Akai Professional MPD26 Reviews

4.1/5.0 based on 4 customer reviews

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Customer Reviews

Rob Parker
from Murfreesboro, TN
January 14, 2013Music Background:
Producer/Engineer @ Triton Studios, Musician

Very Solid

A great machine - definitely offers the old-school MPC feel without the high price of the high-end MPC units. Lots of fun to play my drum samples with this as opposed to keys, though I've become a pretty good "keyboard drummer." It works right out of the box, well built, beautiful display, but it misses half a star because of something that someone prior to me mentioned. The dynamic sensitivity seems to make playing softly more difficult. Usually I have the "full level" button on, but with drums, it's nice to have total dynamics. On the other hand, it's just a controller - you can get as picky as you want with dynamics in your DAW. If this were an all-in-one machine, however, the dynamics issue would be much greater. Just try messing with velocity curves and you should find something comfortable.

Cale McCollough
from Eugene, OR
May 13, 2012Music Background:
Music technlogy engineer, audio engineer, producer, controllerist, beat junky,

Good fit with Novation UltraNova and Nocturn

So far, I like it! Its built like a tank and looks good next to an APC40 (they are the same color). I have an UltraNova and really needed a control surface with a transport for my mobile setup. The pads are a lot softer then prior models. The stock pads need to be modded to increase the sensitivity. Just google "how to mod akai mpd" on the internet and watch some of the videos or read the directions.. all you have to do is put some thick cloth tap, some rubber, or foam on the underside of the pads to get them closer to the sensor.

As for the choice between this controller and the MPD32, it depends if you have enough desk space and/or how much you need the extra 2 sliders, 2 encoders, and 8 buttons. Its $130 more. The buttons make loud clicking noises. I have a Novation Nocturn that I absolutely adore. That's $100 and has the extra controls, soft rubber buttons(better for recording), an HUI mixer, LED rings around the encoders, and AutoMap. I would recommend that personally. The MPD32 is too big for me... desk space is at a premium in my studio.

If you like analog drum machines, Arturia just released the Spark VDM software that you don't need the controller for and its only $99. The way that this controller is setup, it will work good with that software because the encoders are in groups of three and you have 4 banks which means you can control all 16 sets of 3 encoders with two templates. Works especially good in combination with the Nocturn.

As for the choice between this and Maschine. I don't like the Maschine that much honestly. I have one and it just slowed me down, which is why I bought this. Maschine a good idea but there are a lot of frustrating things about about the hardware and software. I haven't tried the Akai MPC studio yet but I would pick that over the Maschine based on the controller layout.

Overall, you can't go wrong with this for the price. If you don't upgrade the pads its not so good but its super cheap/free to upgrade them so I wouldn't let that scare you off.

A-One
from California
January 5, 2012Music Background:
Producer, Hobbyist

GREAT CONTROLLER-Dont Listen To Spiteful Reviews

Despite all the negativity that people said about this controller I got it anyway. Its pretty awesome. I also understand why people complain about the pads sensitivity yeah it can be better of course but just get some pad corx from mpcstuff.com and your good to go. but as far as saying they're crap that's not true. its a great controller. The features it has are similar to an MPC but if Ur tight on money this will surely suffice to an MPC for the money.

Jim
from Eustis, FL USA
October 12, 2010Music Background:
Student/Hobbyist musician and producer.

Great Product if you have strong fingers.

I bought this in haste when the padKontrol I wanted was out of stock. I hooked it up and used it with Sonar 8.5. The pads work but they do seem stiff and hit was hard to get a velocity under 45. So you had to bang it to get sound which was fine, but it was hard to play soft. I did get the controls to work over the USB with Sonar, but things went a little south when trying over the MIDI. Might have worked, but I decided to send it back and wait for the padKontrol. I didn't need the controls since I have keyboard controller, so the Pads were the important part and weren't something I wanted to use. You mileage may vary, and there are places on youtube and such with a fix to make the pads more sensitive, I just didn't want to bother.