Old question here perhaps but still relevant if like me you recently got an MPD232 and want to use it with CbB.
What worked for me is to start with the Cubase preset rather than the Sonar preset on the MPD232, and in CbB start with the Akai MPK49 preset on an ACT MIDI Controller. You'll need the Akai MPD232 Editor to save a new preset on the MPD232, and will need to save learnt controls to a new controller preset in CbB.
Here's more detail if needed:
First use the Akai MPD232 Editor, with the MPD232 connected as a MIDI input and output device, to set up a new preset:
On the MPD232, load the Cubase preset.
In the Editor, use File - Load from Hardware to get the active preset config into the Editor.
Edit any settings that you'd like to fine-tune (perhaps the channel 1-8 buttons). The Cubase preset Pad Bank A mappings are nicely set to MIDI Channel 10 notes and worked fine for me without changes, and the Control Bank A channel 1-8 rotaries (pan) and sliders (volume) are nicely mapped to MIDI Channels 1-8.
In the Editor, use File - Save As to save the changes under a new preset name. I tried Cakewalk as a first choice but it only accepts 7 characters max so CbB works well.
Use File - Send to Hardware to store the new preset on the MPD232, either directly to RAM or to an unused preset slot (I used 15).
Select your new preset in the MPD232 if you picked a preset number to save it.
Next in Cakewalk, set up a matching ACT MIDI Controller:
In Edit - Preferences - MIDI - Control Surfaces, add a new ACT MIDI Controller with the MPD232 as its input.
Configure the ACT Controller via Utilities - ACT MIDI Controller 1 (or via the Controller/Surface panel). Pick a preset to start from (Akai MPK49 worked for me), then immediately overtype the preset name with Akai MPD232 and press Save (icon button) (so any changes you save later affect your new preset and don't accidently modify your starter preset).
Check the Enable box in Active Controller Technology, and press the ACT button to activate Learn Mode. In Rotaries Mode options, select Multi Channel. In Control Group options, select Track.
For each controller on the MPD232 in turn, use the control, then press the corresponding lower parameter box in the configuration panel to learn the setting. I found this a bit erratic and fiddly, but with patience eventually managed to learn each control. I also hit Save often to make sure learnt stuff got stored!
Open the Options tab and select Main in the Control Group. Overwrite Buttons 1 to 3 with new names STOP, PLAY and REC respectively to match the MPD232 buttons, and pick the corresponding Cakewalk action in the dropdown selector. If their Exclude this button from ACT is checked, then uncheck it to allow them to be learnt. For each one in turn, use the button to learn it. First few times around I kept trying to do this from the Controllers tab, but suspect it always failed to learn because the starter preset Options settings had their Exclude this button from ACT checked!
Save the preset!
When all parameters are learnt and the preset saved, Cakewalk controllers using the Akai MPD232 preset you created should now react to the MPD232 physical controls when its CbB (or whatever you called it) preset is loaded, and its pads should now trigger kit-mapped notes on a MIDI track with MPD232 - Channel 10 as its input.
Looking at the MIDI out data from various MPD232 presets using MIDI-OX (highly recommended) was what really helped - seeing the MIDI channels change when the sliders were moved showed that its Cubase preset was closest to what I was after. Not sure what that Sonar preset does, but no longer bothered!
There may well be other ways, and very likely more refinements possible in the preset configs, but this got me up and running with the MPD232 in CbB so hopefully can help someone else - it's great using it once they're matched up!
