APC 20 and 40 questions and information

[joostiisme]

I am planning on buying an APC 20 and 40, maybe making an APC 80 out of it later. I will use it with ableton, and traktor (not at the same time) I already have a mapping in my head. So on to my questions.

What style are the faders? are they smooth like good mixers? or is it more studio equipment like.
How about the crossfader? is it smooth enough for scratch like action?

What are the downsides you guys have experienced with these controllers?

Anything else I need to know?

thanks in advance

[fullenglishpint]

tbh I'd really recommend trying to find a shop that stocks it so you can play with it first. nothing worse than buying something online, waiting for delivery then finding out it doesn't do what you want it to. Not that it will, it's just a good idea.

[joostiisme]

Yeah I know,
this sunday a big shop in holland has a webshop sale. And I dont know if I can try it before then.
Btw in a shop you cannot try it like users have done, and you wont know how it stand real use for a long time. Thats why I thought: lets ask the nice ppl on DJTT.
thanks anyway!

[dj sterilize]

the faders are solid from what i've experienced with them. My friend has an APC-40 and uses it with traktor. It runs smoothly using the .tsi he made. I would assume that the APC-20 would be the same as well.

As for the cross fader it worked fine for mixing between decks, however I dont scratch so I cannot say if it is optimal for scratching or not. Sorry. But hope this helped some.

[joostiisme]

I'm not planning in scratching with it either, but just snap between decks.
The crossfader on my novation nocturn is hell.
The one on my mixer (reloop rmx 40) is good and I hope the APC 40 is just as good.
The mapping i have in my mind would be amazing, just have to draw it out and and map it.
a few weeks after I get my APC's I will share it. Then I have time to get the bugs and glitches out.

[fullenglishpint]

The crossfader on my novation nocturn is hell.

I don't understand why they put a crossfader in the nocturn, let alone that dodgy high resistance one.

Nice controller in general though, for ableton in particular.

[joostiisme]

I don't understand why they put a crossfader in the nocturn, let alone that dodgy high resistance one.

Nice controller in general though, for ableton in particular.

Me neither, I dont really under stand the speed knob too.
Whats the point in turning a knob if your mouse is on it already.
They should have used the room to allign the knobs logically. or add more buttons/2 faders.

It is a neat little controller, thats true. I bought it for vst control in ableton, and super knobs in traktor. I made a little mixer mapping for it too...

[djsakebomb]

Faders on the APC-series are great, a little too much resistance for my liking, but definitely not something to turn you off the controller. Crossfader on the APC40 is very smooth, practically no resistance. Overall they're both very high quality products. They'll definitely last a long time.

[MuzicFreq]

Would have the APC40 right not if it wasnt backordered at Akai, no store had them in stock when I was looking T_T

[sarasin]

The faders are good....but i found if I really jam em....sometimes the one does not always register.

Tried some compressed air in a can and cleaned out the dust....worked so far.

The XFader is pretty standard and there is no knob to control the cut.
So you can't adjust it to be sharp.

But.....I kinda found a way to tweak the midi settings and it kinda works on velocity now. If I snap the fader....or crab....it picks it up pretty well. But the fader is not gonna last.

I can tell you that now...its NOT a scratch fader....by a long shot.

My next mod will be to replace the XFader with an Innofader....or Pro X Fade....or something similar.