What’s the smallest footprint velocity sensitive drum pad you all know of that isn’t overly plastic-feeling? I really wish I could find something like the Midi Fighter that had 12-16 drum pads instead of buttons. I really don’t need extra knobs or anything. I would prefer something with hardware midi rather than just USB. Any ideas?
With DIN MIDI you’re pretty limited… I’d be checking out the Beatstep (non-pro verson) and maybe the Korg Padkontrol.
Another interesting option is the Novation Launchpad Pro which does standalone MIDI and also can do melodic scales, etc. My only complaint is the inability to configure the pad layout in any meaningful way without knowing how to code a custom firmware, so you have to be able to do this on whatever you’re controlling.
Forgot about the Keith McMillen QuNeo, but you need an outboard MIDI expander to use DIN MIDI.
For that matter any USB pad with a USB MIDI host should work…
Would have said the AKAI MPD218 has the best pads for its price range and relatively compact. It is however usb midi only, one up on the range is the MPD226 which is bigger but has midi.
So the reason I’m looking for something with hardware DIN midi is because I want to use an RK-002 programable midi cable to use the pads to play slices on one channel of my Octatrack. I’m preparing to sell my Rytm and need to figure out a way to play sounds live in a more hands on sort of way with my OT. I was considering the Launchpad Pro but was concerned about the feel of the pads. It’s also just way more pads than I need.
I was going to suggest the Alesis Perc Pad until I realised you meant a controller rather than a pad!
I much prefer the MPD pads over the Launchpad Pro’s for drumming. Perhaps consider a USB midi host? What is the RK-002 for?
There’s a script that makes playing individual slices possible with an external controller
an akai mpd 16 can generally be found on ebay for <50$. 16 pads, 1 slider, din midi. its an older model