When using the Ableton Live preset, it’s perfect with Drum Racks, the pads and knobs actually match the Drum Racks layout. I’ve got to say, for a $70 product, this is WAY BEYOND a great buy. I personally don’t neeed more than eight pads at a time and love having some knobs to twiddle, especially with Drum Racks and dialing in tones. LOVE IT!

The following review has been sourced via @Amazon by jonny lightning

The few extra buttons are pretty good. There is no menu to navigate; it is all pretty straightforward. “Note repeat” and “full level” turns those features on/off. “MIDI channel” is pretty obvious. “Preset” cycles through the 16 presets. The “note repeat configuration button” acts like a function key and lets you access repeat rate, swing, and tap tempo via the pads. My only criticism is that the “bank” button should give you four pad banks rather than three. That would be much more logical! The single fader can do whatever you want.

The configuration software lets you customize the sixteen presets (MIDI note#s and/or CC#s for the pads). It also lets you choose whether note repeat works only when the pad is pressed or whether the pad toggles the repeating note on/off. You can also choose whether the repeat is based on the internal clock or the clock of your DAW software.

I thought about getting the upcoming LPD8, but this has bigger pads and is plenty portable. I also considered the Korg padKONTROL and nanoPAD, which apparently have more accurate pads, but I don’t really like the firm Korg pads. Plus, the MPD18 is taller than any of these options, which allows you to curve your hand better. The MPD24 and MPD32 have more control features, which isn’t really a plus. I never really make much use of the knobs and faders on MIDI controllers. It also seems like the knobs could potentially get in the way when using the pads. Rather than get an MPD24 or 32 I’d say get two MPD18s! They are petty compact, so they would fit nicely together! If you really need knobs and faders, get an MPD18 for the pads and add a separate controller of your choice. The nanoKONTROL probably would replace the controller functions of the bigger MPDs.

The following review has been sourced via @Amazon by PSB

It is possible to control the Faders, Solo and Mute (etc) in Logic 8 with your iPhone as well as have them update on the iPhone when they are changed in Logic 8 itself. This gives you virtual motorized faders. I have done this and it worked by converting OSC (Open Sound Control) Commands into MIDI commands with a program called OSCulator.

You can use any OSC program you want on your iPhone (OSCemote, mrmr OSC Controller, TouchOSC). The tutorial below uses TouchOSC for their example. The program OSCulator (for your computer) costs 39 USD for the program, but you can pay as low as 19 USD if you want. Also, they let you use the full version for free, the only catch is that the server disconnects every 10 minutes or so and you have to click on a pop-up to continue. I will tell you that using the program makes you want to buy it…. and I did.

Receiving MIDI in this manner opens a new world of possibilities, by allowing you to input MIDI with something that was not initially meant to send MIDI.

Here is a link to the amazing tutorial, which could not have been written any better. http://www.osculator.net/doc/doku.php?id=tutorial:2:a

Take your time with this one, it’s worth it.

There are a lot of “small” midi controllers, which you can fit in a backpack, but usually that will take up most, if not all of the space. KORG has made a valid effort to eliminate this problem. The Nano Series are ultra-portable and offer three layouts. Pads, keyboard and faders.

We would see this very useful for triggering in Reason on a laptop, since the qwerty keyboard cannot. Also adding some functionality on your desktop setup right in front of your standard keyboard. Maybe one of these can solve a kink in your work flow.