# MIDI Pad Controller



## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

Trying to do drum tracks on a keyboard is tough, so I was thinking of a drum machine but ran across the MIDI Pad Controllers. I'm looking at the Akai Professional MPD226. MPD226

Anyone have experience with pad controllers? Any recommendations or ones to avoid?


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## GuitarPix (Jan 11, 2007)

I haven’t tried that one. I did have an Akai 25 key midi controller but returned it and got an Arturia. However the pads on the Arturia feel a bit stiff for drumming - I think the Akai was a bit better. If at all possible go to a shop and see if you can try it for 5 minutes.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

I have a Korg PadKontrol that I bought from Long & McQuade several years ago. It has a nice feel to it, not hard, bouncy or spongy. 
This one's black but mine's white:
padKONTROL - MIDI STUDIO CONTROLLER | KORG (USA)


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

I have an older Akai MPD18 and it's great. I use it to trigger EzDrummer in Reaper. I can play full beats on it with fills no problem. It has one fader on it which I use often as well to control the faders in Reaper. Oh I also use it to control the various effects in Guitar Rig like turning an overdrive pedal on and off etc. Definitely got my monies worth on it.


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## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

It's too bad the Korg PadKontrol is discontinued and there doesn't seem to be an equivalent product from Korg.

I heard the Akai products are widely used because they sync up better than other products. Reviews of them say a common problem is after a while, they can start double triggering with one tap. Quite a few folks on the Reaper forums are turning to the Native Instruments (Maschine) products, although they don't seem to sync very well to DAW's, but the products seem to work very well.

https://www.long-mcquade.com/120893...ents/Maschine-Mikro-MK3-Production-System.htm


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## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

Swung by L&M to have a look at the Mikro but they've haven't started shipping yet. They had the Atom on sale half price, regular $199 on sale for $99. The guy gave me a demo and it worked fine, got home, plugged it into my setup and it worked right away. Nice unit, great price.


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## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

So far, I'm impressed with the Presonius Atom and although I'm not sure how to integrate into Reaper as yet, I managed to record 2 tracks (cabasa, bass drum and snare) last night with it using a couple of VST's in Reaper and the sequencer of the Atom, worked excellent.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Glad to hear you're enjoying the new controller Jimsz. It's too bad the PadKontrol is discontinued but a good alternative would be a Korg Nanopad 2. I'm pretty sure they're still selling these. Yes they are, I just checked the L&M website:

https://www.long-mcquade.com/11310/Keyboards/MIDI_Controllers/Korg/NanoPad2_-_White.htm

I don't know if you'd consider this for a backup or not. The only thing I find about these is the fact that they're not quite as sensitive as the PadKontrol but you can adjust that to a certain extent in the software you can download for it. Have fun.


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## jimsz (Apr 17, 2009)

Kenmac said:


> Glad to hear you're enjoying the new controller Jimsz. It's too bad the PadKontrol is discontinued but a good alternative would be a Korg Nanopad 2. I'm pretty sure they're still selling these. Yes they are, I just checked the L&M website:
> 
> https://www.long-mcquade.com/11310/Keyboards/MIDI_Controllers/Korg/NanoPad2_-_White.htm
> 
> I don't know if you'd consider this for a backup or not. The only thing I find about these is the fact that they're not quite as sensitive as the PadKontrol but you can adjust that to a certain extent in the software you can download for it. Have fun.


That was another one recommended by the guy at L&M but they had no stock and didn't know when they'd be getting them in.


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