I don't know about mpd, that controller was great for resolume 2 because of all those pads.
I would personally go for something with more knobs and faders.
If you already have x-session than maybe OK, but if you think of buying x-session and akai then you should reconsider it and find something like Ohm. What about this, I think it's a bit cheaper http://www.codanova.com/