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Hey all,

So I've got about $150 to drop on a controller for Ableton (I'm a newcomer from Logic!)..

I'm trying to decide between the amount of pads/space on the Novation Launchpad vs. the Faders/extra features of the Akai APC20. What would you guys recommend I get?

or, should I just save my money up and buy the APC40?

It may not look it but the Launchpad has waaaay more features than the Apc20 so I'd go for that any day. That being said though the Apc40 shits on them both so you should get that for sure.

I recently got a launchpad and original korg nanokontrol on amazon for about 175. (check out the uniquesquared merchant)

Launchpad over APC20.. BY FAR

TEKN wrote:It may not look it but the Launchpad has waaaay more features than the Apc20

What features might you be talking about?

I have the APC20 and have been happy with it. I do like the bigger grid on the lauchpad, but I personally wanted the physical faders. The APC40 is dope, but the main reason I went with the 20 is size. I needed to roll stealth and be able to pack everything into one bag.

mks wrote:

TEKN wrote:It may not look it but the Launchpad has waaaay more features than the Apc20

What features might you be talking about?

I have the APC20 and have been happy with it. I do like the bigger grid on the lauchpad, but I personally wanted the physical faders. The APC40 is dope, but the main reason I went with the 20 is size. I needed to roll stealth and be able to pack everything into one bag.

I'm not sure about the APC20.. I've always assumed it was the exact same as a 40 w/o the right side.
I know on a launchpad you have different banks and stuff you can use to trigger effects.. you have a fader page.. obviously not as accurate as actual faders, but they get the job done.. They have an instrument pad.. so you can play synths and drum hits and stuff, and record it right into ableton. and also blank pages that you can map to whatever you want
I think there is more too, I just can't think of it right now

amidoinitrite wrote:

mks wrote:

TEKN wrote:It may not look it but the Launchpad has waaaay more features than the Apc20

What features might you be talking about?

I have the APC20 and have been happy with it. I do like the bigger grid on the lauchpad, but I personally wanted the physical faders. The APC40 is dope, but the main reason I went with the 20 is size. I needed to roll stealth and be able to pack everything into one bag.

I'm not sure about the APC20.. I've always assumed it was the exact same as a 40 w/o the right side.
I know on a launchpad you have different banks and stuff you can use to trigger effects.. you have a fader page.. obviously not as accurate as actual faders, but they get the job done.. They have an instrument pad.. so you can play synths and drum hits and stuff, and record it right into ableton. and also blank pages that you can map to whatever you want
I think there is more too, I just can't think of it right now

You can do that with the APC20 too. You can play drums right into drum rack, assign midi triggers etc. I know you can do that with the APC40 too, but it took a bit more programming. They made that native with the APC20.

mks wrote:

amidoinitrite wrote:

mks wrote:

TEKN wrote:It may not look it but the Launchpad has waaaay more features than the Apc20

What features might you be talking about?

I have the APC20 and have been happy with it. I do like the bigger grid on the lauchpad, but I personally wanted the physical faders. The APC40 is dope, but the main reason I went with the 20 is size. I needed to roll stealth and be able to pack everything into one bag.

I'm not sure about the APC20.. I've always assumed it was the exact same as a 40 w/o the right side.
I know on a launchpad you have different banks and stuff you can use to trigger effects.. you have a fader page.. obviously not as accurate as actual faders, but they get the job done.. They have an instrument pad.. so you can play synths and drum hits and stuff, and record it right into ableton. and also blank pages that you can map to whatever you want
I think there is more too, I just can't think of it right now

You can do that with the APC20 too. You can play drums right into drum rack, assign midi triggers etc. I know you can do that with the APC40 too, but it took a bit more programming. They made that native with the APC20.

thats right.. I had a APC40 when they first came out.. and when the APC 20 came out all the APC40 owners were pissed that the 20 was integrated w/ individual midi signals, or whatever you want to call it.
I remember spending hours turning the APC40 into a synth and sequencer.

How do you switch between the modes on the APC20? I know that on the launchpad they are all laid out for you.
overview, volume, pan, effects sends, user banks, record notes, play notes


Edit: just watched some tuts on youtube..

Thanks for the info, all! Looks like I'm going with the Launchpad!