limits overlap of the earlier voice, and with NOTE OFF releasing the pad gates the voice and new recordings store the held length. To make regions of one sample choke each other like a hi-hat pair, set MUTE 1–4 on ASSIGN for the source note and enable REGIONS again.

Recording regions

1. On MAIN, select the sequence and the track with the right program, and set tempo, length and time signature with the native fields.
2. Enable 16 LEVELS → REGIONS for the prepared source and return to MAIN.
3. Hold REC, press PLAY START, release REC. Play the active pads. The system records source note, region, timing, velocity and, for NOTE OFF, the held length.
4. Press STOP. Overdub with OVER DUB + PLAY START.
5. Switch 16 LEVELS off and play back. Recorded REG events keep their slices without the live mode.
6. For several sources in one sequence: switch 16 LEVELS off, open it again for the next source note, set its map, pick the right track and overdub without replacing the first part. On the Classic use explicit 1P / 2P assignments when the sources live in different programs.

Edit a recorded note in STEP

1. Stop the transport, select the sequence and track on MAIN and press F1 STEP. This is the screen key, not the LOCATE step keys.
2. Go to the recorded note and find REG: in its row.
3. Select the number and turn DATA to 1–16.
4. Play back, then save ALL.

STEP changes the region number of the event; it does not create private START / END points for that note. If the map has four regions, a REG 8 event stays stored but silent. It is not converted or deleted.

Save a REGIONS project

1. F5 APPLY any manual changes in each source’s editor, then F6 DONE to leave it. An uncommitted draft is not saved.
2. SHIFT + 3 LOAD → F2 SAVE, choose the native save of ALL, enter a name and press F6 DO IT, then confirm on the LCD.
3. Also save the programs (PGM or APS) with all the samples they need.
4. To reload: load the ALL first, then the matching APS / PGM and samples, and check the maps in 16 LEVELS → REGIONS → EDIT.

A single PGM, APS, SND or MID file does not store the region maps. A MID carries events and their REG numbers, but the boundary tables live in the ALL extension. After loading, maps are bound to their sources by name, length and mono / stereo, not by a content hash, so different audio with the same name, length and channel layout can be matched to an old map. Loading an ALL can replace sequences and maps: save your current work first.

Limits. Up to 16 sources can have maps at once, each with its own 4 / 8 / 16 split. Playback buffers use extra sample memory even though the sample list does not grow, and stereo needs both channels. On an allocation error the earlier committed map stays active. On the XL, deleting or replacing samples does not free single blocks of the REGIONS pool; loading an ALL resets it. Regions share the native polyphony.

1. An edit is not a save. TUNE, Transpose, MUTE and ALL (bank / program) change the program in RAM. Save a PGM, or an APS set together with the samples it needs.
2. APPLY or DONE in REGIONS commits the map in RAM. For it to survive a restart, save ALL plus the matching programs and samples.
3. The ALL project file is not a standalone audio archive. It stores sequences, settings, region maps and, on the Classic, the 1P / 2P track assignments, but it needs the right programs and samples to play back.
4. A single MID does not store manual region boundaries. It carries events and their REG numbers; the maps must be loaded from ALL.

Save a program with its settings

1. SHIFT + 3 LOAD → F2 SAVE.
2. Choose to save a program or a set of programs, depending on the scope of your work.
3. Select the program and name, and choose the native option to save the samples if they should go on the medium together with the program.
4. F6 DO IT and the confirmations on the LCD. After loading again, check the settings on ASSIGN / PARAMS.

The word ALL in PARAMS → ALL BANK / PROGRAM means parameter copying and has nothing to do with the ALL project file. Only SAVE creates a persistent file. Transpose −36 is stored as byte FF, and the extended MUTE modes and REG events need matching firmware: the shared PGM / ALL name is no guarantee that stock firmware or other mods reproduce the extensions.