Qetsy

I used to be a big fan of the first APC40 and I didn' think very highly of this one. I must say I was surprised when I finally got it. Much bigger than I expected, pretty solid feel in comparison to my APC KEY 25, usb powered which is very handy and very comfortable sliders, knobs and pads. These pads are good for launching clips and such but maybe not so good for finger drumming, for that you may want a controller from the MPD series. It has everything you need for Ableton live mixing, the grid can make bigger steps than the APC KEY 25 which can only move by one row or one column at a time. The top knobs can control pan, sends or user defined parameters. If you're looking for a controller for Ableton Live djing this might be the one for you! I'm really happy with this one so far.

This is a very solid piece of hardware, kind of heavy. I really don't have any complaints except for random noise on the inputs when using Ableton Live (this doesn't happen at all with Logic Pro). I don't know what it is and if you've had this problem I'd love some feedback. Apart from that it's pretty mobile since it isn't huge and 6 inputs plus 6 outputs (1 main, 1,2 and 1,3 with two different mixes) work for most of my studio or live situations. It comes with software that lets you use the inputs and outputs directly without the need of a DAW, you can also choose which of the headphone outs has mix number 1 and mix number 2. I'd say it's much better than my scarlett 2i4 and almost the same size (although heavier).

I use this headphones for mixing in conjunction with my krk's and they have a pretty good response. They're also nice for music listening and could probably work for djing as well.

Lightweight, rca (balanced and unbalanced) and line outputs. One headphone output that you can switch between mixes 1/2 and 3/4. The PAD button is useful for noisy situations. Ideal for guitarists, djs and performers who need a very portable solution for playing live.

I've been using an APC 40 MKII with traktor for a while now and I've had my eyes on this controller for months. The default setting includes all the basics which you can easily see, although I didn't realize that it lacked buttons for browser scrolling, cue, etc. I solved that with an app on my iphone. It came with a code for Traktor LE 2. Basically it looks good, it's pretty small and portable and it has a sound card with RCA outputs. I haven't tried it with the iOS versions of Traktor but they look pretty powerful. Remember that if you're going to use this with a laptop you're going to need another controller for browsing and cueing, fx, etc. It can also work with midi in midi mode.

The only way of finding out how far Ableton can go is by trying it. I use it for music production, audio editing and live sets with no complaints. I've tried a few other DAWs before Ableton but after finding it I really stuck with it. All DAWs work in a similar manner, and you can kind of do the same in all of them but Ableton works really well for me, I can do things a lot faster and more efficiently with this DAW