Akai APC 40 USB Midi Contoller for Ableton Live Product Review

The Akai APC 40 is a USB midi controller specifically designed for Ableton Live. The device is really designed for use in session view in Ableton Live. The controller itself comes with the following features:

- an 8x5 grid of buttons for launching individual clips and loops. These buttons support 4 different LED modes: off (no clip), green (playing), yellow (clip not playing), red (recording)

- 5 scene launch buttons to the right of the 8x5 grid for launching full scenes of clips

- 8 stop clip buttons at the bottom of the 8x5 grid for stopping clips

- a stop all clips button to the bottom right of the grid

- 8 endless fader knobs with LEDs to display the current state of the knob for use with channel panning and sends

- 4 select buttons for selecting between pan and sends for the pan/send fader knobs

- 8 endles fader knobs with LED displays for modulating options on individual audio effects racks or effects.

- Scroll knobs for selecting different effects on a channel

- 9 buttons along the very bottom of the 8x5 grid. These buttons allow you to select the channel to modulate with the 8 modulation fader knobs

- Scroll buttons for shifting between your selected clips. Includes a shift button for jumping 5 clips vertically at once, or 8 clips horizontally at once.

- Standard Play, Stop and record buttons

- Tempo Tap buttons, along with a cue level fader

- 8 track activator buttons, 8 solo/cue buttons and 8 record buttons for each track

- 9 sliders for your 8 selected channels and the master channel

- 1 crossfader slider

- 2 input ports for TRS cables for a pedal, USB port and an on/off switch int he back

The device itself is very solidly made.  The body is metal, and the knobs/sliders are plastic, but replacable.  The buttons are a see-through rubber texture, and are very responsive.  There is little to no lag experienced when using the device in conjunction with Ableton Live 8.

I purchased the device a little over a year ago, and have used it as much as possible in my off time.  My usage has not been heavy, but has been pretty consistent.  I have used it with live sets, as well as for production uses for modulating parameters while recording.  I have used the device with Ableton Live 8 on both a Dell XPS and a 15" Macbook Pro (2011, recently purchased).

Everything. Seriously, this controller is amazing. I really like the endless knobs, because they immediately sync up with whatever feature they are currently modulating, and the level is reflected by the LEDs surrounding the knob. The knobs and buttons are fully assignable, allowing you to change the configuration for each device as you require. I personally have re-assigned the PAN and Send A's to Low Pass and High Pass Filters, and have changed the 10 buttons on the right of the 8x5 grid to activate beat repeats at certain intervals, and enable/disable other modulation parameters. I re-assigned the record buttons along the bottom of each track to enable/disable bass on an EQ3 for ableton live.

The light up buttons are awesome, allowing you to easily see available clips, even in dark lights. The light up buttons combined with the light up select buttons and the LEDs around the fader knobs allow you to easily perform live without needing to be in a well lit area.  The device itself is very solidly built, as stated above.  I have only found one bug with the firmware, which will be outlined below.

This device is not powered by USB, and requires its own power plug, along with the USB cable.  This is not a huge pitfall, but can be kind of annoying at times.

I've only found one bug with the drivers which caused the fader knobs not to properly pick up the appropriate LED setting when switching between pan and send A after I had assigned each of them to low pass and high pass filters.  This bug has been submitted to Akai.

This device is amazing.  Completely worth the buy at ~$300.  I would suggest it to anybody who is looking for a performance controller to use with Ableton Live.  I've had hours and hours of fun with the device.  For those who can't afford the APC 40, there is the APC 20, which is slightly smaller, but has a few less controls.

As usual, if you have ANY questions about this device, please e-mail me or leave a comment below.

Regards,

-Pr0