Dubstepforum.com

Hello,

Need some help here. I just got a second hand Akai MpD18. The pads are insanely hard. I have to drop an anvil on them to get a sound. Is that normal? can i do something about it? Am I being ripped off?

Thank you!!

Welcome to Akai. Hahaha, another victim.

http://www.dubstepforum.com/mpk49-pads-t105748.html?

Try that one, bruv.

sup golfclapp.

I hope you got a good deal on that mpd18

to be perfectly honest - when I first got my mpd24 (used) I was a bit disappointed with it, and with the pads in particular. However, I found there are some things you can do to improve the situation - and now I can't imagine working without it.

- If you feel your pads aren't sensitive enough - click the "FULL LEVEL" button on your controller. This essentially turns "velocity sensitivity" off such that every sample is played at full volume. I like to use this for hi-hats, shakers, or any other "fast" rhythms and then edit sample velocity manually afterward.
- Also, This may sound like an obvious/redundant suggestion - but be sure to hit the pads as close to the middle as possible (especially if you prefer to play with "FULL LEVEL" OFF).
- Finally - and I don't recommend this - I've heard of people manually opening and modifying their mpd24's and 32's (I'm guessing 18's as well) to improve sensitivity. Apparently this involves filling small pockets of air/space that exist in the pads. If you're interested in this, a google search will go a long way, I'm sure...

That link up there is to a thread with links to how to mod your pad videos. I modded my pads, and they work much better now. Almost half as good as my padkontrol pads.

Also - make sure you have a decent soundcard / hook the controller up via midi.

I don't know if the 18 has USB like the 24 does - but using usb creates a delay/lag that completely defeats the purpose of having a pad controller lol.

Idk about the 18, but my 24 has velocity curves that you can adjust.

killahbeez wrote:Also - make sure you have a decent soundcard / hook the controller up via midi.

I don't know if the 18 has USB like the 24 does - but using usb creates a delay/lag that completely defeats the purpose of having a pad controller lol.

Didn't have any lag problems with my 24

The lag from USB will be pretty much unnoticeable as long as you have your sound drivers set up properly. Connecting it with a MIDI cable is pretty redundant, especially if it's going into a USB audio interface. MIDI is like 30 years old, it's not really that fast.

I've never had any problem with my PK's pads, besides getting a lot of finger gunk all over them. But it's easy enough to warsh them. Whenever people try out my PK, (tempted by the pretty lights, obviously) they're always super gentle with it. So I tell them "You gotta smack it! Hard!" and all through the house in the middle of the night; tap tap tap tappita tap tap tap

I just tested my mpd24 and I could get a response from the pads with a touch sense of 11. So not a lot of force involved.

all the pads on akai's consumer brand controllers are terrible.