Considering buying a USB-Control Surface -Help!

Hey all!

So, I got some Amazon.com gift cash sitting out there (about $200) and I'm thinking about getting a control surface to use with Reaper. I've already got a nice midi controller keyboard, but want to start fucking around with knobs n'shit - seems like that's the next step in sound control/modulation that I'm looking for (though I'm sort of in the dark on how best to use knobs etc. to control sounds).

Anyway - I've gotten lost. So many different options out there which can all do different things, and I'm so inexperienced I'm not really sure where to start. So, if anyone has any suggestions/ideas - I'm all ears/eyes. I've been considering the following:

Akai MPD26 USB/Midi Pad Controller - Kind of pricey, but I like what the description says about the note repeat / MPC like functions. Not sure if I really need pads though - so maybe a waste of money?

Korg PadKontrol - Ok. Yes. It has pads. It's called a "PadKontrol." But I do like the little x/y thing plus it sounds like you can program the pads to a scale which is a nice touch. Downside is, like, 2 knobs and no faders.

Korg NanoKontrol2 - Knobs? Check. Faders? Check. Cheap? Check. Other fuctionality reliability? Dunno. Might be a nice "try and see" thing.

Alright - there are lots of other things but want to see what people think. Any advice/thoughts welcome here - I'm totally in the dark on this topic so don't hesitate to educate me.

Thanks yall!!!

-T3-

I have and enjoy the MPC 26, but I do a lot of hip-hop stuff too, so it's specifically relevant to my interests. Not sure that's the case for you.

I have a nanokontrol 1 and for the price its probably one of the better purchases I've made. Haven't had any issues or anything break and I cart it around loose in my laptop bag just about everywhere I go.

I haven't tried the Nanokontrol so I might be totally off, but the faders look really small. I know it's out of your $200 budget, but the novation remote zero sl looks pretty slick for DAW control.

i've got a nano pad, one of the first batch, feels kinda cheap, the xy pad wasnt too hot and the pads really need a hammering

if you're thinking about the korg stuff maybe try one in a shop for quality control...

  On 2/29/2012 at 12:16 AM, kokeboka said:

I haven't tried the Nanokontrol so I might be totally off, but the faders look really small. I know it's out of your $200 budget, but the novation remote zero sl looks pretty slick for DAW control.

Yea they are pretty small but I picked mine up specifically for portability/space saving purposes. I actually kind of like the smallness of the faders as I can use one finger to control them fairly fluidly or use a two or more to control XY, etc. Great for controlling different bits to an instrument. I don't really use it for mixer control though, so if thats your aim a larger surface might be more comfortable.

Thanks Drahken

I actually want to use it more for modulation / sound tweaking like you are talking about above, so nice to hear that it works! Really appreciate the feedback - this helps immensely in focusing what I want. Hip hop is not particularly my interest, so good to know about the MPC - also to know about the issues with the Korg (which is somewhat reflected in some of the reviews I've found).

Really - priceless to have community input, thanks again!

I have the MPD 26 and I love it.

  On 2/29/2012 at 12:51 PM, Mesh Gear Fox said:

yeah the MPD is brilliant! it's a little pricey, i'll admit...but man it just feels so quality

 

endless rotary knobs like butter, faders like feathers but also heavy enough to keep in place and has unique setups for all major DAWs. i think the pads could be a little more sensitive but i haven't really tried many other pad-based controllers so might just be me and my little girly hands.

This seems to be a common complaint regarding Akai's MIDI controllers with 'MPC trigger pads'. I've been looking into the Akai stuff myself (literally just plopped down £80 for the MPD18) and it does seem to be the thing that people complain about the most. I was gonna try to save up for the MPK61, but considering the cost of the keyboard and the fact that I wanna get a better soundcard soon, I couldn't really justify spending that much when the pads aren't all that and a bag of chips anyway.

Yeah the pads are quite hard to trigger, but I like it. You really have to hit on the pads. I mean, if you play drums, you hit them as well and don't caress them, so... it's the feeling I want to have. By the way, you can change the way the Pads react (different curves) and also the minimum strength needed to trigger them. I didn't tried it out already, but maybe that's a way to make them more sensitive. Another thing which bothers me more is that sometimes another pad not touched is triggered as well, but I guess, I just have to live with that. Also, the MPD has a MIDI clock and MIDI IN and OUT, which could be important for some users.

  On 2/29/2012 at 1:50 PM, tokn said:

Yeah the pads are quite hard to trigger, but I like it. You really have to hit on the pads. I mean, if you play drums, you hit them as well and don't caress them, so... it's the feeling I want to have. By the way, you can change the way the Pads react (different curves) and also the minimum strength needed to trigger them. I didn't tried it out already, but maybe that's a way to make them more sensitive.

I don't think it's just that, it seems to be just a common problem with the newer controllers. From what I've read, original MPC users are disappointed with the pads.

And adjusting velocity curves doesn't really fix it either.

I've been thinking about getting a remote zero sl mk2, there's a guy selling a used one at a decent price in my town, anyone had some experience with it? Any good? Looks like a nice deal.

I don't own one but I've heard nothing but good things about them.

  On 2/29/2012 at 12:08 AM, Drahken said:

I have a nanokontrol 1 and for the price its probably one of the better purchases I've made. Haven't had any issues or anything break and I cart it around loose in my laptop bag just about everywhere I go.

This

the pads on budget akai controllers are fucking HARD(i.e shit)-only worth of you believe those stories about them softening up with time.

on the other hand the nanokontrol seems to be the only good choice amongst the nano series, check the reviews theres a lot of people complaining about them(nanokeys,nanopad), breaking in no time

Yeah, thanks again - I think I'm winnowing my expectations/desires a bit and it sounds like the nanokontrol is probably what i'll go with. Reviews do seem poor across the board for the rest of the line, but pretty positive across the board for the nanokontrol. I like the idea of an integrated arpeggiator/note repeat function, but sure there are plenty of software workarounds.

One step at a time . . .

Akai's knobs and faders are top-notch, probably the best on the market IMO. As for the pads, they leave a little to be desired, but the other functions like 16-Levels and Note Repeat make up for them. If you are will to front a little extra cash and a bit of time to take apart your controller, www.mpcstuff.com has some MPD/MPC Thick Fat Pad replacements that massively improve the sensitivity. Just as good as any other pad controller out there. Comes with corx inserts as well which I recommend putting in.

Here's mine:

i got my MPD18 the other day, and I'm quite happy with it.

I have no frame of reference (I've never used an MPC before) but the sensitivity is what I would expect.

How easy is it to install those corx things?

  On 3/3/2012 at 10:01 PM, ryanmcallister said:

Akai's knobs and faders are top-notch, probably the best on the market IMO. As for the pads, they leave a little to be desired, but the other functions like 16-Levels and Note Repeat make up for them. If you are will to front a little extra cash and a bit of time to take apart your controller, www.mpcstuff.com has some MPD/MPC Thick Fat Pad replacements that massively improve the sensitivity. Just as good as any other pad controller out there. Comes with corx inserts as well which I recommend putting in. Here's mine:

Ive been tempted to do this for awhile now. Really worth it?

  On 3/4/2012 at 1:31 AM, oscillik said:

How easy is it to install those corx things?

Very easy, just invest in a cordless screwdriver and you'll have to take out a bunch of screws in the bottom, take out a bunch more screws to remove 1 of the circuit boards, disconnect a couple ribbon cables and take the pads out. The corx are stickers so you just slam em on the bottom of the pads, you'll see where they line up when you are looking at the bottom of them. Be warned though, I did the corx solution originally and I didn't like it at all. I found it made the whole thing too sensitive and I would hit one pad and it would trigger 5 pads surrounding it or something stupid like that. I took them out. Later on I purchased the fat pads, tried them by themselves, didn't make much of a difference. BUT, the magic combination of fat pads and corx seems to do it. You might have to take it apart a couple times to get it just right though, as one or two of the pads might not take the first time through.

  On 3/4/2012 at 5:05 AM, Kcinsu said:

Ive been tempted to do this for awhile now. Really worth it?

Definitely worth it. With the corx under the fat pads it feels like tapping a beat out on a table, and the response matches it. I can quite expressively play a range from 0-127 velocity no problem. I've heard some of them hip hop boys like their fat pads without the corx as it does seem to increase "bounce", but you will lose some sensitivity which was no good for me.

  On 2/29/2012 at 2:24 PM, Gocab said:

I've been thinking about getting a remote zero sl mk2, there's a guy selling a used one at a decent price in my town, anyone had some experience with it? Any good? Looks like a nice deal.

I have a Novation Remote49 SL MKII and it's quality. Unfortunately from a control perspective it's outweighed by my APC40/Ableton duo so I never use it. OP, if you use Live, look at the APC. It is quite literally the best thing ever. Best controller/software combo on the market. Automap and the Remote work well with plugins, and for me when you turn Automap off, Live's integration of the Remote as one of its "Control Surfaces" is decent for taking over the mixer with the faders/knobs. Those drum pads are a joke though. Not relevant to your question, but I don't like the keys on Novation's controllers. They are good synth action, but I think I want fully weighted hammer action again so I'm probably going to sell it soon, as it has become nothing to me but a set of keys (see above mention of APC40). That new Novation Impulse looks like it's got nice semi-weighted keys though... but I digress

oh money, you always find a way for me to use you.

lol - stupid money. . . though, I guess it's one of those "you hate it when you don't got, you love it when you do."

Went w/the Korg Nanokontrol - so far, so good. I spent about an hour yesterday working through understanding how it all fits together, and mostly pleased. Mini-review:

Overall, this thing is more solidly constructed than I would have anticipated for as inexpensive as it is. Knobs and faders have enough friction/resistance to make them tactile, and there has been 0 latency (which is probably the most important thing, to me at any rate, when considering what I want this thing to be able to do).

Using this with Reaper, which involved me giving myself a bit of an education on the "learn" function for FX - once I understood how to do it, I have to say I feel like the Cockos folks did a great job. Very easy once you know what you are doing - move a control. Go to "parameters." Click "learn." Move your knob or fader. DONE. That's it. Fucked around w/some paraments on Rez and DFX Buffer Override and it worked perfectly. Very, very fun.

Downsides: Korg Editor can be somewhat of a pain. I spent a good part of yesterday evening setting up a "scene" with midi controllers hand entered to correspond with generally unused parameters. Have to do this because, if instruments already have CC assigned to various parameters, don't think there is an easy way to "unassign" those in Reaper (though may be easier in other softwares). Have yet to figure out (after tons of research) how to do a "set" of scenes . . . without, of course, downloading an existing set and modifying. This is all somewhat moot - there appears to be no way to access the Editor while Reaper is open (because Reaper is using the controller, the Editor cannot "see" the nanokontrol). This means you can't switch between sets on the fly anyway, so having 4 scenes is kind of useless.

Now, overall, not a huge deal. I can't imagine an instance where I'd use all the knobs and faders on a single track/effects and it'd be pretty easy to just "record enable" on the track I'd want to modulate anyway.

Also - using some keymappings in the Reaper stash I was able to set this up as a transport control with little difficulties (wonkiness there too, as you can only control 8 tracks at a time, but that's fine).

Overall - so far very pleased - a simple, basic unit that does what I want it to do with not too much trouble (though understanding the set-up took a bit of time) and will likely end up being something I use a LOT once I get it into workflow.

Thanks to everyone for the recommendations - going to bookmark this thread in the event I ever decide to "step up" to a more advanced controller.

Also - my XBOX drive died this weekend - so, kind of a good thing I went with the "cheap" option because now I have the extra Amazon cash left over for a replacement!!!