Akai MPD32 - Coming Soon!

First off, greetings all! This is Matt (i.e. new employee) and my first blog post for Spank! Mark says I'm not allowed to try and be funny, so let's get straight to the facts.

Akai have released their follow-up to the highly successful (and functional) MPD24 USB PAD BANK/MIDI CONTROLLER - the MPD32.

Not messing with a good thing, this controller still features 16 MPC Velocity Pads (with four easy bank functions, allowing a possible 64 assignable pads for live performance), 8 faders and 8 control knobs (which now spin the full 360 degrees).

New to this model is a note repeater function, an extra 20 presets and improved MMC/MIDI Start/Stop transport buttons. The MPD32 actually offers three control banks (taking up three USB midi channels) that allows the interface to quickly switch between three preset banks/midi assignments (effectively allowing you to 'set up' three MPD32 interfaces with the one).

I'm a big fan of the MPD24 controller, the MPC velocity pads feel great for programming MIDI drums and the simples’ layout just makes sense for triggering Ableton Live set. The MPD32 looks like it will provide all this function, plus a few simple refinements to make the whole experience a little easier to plug in and go.

Thanks Matt.