Pad Questions

New Member Here! Please forgive me if I haven't followed posting guidelines. I have a question about the pads or more specifically what is under them, like what do the sensors sit on?

I recently was transferring some files from a laptop to the MPC Live 2 that I purchased 3 months ago. I was holding an external usb hard drive maybe 4 or 5 inches over the pad area and I dropped it. At first I thought it hit the pads, but it sort of brushed up against the left edge (left a little nick) of the machine and didn't hit the pads. However, I was worried and so I was hitting the pads with the machine off to listen for possible damage. I came to the conclusion that even if it did hit the pads, the minimal force from that lightweight plastic hard drive is not as much as how hard a finger would bang a pad.

But, while doing that I noticed something else that caught my attention. It seems like the outer ring of 12 pads feel different than the the inner four (6,7, 10, and 11). Specifically 11 (and 10 somewhat). There is this 'clacky' sound from that pad. But if I hit pad 16, it feels like more of a bouncy stiff feel and it doesn't make that clacky noise. Took it to Guitar Center just to see what they thought. The guy at GC wasn't a MPC person, but he did say that it sounded strange and to call Akai. I spoke with Akai and they said to just keep an eye on it, because that pad functions 100% perfectly as all of the others do as far as sensitivity. It is almost like when you are knocking on a wall looking for a stud. Pad 11 feels hollow and 16 doesn't. It is hard to describe. My friend was able to duplicate it on his live 2. He's had it for over a year and said don't worry about it. It is just how the machine is built. I think it feels rather cheap if that is the case, but I LOVE everything else about the machine. My last MPC was a 2000xl that I sold because the screen was going bad. However, I never noticed any plasticky type noises coming from any pads on that box. Also, on the 2000xl I could just unscrew the top case and take a look. Not so easy to do on the Live 2. Had I not been initially worried about damaging the pads, I probably would have never even thought about this... When I am banging beats, I don't really think about it or notice it. Any info is greatly appreciated.