With the APC40 ($299 street), Akai was the first to fulfill a growing need for a dedicated hardware controller for the popular Ableton Live software. This control surface is more specifically geared toward Live's Session (clip-launching) view, rather than its Arrangement (linear track) view. It was the popularity of the Session view for live performance use that made traditional MIDI controllers less ideal for Live and made a controller like the APC40 such a breakthrough with Live users, spawning a number of competing products, as well as Akai's companion piece, the APC20 ($199 street). Yet a recent drop in the APC40's street price still makes it a must-try controller for Ableton Live devotees.

Due to the number of LEDs on the APC40, Akai couldn't offer USB bus power for this unit, so you get a 12 VAC power adapter, as well as the requisite USB cable and a disc with Ableton Live 8 Akai Professional APC Edition, a version limited to eight audio tracks, eight MIDI tracks, and 20 Session view scenes.

Connect the APC40 to a computer and power it up before launching the software—either the included version, the latest update of Live 7, or any version of Live 8—and the APC40 will be selectable as a Control Surface in the MIDI Preferences. Hardware and software communicate via MIDI over USB, as well as with a proprietary "handshake" that enables some of the integration and would prevent you from, for instance, trying to use an APC40 template with another controller.

Sweet Layout
If you're already familiar with Live software, you'll appreciate right away that having the APC40 is akin to having a license to jump to the front of all the lines at an amusement park. It gives you hands-on control over just about everything available in Live's Session view: individual clip and clip scene launching, track and transport controls, instrument and effect controls, and more.

Fig. 1: The Clip Launch/Session Overview grid provides tight control over the heart of Live's Session view.

On the upper left-hand side, you have the Clip Launch section, an 8-by-5 grid for triggering audio clips, with five accompanying Scene Launch button pads for launching entire groupings of clips (see Fig. 1). The Clip Stop button row beneath the grid stops whichever clip is playing on that track. There's also a handy Stop All Clips button.

There is two-way communication between the APC40 and Ableton Live, and in the software a red ring shows you which tracks and scenes fall within the active range of the APC40's Clip Launch grid. You can move that active range around the Live Session View with the APC40's Bank Select arrow buttons to navigate sessions with up to 64 tracks and 125 scenes. The APC40 Shift button activates the Session Overview, which allows you to jump quickly around a large session using the grid buttons.

Fig. 2: The APC40's mixer section starts with Track Selection buttons, which let you jump to the track you want to tweak with the Track and Device controls.

The mixer section on the lower left-hand side includes eight channels for controlling the eight tracks currently active in the Clip Launch grid, as well as a static Master track (see Fig. 2). Above the eight track channels, rows of buttons allow track selection, mute/activate, solo/cue, and record arm. Above the Master channel sits an endless encoder for headphone Cue Level. Nine 60 mm faders (track 1 through 8 and Master) have a good feel and are very sturdy. Depending on personal preference, you may feel that the faders are actually a bit too stiff in their movement, however.

Over to APC40's right, a Track Control section has eight endless encoders for controlling parameters of the eight active tracks in Live (see Fig. 3). Backlit buttons determine whether those encoders control pan position, or Send A, Send B, or Send C amounts. LED rings surround the encoders and instantly show the position of the current parameter for the active eight tracks, making it fiendishly simple to use the Bank Select buttons to jump around the session and fiddle with the panning and sends for up to 64 tracks.

Fig. 3: Endless encoders with LED rings let you easily tweak up to 64 tracks by moving through a Live Set with Bank Select buttons.

In the Device Control section to the lower right-hand side, another group of LED-surrounded endless encoders handle parameters for any selected effect or instrument device within an active track (see Fig. 4). If the APC40's power weren't already evident enough, it really shines through in the Device Control area. Using the Shift key and the eight buttons numbered in red below the encoder, you can access eight banks of Device Controls, for an ample total of 64 possible controls over any selected effect or instrument within a Live track.

Without the doubling use of the Shift key, four Device Control buttons give you helpful shortcuts that further eliminate your use of a mouse. The Clip/Track button toggles between the Clip View (clip audio editing) and Info View (instruments and effects) for the selected track. The Device On/Off button is self-explanatory, and two arrow buttons let you quickly skip around to different instruments and effects within a single track.

Fig. 4: A powerful Device Control section reigns over Live's instruments and effects, and is the big difference between the APC40 and its smaller sibling, the APC20.

A further complement of global controls rounds out the APC40's features. The Detail View button hides the track Clip/Info view in Live to give you more screen real estate for the clip grid. Transport controls include Play, Stop, and Rec. A replaceable, short-throw crossfader isn't going to impress scratch DJs, but it's perfectly functional for controlling Live's crossfader or re-mapping toward another use. Finally, you get buttons for Tap Tempo, Nudge, MIDI Overdub, Record Quantization, and Metronome.

Solid Construction
Don't shy away from taking the APC40 out to gigs. It caters to live performers with both its feature set and its excellent build quality. This tough, road-worthy unit includes a metal chassis, hard rubber siding, solid faders and encoders, and rugged rubber buttons. With the approximate dimensions of 17-inches by 13-inches by 2.6-inches, it will fit in many larger sized laptop bags, or the Akai-endorsed Mono Cases 365 Pack ($189.99). At 5.8 lbs., it's not going to slide around a tabletop, but neither will it weigh you down too much—it's like carrying around a second laptop.

For live or studio use, two 1/4-inch footswitch jacks on the back panel give you added control possibilities (see Fig. 5).

Fig. 5: The APC40 requires the included 12 VAC power adapter to function.

The APC40’s LEDs are bright enough to be seen in mid-day sunlight, but outside on the sunniest of days, they're not going to be as bright as you'd ideally want. In low light, the controller looks simply gorgeous. Grid buttons glow orange to show an inactive clip in that slot, or green when the clip is active. Soloed tracks are indicated with a blue LED, and record-enabled tracks show up red.

Ins and Outs
It doesn't take long to become familiar and comfortable with using the APC40 as an Ableton Live control surface, and once you're there, it's truly a confidence-instilling unit. Short of an endlessly configurable touch-screen surface, this is the kind of intuitive and seamless hardware control that the ridiculously powerful modern-music software makes us crave. I've tried many controllers in tandem with Live, and most of them suffer from being designed for general use with other DAWs or instruments that don't work the same way Live does. Even controllers with auto-mapping or specific Live templates don't have a hardware scheme dedicated to Live, so they have an automatic handicap compared to the APC40.

As much as the APC40 is ideal for Live, it's not nearly as relevant for users of other programs. You can use the APC40 with any MIDI-compatible software, and if the program has MIDI Learn, you can create your own mapping for the APC40. However, Akai doesn't plan on making any templates for software other than Live, and the APC40 has no preset slots for saving your own mappings. Also, because there are literally unlimited ways in which people use Live, power users may find that the APC40 doesn't mirror the way they'd like to control the software or do all the things they'd like it to do. For such people, there are scripts and templates floating around the Internet that expand the capability of the APC40, either for free or for a price (such as at NativeKontrol.com).

One significant thing missing from the APC40 is actually an attraction of its sibling, the Akai APC20. For the APC20, Akai added Note Mode, which lets the button-pad grid send MIDI note information, so you could, for example, use it to play and record drum beats with a Live 8 Drum Rack device or a third-party plug-in.

Whereas I'd like it if Akai could somehow update the APC40 to include Note Mode, I'd still prefer to play drum beats on a dedicated drum pad unit. For one thing, the pad buttons of the APC units are not Velocity sensitive, and they don't have the same size and feel of drum pad controllers such as the Korg PadKontrol, Akai's own MPD series, or another Live-centric unit, the Novation Launchpad.

Bring Live To Life
Due to its intuitive, plug-and-play control over Ableton Live, its attractive price, and the included Ableton Live 8 Akai Professional APC Edition, the APC40 would be a dream for beginners looking to get their feet wet with Live. On the other hand, it's sturdy build and powerful feature set make it just as appropriate for professionals of the stage and studio. You can even chain up to six APC units—APC40 or APC20—together simultaneously.

No matter your level of experience, the APC40 presents you with a smooth workflow rarely interrupted by the mouse and keyboard. All told, among the growing race of controllers specifically or ideally suited to Ableton Live, the APC40 was the first out of the gate, and its combination of form, function, and price still make it a favorite.

Pros: Excellent build quality. Very well-executed, plug-and-play integration with Ableton Live. All controls are re-mappable. Outstanding value.
Cons: AC power required (rather than USB bus power). No MIDI Note mode. No preset slots for saving alternate mappings.

Markkus Rovito is a musician, DJ and journalist in San Francisco. He contributes regularly to DJTechTools.com and SonicScoop.com and plays drums for Tomihira.