Pad controllers for OP-1 field

OP-1 field
1

Has anyone used a midi pad controller with a 4x4 layout to control the OP-1 Field?
I love the workflow of the OP-1 but I sometimes miss pads for finger drumming and sample chops. Thinking of getting something like ESI Xjam, Akai MPD218 or Presonus Atom controller.

Would love it it also had ability to do scale mode and chord mode, either out of the box or by making and saving presets (I must admit I miss that from 15 years using Maschine).

Anyone tried one of those options and can report? Or other options I should check out?

(Fender Motion 16 also looks interesting but it’s not out yet, and might be overkill…)

2

I’ve build this midi controller

2 Likes
3

Thanks, that looks cool! I’d love to see a demo of the actual unit.

I’m not sure it fits my needs for finger-drummable pads, but still looks really interesting! Thank you for sharing.

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Hi, I’ve make this video to explain all the functionalities …
https://hackmidimask.com/2026/04/29/video/

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In the last days i’ve update the site with more information

6

Thanks for the update! Great work.

I ended up getting a ESI Xjam and I’ve been enjoying it a lot. Works great with the OP-1field and everything else I’ve plugged it to. I programmed the pads to have three chromatic banks (to play drums and sample chops, following the 16 first keys of the OP1 keyboard) and 12 minor scales + 12 major scales, each divided in 3 banks of pads (two octaves per bank).

Velocity and sensitivity work great, as well as toggle mode and note repeat mode which lines up perfectly to the tempo of the OP-1 field.

Only downside is that every single pad bank has to be programmed manually, no option to copy and paste or duplicate as far as I know. So the process is time-consuming if you want this many scales/banks, but really worth it in the end! Happy to share my setup file if somebody wants to try it.