Akai ProfessionalMPD218 - USB MIDI Controller with 16 MPC Drum Pads, 6 Assignable Knobs, Note Repeat & Full Level Buttons and Production Software

EDIT 7/14/2019:*There is 3/8" black cloth "pickup coil tape" on Stewmac.com. I use this for guitar work, so I had some on hand, but it just so happens it's the perfect width for this job. I also recommend the Double Stick tape, also available on Stewmac, and using this on the bottom of the black cloth tape. This ensures good adhesion to your rubber MPC pads. The black cloth tape seems to be more consistent than traditional electrical tape, and is easier to work with. Simply cut it into one inch strips and layer them together as needed, with double stick tape on the bottom.*I'm using 2 strips for most pads. Add more and see if you like the feel or not. Adjust accordingly.*I've found that setting these up is a balancing act. Every single screw makes a difference: installed/not installed, and how tightly installed, both on the circuit board itself and the red shell/cover that fits over the device. As for the tape: more tape can actually reduce the velocity range/sensitivity, which can be a good thing. Hyper-active pads that are triggering with too much velocity compared to the others may benefit from extra tape, not less. Balancing act.*Currently I'm using no screws on the circuit board at all. On the hard red plastic cover, I'm using only the 4 outside screws, and have them slightly backed off, about 1/4 turn. This seems to be enough to hold everything in place, and gives great sensitivity response with the least amount of accidental triggering.*I still get double triggering if I use the "Full Level" button, and I still get some accidental triggering of other pads, though they're usually at such a low velocity you can't hear it. My main problem was the Snare triggering the Closed Hi Hat pad(s), so when I'd do Snare and Open Hi Hat together, often the Open Hi Hat would be completely cancelled out by the Closed Hi Hat pad triggering. Setting up the pad as I've explained here fixed that. It may be that a lot of these pads are defective. But defective doesn't mean "not salvageable." It's a ton of work, and a major pain, yes -- but salvageable, and beyond that, transformable into a great pad controller. Now, back to my original review:I carefully disassembled the MPD218 and cut electrical tape to fit over the pads. This is a well-known trick online, and the simple idea is this: it reduces the force you need to strike the pads with in order to trigger them, and especially to trigger them fully.As others have mentioned, the other setup option is to very slightly back off on the screws that hold the circuit board down. You can even leave only the 4 outer screws attached and remove the 4 inner screws. Or remove all the screws on the circuit board completely. I've had the best luck so far by removing all of them completely, and only using the 4 outer screws on the hard red plastic back cover.Tape method:Step 1: Remove the screws holding the cover on. You're gonna want a magnetic holder or well-sealed plastic bag to keep the screws in as you remove them...trust me. Now take the cover off.Step 2: Now remove the smaller screws that are holding the circuit board in place. Then carefully lift the circuit board and place it out of harm's way. You'll see a thin plastic sheet underneath with squares on it. Remove the conductive plastic sheet once you get to it. Remember: it needs to go back on the right way, i.e. the conductive side facing the circuit board, or else it won't work when you plug it back in. Shiny side = insulated side. That goes down on top of the rubber pad. Make sure the conductive Matte finish side is facing up when you're all done.Step 3: Now you can easily remove the pads. It's literally just a floppy mass of rubber, all one piece, that you can just lift out. Take it out, and get some electrical tape and some scissors or an Xacto knife ready.Step 4: Cut the tape, similar to how I did it in the picture. On the MPD218, the LEDs are dead center. So if you cover them with tape, the LEDs will be obscured and your pads won't light up.You can customize it however you want. I'm using two layers of tape. You may like more. You may like less.Step 5: Reassemble. And you're done! Good job. Now test your MPD218 for responsiveness.Now I'm enjoying my newly set up MPD218 much more than before. Very, very light touches also seemed to trigger nothing before, whereas now they trigger exactly what I want: very light, soft sounds.Just be careful with the screws and the circuit board when dismantling and reassembling this thing, and you'll be fine. It's a very easy fix. Just a bit time consuming when it comes to dialing it in perfectly.Overall I'm very happy with this unit. It looks good, was very easy to work on, and with a couple tweaks, it's performing extremely well. It needs to be set up properly just like any other instrument. Which is always a pain. But it's to be expected. The only major issue is the "Full Level" button, which I simply don't use. Akai really needs to address whatever is going on with that.

I use it to trigger MIDI drums but also as a keyboard. The layout inspires me to find patterns of notes that would not come naturally on a MIDI keyboard.I use it for synths, samplers, even microtonal stuff, using Microtone 5000 and Simple Microtoanal Sampler. With samples I don't use 4, 8, or 16 beat breaks, I sample individual hits (like of kitchen things) and make my own loops in an audio editing program (I use SoundForge but can be done in most DAWs)Though this AKAI works well with the included 16 samples in the (non-microtonal) "Pretty Good Sampler" (all of these are free)ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: if you're only using it for MIDI imputs, not to control your DAW's transport (start/stop/record/next track, etc), do NOT turn on Mackie Control in your DAW. You'll end up with this doing all sorts of things you want....opening files when you hit a note, and especially maddening, turning on automation, recording everything you do, then forcing your choices when you play back.I did not have to map this at all to use with common drum VSTs.Love it.

Nice touch!

The pads work a treat. Best I've ever tried. The pads are arranged funny; odd places for the snare, bass, etc, but I dare not try to go in and change anything; in my experience, attempting so will confuse the unit, and it may stop working.The software included was a hoax. I got the drum VST onto my home screen, but it only got in as "standalone" mode, so it's useless insofar as my DAWs.Disabledton Lite does what it always does every time - halfway into the load, it decides that an "error" has been made, and it aborts.This exact same thing happens, in exactly the same way, every single time, and no, it isn't me; this has happened on my previous computer before upgrading to this one as well.I purchase/download VSTs often, and I seldom have a problem, so it isn't me, although even knowing this still won't soothe the butthurt of the bitter trolls who will malign me, and I expect to get "Your a idoit" , "Your stuped", and other flat-earther "repartees" soon after posting.Disabledton Lite is just clickbait, designed to get you to choose this over similar offerings.