Akai mpd 26 (love it)
Greetings knowledgeable DJTT forum. I just picked up an AKAI MPD26 and have plugged it into my ableton and I am having a ball of time. I really enjoy the non traditional midi input vs. a keyboard. The MPD is really well built and solid and is made for a great deal of pounding. It integrates so well with ableton, it truly is plug and play. So for those of you looking to get more percussive with your patterns i recommend this midi controller.
Congrats on the purchase 
I got Maschine las tuesday to fill in that job.
got me an apc20 to sort that, but i do like the idea of bigger pads
I think although similar in appearance the APC 20 and MPD26 are very different. APC 20 out of the box is a clip launching machine and midi controller whilst the MPD26 is a finger drumming/note playing beast. You can own both and use them at the same time with minimal overlap. In fact they would form like Voltron and from a super array of midi inputs. I use a launchpad and the MPD26 and the recording/launching/input capabilities are very satisfying indeed. My workflow is very close to optimal for making dance music.
I just ordered the MPD26. Can’t wait. Plan on using for it for loops and effects triggering on the fly. Do you find the pads nice and easy to use? Some of the ones I’ve used are like you have to jam your thumb into it to fire off.
The build quality of the MPD26 is of a high quality. I am beyond impressed, Its no toy. The pads are responsive and have after touch. Each pad touch is registered on the display with a 1-127 velocity value. You can lightly touch the pads or pound them, the unit is heavy and sturdy. The other awesome aspect is the ease of Midi assignment. I use reason and ableton and its beyond easy for a chimp like me to make knobs or pads control any midi assignable parameter.
the mpd26 does look like a great controller. the main thing that puts me off is no led feedback on the pads. the padkontrol is about the same price and people seem to say that the pads are better on the padkontrol (but still not as good as the ones on maschine) so i’ll probably go for a padkontrol or maschine. i like the price of the mpd26 and maschine but maschine with it’s software just looks amazing…
this would be my only gripe about the MPD26, no pretty lights. There is absolutely presentation value to be had with the ambiance created by stylishly lit gear. If guitar center had the padkontrol in stock I may have bought that instead of this unit. I am not a fan of NI, their tech support, their service center, but they do have great ideas, just bad implementation in my experiences with KOntrol x1 and Absynth. (you may love NI, and I hope people have good experiences with them)
i bought NI’s massive and razor synths the other week in their sale and i’ve been impressed with both of those. i do own traktor but switched to using mixxx a while ago and don’t own any NI controllers atm. i just love the whole idea of the maschine software for programming beats and being able to play them live, plus people say those pads are the very best. price is high but not all that much higher than the mpd26 and PK when u consider the software. i have read some issues tho with using maschine as a midi controller on a mac with ableton. so for just a midi controller the mpd or PK are probably the best bet anyway.
Going for 400 bucks till the end of august.
In looking at Louie V’s setup from the “show your setup page” he has owned both the MPD26 the APC 20 and the Maschine. He is probably a good resource to check before you buy gear:
nice price 
shame it’s more of a saving in usd i guess. very tempting tho…
cheers. he seems to own two maschine’s so must like them 
how are you guys using the mpd… for live performances or for beat making… im thinking about getting one this week for making beats with… also how is the swing in it? does it come w tru akai swing?
I use the mpd 26 in a production environment. As far as the “swing” of an mpc, Ableton has those grooves built in to apply to any pattern you might put into live. I haven’t owned the unit log enough to tell if there is the swing effect inherent in the midi signal. I view the mpd 26 as in instrument and I am learning with practice. The build quality leads me to believe this unit would be suitable for live performance.
Damn it. MPD26 is backordered til August at local store. Well, maybe I’ll just go APC…