Hey Philip…
I can assure you, it DOES feel like a tank, heavy and solid as you've described. The pads, however are super responsive to velocity and the different keyboard modes and scales are fantastic. I can also say that though the controller is really complete already, I know they'll be pushing (no pun intended) software updates to make it even better. I'm a Maschine user and though I won't sell that thing off anytime soon, PUSH takes what NI did much further and better. I think you'll be very pleased based upon my own experience. congrats on your purchase!~
Thankfully months go by quickly these days, lol.
T.