Akai Professional MPD18 USB MIDI Pad Controller (Standard)

by Akai Professional

Product Features

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Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B002A4H3WC
• Item model number: MPD18
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,299 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #17 in Musical Instruments > Instrument Accessories > Amplifier Accessories > Footswitches & Controllers

Product Description

The Akai MPD18 MIDI Pad Controller is an easy way to add genuine MPC pads to your setup. This MIDI-over-USB pad controller for DJs, programmers, producers, and other musicians is built around the pads and controls from Akai Professional's industry-standard MPC series. The MPD18 is an expressive and intuitive instrument ideal for the studio and stage.At the heart of the Akai MPD18 is its bank of 16 velocity and pressure-sensitive MPC pads, an Akai Pro exclusive. You can access 3 different banks of sounds from the MPC pads for a total of 48 sounds at your fingertips. The MPD18 also borrows the MPC series' assignable Q-Link controllers, enabling you to control nearly any parameter in your software in real time. You get an assignable Q-Link fader for natural, hands-on control of your most-used parameters, and MPC Note Repeat enables you to quickly input patterns such as hi-hat parts or drum rolls. The MPD18 also has 16 configurable presets so you can program it for the way you work with different hardware and software. The Akai MPD18 sends MIDI information over its plug-and-play USB interface so you can use it with your Mac or PC without installing any drivers. The USB connection even powers the MPD18 so the included USB cable is all you need for portable production. It can control nearly any MIDI software, as well as MIDI hardware, such as synths, sound modules, samplers, sequencers, drum machines, and more....

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Less Is More, September 21, 2009

By 

PSB (Minnetonka, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Akai Professional MPD18 USB MIDI Pad Controller (Standard)

Sixteen pads and a USB out - it really couldn't get much simpler! There are no unnecessary knobs and the pads feel excellent. (I think they are the same pads as the MPD24 and MPD32.) Since it is fairly compact and there are no knobs to break, it is perfect for throwing in a bag. The ergonomics of this are better than for the MPD16, which was less comfortable due to a shorter height and had a higher pad surface angle. The height and low angle of the MPD18 allow for optimal pad tapping position. Also, unlike the MPD16, this is Vista compatible.

The few extra buttons are pretty good. There is no menu to navigate; it is all pretty straightforward. "Note repeat" and "full level" turns those features on/off. "MIDI channel" is pretty obvious. "Preset" cycles through the 16 presets. The "note repeat configuration button" acts like a function key and lets you access repeat rate, swing, and tap tempo via the pads. My only criticism is that the "bank" button should give you four pad banks rather than three. That would be much more logical! The single fader can do whatever you want.

The configuration software lets you customize the sixteen presets (MIDI note#s and/or CC#s for the pads). It also lets you choose whether note repeat works only when the pad is pressed or whether the pad toggles the repeating note on/off. You can also choose whether the repeat is based on the internal clock or the clock of your DAW software.

I thought about getting the upcoming LPD8, but this has bigger pads and is plenty portable. I also considered the Korg padKONTROL and nanoPAD, which apparently have more accurate pads, but I don't really like the firm Korg pads. Plus, the MPD18 is taller than any of these options, which allows you to curve your hand better. The MPD24 and MPD32 have more control features, which isn't really a plus. I never really make much use of the knobs and faders on MIDI controllers. It also seems like the knobs could potentially get in the way when using the pads. Rather than get an MPD24 or 32 I'd say get two MPD18s! They are petty compact, so they would fit nicely together! If you really need knobs and faders, get an MPD18 for the pads and add a separate controller of your choice. The nanoKONTROL probably would replace the controller functions of the bigger MPDs.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple and Powerful, April 15, 2010

By 

Travis C. Mitchell "The Reading Glass" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Akai Professional MPD18 USB MIDI Pad Controller (Standard)

I have to say, this is probably one of the best additions to my home studio to date. This device is simple, and the pads are very responsive. It literally only took me 5 minutes to set this up with both Ableton and FL Studio Pro and the absence of knobs and faders isn't an issue if you are savvy with prepping your samples beforehand anyway. I also expected there to be a bit of latency as well as I get that from my keyboard and other USB/Midi devices but there was barely any even when I went crazy on this thing with finger drums.

Admittedly, I do still prefer the Korg drumpads to these, the value of this overall makes it well worth the 99 bucks.

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Toy but has some Problems, December 12, 2011

By 

Jacob (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Akai Professional MPD18 USB MIDI Pad Controller (Standard)

I have used the MPD18 for a couple days and it's great. The manual was very vague (I'm guessing Akai assumes that people already know how Controllers work), I had no idea what I was doing because this was my first Controller. So I had to look up Youtube videos on how to load presets and all that good stuff. When I first got it, it was way lighter than I expected. I thought I was getting a good solid piece of equipment, but it's like holding styrofoam. When installing the drivers for the MPD18, ALWAYS go to the Akai website and make sure you download the latest driver(s) so it'll work properly. I used Ableton's Live 8 Suite with this Controller and it was just okay. Everything works great, but the pads are very unresponsive. I loaded up some samples from Live's Drum Rack and I noticed that when I hit the pads, for some odd reason, they play the note (or sample) twice. If you are producing your own music, like I am, you know that this will cause many problems when recording. I recommend keeping the Full Level feature on, so you can actually hear what you're sample or preset sounds like. If you keep that feature off, you better turn your volume way up; unless you like pounding on the pads really hard. I felt I would break or affect the pad if I didn't have the Full Level feature on. So I sent the MPD18 right back and I'm planning on upgrading to something more "professional" as soon as I can.

Sure the Akai MPD18 is great for the money; but, as I mentioned before, I'm looking for something a little more "professional" such as the Novation Launchpad which features 64 pads for about the same price as this MPD18. I'd recommend getting the Akai APC20 or APC40 if you want something more higher quality with more build quality too.