Akai MPK25 or MPK49? - Dubstep Production

[daddysmoney]

Hey all,

I'm about to invest some money into a midi controller and I have my eyes set on either the Akai MPK25 or the 49. I've been producing a little bit of music using FL studio, but I wanted to start using ableton 8 on my macbook pro. I'm looking to make dubstep/reggae/ragga and need a good midi keyboard/controller to do that with. I'm leaning more towards the MPK25 because it's cheaper, has better reviews, and has more knobs (I doubt I would use the faders on the MPK49). I would like more keys, but I think I could do without them. So, what's a better choice? Or if you have any other suggestions, throw them at me! Any feedback is appreciated

Leo
Daddy's Money

[mattcheau]

i'm interested in hearing some opinions on this too, because i'm in the same market. i like the idea of having the faders for controlling channel levels in Ableton. you get four less pots, but eight faders, so you really get four more controls total on the 49. if you haven't seen it yet, check out mpcstuff.com. they have pretty sweet pad mods for akai controllers.

[illstep]

the pads suck, i didn't like 'em even with the mods installed. other than that the mpk49 is a great midi keyboard. (oh and its heavy!)

[mattcheau]

did you just mod the pads themselves or did you get the cork inserts too?

[levvis]

maschine ftw

[Lineypirate]

I had this same quandry a few months back when I was in the market for an MPK. I played with both in the shop and eventually settled for the MPK25. I produce mostly dance and D'n'B so a few chords and stabs are well suited to the 25 keys.

However, I sometimes wish I had the 49 purely for the faders. Personally, I prefer to adjust my track levels with faders and they give better visual feedback of levels than the knobs on the 25 key model.

All in, I highly recommend the MPK25, but whichever one you go for, upgrading the pads (which is a ten minute job if your happy opening it up) is a must. Buy the right kit and pad sensitivity and playability is increased tenfold.