Akai APC20 or Novation Launchpad?

you need ableton for either of those to work, but I'm pretty sure if you buy a new one then a lite version is included. the Launchpad is the better of the two, but if you were deciding between apc40 and launchpad, i'd say the 40, for the ease of use.

As a poor college student who also likes to fuck around and sample things I reccommend the Akai MPK 25 for just general mashing and mixing.  It's perfect for quickly sampling songs and making backbeats for your own productions.  It was around $200 with a student discount at Guitar Center.

It has 12 pads and a 25 key keyboard.... So far its good stuff

word. yeah, i already have ableton.  what are the huge differences between the apc20 and apc40?  i'm thinking i'm gonna go with one of the two...

the apc40 has all of the knobs on the right side that let your control your sends/returns/panning, and your effects racks, as well as your global controls, and a crossfader(which is rarely used by anybody, but fun to dick around with occasionally). you could also look at putting in a bit of effort and building a monome using an arduino chipset and some pads, and building your own case, and your end result will be similar to a launchpad for half the price.

blumpkin

the mpk series are MIDI's therfore you cannot sample on them . you need a sampler to sample . as for the OP, dont look to spend too much if your just going into it but akai has superb quality .