Korg nanoPAD2 Slim-Line USB MIDI Pads - Black

This pad controller is extremely compact, low profile and packed with very interesting and useful features. I also like the feel of both the sixteen pads and X-Y pad very much. The pads are great for drumming with good sensitivity. The downloadable editor software is pretty easy to use( as far as the basics go) but the documentation is a bit confusing, so a lot of discovery through experimentation is needed, but that is normal in the world of digital audio. The scale on the sixteen pads can be set to anything you like, with each pad individually adjustable for any note or cc value. But there are also some preset scales that you can choose from including major, minor, etc. The default scale setup is whole tones from left to right in each row with the top and bottom rows separated by a semitone, giving it a transposing arrangement by a shift of the hand(as long as you don't shift off the edge!). You can also select any midi channel for each pad, as well as choosing between momentary or toggle modes. The X-Y pad has several tricks of its own and gives some fun effects when combined with the arpeggiator. You can also assign the X and Y control to any cc value. Given that having sixteen pads and an X-Y pad is a useful tool to have in your midi arsenal and this is a well made instrument for a low price, it is a must have! You may wonder if you should spend more and get a sampling pad controller. Instead of spending a lot more, you could use this with sampling software, some of which you can get for free. After all, what makes a pad controller a sampling controller is the software. One excellent free sampling program is TX16wx. It is used as a plugin to your DAW and is superb! Another no cost option is the use the free DAW, LMMS which has a built in sampler(the sound file processor) and is an excellent DAW. LMMS does not do audio file recording so you can just add the free AUDACITY program which is also excellent.

I bought this for the XY pad, the drum pads are a bonus. Thefact that you can get in the software and program chords on the pads is a big bonus. Kick off big pads, play with the XY…takes a minute to get it programmed, but worth it. I can see getting through an ambient or DJ set with this and a laptop, easy. Best thing, you can set the XY to park, or stay without returning to center or zero. Big bang MIDI control in a small format plastic box. A reasonable, feature packed alternative to $400 or OSC on an iPad.

Hi all Bought the Korg Nano pad II, to help out with my DJ'ing, I also run the Hercules 4mx controller with VDJ 8-Pro, and the Nano pad needed to be re-mapped, after a Skype call and talking with the fellas @ auto mix Products, we both worked on the Mapping code, and even re wrote some of it, the Nano Pad II works floorlessly. After a few tweak's, we even got the X/y pad to effect the deepness and width of Whatever effect, Via re-mapping the P1 and P2 controls, Also Note that the Nano pad II also has a "Scene button", so infact, you have 16x4 banks (of pads) that you also can re-map to whatever you need to EG trigger off Loops, Cue points, Samples EfX etc, whatever you wanna re-map. It is a solid unit and the price was right, however, none of the pads have back lit LED's, So you really got to watch the screen to see whats triggered when you fire things off, Hopefully the Korg Nano pad III will have back lit LED's built into the pads... Nano pad 3 ideas fellas... You also need to set Limits on the P1 and P2 controls, or they will go out of Range, and then you run into audio issues. the Nano pad II has 6 padded feet on the bottom so it don't Slip n slide all over the place. The Nano pad II is only about: 1/2 inch tall by:12 inch and: 7/8th Long by: 3 inch: 3/8th Wide, so it is very compact indeed ;) . I also stuck clear tape over the pads so i can mark what they are used for that way, the tape can be removed and no INK makes left behind also did the same as a separator if you look at my pic below, you will see a Black Line right in the middle, one part controls the "whatever effects" for deck "A" while the other half controls "whatever effects" for Deck "B" all in all i give this unit a 8/10, if the back lit LED's in the pads, I wold give it a 10/10. . NOTE I have set the Nano pad up and it works with VDJ 8 Pro, I do not "own any other DJ Programs such as Traktor" so please don't ask for the code sorry, However I do have the code for VDJ 8-Pro. . Pros: 1. Small and compact. Works off USB with low consumption Power. 2. Use's USB "A"-mini connection. 3. Has X/Y pad to control the P1 and P2 controls. 4. Has 16 pads laid out, that can expand to 64 pads via the Scenes, 5. Light weight. 6. Remap-able. 7. LED Status light. 8. includes the USB Cable. 9. Super fast delivery. no dings scratches or banged up A+++. 10. Works with VDJ 8-Pro. (so I am happy) 11. Downloadable software to test out the pad. its very Basic. . Cons: 1. No Back Lit LED's in the Pads so you have to watch the monitor for whatever effects you use as long as you map it. 2. Background lettering that's molded into the unit is hard to Read White on White? really duh. 3. * Mono color LED's RED (Scene's) and 1 Status LED White, not sure if that's a con or pro yet... Note: Mapping is a bit tedious however, I did find a Map App (if you will) midi mapping app, that allows you to see the Nano pads code in action and you can Build your map out the way you like it. Google "Midi Trace" it will work for almost anything Midi/USB. . Tip: Before doing any work, for installing the Nano pad, you need to instal its "Driver" for the Korg Nano pad II, and get it recognized by your system first. Thank you and enjoy DJ.MGS

I've had this a couple of years now. It has spent most of its time back in its box because it mostly does not suit my needs. I own a lot of Korg gear, and this is the only Korg thing I've bought that I wish I hadn't. But first... The pros: 1. It's solid. You can smack the heck out the pads and not worry about it breaking. 2. It's ultra lightweight and will fit into a large handbag, backpack, laptop case, nor will take it up very much space on your desk. 3. You can hit anywhere on the pad, such as the barest smidge of a corner and the pad will work. 4. If you own a Korg Kronos, and I do not, you can connect the NanoPad directly to the Kronos via the USB port and the NanoPad will work without a PC or Mac in between. 5. The pads can be configured on a per-pad basis, meaning some pads can send out note/velocity data, other pads can send out CCs (see also the cons below), and some more pads can send MIDI program changes, along with each having the ability to be a momentary switch or a toggle switch, all within one scene. In addition, each pad can send up to four notes, CCs or program changes at once. All of that is pretty decent and worth the price of admission. You can also enable or disable the Gate Arp/Touch Scale options if those features appeal to you. The X-Y pad, too, is configurable with the software, and you can choose between pitch bend or MIDI CC transmission on either axis. You can set both to CC if you want. There's not much point to sending both to pitch bend unless your pad swiping skills are messy, because the pitch bend on both axes is not additive, and you can only pitch bend one whole note anyway. And that's about it for the pros. The cons: 1. The velocity sensitivity of the pads is spotty at best. There are only three velocity curves available plus one constant velocity value option in the Korg Kontrol software. To get the most sensitivity out of the pads, you'll want to choose the "Hard" curve option. If that doesn't seem much different to you than the other two curves, you're not alone. With the absolute lightest touch I can manage, the pads typically send out velocity values between 5 and 45 on the hard curve. That isn't particularly expressive and you will struggle to play with any kind of nuance. 2. You'll need a computer and some kind of DAW or other MIDI software like MIDI-OX for this to work (unless you have a Kronos -- I don't know if the new Korg Nautilus will work with it straightaway). This is the most annoying thing for me. If you don't work ITB (in the box, i.e. on a computer), then you'll need to get a USB MIDI Host, and those cost between $50 to several hundred dollars. I do not recommend buying a NanoPad if you plan to work DAW-less, because why spend more money on a USB Host just to get your NanoPad to work with your gear? If you already have lots of class compliant controllers and a USB MIDI host, then getting this might be OK for you. If Korg ever updates the design of the Nanopad, I hope they consider adding some 3.5mm MIDI jacks like what you get on a BeatStep Pro. 3. The X-Y pad. While the Korg Kontrol software lets you configure the pads on a per-pad level differently in its four different scenes, the X-Y pad can only be configured on a global level, which carries over from scene to scene. That limits its functionality greatly. When the X-Y pad is configured to send out CCs on either axis, the pad becomes unipolar on that axis. It would be better if it let you specify unipolar or bipolar behavior for CCs, along with giving you two CCs per axis (to work like a Korg joystick controller). There is also no option for each axis to send on a different MIDI channel, the pad can only send on one channel. There is a Touch/Release mode that activates when you simply touch the pad, but I don't find that particularly useful for me. It might work for you. Finally you can't set the amount of pitch bend the pad will do (unless I have missed that option somewhere). 4. There is no aftertouch (AT) on the pads. For the price of this, that's fair enough, but it would be nice. If channel or polyphonic AT is important to you, get another pad controller that does it. 5. When the pads are set to transmit CC data, they can only send out a full data value of 127. You cannot configure this to send out a certain value to be used as a threshold value for instance, or to respond to velocity as input. That's a shame, in my opinion. This severely limits the usability of CCs on the pads. But you can set a threshold value on the X-Y pad when in Touch/Release mode. You can forget sending out any kind of NRPN to your gear too. 6. It's lightweight but the rubber feet don't hold the NanoPad in place very well on some surfaces, like aluminum on a keyboard panel for instance. I use a piece of non-slip shelf liner to keep the NanoPad from moving when I use it. Summary: If you're looking for a decent, basic pad controller to beat on indiscriminately, and you don't mind working via your computer, then this might fit the bill for you. If you're looking for nuanced play, a full MIDI spec implementation and tons of configuration options for controlling your extensive MIDI gear, then you'd be better off spending a bit more money on a pad controller or sequencer with pads. After trying to get on with this thing for a few months, I ended up getting a BeatStep Pro instead for the finer pad work, but I do use the X-Y pad on the NanoPad for pitch bending one of my synths.

Really nice pads and the touch pad made me smile but ultimately ended up going with a Beatstep for more controls.

X-Y pad controller is really cool and useful in gate arp mode. Unfortunately the pads are not "great-feeling" as described, they're quite stiff and make it very difficult to impossible to tap notes very quickly. I would have considered keeping it if the driver settings weren't such a headache and it didn't just stop showing up as a device on my computer after a few days. I bought an Akai LPD8 to replace it and am much happier with the pad feel and the plug-and-play capability.

I bought this specifically to use with the Korg Kronos Workstation. This integrates beautifully into the Kronos. You just plug it directly into one of the USBs on the back of the instrument, and it works without setting up any software. You can only really use pads 1-8 with the Kronos, but it works just like the velocity pads on the M3 or the OASYS. The pads feel great, just like the other workstations. The touch pad on the Left side is not great. It feels cheap when you use it, and sometimes gets in the way if your hand bumps it by accident. It comes with a pretty generous bundle of software that I haven't tried out. For $60 it was a nice upgrade to the Korg Kronos!

I had a lot of fun with this while it worked. After less than a year pads started losing sensitivity. Some have to be pressed extremely hard just to activate a sound, which is completely impractical for any type of musical endeavors. It is useless at this point and has been discarded.