Akai MPD-16

Blindspot · Post by **Blindspot** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 4:36 pm

I got the MPD-16 last week from the Guitar Center in El Cerrito which is 4 blocks from my house. They only had one in stock. The Guitar Center dude was holding it for a studio buddy. But his buddy never came in to pick it up. I realized later that they sold me an open unit for $299, but I didn't care because the entire contents consists of the unit, a USB cable, OS 9 driver CD, and a 4 page manual. Pretty hard to fuck that up. Besides, you always get 30 days to return it, gotta love that.

Needless to say I'm pretty happy with it. I never used any of the MPC products but everyone seems to agree that the pad quality is nearly the same, if not identical. I can tell you these are some high quality pads. Can't remember what the midi term for it is, but they respond to different pressures and velocities. The foot-print is small and it lies pretty flat. It feels like it could handle the impact from a fall, though how something this flat could fall off of anything is beyond me. The manual says to play it on a flat surface, but it works awesomely in my lap!

There are 16 pads and you get a bank button to switch to a second sixteen. I think that's more than enough for using with Live. So far I've experimented by having 8 scene parts on 8 pads. Then chopping a 2 drum clips into 4 parts each and playing them whenever they might fit. That still leaves 16 pads to be assigned to melody and rhythm clips.

In experimenting last night I can get a lot of variation just out of using scene parts and jamming them "on the one". That's 8 pads total.

This distinct difference for me in using the MPD-16 versus the Oxygen8 keys becomes clear when I get to really hitting the keys fast. I set the Quanitization to 16th notes and I can really get a good roll going with my hands on the MPD-16. And if you miss one, don't worry, it sounds like super syncopated break beats (desirable effect in my book). Some people might be able to get a fast live roll on a keyboard but this makes it a hell of a lot easier.

I originally got it because I wanted to play the drums with it in Reason. You can jam out a beat, but a real drummer (like myself) might be better off with the Oxygen8 and a midi foot control instead. Real drummers should know what I mean by this. You just need that foot action!

All said, it's super fun and workd the way you would expect, but I am seriously considering returning it and spending the money on an AirPort BaseStation instead. $200 seems like a better price point for this.

bs

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Oct 03, 2002 2:23 pm

Hi Blindspot,

I read a review of this unit in Future Music and it said that it worked fine in Full mode but when in 16-level mode (MIDI velocity sensitive) the triggering became extremely poor and unreliable. Has this been your experience of the MPD16 ?

Phil

Blindspot · Post by **Blindspot** » Thu Oct 03, 2002 4:55 pm

Anonymous wrote:Hi Blindspot,

I read a review of this unit in Future Music and it said that it worked fine in Full mode but when in 16-level mode (MIDI velocity sensitive) the triggering became extremely poor and unreliable. Has this been your experience of the MPD16 ?

Phil

That's a negative interpretation of a true experience with the MPD-16. I think I know what they mean. In it's default settings and without the "full level" feature switched on, one has to hit the pads damn hard to get a full velocity hit. The utility software that comes with the unit, however allows you to adjust the pad sensitivity to your personal playing style. While this has obviously positive repercussions (hehe) for the drummer, I'm not so sure this would be a very useful adjustment for Live, where you are just activitating samples in sequence as opposed to playing a variable sounding instrument.

To be honest, I have yet to use the Pad Sensitivity adjustment but I will give it a shot tonight. The utility software is for OS9 and I've been trying to stay in OS 10 with my new PowerBook. Akai Product Support wrote back to me to say they were working on a OS X USB driver that should be ready soon. I can only hope that the utility program would get an OS X version as well, though I should prolly write back and ask.

sven[ableton] · Post by **sven[ableton]** » Sat Oct 05, 2002 11:13 am

hi,

any new experiences about the MPD-16?

sven
ableton

Jos Sumgi · Post by **Jos Sumgi** » Mon Dec 15, 2003 3:45 pm

thinking about MPD16, just wondering if theres any way of making more pad banks with live?? Also, if you put a one-shot sample in repeat mode (as opposed to trigger, toggle or gate), using the MPD, will it work like the beloved note repeat button on the MPC???

guest · Post by **guest** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 4:24 pm

anyone know of any tutorials on using live with the mpd16 to make a sort of "virtual mpc" combo?

if not, it would be nice for the ableton crew to put one out or hire a freelancer to put one out... on the website.

i keep hearing of a lot of people using the mpd16 and live this way.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Dec 17, 2003 6:17 pm

the tutorial wouldn't fill a ppage, just connect the mpd16, select it in the midi preffs, click on midi icon sassign pads to clips or cscentes and ststart triggering

Pitch Black · Post by **Pitch Black** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 11:36 pm

Question:

Does the new MPC1000 have the same pads as the old MPCs - or are they smaller? - can't tell from my net drooling.

thanks in advance
paddy

The Hulk · Post by **The Hulk** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 3:45 am

What do you guys think of the Microkorg? That has a Pads, Faders, and keys for around 300. sounds like a better buy if you ask me. I'd love an MPD-16 but there's no way i'd pay 300 for it.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 7:56 am

The Hulk wrote:What do you guys think of the Microkorg? That has a Pads, Faders, and keys for around 300. sounds like a better buy if you ask me. I'd love an MPD-16 but there's no way i'd pay 300 for it.

they're down to around $220 these days. don't pay $300 if that's the price the salesguy is quoting you

The Hulk · Post by **The Hulk** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 2:12 pm

Anonymous wrote:
The Hulk wrote:What do you guys think of the Microkorg? That has a Pads, Faders, and keys for around 300. sounds like a better buy if you ask me. I'd love an MPD-16 but there's no way i'd pay 300 for it.
they're down to around $220 these days. don't pay $300 if that's the price the salesguy is quoting you

oh, just for the record i meant the MicroKontrol, not the Microkorg!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 5:37 pm

and if you want a sequencer and a slew of sounds to boot, you could pickup an emu xl-7 command station for around $499. Has velocity sensitive pads with aftertouch...

Akai MPD-16

Akai MPD-16

Re: Akai MPD-16

Re: Akai MPD-16

MPC > MPD???