If you know anything about making beats, you know that the Akai MPC is the tool of the trade that you cannot make teh mad beatz without. You know that if you buy one, Dre will kick the ball to you at soccer practise and you can expect crazy R'n'B B.I.'s in thongs to materialise in your bedroom studio.If you are from the current generation of producers, you are probably stuck ten feet deep in software and MIDI controllers, which means the only way you can bask in the historical fuzzy glow of the MPC is to grab one of Akai's MPD units. With one of these babies under your arm, you're virtually guaranteed to at least look like the credible producer you think you are.
Having a serious credibility deficit myself, I picked up one of the new MPD32's last week, even though I already had an M-Audio TriggerFinger. I'm sure there are already a thousand reviews on the internet saying how dope the MPD32 is, but this is why the MPD32 does soggy brown ones all over the TriggerFinger, and why (as a DJ'ing tool) it's worth every penny of the $299 it cost me:
Bank Selection: The MPD32 has 3 banks of controllers and 4 banks of pads, which is actually less than the TriggerFinger, however, you can switch between them with a single keypress and because they each have a dedicated button, you can always tell which damn bank you're on. Very important when you're drunk in a dark club and have a tendency to forget things like that. Also, lights make you look cool and will get you chicks.
Channel Switches: The MPD32 has assignable switches on each channel, which are great for bypassing effects, e.g. filters or delays. Also, the switches are lit which makes you look cool and will get you chicks.
Endless Pots: This needs no explanation. Controller snap is annoying and makes you look uncool. Endless pots mean switching between controller banks actually works the way it's supposed to, and also it controls a cool looking bar in the display area which will get you chicks.
Velocity Control: Dedicated buttons for full level and 16-level velocity response are much better than the byzantine sequence you have to bash out on a TriggerFinger if you want to activate the same thing. Bashing out beats at a constant 127 velocity is also the mark of a cool dude and will get you sweet mamas.
