I have 226 and 218. For the 226 I added 2 sets of MPC stuff corx (basically little vinyl stickers that go on the bottom of the pads). Quite happy with the sensitivity of the 226 modded in this way and its much better than my 218 without mods. 218 tends to have some pads less sensitive than others - I may stick some corx on that one. Love the design though of both devices and have just ordered another 232 and will mod it with corx again if required to get the level of sensitivity.
1 Like
I probably saw both of your Pad sensitivity’s videos 3 times ahahah and I am impatiently waiting for the 2020 full update 
1 Like
Nice hacks 
I am not the best artisan when it comes to electronic stuff 
1 Like
Here goes my ranking of all of the pads I’ve ever used (enough to have a very thoroughly grounded opinion at least), based on the sensitivity/accuracy and nothing else, I can answer any Qs.
-
Maschine+, crazy sensitive, soft, nothing more to add.
-
MPC 2500 with MPCStuff Fat pads, super sensitive but noticeably less so than the Maschine+
-
MPC 2000XL with fat pads, marginally worse than the 2500.
-
MPD 218 with fat pads, equal to the 2000XL but double triggers more
-
Maschine Mikro MK1, decent but not amazing.
-
Novation Circuit, too small for my liking, although otherwise seem pretty good.
-
MPX 8, meh set of pads, only really useful to practice when you’re out and about whilst broke.
-
MPC Live, ungodly awful with stock pads and difficult to change pads due to battery, I’ve heard from others that it rocks with upgraded pads but damn, it’s expensive for sucky pads that you have to void warranty to upgrade.
1 Like
Greetings everybody!
I just bought an used MPC Live Mk1 and being mostly a keyboard/piano player with some basics on drumming thought I was buying the ultimate music creation equipment.
Worst pads sensitivity ever. You have to slam it to have feedback. Even on full level (127) sometimes I play the pad and no triggering. I have a pain in my right arm for some years now caused mainly because of the computer and piano, so I don’t want to hurt even more my muscles and spend even more money on therapies.
I just returned a brand new Novation Launchkey 49 MK3 because the keys were awful, but those pads… best pads ever!
I tried for a week to program natural sounding drums with the MPC Live and gave up, I just ordered the Fat Pads and Corks from MPCStuff and I will try to make a nice step-by-step tutorial with photos, just like those you can find on the web of how to replace Macbook parts.
We definitely need some “Fatar keys” standard for pads.
2 Likes
Hey, did you try the “pad treshold” and curve settings inside the MPC Live? I found that you can set the thing so sensitive that it triggers when you softly tap the table it’s standing on. I almost cannot believe that Akai would destroy the pad sensitivity of the MPC Live I that much since I had one.
Hey teacher! Thanks for your time and your effort in setting all this up.
I don’t know if I was lucky enough to get a bad batch but I tried combining sensitivity, threshold and pad curve and could not have an acceptable “touchability” for my taste.
Also, as I changed the threshold it started triggering various notes.
The thing is that when I play drums with a stick or piano with my hands, there’s always sound when I hit the instrument. That was the Novation Launchkey level of sensibility and this is what I’m expecting in a nearly 1000€ instrument.
I’ve spent the last two weeks about 30 min a day following your lessons and is really frustrating to be in full level and a kick here or a hat there is not triggered because it was not touched heavy enough.
I also did the test of programming the same beat with the MPC Live, IK Multimedia Irig Keys 37 and Kawai CA47, with both keyboards I have a very decent sound and notes are always triggered.
As I really like the concept of the MPC environment I wanna keep it, and then I saw this video from MCPStuff: MPC Renaissance Pad Corx Demonstration - Shown with Thick Pads - YouTube
Maybe is not my pads, just cleaning the contacts or installing the corks would do the job, but since the shipping from USA to France is so expensive I’ve bought the pads + 2 corks package and will upgrade it next weekend.
1 Like
Alright, let me know how things went. I think I’m gonna adjust my recommendation for the Mpc Live on the website, just to not disappoint folks. Incredible that it went down in quality so much. What is akai thinking…
Hey, I tried all settings and only found it missing most notes on one extreme and perma-triggering all pads until crash in the other extreme with no useable middle ground aha. Two from top worked best but was still barely useable for me, I understand there are some inconsistencies from Live to Live.
1 Like
In this video you can see the kick not being trigered on first kick+oh and at 11s again. The threshold was 8 and sensibility to 16 (max).
I’ll keep you guys informed.
2 Likes
Hi there, update done!
I will prepare a photo guide and upload to instructables when I have time. (took me about 4 hours)
I’m using standard settings: 8 for threshold and 8 for sensibility.
I played as soft as I think it should be played and achieved a good overall sound without hurting my fingers.
In the first video I captured both the computer and telephone sound, today it is only the telephone and every hit is heard.
Hi there, really pissed off here, pad 11 is dead.
Everything worked ok for a month and yesterday it started to fail and today I figured out that the chip under this particular pad is not working.
That’s a 1,5 year old piece of hardware that was always kept with a decksaver when not used. I play the piano, so it’s not like I have an elephant hand and broke it.
I contacted Akai to send it for repair and as soon as it comes back I’m selling it.
I’m back
I just got an Maschine MK3 and wow! That’s actually what a pad controller should feel like. Even better than the Novation I tried a while ago.
I will return it and get the Maschine Mikro though, I don’t think I really need that screen and knobs.
My heart is completely broken with Akai, I love so much the workflow, but those pads… I’m really thinking of selling the Live when it’s back from repair and getting a One as ‘computer’ + Mikro as pad controller.
2 Likes
A congrats! Let me know if you agree with me that the Mikro mk3 is almost just as good as the Big Mk3.
Hi, I bought second hand again 130€ mk3 mikro
Even being used I think the pads are 80% as good as the big brother, not sure why though, would it be that they produce themselves the Pro Mk3 sensor and buy the Mikro mk3 sensor from Akai ? 
For finger drumming the extra 300€ is just not justifiable, only if you are a master and that small percentage will really influence your playing. As I’m learning I think it’s ok for one year or two. For my music production I will correct the velocity and timing with the mouse until I can really put everything on the pocket and record in one take.
With the big Maschine, brand new, I can make “I Miss You - Blink 182” drums without thinking, the snares just roll themselves. With the used one there is some wear in the sensor sheet, specially pad 7. I may check if the warranty is still valid, if not I’ll clean it and put some graphite on the sensor and it should do the job.
I would just finish by comparing again with the MPC Live.
It was just impossible to do rolls, even with the corks and pads upgrade.
1 Like
Just a little update if somebody wants to use the Mikro as a production tool as well: the note repeat button doesn’t have lock. You can lock 1 pad at a time and it switches to keyboard mode, but no note repeat lock on pad mode 
1 Like
Hi there.
So the seller of the Maschine Mikro Mk3 didn’t answered my messages anymore and did not transfer the software license.
I contacted NI and not only they transferred me the license but also heard my complaints about some double triggering and offered to repair it free of charge, based on the warranty!!!
Those guys are really pros, one week of contact and done.
For the Akai MPC is another story… I contacted them by the official site, facebook, inmusic group, etc, and they said that they can do nothing, the magazine should contact them to arrange if I’m not in the US. In France the warranty has to be transferred from the original owner to the me so I can ask the magazine to contact Akai and then arrange the repair. So complicated! My MPC is in the box for one month now… I think that’s where they had the idea of the name “MPC One” 
In conclusion: not only NI has the best sensibility pads it also has the best support in the business. I’ll definitely buy more stuff from them.
2 Likes
Well tell that to those waiting for Ableton Live 11 compatibility for NI devices…they’re not so happy with NI.
1 Like
On the general topic. Now i’ve a couple of weeks with the Mikro MK3 under my belt I find the sensitivity really good…however, i’m a complete beginner and have nothing to compare to…so its not a very valuable opinion.
However, i would say that my impression of the sensitivity has improved a lot over the two weeks. It’s hard to say if that’s because of me learning to finger drum better (most likely) or if its the setup (cable, settings, usb port choice) or if the device somehow loosens up from a little use (there may be some truth in this - would be interested to know if anyone else noticed this or if its just a subjective thing).
2 Likes
I think you could be right about losening up with use, after all we are beating the crap out of them. I am with you all the way on the NI and Ableton compatibility. Although for something like $10 you can buy a compatible script that someone has produced, its actually NI’s responsibiity to sort it out for free. Really like the pads for drumming, but the rest of the Mk3’s capability is useless to me in Ableton.
2 Likes