What's the best controller under $300? MPD232?

[soguy]

Hi,
I'm interested in a MIDI controller which works best with Reason. I already have a midi keyboard and would like to get a controller (w/o keyboard).
Is the Akai MPD 232 the best one in the category (under $300)?
http://www.akaipro.com/product/mpd232

[O1B]

Nice form Factor. I'd really like to see this control Reason.
Looks like a Trigger Finger Pro.

Maybe even an F1 (very programmable)

But for Reason - minus the Pads... the Nektar's P1, or those new Nektar controllers seems really nice.

[soguy]

Nice form Factor. I'd really like to see this control Reason.
Looks like a Trigger Finger Pro.

Maybe even an F1 (very programmable)

But for Reason - minus the Pads... the Nektar's P1, or those new Nektar controllers seems really nice.

Finger Trigger Pro is really cool but got negative reviews


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[joeyluck]

Hmmm... I've only seen positive reviews about Trigger Finger Pro. I think the built-in step sequencer is a very cool feature

[soguy]

Interesting how good are the pads of the Trigger Finger Pro compared to the MPD232.
One more product I thought of is Arturia BeatStep Pro:
https://www.arturia.com/beatstep-pro/overview

[joeyluck]

BeatStep Pro is certainly cool. And even cooler if you have gear in which you can connect via CV

[soguy]

Bought eventually almost new Trigger Finger Pro for $180.

[AttenuationHz]

BeatStep Pro is certainly cool. And even cooler if you have gear in which you can connect via CV

Doesn't plug and play with reason though you have to do This to get it to work. Its been hit and miss sending the clock from Reason with the BeatStep I have. Arturia are known to be buggy when it comes to coding. They make kick ass stuff though. The BeatStep Pro certainly is cool.

[gak]

TFP isn't being developed anymore. Too bad too, it has much to offer.

You can use it in reason but the transport is flaky and it's really tough to get the knobs/faders to do what you want.

@Akai: I haven't heard one single person that has one and uses reason (well, or anything else )

[joeyluck]

TFP isn't being developed anymore. Too bad too, it has much to offer.

You can use it in reason but the transport is flaky and it's really tough to get the knobs/faders to do what you want.

@Akai: I haven't heard one single person that has one and uses reason (well, or anything else )

I have a friend who has an MPD18 or something like it—one of the very basic ones. It works well.
Akai used to be the epitome of what drum pads should feel like.

Then they made some keyboards and IMO became the epitome of what keyboard keys should NOT feel like.
And then they started making their drum pads rectangular on their keyboards, which of course not many people liked.
But they soon fixed that at least. Have not felt the keys on any of their recent keyboards...

When it comes to controllers, I don't need them to integrate perfectly out of the box. I can edit mapping.
The quality of the hardware is what is most important to me.