MPD 32/26 vs. Trigger Finger (M-Audio)

As the likelihood of having a live performance scheduled in the near future, I'm starting to think about how I want to perform. In my studio, I have a MPC 2000XL as my main piece of gear, using it with microkorg and Ableton Live as my DAW. Basically, all my recent songs are organized in Ableton and my MPC just has the "skeleton" beat, so to speak.
When performing I would like not only to play my beats, to some extent, but to also mess around with them (add fx) and MAYBE do some live remixes by adding acapellas. No doubt that I will need Ableton for this and a controller, exclusive for performance.

I have narrowed down my list of options to two pieces of gear (if you have any suggestions for gear please write below):
1. MPD 32;
2. Trigger Finger (M-Audio, which is discontinued but I found some on ebay and other second-hand websites);

Basically, I'm looking for a controller with Pads, Knobs, Sliders are not absolutely necessary. From what I've seen recently, the Trigger Finger costs just a bit less than some MPD's I've found but I'm more familiar with the MPD setup due to its similarity with the MPC layout.

If anyone here has any experience with the Trigger Finger or MPD, or performing with either or similar controllers, please comment on your experience.

Thank you.

I've had 3 MPD's and currently have the MPD32 and I also have a Trigger Finger.

The MPD's out of the box have a terrible issue with the pads/sensor array being mounted too low. They are the same pads/sensors as in a 2500 but again the mounting is too low. Because of this they have nowhere the sensitivity and velocity response of an MPC.

You can either open it up and apply silicone or adhesive stickers in stacks to compensate for the gap. Or purchase a set of Fat Pads from MPCStuff.com at around $40. The extra rubber and adhesive corks included with the pads make up for the gap and then the MPD responds like a normal MPC. Without one of these fixes you have no real choice but to use the MPD at full level all the time.

The MPD32 has 30 preset banks (I think the 26 is the same). Each preset bank has four banks of 16 pads like a XL/2500 etc. (MPD26 has 4 pad banks too) The MPD32 has 3 switchable banks for the knobs and faders and buttons for a total of 72 MIDI assignments per preset. The MPD26 I believe only allows for the 12 knobs and sliders per preset with no bank toggling. The MPD26/32 also have transport controls.

If I remember right the Trigger Finger has 16 preset locations and no MPC style pad banks. So to have 4 banks chromatically assigned from say MIDI note #36 - MIDI note #99 like a typical MPC setup you'd have to use four of the 16 slots. Out of the box the pads respond better than the MPD's but not quite as good as the Korg padKONTROL and nanoPAD units.

Even with the need to swap the pads I might recommend the MPD. The LCD has more info (Trigger Finger's is just a 3 character LCD) so doing MIDI assignments from the front panel is easier. (both have software editors too). The 30 presets x 4 pad banks gives you more to work with, the buttons on the MPD32 are great for mute and solo track assignments and with all those pad banks it's easy to use pads as mute and solo toggles too. I think you might like all the presets so you can easily switch to Drum Racks and things Live is hosting as the LCD makes it easy to follow what MIDI channel you're broadcasting on.

Sometimes I see MPD32's used for $175-$200. Around $250 new is the cheapest I think, and you really have to get the Fat Pads. A used Trigger Finger must be $100 or less and Korg padKONTROLS's are around that used. But a modded MPD32 might be the most versatile for a live rig with Ableton involved.

Trigger finger.

Padkontrol?

Or Maschine can be used as a midi controller too.

acronym wrote:Padkontrol?

Or Maschine can be used as a midi controller too.

Maschine is a bit too expensive and never heard too much about people performing with it together with ableton. Didn't know about padkontrol, looks sick... too bad it doesn't have any knobs.
Thanks, but I think I've made my choice.
I'll either get an MPD26/32 or if I have the luck of finding a good deal on an SP-404SX I might just get that, even though I can't use ableton with it but the on board effects and large memory are more than enough for what I'm thinking of doing.

I brought the controller just so I can use it as a midi controller, works excellent, been using it with ableton with drum kit, synths etc

Korg Pad Kontrol is really nice and has a better feel than the MPD. The MPD has more knobs. If you want to see a guy go of on the pad kontrol see the performance in this thread...

http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=162427



Peace
Ian