Donner MIDI Pad Beat Maker Machine Professional, Drum Machine with 16 Beat Pads, 2 Assignable Fader & Knobs and Music Production Software, USB MIDI Controller with 40 Courses, STARRYPAD

Definitely enjoying every moment playing and learning its various functions. Had some difficulty with software. An licensing issue. Other than that, it's worth it!!!

The Donner Starrypad has a nice set of features for people looking for a good trigger pad but do not need a lot of extra sliders and knobs. The silicone rubber pads have a good feel with a little downward flex. The sliders have a nice solid glide with just the right amount of resistance and the knobs have continuous rotation in both directions. There are three memory bank locations for all pads, knobs and slider setups and they can be accessed from three bank buttons on the front panel. You need the Starrypad Editor software to edit the pads, knobs and sliders but it works well and makes setup easy. The owners manual has the official Donner site for obtaining the Starrypad editor. You cannot hear the sounds that you assign to the pads while in the software edit mode, but by using General Midi Note and Control Change Maps you should be able to setup the Starrypad quickly.

once I unboxed the device I connected it to the computer, and the computer set it up so it was recognized. When I opened my DAW Software, it recognized it, but I was having issues getting it to work. I got on Google and searched until I found the answer so Both my MIDI Keyboard, and the Starrypad would work at the same itme in my DAW. Now I just have to practice finger drumming to make beats. Thank you for a quality product!

After a helpful interaction with Donner support through Amazon, I was successful in utilizing this MIDI Pad with an Apple iPad 9 with Lightening Port. The lightening port alone does not have the capability to power the device. After several frustrating iterations, I finally bought an Apple Camera Adapter (Lightening to USB-3 + Power Input via Lightening) while communicating with Donner support (their ultimate recommendation after I had ordered the adapter was to order said adapter). I found a 3rd party adapter worked in my situation, though whether 3rd party or Apple, you will need to provide a power source (wall charger and cable, or a potable battery pack). The MIDI Pad is solid and has been enjoyable to use in the last several days it has worked for me. Several iPad Apps are out there, and naturally, many-many PC and Mac applications as well. This was a gift for my son, and he has thoroughly enjoyed the iOS app Koala spurred on by a very thorough YouTube review of this Donner Starrypad.

Update: Donner reached out after my first review and provided a replacement unit, and it works so much better. The sensitivity of the pads is excellent. It works will be Ableton Live 11 and 12. Great customer service as well! The unit has nice features, a useful editor, easily connected to Ableton Live, and feels solid, but all of that doesn't matter if it doesn't perform well at it's most basic function. The pads are just not sensitive enough except for the most entry level finger drumming. The required force is too high. I had to strike each pad very hard and it removed any sort of enjoyment or expressiveness while playing. Rolls or ghost notes were impossible. I could do a basic 4 beat pattern but that's it, and had to keep it set to "full level" the entire time. I tried changing the settings (it lets your adjust the velocity curve in the editor) but it didn't help. I returned it.

So Upset. Will send back to the North Pole UNDER THE BRIDGE!!!!! Even Chat GPT and Microsoft Co Polite cant make this work... NO words But and Big F U. This will not work w an I Pad Pro

My 12 year old was ecstatic to get this for Christmas. Took me hours to try to find an app or software to be able to actually use it. I have a new HP laptop. It was extremely frustrating, and the directions given with the device didn’t help me one bit. We ended up having to get an app on the iphone called Band Lab. It is $15 a month, not what we had expected when we purchased this. I would have sent this back, as we didn’t want the added expense, but he has wanted it forever. The pad itself works great. He is enjoying it a lot. But just be aware that it isn’t a “one and done” purchase as we had expected.

I got this as a gift for a Dungeons and Dragons dungeon master. He had been wanting a soundboard for his sound effects and music, but they were typically very expensive. This was an affordable option I found and he has been really happy with it. He was able to set it up with software on his laptop, so he can take it over to his friends' houses and have a more comprehensive experience in their play sessions. The soundboard is responsive so that he can quickly insert the sounds he needs, and there are plenty of large buttons so he can tie different effects to different buttons and have plenty ready to go at one press. You are also able to fade sounds so he can transition music between scenes. Overall quite happy with the purchase.

Trop cool merci Donner

Bought couple years ago to use with midi mixer software as a Stream Deck type thing. Worked really good for controlling my PC. Now Using it for testing midi hardware modules. Works with FL Studio and Ableton. Not a fan of the way the buttons feel but overall this little unit works amazingly. I would definitely replace with the same one if needed

Good mixer. User friendly

Satisfied with the purchase

Solid controller. Pads are as good as my MPC. The sliders and pots are a bit flimsy but overall a good controller. I had a good experience with their support team as well.