http://www.music123.com/Freehand-Systems-MusicPad-ProPlus-i423075.music

Price for V4 is now $500 and V3.1 is $400.

My V4 should be arriving Tues and I will have questions about the best way to get leadsheet format music into it. I know scanning will work, but what about creating leadsheet format music directly with music notation software? Is this practical?

http://www.freehandsystems.com/

BTw wasnt this thing $1000.00 a few months ago?

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 10-08-2006).]

I know for sure last year it was > 900.

Glenn

I pretty much always saw it for $1199.

It's still at $1199 direct from Freehand. Wonder what the deal is. Maybe something new coming out.

Lanny. Congratulations ! $500 for v4 is definitely a TERRIFIC deal. I've owned mine for 1-1/2 years and LOVE my Musicpad pro V4 as much as ever, and can't imagine being without one now. Having my nearly my entire fakebook music collection (thousands of songs) stored & organized in this device with the ability to call up any song (or custom playlist) in just a few seconds is invaluable. No more fakebooks, sheetmusic, or notes to drag to gigs and rehearsals. Easy to add score edits etc right on the screen. I still consider the MusicPad Pro v4 (2nd to the keyboard itself) the best musical investment I ever made, and HIGHLY recommend it, especially at $500.

Lanny, if like most music notation program, your software supports output printing, then you'll be able to export & convert it to freehand (.fh) format (via software print driver) so it can be recognized & displayed on the MusicPad Pro. In addition, Freehand support importing from PDF, and standard image formats (PNG, JPG, etc). For optimal results, cropping & sharpening is also recommended.


Scott

Wouldn't know it - I paid $1199 for mine.
Jerry

Scott, Thanks for your reply. Your discussion about the MusicPad on this forum is one of the reasons I have been watching the prices for the past couple of years.

I understand that the MusicPad will import various file types. My real question is being a complete novice with music notation software, is it practical to create lead sheet format music (with large type) from these programs to export to the unit, or is scanning a more efficient operation.

I am also curious about the editing capabilities once imported into the MusicPad. Is it easy to add or change notes, add or change chord symbols, etc.

I am certain much of this will become more clear when I actually have the thing in hand, but your thoughts in the meantime are very much appreciated.

Lanny

Lanny,
Thank you for the info on price drop of Music Pad Pro at Music 123. I live in UK but have ordered one from USA. I know the power input will be 120v instead of 240v (UK). However I recently lived in USA for a some years and have many items that I use via a step up transformer. The price for the Music Pad Pro in UK is approx $1700. Way out of my price bracket but I have just ordered and it comes to $535.95 including shipping (it was free inside USA). I will have to pay 17.5 per cent UK tax (VAT) on that but it still comes out a winner. My hubby didn't realise it but he has just bought my Christmas present.
Hope you enjoy your new toy too.
Cheers
Carol Palfrey

What about your warranty? Will you be covered in the UK if anything goes wrong with the unit?

Jerry, YUP, that's what I paid too!!!



Scott DITTO on that! No more dragging along a small suitcase filled with fake books!!

Lanny, I got good advice from Scott Yee he's got some helpful info. Here's what seems to have worked best for me. I use Band In A Box. Once I get a leadsheet in BIAB, I just choose to print to the Freehand printer and usually get a great looking very clear image of the leadsheet. I also have a number of fake books in PDF format. I have attempted to print using the Freehand print driver from the fake books, but print quality is poor. For the best results I have to copy the page from the PDF file and paste into Paint then save as a .png file. Once in a .png file I'm able to print to Freehand and transfer to the MPP with a good clean image.





[This message has been edited by Stephenm52 (edited 10-10-2006).]

Thanks for all the replys. I got my MusicPad Pro and it appears to be working fine. I will start inputting some music tomorrow.

I just noticed that Music123 no longer is listing the new version with the link I originally posted, but that they still list V3.1 at $400.

I have emailed Freehand about their warranty and future battery replacement and this is their reply.

"Yes the warranty will still be good. Do not worry abut the batteries they should last many years. Getting the Pad from Music 123 they have had some of their pads sitting a long time so the batteries may need the following procedure. See attached file.

Batteries Are Not Holding A Charge

There is a minor problem in the battery charging circuit that causes the Music Pad to believe that the batteries are not there when they are.
To work around this problem and get the batteries charging again please follow the following procedure.

1. Plug in the power supply to an outlet and to the Music Pad, leaving the Music Pad powered off for 48hours. This will allow the batteries to trickle charge.

2. Unplug the power supply for 2 seconds then plug in the power supply again with the Music Pad turn off still, and leave for 2hours. This will recharge
the batteries to full.

Use as normal"

I have just received my confirmation that my item has shipped from Music123. If you go on the Music123 site and read their returns policy it appears to be quite good and covers the eventuality of the goods not working on receipt. They will cover the return postage but not the initial postage.

Hope this helps if you are thinking of making a purchase.
Cheers
Carol

A word or two of caution is warranted and nobody seems to be giving it except me so here it is:

First, on the battery issue - my Music Pad Pro (MPP) took weeks of charging and discharging before it worked properly, despite all advise from Freehand. And the real downer about that is that EVERYTHING on the pad is routed through the battery circuit so even if you intend to use the AC adapter the MPP will not work AT ALL until the battery issue is resolved. If you want to spend money on a new MPP only to have to exercise the battery for two weeks before the unit will work, be my guest... maybe you'll have better luck than I did.

Second, the MPP's latest OS, v4.0.6, has lots of documented bugs and not one single service release has come out of Freehand this year. Read their forums if you want the details. I can't speak for the earlier OS's but v4 is an unwanted stepchild as of this moment.

Yes, the MPP will change the way you use sheet music on stage for the better and I wish I could be as enthusiastic about my MPP as Scott is. However Freehand has been less than honest about the battery issue and practically dead in the water when it comes to OS service updates. I hate supporting a company with my purchases and then wait for bug fixes, and wait, and wait, and...

My musicpad pro arrived when promised and is indeed V4.06. It worked fine after the initial 2 hour charge. I have transferred a few pieces of music I have scanned and am now working on methods to transfer directly from Finale Notepad to Freehand format. Anyone know if this can be done or do I need Finale Print Music to follow the method that Freehand outlines?

Music123 is advertising V4 again at $500 but now states it is a closeout. I am curious if that means a new version is coming.

I have received my Music Pad Pro that I had shipped from Music 123 USA, to UK. I received a letter from Parcelforce to pay the duty and then they would deliver. I live fairly near the depot and went and picked it up. The total to pay was 62.60 pounds made up of the following: Import Duty 7.13 : VAT 47.47 : Parcelforce Clearance fee 8.00.

I opted for the basic delivery and that took 3 weeks from the date of dispatch to my picking it up. I wasn't able to track it with this method though. Everything appeared to be in the box but was a bit miffed that the instruction book is a pdf file on the CD which means of course the customer pays for the printout instead of the manufacturer. There was a getting you started basic booklet which is very basic.

It was considerably cheaper than buying in UK.

I haven't used it yet as thought it prudent to leave it on charge for 2 days, then 2 hours as previously mentioned. The power supply is a 110-240 AC to 12v DC. The plug is a USA plug but I have a converter plug which I plug it into, then into the UK mains. I guess the USA plug can be snipped off and the wires put into a normal UK plug, but I can cope with it as is and I want to prove that it works OK before doing that.

I hope this helps any UK people interested in buying this product from USA. I still have a bank account and credit cards in USA so payment was no problem however the exchange rate is favourable for us Brits at the moment so using a UK credit card should give a reasonable exchange rate.
Cheers
Carol Palfrey