my usb/knobby controllers both died this past week. i had an evolution uc-33 that i upgraded to the "e" by adding a new motherboard, and a doepfer drehbank.
the evolution i just dropped one too many times (actually, lasted a lot longer than i thought it would given the cheap grey plastic of it) - the doepfer i had a bit more hope for, but i bought one second hand and the PSU just up and died on me.
so... i'm looking for recommendations for a new usb/midi fader/knobby controller. right now i'm looking at:
http://www.reflexaudio.com/products_sonia.htm" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
i don't want to go the behringer route; if the evolution couldn't handle my style, i doubt the behringer will. has anyone else seen any new post-namm controller/fader boxes? i don't want a keyboard, just the controllers...
controlla troll da world...
Moderator: snailed
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user_257
hey keith -- i don't suppose you're much interested in a midi keyboard, but i just thought i'd throw in a recommendation for the emu xboard 25 -- it's $150, well constructed with a surprisingly nice action for a small cheap keyboard, but it also has 16 midi controller knobs, and a pretty decent piece of software that allows you to create custom setups. it works flawlessly on windows xp with logic 5.5. i had less luck using it with a friend's cubase sx 3, as the midi notes always appeared early, but from what i hear this is a fairly widespread problem with sx 3, not a problem with the controller or drivers.
might be worth investigating?
here's a linky:
http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp ... duct=13556" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
nick
might be worth investigating?
here's a linky:
http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp ... duct=13556" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
nick
hey nick!
i need this controller for playing "live music." keyboards are way too big for my purposes... i barely use the one i have here in the studio! knobby boxes are the perfect analog to the way i've been working recently. i'm much more used to using them than traditional "keyboard" controllers.
also; i've been spoiled by the fact that the laptop, the motu, and both the doepfer and the evolution fit into my brenthaven backpack. i don't want to lug around more gear than i have to...
i was looking into this :
http://www.jlcooper.com/pages/cs32.html" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
esp. now that they have a usb version; but the tiny faders don't seem like the most "easy to use" ones... especially after i've had a few. they look like i'd need a swiss army knife to even get at them! great idea though; a tiny mixing desk...
i need this controller for playing "live music." keyboards are way too big for my purposes... i barely use the one i have here in the studio! knobby boxes are the perfect analog to the way i've been working recently. i'm much more used to using them than traditional "keyboard" controllers.
also; i've been spoiled by the fact that the laptop, the motu, and both the doepfer and the evolution fit into my brenthaven backpack. i don't want to lug around more gear than i have to...
i was looking into this :
http://www.jlcooper.com/pages/cs32.html" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
esp. now that they have a usb version; but the tiny faders don't seem like the most "easy to use" ones... especially after i've had a few. they look like i'd need a swiss army knife to even get at them! great idea though; a tiny mixing desk...
This one (just announced at NAMM so no real world reviews) looks decent: Reflex Sonia Xi
Course it's MIDI not USB but...
On edit I see this is the one you linked at the end of your post. So no help from me
Course it's MIDI not USB but...
On edit I see this is the one you linked at the end of your post. So no help from me
"Please everybody, if we haven't done what we could have done, we've tried"
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user_257
yeah, i thought the keyboard may not be your steez, keith! it's definitely too big to bring along for live performance. i don't have any recommendations for midi controllers, but i did bookmark this site while i was looking for controllers, if you feel like really geeking out about it:
http://www.audiomulch.com/midipic/" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
the links on the bottom are worth looking through, especially this dude, whose homemade orange midi box is, in my humble opinion, totally badass:
http://www.ucapps.de/" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
nick
http://www.audiomulch.com/midipic/" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
the links on the bottom are worth looking through, especially this dude, whose homemade orange midi box is, in my humble opinion, totally badass:
http://www.ucapps.de/" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
nick
OMG A FUCKING C64 SYNTH - now that's badass...np-rayr wrote:the links on the bottom are worth looking through, especially this dude, whose homemade orange midi box is, in my humble opinion, totally badass:
http://www.ucapps.de/" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
nick
for more ridiculoid controller freakouts, peep :
http://www.doepfer.de/mtc.htm" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
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user_415
This reminds me I considered saving up for a SidStation at one point, it looks pretty neat. This has maybe even more geek appeal though :_)kfw wrote:OMG A FUCKING C64 SYNTH - now that's badass...
http://www.gweep.net/~shifty/death/finally wrote:What does it sound like? You might say it sounds like what certain M.A.M.E. games look like when they're booting up and the graphics controller cycles through patterns. Or you might say a crashed soundcard, a state machine run amok, or a codec data bus diagnostic.
yeah, shifty/noah's one of my best friends. i had one of the only working death synth prototypes for a while, housed in a lucite rack-mount case no less. i still have the only existing game-boy synth that he and brian made, which i use from time to time. trumps the nanoloop by a long shot as it's got a midi-in jack; you can control the 4 GB voices from anything...() wrote:This reminds me I considered saving up for a SidStation at one point, it looks pretty neat. This has maybe even more geek appeal though :_)
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user_415
Oh wow, small world I guess. I dug the death synth demos since way before I was really into noise music at all (although I certainly enjoyed tapping into general weirdness: Squarepusher, Wagonchrist etc.), at least I found the Finally! sample completely hilarious (great concept too).kfw wrote:yeah, shifty/noah's one of my best friends. i had one of the only working death synth prototypes for a while, housed in a lucite rack-mount case no less. i still have the only existing game-boy synth that he and brian made, which i use from time to time. trumps the nanoloop by a long shot as it's got a midi-in jack; you can control the 4 GB voices from anything...() wrote:This reminds me I considered saving up for a SidStation at one point, it looks pretty neat. This has maybe even more geek appeal though :_)
Since we're speaking of controllers, I sort of dig continuous (incremental) knobs (like on the Waldorf Q), are there any standalone controllers with these? I think M Audio had one in the works, but it turned out to be vapourware.
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user_265
cool, that's my man! well you can't compare to greg since yours has a different texture and undulation...kfw wrote:it comes and goes; like the wind...tomas wrote:keith, fuck, what happened to your beard?!
i had one last march, then last august it was gone, now i've got a pretty sizeable one:
i still ain't no greg though - damn greg what's yours up to like 47 Grizzly Adams units?
Re: controlla troll da world...
so... as something of an update to this: a $4 power adapter from jameco fixed the problem with the doepfer; i had been using a 9vDC/500mA power-wart when the device itself only wants/needs 250mA - works like a charm now. fyi jameco also had 1/8" mono 27" "patch cords" for less than $1 each, plus they had a wide assortment of photo-resistors.kfw wrote:the evolution i just dropped one too many times (actually, lasted a lot longer than i thought it would given the cheap grey plastic of it) - the doepfer i had a bit more hope for, but i bought one second hand and the PSU just up and died on me.
i still ordered the sonia, although i haven't heard back from reflex, nor have i been charged! i'll let you know how that turns out. can't have enough controllers around the house...
also; for those of you in the boston/cambridge/somerville area - noah/shifty is holding a series of workshops at the media lab where; over the course of six hours, you build a "one bit synthesizer" - there's one tomorrow but it's already full... i'm going to do the next one, probably in a month or so. the best part is that noah supplies all of the parts!kfw wrote:yeah, shifty/noah's one of my best friends. i had one of the only working death synth prototypes for a while, housed in a lucite rack-mount case no less. i still have the only existing game-boy synth that he and brian made, which i use from time to time. trumps the nanoloop by a long shot as it's got a midi-in jack; you can control the 4 GB voices from anything...
using two knobs in tandem: 16,384 combinations. or using three: 2,097,152, etc... in max it's kind of arbitrary; for example in one of my synth patches the "actual" 128-step controller value that controls an oscillator's frequency is scaled exponentially between 0hz to 20khz by a factor that changes randomly every time max gets a new value from the knob! so the oscillators are never getting the same exact frequency twice...p_ano wrote:i've always been dissatisfied by the limitations of midi controllers. only having 127 possible locations on the knob makes fine-tuning difficult. what are some other options?
...but then again there are times when you do in fact want exact "note" values, and that's when the 128-step hierarchy of midi becomes rather handy... you can always use one controller for "pitch", another for "fine", yet another for octaves or harmonics, etc...
I have to say I really like the look of these controllers. No comment on how well they work, but lots of options and a nice look.
"Please everybody, if we haven't done what we could have done, we've tried"
loopy de loop wrote:I'd like to make a replica minimoog controller.
http://www.asb.creamware.de/minimax_eng.htm" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;
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user_19