Best PC pad for retro emulators

[Malc]

Can anyone recommend me a good controller to use for old emulators?

I thought about buying an xbox 360 pad, but remembered how poor the d-pad is.

I also need to know how easy it is to get a pad working with emulators like MAME, have they already got built in support for most pads when you simply plug them in?

Thanks for any help.

[Solar]

I just went ahead and bought a SNES to USB adapter for older emulation, and an N64/PSX boom adapter for my N64 emulation. They work brilliantly as emulators have full support for windows gaming devices.
You can't use 1 single pad for every thing if you are seriously into emulation.

[Baseley09]

USB Saturn pad and 360 controller are the perfect mix for mame, Saturn pad gives you the best 3 button jamma layout plus 6 buttons for fighters, 360 for your analogue driving or flying games (galaxy force II, gloc etc).

Unless of course you get a USB stick, but the saturn pad can be had for 15 quid delivered.