Added: 2 years ago
From: tidwizzie
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  • i'll have to do this when my mom is not home...

  • This worked. I must have been using very slim tape, because it took 6 layers of my stuff to do the job. By the way, there is a Firmware update available (Windows) which allows you to save GLOBAL settings such as Pad Threshold etc.

  • Been playing with this keyboard for the last 2 hours. Having good working pads built into my keyboard is just fucking awesome. Best keyboard I’ve had yet.

  • please don't use a power drill when doing this yourself. The screws go into plastic which strips and cross-threads VERY easily. Use a phillips screwdriver and start straight and slow and make sure they go in easily. If you have to use force turning the screw you are probably cross-threading it. I'm sure this guy cross-threaded at least a couple. It won't be a big deal the first time. The screw will hold fine. But if you plan on doing this procedure more than once PLEASE BE CAREFUL :D

  • @timcapelle Do you see this guy's technique with the power drill? He's very proficient and clearly does this kind of thing a lot, so he probably didn't cross-thread any. I agree with you, though, a DIY'er shouldn't use a power drill.

    *

    Anyway, fellas, wait until after your warranty has expired before doing something like this. Akai does send out faulty units occasionally, so just make sure yours works perfectly or else you might be out a lot of money...

  • Thumbs up if eBay brought you here

  • its very easy! TRUST ME it took me about 5 min to do it! The cool thing is that everything is so simple inside it. open fix, close nothing to be worried about!

  • Thanks for this video, it was a really easy fix...the pads are MUCH better now. I used 5 strips of electrical tape because my fingers are lazy.

  • OK I have upgraded my MPK61. I removed all the screws set in indentations, THEN REMOVE 4 EXTRA SCREWS that are directly underneath (on the reverse of) the pad section. Once lid is off follow the video but there is an extra bracket to remove (2x screws). total of 10 screws to remove once lid is off. It really does work well, hope this helps all the 61 users & i should imagine the 88 would be the same principle.

  • Did anyone figure out how to open the mpk 61? i cant seem to get the side near the pads to lift up

  • @snakebeatz570 The four screws with the silver washers under the pads need to come out too.

  • im too scared to even try this.....i dont want it to break

  • @PineHills518

    This is a safe fix, if you're extremely worried - wear anti-static gloves to ensure you don't short any circuits.

  • Excellent video man, thanks a lot. I was hugely disappointed when I came to use the pads on my MPK49 but after watching this video I did exactly the same thing and found it improved the pad response massively. I don't know why Akai release these with such terrible pads, I've used the MPD16, MPC2000, MPC5000 and the M-Audio Trigger Finger before and the response on those are much better than the MPK49, without the need for any tweaking. What's with that man?

  • Comment removed

  • They don't normally do a real intense investigation, mostly just a functions check. I'd say avoid stripping your screws, cross threading, using different screws exc to make it painfully obvious to them. The only thins I'd worry about w the warranty is tearing a warranty seal (non existent in these) or the left over goo electrical or duct tape leaves behind after long. That BTW, in all situations can be cleaned off w a little cooking oil (to break down the sticky oil based chem), followed by so

  • thanks for the vid..but would this work on the mpk 25  the same way or diff ?

  • You mentioned this voids your warrenty. If your AKAI ever needed to be replaced couldn't you simply remove the electrical tape, would AKAI know it had been modded?

  • THANNNNNNNNNXXXXXXX !!!!!

  • i m gonna buy the mpk49, i am not going to use the pads for anything exept for recording a quick drum beat, i wont be using them live, do i still need to do this, and also if i do would you happen to know anyother great keyboards for around 300-350 dollars?

  • Thx @ lot it helps me a lot... :D

  • Witch keyboard is better for production? akai mpk49 or m audio axiom pro 49 ?

  • I completely forgot this song was going on in the background, it's smooth like amaretto. Great to blaze to. Now to replay.

  • Great Vid! i used scotch 3m double sided tape.Has a nice spongy feel to it.Smooth as butter now.(leave on side of the tape backing on so it only sticks to the actual rubber pads.)

  • Great Vid! i used scotch 3m double sided tape.Has a nice spongy feel to it.Smooth as butter now.

  • which one is better akia mpk49 or m-audio axiom pro49?

  • I've just bought a MPK25 and the pads works sooo bad :( glad to see someone found a way to fix it in such a simple way!

    thanks for sharing this and for taking the time to make this vid!

  • Seriously?! Sticking strips of insulator tape to the back of my MPK49 pads will make them better? How??! ! Interesting mod.

  • Glad they fixed this in the Akai MPD 26, i had to do this to my MPD 18 but not the 26. Good tutorial, for MPK users!

  • Thanks a bunch!!! Just did the mod and now the mpk49 pads are usable!!!

    I went with 3 pieces of duct tape; it works pretty well, though not as sensitive as I expected. I may try another layer at some point, but I'm happy for now.

    Peace

  • How do i repair the screen? It went dim. And can i replace the keys on the board if they have popped up?

  • for those too lazy (or scared of affecting warranty):

    1. Hit Global (under the LED screen)

    2. Hit ">" 5 times, until you see the page PdThresh

    3. Turn the dial about the ">" sign until it says "1" under PdThresh

    4. Repeat for Pad Sens (pg 4)

    voila. although this wont be as awesome as the video above, it'll give you a quick fix. for kicks n giggles, try setting it to 16 :D

  • @redhat123456789

    once i removed the screws everything came apart nicely, not sure what the issue is

  • ps yall if you wanna be extra careful with your mpk put a pillow under it when its upside down. dont wanna break any knobs/sliders/etc.

  • This video is really cool, and very helpful when it comes to this task. I would like to remind everyone, more so, those of you who don't work on electronics that often, be sure to ground yourself. An accidental touch of any of the computer boards mounted inside, without being grounded first, can fry the unit, if a static shock occurs.

  • @sch21186 Grounding: Keeping it simple, just keep a part of your body attached to any piece of metal, including the inside casing of the MPK49. This will ensure you dont create a static charge

  • hey man i accidently took out the little cable thing for the pads, what do i do now?!?!?!

  • @MARQUEZbeats13 theres a site called mpc stuff that sells spare parts for pretty much all mpx products, including the mpk49. i got some sensitivity pads (could have just used tape but whatev) so i know they're legit. i know they sell ribbon cables. if yours didnt break in the middle, maybe you can insert it back in. i'd imagine theres some way to solder/attach it to where it originally attached, but it may be difficult. i know soldering ribbon cables is a bitch.

  • glad to see that this video is helping all you out.... now go knock out some bangers!

  • this is so owning! i helped so much, the keyboard is not worth buying if u dont know this way of upgrading it - the only thing bout this that took time, wuz the fucking duck tape wich took 2 hours to cut out haha.. thx man 5/5!

  • thank you!!!! it works perfect now.

    but instead of tape i took some old bicycle tube and only place it there with no glue. it have the right thickness. now the pads are very sensitive.

  • your a genius dude thanx a million!!!

  • Thank you for this video! I also fixed a key, that was broken while at it. Just glued the socket thing, so it would stay in it's place. Didn't have to send it all the way to germany because of this video.

  • Just did it! They're perfect! Thanks!

  • fuck yeah! i can get my pads to where a fly could make beats with 'em now!

  • Cheers for that mate. I was already wrapping my MPK25 back up for a return. The pads are absolute rubbish. Why Akai can't do this in the first place is beyond me. I suppose the mod voids the warranty...?

  • your crazy man i would of been sweating bullets and shaking doing that lol

  • Just ordered one of these. Looking forward to checking out if this method really does this trick. Hot jams btw man, lovin' this sh**. Reminds me of some MF Doom dopeness.

  • Hey man, just wanted to say many thanks. I did 5 layers of el-tape on my mpc1000 pads, tuned the sensitivity to 1 (most response on the JJOS2) and it rocks. I never had such awesome velocity response, just WOW. Again, great initiative.

    Cheers

  • thank you ! just what the doctor ordered.

  • Thanks a lot for the video. Going to try this on my MPK-25.

  • Nice vid. I'm the type to try an in home generic modiification to anything too. I'm currently awaiting the arrival of an MPK 88. Being that the keys are hammer instead of semi weighted, can I take the 88 apart and do this or will the keys fall out when I take out the screws? lol.

  • thanks, i just ordered an mpk 49, this is gonna be useful

  • can you use any tape?

  • i dont what to try it beacause i might break my mpk :(

  • Doing this upgrade really does make a big difference especially when playing hi hats and creating drum rolls Much more responsive... Well worth the 15 mins .....  THANK YOU for this video!!!!!!!!

  • Thanks alot man I seriously appreciate this video

  • thanks allot sir 

  • i must do this, thanks for sharing!!!

    thank god for YouTube and people who put up vids like this to help others!

  • Thanks, You Awsome Guy.

    I have Mpk61.

    I Successed Upgrade~

  • Thanks, You Awsome Guy.

    I have Mpk61.

    I Successed Upgrade~

  • Hey man thanks a lot for this video. I followed everything you did here and used 4 slices of tape also. There is a fair difference and the pads are definitely nicer to hit now. Though I may add a couple of extra pieces of tape in the future as theyre still nowhere near as nice as my MPC2500 pads! Anyway thanks a lot for this vid dude you helped me out a lot!!

  • hey, did you put tape just on the rear of the pads or also on the pad sensors?

  • the difference is amazing since upgrading the pads... thanks for the video bro!

  • i somehow got distracted and started doing other shit while this video was playing, the drilling and shit sounds soooo goddamn badass on top of this beat.

  • Sorry, I do not want to put tape on my 500 dollar keyboard. Maybe when the warranty expires. But reading the manual helped me, not tape.

  • this was nice, you were a master with that drill lol, im going to try this, i just need to be as careful

  • This tune is awsome!

    Can anybody tell where to get this lovely drum samples from?

  • wow nice post I just did this exact thing and my pads react way bettter! I reccomend 6 layers of electrical tape if u want it to be as sensitive as a mpc.

  • You do not have to do this. Go into Global and change pad threshhold.

  • Even with max sensitivity and min threshold these pads are the worst I've ever used. My 10 year old Emu PX7 is way ahead of this as far as feel goes, as are the pads on the cheapest m-audio and korg gear. Out of the box these pads aren't good for anything except triggering loops/samples, you'll kill your fingers trying to play beats on them.

  • Hey man just letting you know what worked for me. You must read the manual first, and alter the settings

    PAD SENSITIVITY .

    PAD VELOCITY CURVE

    PAD THRESHOLD

    My pads work like my MPC 2000 now. Good luck. Are you sure you are not a lobbyist for duck tape

  • @dirtyloopz Really? I have the sensitivity at 16, threshold at 1 and these pads are still a joke. I should be able to tap a pad to get a sound, not press the pad like its a fucking button, these pads are useless to me at this point. What am I doing wrong??

  • Haha man electrician's tape is so bad ass.... I have rigged soooo many things with that stuff!!

  • i just might try this when my warranty runs out!

    thx

  • Thanks for the upgrade vid. Now if I could only figure out how to fix the broken/raised key on my MPK49 and I'll be set!

    Cheers mate!

  • hi man one of the keys of my mpk49 broken to, from the base where all the keys are placed could you tell me , wich glue did u used for repair the broken part? thanks

  • Respect Bro...I fully dig your screwdriver work....every time I try this kind of thing, I'm always finding holes with no screws or screws with no holes...or worst of all, holes that are too big for the screws that the screw falls down never to be seen again but mocks me for ever into the future with its mocking little rattle.

  • i have one and agree the pads do kind of suck. i would do this but im scared to open it up. knowing me ill probably mess up something lol.

  • thanks for the heads up, man. i just ordered one of these bad boys and i'll probably follow your procedure if the pads don't turn out to be as responsive as i hoped

  • just did this literally 20 mins ago works good first try the bottom three didnt work mad new strips then works fine thanks bro was going to spend 15 on ebay what i just did for free here

  • so dis will work on a mpk25 aswell? my guess is they'd look about the same inside.

  • this is cool i have both the mpk 49 and the mpd 32

  • yea, the pad for grizzlies...

    i don't want to risk to loose the warranty, but if i won't sell it for sure gonna tune like you.

    thx mate, great vid

  • thank you!!!!!

  • Thanks man ! I'll let you know how it works out !

  • Your Awsome man!!!! i traded in my old midi keyboard and nano pad and through down some money to get the Akai49, and i am so pissed at how hard you have to press the pads....i'm going to do this so fast AWSOME!!!! this makes the Akai 10 times better now!!!

  • have fun... you'll want to play with the pad sensitivity settings in the global menu to dial in your pads.

  • @tidwizzie what do you mean by "dial in your pads?"

  • thanks for the vid! i just got a mpk61 and tried this and can't seem to remove the top half. i removed every screw with indentations on the bottom, but it's still sticking quite firmly in some spots (namely near the pads and pitch/mod wheels). any advice?

  • did you take off ALL the the screws in the indentions including the ones in the center of the mpk? i haven't even seen an MPK61 in person so im not sure what to look for. my 49 didn't stick at all. came off with ease by lifting up and forward. if your uncertain, stop. i don't want you to break anything. try google-ing how to open up an mpk61.. sorry, thanks for watching

  • Comment removed

  • @shayeasy yes, in the mpk 61 you have to remove all the screws, I've just done it.

  • Comment removed

  • @shayeasy just took apart my 61, theres 4 more screws not in indentations that u must remove too

  • Thank you man. I think I'll try even though I'll soon get my Roland HPD10.

    Amazing what you can do with electrical tape. I already repaired my pedals MOMO steering wheel like that.

    I hope you understand because I do not speak English and is an automatic translation.

  • i understand... thanks for watching.

  • Thanks for the vid - what kind of tape did you use, is it adhesive ?

    Also, would be great if you could post a second vid showing how the pads respond now after modification and if you're satisfied with it.

  • Thanks for watching.... I used black electrical tape (electricians tape). you can find it almost anywhere (target, wal-mart, hardware stores). Yes it is adhesive.

    I used 4 layers of tape, and it made a great difference. I am very happy with the outcome. I can just walk my fingers across the pads now to trigger the sounds. hope this helps.......

  • Yep, that's how it's done; I did my 49 also. Great video! Yes, hopefully someone at Akai sees this engineering flaw.

  • EXCELLENT, bro. Glad to see it fully works on the MPK49. I'm thinking of getting an MPK61 when it comes out, to fully tweak it on there, so I can sell my MPD32 and 49 key midi controller and have everything in one spot.

    GREAT video!!!

    Let's keep this going... maybe Akai will get the hint. :)

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