🎵 Elevate Your Beat Game!
The Keith McMillen Instruments BopPad is a cutting-edge smart fabric drum pad featuring four independently programmable quadrants, each capable of transmitting MIDI messages based on velocity, radius, and pressure. Designed for durability and responsiveness, it seamlessly integrates with all major digital audio workstations, making it the perfect tool for musicians at any skill level.
H**K
Arrived Without USB Cable, With Hairs and Sticky Liquid Residue, and With a Broken Box (SEE EDIT)
The media could not be loaded. I don't really care that the box was broken, and to be fair, the hairs might have gotten on it when it was being boxed at the factory. It's also possible that the person who packed it brand new laughed hard right after taking a sip of Coca-Cola or something, but the fact that the USB cable was missing leads me to believe that this was most likely a used item sold to me as new for full price. Pretty disappointing.I don't have a long enough mini USB cable to see if it works, but I bet it does. It's built really well, and I like the way the materials feel.EDIT: I returned that one and got my new one today, and I love it! The software is a little buggy, but it's honestly not too bad, and I was able to get it to work pretty reliably after reading the manual and some trial and error to get the velocities to track right. I had to quit the BopPad Editor app and unplug the unit a few times when things were acting weird, but that simple solution worked every time. One pretty minor but still annoying thing is that the top right quadrant of my pad is a little less sensitive than the others, and it takes a slightly harder tap on that one to trigger it. That being said, it still responds to very light taps, and I don't see that being a problem at all in use.The build quality and the way the materials feel is great, and it's surprising how little latency there is. I wonder how they were able to achieve that. The included micro USB cable is a good length if you want to use this next to your laptop, but it's going to be too short for quite a few users, and I ended up ordering a longer one. I don't mind that minor inconvenience, but I do think they should have included at least a 6-foot cable.I've only used this for a total of a few hours, but I already feel like I've ironed out some of the "issues" that are common complaints by taking the time to carefully set it up right for the way I'm playing it. It was a longer process than I was expecting, but I think it's a very important thing for every new user to do. The only problem now is that I always thought I'd be able to make awesome beats right away if I finally had a device like this that let me use my hands, and it turns out I have a lot of practicing to do.Anyway, the main point of all this is that I'm really happy with this device, and aside from a few minor quirks it's even better than I hoped it would be.
A**J
Good idea but poor implementation
I wish this worked as described because the concept of this is exactly what I needed. But I guess that's the problem with all midi drum pads (other than the more expensive one you've probably already looked at).First of all, when connecting the pad to my laptop I always have to connect, disconnect, then reconnect because the first time the pad's light is red and it isn't detected by my laptop. Don't know what that's about.Second, I thought it was just a problem that a few people had but turns out that problem about one quadrant triggering other quadrants is just a problem with the device. This isn't THAT bad for me because I can just delete the extra midi notes afterwards, though that really shouldn't be necessary.But third, and pretty much worst of all, the actual tracking isn't that great. Whenever I do a roll or even just hit the pad continuously at a slower pace, there is a very noticeable amount of hits that don't even get registered.These were things mentioned in other reviews but I thought maybe if I bought one of the more newly manufactured ones the issues would be gone, but turns out it's a problem with all of them. I still gave it two stars because I really like the concept and if this actually worked without problems I'd give it six stars if I could. Unfortunately right now I'm just going to wait and eventually splurge for the more expensive drum pads.
M**N
A Bad Product
Like some of the other reviewers, I wish this thing worked as advertised. In the few minutes it worked, it was a joy. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work.Plugged into my computer directly, it still thought it was connected to the KM Midi Expander. It did this whether it was connected to a USB hub or not. Even when it was connected, notes would suddenly stop sending for no apparent reason.I'm going back to my Alesis ControlPad.
R**Y
Excellent drum pad, but the software needs to catch up.
The drum pad has everything I have wanted in a drum pad. Sensitivity for hand drumming and a good dynamic range. The 4 zones are the right size and placement for easy drumming.I am an amateur drummer ( I just play along with songs on headphones ) and I have owned 3 different electronic drum sets and about 5 different drum pad modules. I have always wanted pads with enough sensitivity for hand drumming that didn't cost a fortune, and these are it.The major drawback I am experiencing though is the lack of support in software. I have connected my BopPad to my iPad and played using GarageBand. With this arrangement I can't change the instruments assigned to the zones and there is an annoying latency.I wish KMI would make a plug-in designed just for the BopPad that would include drum sounds as well as controls for the pad. I know pros using DAWs on laptops and desktops get great play out of their BopPads, but I would like an app or plug-in that is easy to set up for amateurs like myself, and preferably for the iPad.
S**Y
Doesn't stay connected usb is very fragile
Would be great if the usb wasn't trash .. I've. Had 2 of these and the dont stay connected well enough to do any thing good .. they seem to get overwhelmed super easy and start missing notes and being incredibly
A**R
Five Stars
I love this, no crosstalk causing phantom triggering.
D**T
Interesting and expressive, but software overhead is a little annoying
The pad feels good and expressive, but setting it up takes a bit of work. I've also struggled with latency, which is even more pronounced as it's a percussion pad. Using it with Logic 10.2.
F**I
Strange software design, but stellar customer service
I'm using the BopPad exclusively for midi input to a DAW, and I have it connected via the KMI Midi Expander to use alongside my other controllers. I find the pad itself to be quite responsive, with no crosstalk issues. But the software design - as other reviewers have noted - is strange indeed: To change any of the rich set of parameters with the BopPad Editor, you must disconnect the pad from the Expander, shut down your DAW, and plug the pad directly into a USB port on your computer, then reverse that whole process afterwards. Very clunky and cumbersome.But my experience with KMI's customer service has been five-star!
R**.
Good for its price
I can’t complain about the price doesn’t play well with NI Maschine though it loves Ableton and it’s at its best then so having too learn Ableton now, as for logic and GarageBand the template doesn’t play well though it could all be down to my iMac, as my Maschine Jam behaves differently on the iMac than on one of my other machines
Trustpilot
1 month ago
3 days ago