MPC X, MPC Live, MPC One & MPC Key 61 Forum: Support and discussion for the MPC X, MPC Live, MPC Live II, MPC One & MPC Key 61; Akai's current generation of standalone MPCs.
By Natboy Thu Oct 06, 2022 4:52 pm
Hi,
First post here,
i know this has been asked before but i’ve just got myself a live 2 and have a deadspot in the centre of each pad. It requires a considerable amount of pressure to trigger the sample. I’ve only noticed it since trying to finger drum. I know they’re not the most sensitive pads for that method of playing.

Got in touch with Akai and was asked to send a video of the problem and have since been told by them my pads are fine and they sent me a link on how to finger drum, wtf! Its very obvious in the video there’s a deadspot
Anyone had any joy in returning a live 2 with this problem and how did you go about it?
If I can’t get it replaced can anyone vouch for the alternative route and getting the sensitivity upgrade kit from mpcstuff?
Cheers
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By MPC-Tutor Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:22 pm
I had the exact same problem with a Live 2, I just sent it back to the retailer and got a refund, no questions asked. If that's not possible, then you should stand firm with Akai as that's clearly a manufacturing fault, pads should have a consistent sensitivity across the entire pad, this should not be up for debate and Akai know this.

Don't know about the MPC Stuff replacements, but unless the Live is over a year old it should be covered under Akai's own 12 month warranty. If you bought from a shop, then the 'contract' is with the shop, they are liable to fix faulty products for multiple years after purchase under UK law, basically whatever is considered a 'reasonable' length of time (I'd say at least 2-3 years for an MPC).

Where did you buy it and how long ago?
By Natboy Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:29 pm
Cheers for the speedy reply. It was bought in March on amazon but wasn’t in use until beginning of August and thats when i registered it so well within warranty
By Natboy Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:52 pm
Their response:

Thank you for your reply and supplying this video.

We have reviewed this accordingly and do not believe there to be an issue with your pads.

Please understand that lightly tapping the pads will not trigger the response you're hoping for - We recommend using a little more force and please use your finger tips as per traditional finger drumming techniques.

To help steer you in the right direction, please see the videos below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5b4PCBU00U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SLs76WGka0

I hope this helps and if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.
By Natboy Tue Oct 11, 2022 1:48 pm
Thank you for your reply and please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in correspondence.

We have checked your issue against our stock and can confirm this behaviour is normal and to be expected when tapping this lightly.

Lightly tapping on the centre of the pad as shown in your video will not trigger a sound although, this will trigger as found if you tap around the sides of the pad; this is to help aid any nuanced performances.

When performing in general, you would typically not perform with such light taps on the pads - The videos supplied to you were not to compare the sensitivity of your pads against other MPC Lives, but only to demonstrate basic finger drumming techniques; I hope you can see how theses users perform with harder taps in comparison to what was shown in your video.

I understand that you have requested a return for a physical inspection - This isn't something we can arrange for this particular case as what you're experiencing meets our expectations of the pads, and how they should respond; the video you supplied has been passed to our engineers for commenting who have confirmed this is normal behaviour whilst checking this against our stock.

​If of course you experience similar issues when performing with harder taps, please let us know and we will be happy to look into this further; feel free to send us another video to help us better understand if this is the case.

I'm sorry this isn't the response you were hoping for, perhaps you may have had other expectations based on how the pads perform - By checking this against our stock, I hope you can understand that your complaint has been treated seriously.

I hope this helps and if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,
Krishan Pujara
eCommerce Support Coordinator
inMusic Europe Ltd
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By MPC-Tutor Tue Oct 11, 2022 2:00 pm
Yes that's B.S.
Basically, as you can imagine, I've owned pretty much every model of MPC and it's absolutely not normal to have insensitive centres of pads, the 'nuanced performance' line is utter codswallop.

MPC pads are not designed to have any kind of 'zonal' response, if they did you can be the marketing department would be singing from the rooftops about it. The sensitivity is designed to be consistent across the pads. Otherwise I want my money back on all my other MPCs, as they certainly don't feature this extra sensitive outer edge. :lol:

As for 'dont respond to such light taps', this is unfortunately true, the MPC pads are not as sensitive as, for example, Maschine pads. This is however not something Akai should be patting themselves on the back about either. The SHOULD be more sensitive. And that sensitivity should be CONSISTENT across the pad.

Go back to the retailer, forget Akai.
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By Telefunky Tue Oct 11, 2022 4:46 pm
Well, all MPC pads with LED illumination have a non-sensitive center area... because there‘s the LED, not the conductive grid :wink:
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By MPC-Tutor Tue Oct 11, 2022 5:18 pm
Telefunky wrote:Well, all MPC pads with LED illumination have a non-sensitive center area... because there‘s the LED, not the conductive grid :wink:


But the sensor design in combination with the stiffness of the pads means the pressure is interpreted equally no matter where you hit the pad (within some % tolerance). The fact is all my modern MPCs have an equally consistent pad sensitivity, as they should - the idea that you should be hitting your pads on the edge and avoiding the centre makes no sense.

You can bet if this was a 250k+ youtube influencer dissing the pads Akai would be sending him a replacement pretty quick sharp, and I can guarantee that it won't have the insensitivity issues he's experiencing.
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By Telefunky Tue Oct 11, 2022 8:01 pm
I‘m not trying to be the devil‘s advocate, yet their statement makes at least some sense.
Lightly tapping on the centre of the pad as shown in your video will not trigger a sound although, this will trigger as found if you tap around the sides of the pad; this is to help aid any nuanced performances.

I fully agree with the „stiffness of the pad will spread the pressure“, but there‘s (probably) a threshold of impact to be crossed to start trigger activity at all with center hits.

For obvious reasons this threshold is lower in the electrically active area of the sensor and can indeed be used „for nuanced performance“.
Each border area (top, left, right, bottom) is only 1/4 of the sensor, resulting in only 1/4 change of resistance compared to a full center hit that‘s spreads over the full sensor area.

The support member did not suggest to play the pads on borders only. ;)
(from a technical pov his statement is at least reasonable)
Which does not exclude that the device has flaws nevertheless.
By Natboy Tue Oct 11, 2022 8:35 pm
Cheers for the replies. I know im hitting the edge of the pad lightly to trigger the sound but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect that same amount of pressure to have an equal effect at the centre also. To me, thats how a pad should work. Unfortunately Akai see it otherwise
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By Telefunky Tue Oct 11, 2022 10:58 pm
Yes, your video in fact shows some excessive pad non-response.
Imho there‘s something wrong under the hood and exchange of the unit would be appropriate (imho).

If the LED part sticks to the pad (contact from below) then the force applied to the pad would be absorbed.
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By Visconte Cobram Wed Oct 12, 2022 12:02 am
Get back to amazon, they will probably just send you a new unit and forget to ask for the faulty one, this way you can gift it to your most hamfisted friend.