Akai APC40 Ableton Performance Controller

The Akai APC40 Ableton Performance controller is the world's finest Ableton Live control surface. Ableton and Akai Professional worked in a joint partnership to make the Akai APC40 the perfect Ableton Live control surface. Whether you are an electronic-music performance artist and live is your canvas, a DJ using live to mix tracks, or a traditional musician using live on stage or in the studio, the Akai APC40 is designed to be an intuitive and powerful control.

Because Akai Professional and Ableton designed the APC40 for live, you don't need to map its controls to talk to the software. Just connect your laptop to the APC40 with its USB cable and you're ready to make magic. The APC40 is class compliant, so you don't even need to install drivers. If you're an advanced live user, the APC40 gives you the ability to remap every one of its controls to suit your own style.

The APC40 talks directly to live and live talks directly to the APC40. This exclusive bidirectional communication makes the APC40 an advanced controller in that it can receive feedback from the software and display it on its clip matrix of 40 triggers and on LED rings surrounding each knob. The clip matrix gives you an instant view of clip status: what's loaded, what's playing and what's being recorded. Each state displays on the matrix in a different colour so you can get a quick picture of clip state. You can shift your clip focus and get an overview of the clips you have loaded for your set. The APC40 has 16 knobs, each surrounded by a ring of LEDs. These LED rings make seeing your settings a breeze on dark stages, indicating the currently selected parameters' values. This advanced visual feedback makes performing with the APC40 focused more on the music and less on squinting at the computer screen. In fact, you might even forget that the computer is there.

Ableton selected Akai Professional as a partner because of its leadership position in great-feeling controllers that are rock solid, rugged and precise. Akai Professional is revered by musicians, DJs and producers everywhere for creating the feel that powers their creativity. The APC40 is built with a rugged, metal chassis and slip-proof rubber detailing. Knobs and faders are solid and precise for pinpoint performance. It even features a high quality, replaceable crossfader.

The APC40 comes with a special edition of Ableton Live Lite so you can use it out of the box even if you're new to Live. There's also a free patch that upgrades full versions of Live so if you're already a Live user, you can take full advantage of the APC40. The APC40 has 2 banks of 8 knobs. The first set controls global parameters so you'll always have instant access to your main sends, pans and other essentials. The second bank of 8 knobs is dynamically reassigned to the track you select. You can control 8 track parameters at a time and as you switch channels, the Track knobs follow your focus. You also get special clip-status views and feedback that only the APC40's matrix can display. The matrix is not limited to only 40 clips: you can scroll and shift, enabling access to an unlimited number of cells. The APC40 has a wide range of controllers. The 8 global knobs can access 4 banks of controls; the 8 track knobs control 9 different track parameters each. This gives you a massive total of 72 controllers that are dynamically reassigned. Channel faders, bus faders and a crossfader give you smooth control of key values. You have even more control power with special controls including tap tempo, tempo nudge, record enables, solo/cues and 2 assignable footswitch inputs.

Designed in partnership with Ableton, the APC40 is the most advanced live controller for the most advanced performers.

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