Customer Reviews

Akai APC20 Compact Ableton Controller

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first saw a DJ at the San Diego Media Arts Center using this thing at a laptop jam, I thought it was incredible... but when he told me the price he paid on Amazon I thought it was doubly incredible. If you already have Live, the APC20 is a bargain by itself. But if you don't have Live, this package is TRIPLY icredible since it comes with an almost fully functional version (much more functional than standard Live Lite) thus saving you hundreds of bucks! I think the software alone would be worth the price for someone like me... a dabbler without deep pockets.

Caveats & Quibbles
I run XP and had trouble with drivers, but I got a quick helpful response from Akai support. I also had some VST plug-in hangups. They seemed to resolve themselves when I uninstalled and reinstalled. If that doesn't work for you, finding which plug-in is causing the problem can be tedious.

The included USB wire was kinda short (maybe 3 feet). And the USB doesn't power the APC20; you need to plug in an additional wire to a power source.

The biggest potential problem... once you fire up this sucker you can kiss normal life good-bye. You'll be lost for hours playing with infinite push-button permutations of polyphonic pow-ah!

Comparing Launchpad to the Akai? Don't hesitate, get the Akai.

I returned the launchpad I had for the APC 20. Tech support at Novation (makers of the Launchpad) is terrible, their drivers have many known bugs, and the product is cheap feeling.

The Akai's build is MUCH better than novation, not cheap plastic, this thing is made of rubberized metal. Also, the knobs and faders feel just great, and are really necessary to control Ableton properly. No drivers to install, the Akai worked on my machine out of the box.

The ONLY negative thing is that this isn't bus powered. However, because it isn't it doesn't give your computers power supply a major drain and the LED's are clear and consistent, not buggy and flickering.

Also, the launchpad is really disorienting - it is really hard to figure out what controls what, and going to different screens requires constant use of the shift button on the pad. Even though it looks cool, its functionality is poor. Because of the layout of the APC, its visually much simpler to work with Ableton as it corresponds exactly to the clip view.

My story? I had bought a Lauchpad, and had critical problems with driver compatability. Tech support at Novation simply doesn't respond to my repeated emails, didn't return my 2 calls, and the Launchpad ended up crashing my system so many times my XP file was corrupt and I lost a computer. Novation could care less, still took 3-4 days to write back, and so I sent it back to Amazon before it was unreturnable and got the AKAI instead.

Totally glad I got rid of that launchpad, this machine is really professional and the launchpad is a toy. Besides, Akai's reputation for tech support gives me confidence that if I do run into problems, I wont be up a creek.

this is probably the best ablton controller i have used to date, it dose a great job of giving you quick and easy control of all the commonly used features of the software. i would have loved to see a few more knobs on it, and definitely a CON not having velocity sensitivity on the MANY launch pads (saying as there is a "note" mode on this thing that allows you to "play" your vst or built in instruments for live.......) all in all i would say if your looking for a GREAT way to play and mix your live sets..... get this thing, or its bigger brother..... but if your looking to "play" your vst's or the instruments in live.... you are better off getting the AWESOME akai mkp25 or one of ITS bigger brothers. so really, if your more of an ableton live "performer" get this.... if your and ableton live producer.....get one of the mpk series of controllers. finally, if this apc20 would have had velocity sensitive pads.... i would have given it a 5 star rating. *****

Early this week I purchased the Akai apc20 online and was pleasantly surprised to find it in my campus box three days later. The unit was in great condition and using the device was very easy, considering I'm a bit of a neophyte when it comes to using such equipment. Within the span of a day I have learned a lot using the Akai through youtube videos and also just trial and error. The Akai apc20 is a wonderful device that is definitely worth the price. The only unfortunate bit is the number of pads synced to music are restricted. The software to lift these restrictions is pretty hefty and rightly so. I guess i'll see if I have knack for djing or producing and tell from there. Excellent product would definitely recommend it to anyone interested.

This is plug and play at it's best...I also tried another pad that was more generic. It's advantage was that it did not need it's own power like this model..but this does way more and worked exactly as advertised, right out of the box. Locally, the best price I found was $200....Amazon wins again!

If you are a DJ or a Producer or both this is a must have!!!! This controller is the best deal for the price, I looked for days and could not find anything better. If your asking wether to get this or the Novation Launchpad ask yourself, are you a studio producer? Or a DJ on tour that needs something small and compact? If your the first one this is EXACTLY what you need for ableton and also any other software, I am currently using it to control effects on traktor. But if you are on the road this might not be what your looking for due to a few reasons, one is it is not bus powered it requires its own power source. Another is it is fairly large in comparison to the launchpad. Over all I love this thing and it blew me away! It is a must have for ableton.

I have to say that I find myself using Ableton Live more and more as time goes on, but I probably wouldn't use it at all if it wasn't for the APC 20. A little background, I'm someone who started making music on hardware samplers and who continues to do so till this day (Akai MPC 1000, Yamaha SU 700 and a few others over the years). When I was first introduced to Ableton I liked the audio stretching features (making audio fit a certain beat/tempo) and it reminded me of a kind of software version of the Yamaha SU 700 (one of the most underrated music samplers of all time IMO), but with more accurate time-stretching. The drawback, I just don't feel the groove using a mouse and keyboard to add tracks and switch between scenes. Enter the APC 20, with dedicated buttons to trigger individual clips and scenes, and faders to level out tracks the APC 20 has all the essentials with a smaller footprint than its older sibling the Akai APC40 Ableton Controller. It also has dedicated mute and solo buttons, and there is no need to do any midi mapping with Ableton (which can be a pain). It also has a note features which allows you to use it similiar to one of the Akai MPD32 USB/Midi MPC Pad Controller(s) but obiviously more limited. I also believe that a well known music college (maybe Berklee, could be wrong) has adopted this as their Midi controller of choice to teach how to use Ableton Live. If you insist on having a crossfader and a few extra knobs then go for the Akai APC40 Ableton Controller, but the APC 20 has all the essential unless you use Ableton to DJ, which I prefer to stick to Native Instruments Traktor DUO DJ Software (Macintosh and Windows) and Serato for. A quick note when I got this controller one of my friends who swears by Ableton said he didn't see anything he could do differently than he already had been doing with a mouse and keyboard, this was when the price on Amazon was much lower for the APC 20, now after about a year he wishes he bought one when they were cheaper.

Pros: Reasonably affordable, full featured controller for Ableton LIVE, allows you to use LIVE in a more hands on way which in my opinion gets more out of the program. Comes with Ableton Akai addition which has some great classic Akai drum sets (about 8) for the Ableton drum rack software synth.

Cons: Only comes with a limited version of Live that doesn't allow all the full features, such as the ability to play REX and REX 2 files. Live is pricey to upgrade to full version.

Got this Ableton controller along with the AKAI MPD26 beat maker and MPK 25 midi keyboard. All these were great products for my home studio. I got the APC20 because it was only $140 and it came with Ableton Live Professional software which is worth the $140 alone. The only drawback is the APC20 is not BUS powered like it's Novation competition but it is a sturdy well built product similar to the other Akai Professional products I own. The other benefit is the unit is very portable (as compared to the APC40) so I can take it virtually anywhere with my laptop. I've been working with Studio One Professional so learning the new Abelton DAW that came with this product is something I'm going to enjoy.

The controller is great, the APC20 is a great controller for Ableton and comes with all the software you need to be up and running in no time... IF you already know the software. There is a steep learning curve for Ableton live, and because it uses a vocabulary of it's own, transitioning from other software takes longer than most other DAW programs to get used to. Adding a new piece of gear which comes with almost no instruction manual to the equation is even more daunting.

I think the closest hardware/software combo to the APC20 is Maschine. APC20/Ableton Live Is better than Maschine hands down, and getting this type of combo at this price should make anyone excited.

Pro:
MPC style beat production taken to the next level!
Ableton software included is widely used and the learning curve pays off.
Solid construction. Heavier than it looks.
Looks great live with multicolored lights etc.
Better price by far than comparable products.

Con:
Steep learning curve, if you don't know software already.
Instruction manual is little more than a quickstart guide.
It's smaller than expected, and though plenty large enough to play easily, the buttons were smaller than expected.
No knobs on the 20 only sliders (if you want knobs get the 40)
Doesn't really have much support for using with other DAW programs.
Ableton software included is the Live Lite version not a hardware dependant full version of Live as the name implies.

So... overall it's hands down the best way to get into Ableton live, and MPC style beat production. I'm completely satisfied that it was worth every penny I paid.

I picked this up after comparing a whole range of similarly-priced midi-pads. For a particular art project I was doing, I needed something with a lot of buttons, and I liked the extra features of this over the Launchpad (also the APC 20 has metal frame as opposed to the launchpad and seems a bit more reliable, though I don't have much in person experience with the latter). Obviously the only reason you wouldn't get this is if you want the velocity sensitive buttons of a true MPC midi-pad, which I don't really miss. This works great for sketching out beats, though playing melodies on it is a bit strange because the keyboard is transplanted onto a grid, but hey, at least you CAN use it like a keyboard. Being able to organize and play clips at a glance really does free up your Ableton-jamming, and song-making.