Comprehensive review of the Akai Professional APC64 Ableton Live controller. Explore 64 RGB pads with polyphonic aftertouch, advanced touch strips, note and chord modes, and standalone sequencing capabilities.

Akai Professional APC64 Review: Next-Generation Ableton Live Controller

Dedicated 8×8 Ableton Control with Advanced Performance Features

The Akai Professional APC64 represents a significant leap forward in dedicated Ableton Live controllers, offering an 8×8 grid of performance pads combined with innovative touch strips and extensive connectivity options. This next-generation controller transforms how producers interact with Ableton Live, providing tactile control over virtually every aspect of the software while also functioning as a powerful standalone sequencer for modular synthesizers.

Comprehensive Connectivity and Power Options

The APC64 offers flexible connectivity suited to modern production environments. MIDI In and Out ports provide traditional hardware communication, while eight CV/Gate outputs enable direct sequencing of external modular hardware—a feature that significantly expands the controller’s utility beyond computer-based production.

USB-C connectivity serves dual purposes: connecting to your computer for use with Ableton Live and providing power when using a USB power supply. This dual functionality means the APC64 can operate in standalone mode without a computer connection, functioning as a dedicated step sequencer for hardware synthesizers and drum machines.

64 RGB Pads with Polyphonic Aftertouch

The heart of the APC64 is its grid of 64 RGB-backlit pads, each equipped with velocity sensitivity and polyphonic aftertouch. This polyphonic aftertouch capability is particularly significant, as it allows each pad to transmit independent aftertouch data, enabling highly expressive performances with compatible synthesizers and software instruments.

Unlike channel aftertouch found on many controllers, polyphonic aftertouch lets you apply different amounts of pressure to individual notes within a chord, creating dynamic, evolving performances. When combined with Ableton’s extensive modulation routing, this opens up extraordinary expressive possibilities for keyboard players and electronic musicians.

Advanced Touch Strips: Hands-On Device Control

Among the most impressive additions to the APC64 are the eight advanced touch strips running vertically along the controller. These touch-sensitive strips can control volume, pan, send channels, and—most impressively—provide hands-on control of Ableton Live’s devices, plug-in instruments, and rack effects.

The device button activates device control mode, automatically mapping the touch strips to the most relevant parameters of whatever device you’ve selected in Ableton. This automatic mapping eliminates tedious manual MIDI mapping and creates an intuitive, immediate connection to your virtual instruments and effects.

One particularly creative application demonstrated in testing involved controlling a Lo-Fi 404 sampler rack using the touch strips, essentially turning the APC64 into a performance instrument similar to an SP-404 while simultaneously controlling other aspects of the track. This level of integration showcases how the APC64 can become an extension of Ableton Live’s interface rather than just a control surface.

Note and Chord Modes: Musical Creation Simplified

The Note and Chord modes address a common challenge faced by producers with limited music theory knowledge. These modes transform the pad grid into a scale-aware instrument that makes it virtually impossible to play wrong notes.

The top two rows of pads display different scale options and root notes, allowing quick key changes without menu diving. Select your key from the top row and your scale from the second row (minor, major, dorian, phrygian, and many others), and the remaining pads arrange themselves to match that scale.

Akai cleverly linked Note mode and Chord mode together—changes made in one mode automatically apply to the other, ensuring your melodic and harmonic elements always remain in the same key. In Chord mode, you can select different chord voicings (triads, seventh chords, suspended chords, etc.) while maintaining the scale relationship, making it easy to create sophisticated chord progressions without formal training.

The keyboard-style layout with rows representing different octaves makes the pad arrangement intuitive for anyone familiar with piano keyboards. Combined with scale quantization, this feature dramatically accelerates the music creation process, allowing you to focus on musical ideas rather than theory.

Drum Rack and Simpler Integration

When working with Ableton’s Drum Rack devices, the APC64 automatically switches from scale mode to a drum pad layout, displaying the contents of your drum rack across the pad grid. The 4-directional cursor allows navigation through different pages of drum sounds, providing instant access to extensive drum libraries.

Similarly, when you load Ableton’s Simpler device, the APC64 detects this and provides appropriate pad assignments for triggering samples. If you slice a sample within Simpler, each slice automatically maps to a pad, enabling classic sample-chopping workflows reminiscent of vintage hardware samplers.

Session View: Visual Project Navigation

The Session View display mode provides an overview of your entire Ableton Live project on the APC64’s pad grid. A blue highlight in Ableton mirrors what’s shown on the controller, and the 4-directional cursor allows navigation through larger projects that extend beyond the 8×8 visible area.

This visual representation proves invaluable during performances, as you can see exactly where you are in your set without constantly looking at your computer screen. You can launch scenes, trigger individual clips, stop playback, and even add new clips directly from the controller.

The duplicate and clear functions streamline workflow considerably. You can duplicate entire scenes to create variations, then use the clear function to remove specific clips you don’t want in the new version—a workflow that’s particularly efficient for building arrangement variations during the creative process.

Eight-Track Step Sequencer

The APC64 includes a dedicated eight-track step sequencer with 32 steps per track, functional both when connected to Ableton Live and in standalone mode without a computer. This standalone sequencer capability, combined with the eight CV/Gate outputs, transforms the APC64 into a powerful brain for modular synthesizer systems.

The step sequencer can control external hardware synthesizers, drum machines, and modular equipment, making the APC64 useful even when you’re away from your computer or working in hardware-only environments.

Who Should Choose the APC64?

The Akai Professional APC64 is ideal for:

• Ableton Live users seeking deeper, more intuitive control over their sessions
• Electronic music producers who want expressive performance capabilities via polyphonic aftertouch
• Musicians with limited theory knowledge who benefit from scale-aware note and chord modes
• Hybrid producers who work with both software and hardware synthesizers
• Live performers who need reliable, visual control over complex Ableton Live sets
• Modular synthesizer enthusiasts who want a powerful sequencer for their eurorack systems

Conclusion

The Akai Professional APC64 sets a new standard for dedicated Ableton Live controllers by combining comprehensive session control with genuinely innovative performance features. The polyphonic aftertouch pads enable expressiveness previously reserved for high-end keyboards, while the advanced touch strips provide unprecedented hands-on control over Ableton’s devices and effects.

The intelligent Note and Chord modes democratize music creation, allowing producers to capture musical ideas quickly regardless of their theory background. The automatic device mapping and intuitive Session View navigation demonstrate thoughtful design that respects the creative workflow rather than interrupting it.

Perhaps most impressively, the APC64’s standalone sequencer capabilities and CV/Gate outputs extend its utility well beyond computer-based production, making it equally valuable for hardware-centric studios. This versatility, combined with the deep Ableton Live integration, makes the APC64 an exceptional investment for serious electronic music producers.

Whether you’re performing live with Ableton, producing in the studio, or sequencing a modular synthesizer rig, the APC64 provides professional-grade control with genuinely innovative features that enhance rather than complicate your creative process.