AKAI Pro Mini Plus Drum Pad Sensitivity

I bought the AKAI Pro MINI Plus (37 keys) today, but I was surprised to see that the Drum pads are very hard. They need a lot of pressure and there's a delay in the sound, which is not at all ideal to play drum beats.

The option to adjust pad sensitivity is disabled in the MPC beats preferences. I used the MPK Mini Plus Program editor and turned the turned the "Global Pad Aftertouch" to OFF, as suggested by someone. I saved this program and tried to send it to the controller but I keep getting the error that my PC is not connected to my MPC Mini Plus, which is not the case.

Anyone face the pad sensitivity issue? Please suggest how to fix this.

Also suggest any other controller which has better pad sensitivity. Not sure if it's a hardware issue.

Thanks!

Overall, I'm quite disappointed with the quality of the MPC pads I've owned, especially compared to those on the Maschine MK3.

Even after swapping them out on MPC Stuff, I still don't find what I'm looking for.

I got mine (AKAI MPK mini plus) online sometime Nov'24 and the biggest disappointment is the sensitivity of the drum pads. I realised it a week after getting it as I just didn't find it works to do some kind of finger drumming as it needs to be pushed (or hit) hard before actually activating anything. I came across a few sites (after googling) that this was an issue with some of the MPK minis and the fix (one guy showed; there is a youtube video of it) that seem to work is opening it up and using electrical tape. Anyway, I drove 20 km and brought it to the store I ordered it from and initially they suggested adjusting the sensitivity but that didn't work. We then compared it with the other units there and found that it was the same issue for all MPK mini plus units they had on stock. What was interesting was that when we tried the MPK mini units (not the 'Plus' ones) the issue isn't there. I then noticed that the MPK mini plus are made in the Philippines while the MPK minis were made in China (at least this is what I saw at the all the units we tried in-store). So it must be the material used (if it is different; I am guessing) or some manufacturing defect. Note that this is not a diss (just the facts I observed) on Akai Philippines as I myself am Pinoy and was proud the first time I saw the "Made in the Philippines" printed on the back label.

Anyway, I also contacted AKAI tech support and they just keep telling me to adjust the sensitivity settings. I even sent them a link to some of the discussion groups online about this being a common problem that seem to be solved only by the "electric tape" solution; but the response is always about the sensitivity settings. So they aren't really helpful. I was going to return the unit (or exchange it for other brands) but had to travel overseas for some time (at the time) so wasn't able to do that. I still have the unit and thinking of maybe selling it (basically still new) or keep it as souvenir of my folly in believing numerous reviews about Akai having the best pads on their midi controllers. OR when I have time, might just try the "electrical tape" solution as well. Contacting tech support seem to be a waste of time in this case.

Just sharing my recent experience for what its worth...

Cheers!