Ableton Forum

Thinking about picking up a Korg NanoPAD mainly for its X-Y controller (already have pads on my Axiom).
I heard good things and bad things (breaks easily).
Thoughts, comments?
Thanks

Yes, it is not a rugged piece of equipment, no less rugged than the typical computer mouse, or keyboard, I'd say.

The pads do not have a very nice feel.

But if you think nicely defined large button/pads will help you do what you want, and you nave need for the X-Y thingie, then it is worth the price. I have one and in terms of features I feel like it was a bit more than I expected.

i think the pads feel nice. If you tweak the response (in the editor) you can get it set so light touches are detected but you can still get to max velocity.

I bought mine used, had it about a year, and it started falling apart - main issue was that it sticks - you hit a pad, and it stays triggered, and so you couldn't detect the next hit. I think it's very useful while it lasts, but wouldn't expect it to last forever. I didn't use it heavily, but it did go in my work bag and get banged around a lot. A year (+ the previous owner) doesn't seem too bad, though if it were any more expensive I wouldn't bother.

It's all the pads though... I have seen mods where people have cut off the pads just leaving the X/Y controller. possible to do. I had thoughts of turning my nanopad into a dirt-cheap trigger interface, but now that I have a trigger IO, never bothered. it's really pretty good at the triggering, but not sure how that would translate to a real trigger, and there's no controls for crosstalk etc. which you might need on a real kit.

think i'm going to make mine into a little footpedal... err... as soon as I find all the screws again.

Thanks guys.

I have had two, both have broken. Very disappointed. Not even going to swap it with another one, gonna try the LPD8.

Nanopad? Pure rubbish, I'm afraid. I'm on my third - two replaced under guarantee, and the latest had pads fail pretty much from the start. I've got it working by sticking bits of cardboard between the pads and the sensors, but that's hardly a recommendation, is it?

Stories of Nanopad unpleasantness are legion. Avoid.

^^^^ Yep, those are some of the bad things I heard about the pads.
But with that being said I just want a cheap X-Y controller so the drum pads probably wouldn't get used much anyway.
Thanks.

Bought nanopad for the sake of saving a fiver nd it lasted 50 minutes, still have my mazing LPD8.

Get the LPD8 and you won't be sorry, only way it could break is if you drop it on the usb port while it's plugged in, done it once, was lucky to fix it lol

I use it as a controller for Looper, and the XY for effects. It works great. I would never use it for drums.

depends on what you think is worth it, i guess

i mean its what, 40 bucks.. but how much use will you get out of it.

im starting to get tired of cheap controllers that end up piling up on my shelf after i get frustrated with them or they break. that being said, i still buy them because i cant imagine paying alot of money for something nice which i than wont want to take on tour!

(oh yeah, and the nanokontrol is great)

swishniak wrote:depends on what you think is worth it, i guess

i mean its what, 40 bucks.. but how much use will you get out of it.

im starting to get tired of cheap controllers that end up piling up on my shelf after i get frustrated with them or they break. that being said, i still buy them because i cant imagine paying alot of money for something nice which i than wont want to take on tour!

(oh yeah, and the nanokontrol is great)

Yep, I have nanokontrol and love it!

agreed that the LPD8 is preferable. for me 8 pads is more intuitive than 10 for working with the drum rack interface, plus the knobs perfectly match the arrangement of live's macro knobs. slap a nice live remote script on it and you have auto-mapped knobs and pads for any drumrack you want to control. the knobs aren't the most ergonomic but you get used to em...

Utter crap. Half the pads stopped working after one month of use.

And I love Korg stuff.

My PadKontrol? A beast. That thing is solid.

I also have an Akai MPD18. For just a little more, you get the 16-pad grid (perfect for Drum Racks). I would recommend the MPD18 over the Nanopad, any day. Spend the extra $40.

Oh, and if you love the XY pad... just spring for a PadKontrol.

If you get it from this site (www.americanmusical.com) you can add $50 to your order and get to use it while you make three equal payments over 60 days... so it will cost you like $83 or something. No credit check, either.