pad sensitivity, or lack of

Is there a way to adjust the pad sensitivity? I would have to hit my pads with a hammer to get their full velocity. And yes before someone tells me to read the manual or hit the "full level" button -- done it. Even with 'full level' on I have to hit them fairly hard to trigger, and the triggering is inconsistent. Even entering data I have to hit the pad harder than I would think is normal. Is this just normal with a new unit? is there a break in period. Or should I run it back to the shop? I don't recall the floor model being this way.

On an old roland pad 8 I used to have, you could adjust the pad sensitivity. same in the DM5 I think. Is there no kind of global settings. If it's in the manual I'll eat my shoe.

check the hidden screens topic I just bumped up. Your answer on changing pad sensitivity is there!

Pad Sensitivity Adjustment Screen:
Hit Mode and then press Other. There is a hidden screen when you press Shift and the F4 key at the same time.

great find. thanks. now I'm convinced there's something wrong with my pads though. The bar for each pad apparently represents velocity. if I turn on the full level switch it nails it. When I turn it off I can't even get the bar half way on any pad even set to +4. strange.

I'm having the same problem. I've gone through 4 units at the Guitar Center in NYC. The pads are definately not consistant. I've made new prgrams with the exact same sample etc. and cannot get the same volume or sensitivity out of all of them. And like yours, full level is fine, but that's not how I program. The tech guy at Akai said to check the actual midi velocity go to mode/program, cursor up to the program name, hit window and then overdub and you should see the actual midi velocity of each pad as you hit it. For the same hit (approximately) my pads ranged from 30 to 100. I'm bringing it back tommorow if I can't figure it out. I'll wait a few months to see if the quality control is any better.

dinerdog/nyc

Thanks Lou_One for the hidden screen tip. I was able to bring the pads to feel almost the same. I'd say it's 85% there. My levels are all over the place: -1 +4 -5 -5 +4 +4 etc.....I tried 4 1000's and only found this one that I didn't have to whack the pads for a sound. My hands are already !@#$%^ up from years of computer work so the sensitivity is VERY important. I was going to bring it back, but now I think it's as good as it gets. I just don't think they test these that thouroughly. I read the other hidden screen post with about 10 people complaining about the pad sensitivity. I talked to Akai support today and the guy said he never heard this problem and that he's been using MPC's for 20 years. I wanted to say while very cool, the 1000 is probably your cheapest mass market item that they can't keep in stock, so I wonder how well they're tested and checked. I can't be the only one who notices this kind of thing. I wish a software update would give you an even wider adjustment on the sensitivity and then it would be perfect.