The Vestax PAD-One was announced quite a while ago but was kept simmering in the oven for months before being released for general consumption. We recently got our mits on the final version (with some juicy extra features) and have been testing it in the labs. Along with a rock solid build quality, after touch sensitive pads and reliable soft touch detection this pad tastes way better than the low end similar on the market.
Here are a few of the reasons we like the PAD-One
GREAT CONSTRUCTION!
Anyone that has owned a Korg Nano pad knows that they are very inexpensive ($50 +/-) but you should probably plan on buying several as their average life span seems be measured in months or possibly weeks. The pad one sought to solve that problem by building the same format controller in a more robust manner that would last years. Have they succeeded? Well, at first glance – yes. The all metal enclosure and high quality silicon pads certainly give me a lot more confidence in the durability of the product. We have only had it for a month, but in that time no problems have shown up and it’s working perfectly.
AFTER TOUCH!
The pads not only send out velocity sensitive notes but they also send out a single after touch CC with further pressure on the pad. Why should you care? It gives triggering effects and notes more character with analogue expression right on your button. Imagine:
- turning on a effect with the button and then modulating the value with after touch.
- triggering a cue point and then bending the key parameter for a pitch bend.
EASILY EDITABLE NOTES
With a handy edit button, you can quickly change the note values for each pad making it really easy to customize in a few moments. I have been using the PAD-One a lot to program drums lately. The rubbery feel of the pads is more bouncy than all the other controllers, which lends it self well to drum triggering and planning.
QUALITY X/Y PAD
The X/Y pad on the PAD-One is really responsive and customizable. It has a nice firm feel, as opposed to some X/Y pads which truly feel very flimsy.
SWEET FEATURES
There is a roll feature for the buttons that allows for fast triggering of notes in automatic succession. The tempo of the roll is controlled by the TAP button and the rate is controlled by X/Y pad. One possible use case is:
- triggering cue points in rapid succession in a true roll style drum build.
SPECS
- Product: Vestax PAD-One.
- Weight: 1.6 Pounds.
- Price: $199.
- Available: Now.
- Key Feature: High quality components and performance of pads.
- Downside: Heavier and more expensive than competing products from Akai and Korg.
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wic in a btter option vestax pad one or korg nano kontrol2 ?
great pad indeed!altough im having problems getting the aftertouch work on this one, could anyone instruct what programs i need or whats that in the picture ? bomes dont seem to find the aftertouch signal, only velocity and note
Nice! One would have expected KORG to do this but they dropped the ball. I can see a LOT of these being sold to people who already have controllers but don’t have all the extra buttons to trigger samples for Traktor Pro. Also, it’s very useful to have color-changing pads are for people who use samples as loops.
I cant seem to get the velocity workin on mine….Ive changed the intensity of it on diffeent pads but i dont hear any difference in sound. Can anyone help
Both a new vestax pad one, is there a way to convert midi fighter mapping to pad one ?
2 Bills… ouch! For that skrill I would just camp craigslist or DJforums and snag a used MPD32.
$200? dang.. i would like to know how this is compared to the new korg nano2 series
$200? dang.. i would like to know how this is compared to the new korg nano2 series
This is dope, but I’ll stick to my X1…
This is dope, but I’ll stick to my X1…
i remember when about half a year ago i realized that i need more buttons/pads, and some pots wouldnt hurt either. so i started researching the smaller pad controllers like them korg pieces, the lpd8. but when i walked into the store and saw m-audio axiom 25, for less money then this vestax piece(pad1 wasnt around yet then) it was a no brainer. crapton of things to use as buttons(all them keys) 8pads, and 8 rotaries.
or even cheaper theres the akai mpk mini, i havent used this one myself but it looks like a nice piece, almost bought it instead of the axiom at first.
anyway, 200$ for this simply doesnt make sense, you could go through like 4-5of the korg pieces for the same price… if you wait for some sort of sale to get em probably more then 5. but like the other user posted, unless youre using a hammer to “play” this piece i dont see the how the $200price is justified.
i remember when about half a year ago i realized that i need more buttons/pads, and some pots wouldnt hurt either. so i started researching the smaller pad controllers like them korg pieces, the lpd8. but when i walked into the store and saw m-audio axiom 25, for less money then this vestax piece(pad1 wasnt around yet then) it was a no brainer. crapton of things to use as buttons(all them keys) 8pads, and 8 rotaries.
or even cheaper theres the akai mpk mini, i havent used this one myself but it looks like a nice piece, almost bought it instead of the axiom at first.
anyway, 200$ for this simply doesnt make sense, you could go through like 4-5of the korg pieces for the same price… if you wait for some sort of sale to get em probably more then 5. but like the other user posted, unless youre using a hammer to “play” this piece i dont see the how the $200price is justified.
Only time will tell how much abuse this unit can handle before it breaks, however what you get with the price tag is piece-of-mind which means a lot to a lot of people including myself. What’s the point of spending any money on gear if it’ll let you down if when you need it most? It’s a little like when the Rane ttm56 or the Rodec Scratch Box came out, you could argue “What’s the point? I can buy 2 Behringer 4-channel mixers for the same price”. Both of the Behringers will be broken within a year of abuse where as the ttm56 will keep on going many years to come.
Only time will tell how much abuse this unit can handle before it breaks, however what you get with the price tag is piece-of-mind which means a lot to a lot of people including myself. What’s the point of spending any money on gear if it’ll let you down if when you need it most? It’s a little like when the Rane ttm56 or the Rodec Scratch Box came out, you could argue “What’s the point? I can buy 2 Behringer 4-channel mixers for the same price”. Both of the Behringers will be broken within a year of abuse where as the ttm56 will keep on going many years to come.
Great article Ean. The build quality seems much better than other similar controllers in the market, although thats reflected in the price. Off topic, any chance of us seeing you rock the Twitch in any upcoming videos? Thanks
Great article Ean. The build quality seems much better than other similar controllers in the market, although thats reflected in the price. Off topic, any chance of us seeing you rock the Twitch in any upcoming videos? Thanks
“Anyone that has owned a Korg Nano pad knows that they are very inexpensive ($69) but you should probably plan on buying several as their average life span seems be measured in months or possibly weeks. ”
I saw it is mostly $49 online, are states charging 40% sales tax, which is very bad. BTW mine is still fine after 8 months, I may be using wrong, should I use hammer/mallet for triggering, please advice.
look through the reviews on amazon, some people get good ones, others got ones that broke in weeks or months like ean mentioned. You got lucky with a good one.
look through the reviews on amazon, some people get good ones, others got ones that broke in weeks or months like ean mentioned. You got lucky with a good one.
“Anyone that has owned a Korg Nano pad knows that they are very inexpensive ($69) but you should probably plan on buying several as their average life span seems be measured in months or possibly weeks. ”
I saw it is mostly $49 online, are states charging 40% sales tax, which is very bad. BTW mine is still fine after 8 months, I may be using wrong, should I use hammer/mallet for triggering, please advice.
This looks a lot like a mixture of a padkontrol and the nanopad….
This looks a lot like a mixture of a padkontrol and the nanopad….
The ability to tap in the bpm in order to sync
the XY roll is a nice little feature. The Nanopad had the xy roll however
it wasn’t synced to anything so it would just sound like garbage when trying to
do something resembling a loop roll with its xy.
Where all these little controllers fall shot is that NONE of them included a
rotary encoder. The Vestax Pad One has a rotary encoder however it is for
changing midi settings rather than its self being mid-mappable, the Akai LBD8
has 8 somewhat flimsy feeling pots and the Korg Nanopad has the (basically
useless) XY pad. I would have liked to have just 1 rotary encoder to more
effectively browse my music rather than assigning 2 or more pads for
scrolling. Apart from that this little unit looks like it may be a winner
So you’re saying the knob is only for selecting banks within the controller? How many banks do we get if that is the case?
So you’re saying the knob is only for selecting banks within the controller? How many banks do we get if that is the case?
Take a look at the 1st photo again… There are 4 banks: each can be selected by the ‘bank’ button which is located right next to the ‘tap’ button. The rotary encoder is used for changing notes and velocity of (each?) pad as far as I can make out.
Take a look at the 1st photo again… There are 4 banks: each can be selected by the ‘bank’ button which is located right next to the ‘tap’ button. The rotary encoder is used for changing notes and velocity of (each?) pad as far as I can make out.
what about a 16 pad version with 1 or 2 assignable encoders? Like a Korg PadKontrol… but better.?
Well no, if you want a square 16 pad controller in a 4×4 MPC-style arrangement you might was well get the Midifighter or the MPD24. The beauty of these little controllers is they are same the width as most laptops or a 4-channel mixer and sit nicely in front of them in a very space limited DJ booth. I just think that the inclusion of high quality encoders for selecting tracks would have been a better idea than the xy which is basically a gimmic. If the midifighter came out in the Pad-One configuration (6×2 buttons) but with an encoder and perhaps 2 of those little square buttons which you see on the midifigher pro for [load left] and [load right] I would definitely consider buying one!
No not really a gimmic, with some brain you can use XY pad as scroll. Even better than encoder (or two), you can use it a 4 or 8 way touchpad, add tap, swipe and doubletap commands.
There should be a label on the box “brain not included”.
No not really a gimmic, with some brain you can use XY pad as scroll. Even better than encoder (or two), you can use it a 4 or 8 way touchpad, add tap, swipe and doubletap commands.
There should be a label on the box “brain not included”.
Well no, if you want a square 16 pad controller in a 4×4 MPC-style arrangement you might was well get the Midifighter or the MPD24. The beauty of these little controllers is they are same the width as most laptops or a 4-channel mixer and sit nicely in front of them in a very space limited DJ booth. I just think that the inclusion of high quality encoders for selecting tracks would have been a better idea than the xy which is basically a gimmic. If the midifighter came out in the Pad-One configuration (6×2 buttons) but with an encoder and perhaps 2 of those little square buttons which you see on the midifigher pro for [load left] and [load right] I would definitely consider buying one!
what about a 16 pad version with 1 or 2 assignable encoders? Like a Korg PadKontrol… but better.?
The ability to tap in the bpm in order to sync
the XY roll is a nice little feature. The Nanopad had the xy roll however
it wasn’t synced to anything so it would just sound like garbage when trying to
do something resembling a loop roll with its xy.
Where all these little controllers fall shot is that NONE of them included a
rotary encoder. The Vestax Pad One has a rotary encoder however it is for
changing midi settings rather than its self being mid-mappable, the Akai LBD8
has 8 somewhat flimsy feeling pots and the Korg Nanopad has the (basically
useless) XY pad. I would have liked to have just 1 rotary encoder to more
effectively browse my music rather than assigning 2 or more pads for
scrolling. Apart from that this little unit looks like it may be a winner
we wanna see some actions! make a video about it please~!~!
we wanna see some actions! make a video about it please~!~!
In our review we´ve put some weight on it http://dj-lab.de/2011/06/vestax-pad-one-eisenharter-pad-controller/
In our review we´ve put some weight on it http://dj-lab.de/2011/06/vestax-pad-one-eisenharter-pad-controller/
We have been testing it also and put a 13Kg barbell on it: http://dj-lab.de/2011/06/vestax-pad-one-eisenharter-pad-controller/
We have been testing it also and put a 13Kg barbell on it: http://dj-lab.de/2011/06/vestax-pad-one-eisenharter-pad-controller/
Jesus, you’d think a site like this would take the time to proof your writing before putting it up online. But I guess you guys are DJs, not journalists.
Jesus, you’d think a site like this would take the time to proof your writing before putting it up online. But I guess you guys are DJs, not journalists.
you know guys it wouldn’t be hard to hire a college student to proofread your work. wouldn’t even have to be local just email them your drafts.
You two need to shut your pie holes!
You two need to shut your pie holes!
Sure, I’ll be quiet. Just don’t be surprised in the future when your children write something like this for a school paper:
“I luv dat site DJ TechTools!!!!!!! 🙂 It’s supa swick hay? I lernt gud english on da interweb”
Sure, I’ll be quiet. Just don’t be surprised in the future when your children write something like this for a school paper:
“I luv dat site DJ TechTools!!!!!!! 🙂 It’s supa swick hay? I lernt gud english on da interweb”
you know guys it wouldn’t be hard to hire a college student to proofread your work. wouldn’t even have to be local just email them your drafts.
There were 2 small mistakes in the article which I have now fixed. we do have a copy editor who reviews every article but given the fast time line of writing them, they are edited post publication so sometimes there is a little lag before things get perfected.
There were 2 small mistakes in the article which I have now fixed. we do have a copy editor who reviews every article but given the fast time line of writing them, they are edited post publication so sometimes there is a little lag before things get perfected.
Ean – there was once a church bulletin that had a small disclaimer that read “since some people only care to nitpick and find mistakes, please consider those that you find put there on purpose so that you could find them.”
Humans aren’t perfect, deal with it.
If you could read the article and get the important points about the PAD-One, it is mission accomplished!
I think it gives the site authenticy, as you said, they’re DJ’s not journo editors… at least you won’t be getting your phone tapped any time soon!
I think it gives the site authenticy, as you said, they’re DJ’s not journo editors… at least you won’t be getting your phone tapped any time soon!
I’ve got one of these and it’s badass, so solid and good for smashing. Buy buy buy.
I’ve got one of these and it’s badass, so solid and good for smashing. Buy buy buy.
i’m loving mine too, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb3TeQn84rY
do you know how to get the velocity working on one of these. I ve chanegd it the intensity for a couple of the pads but I dont hear any difference in sound
I’ve got one of these and it’s badass, so solid and good for smashing. Buy buy buy.
I’ve got one of these and it’s badass, so solid and good for smashing. Buy buy buy.