#31

Just found this:

DIY controllers composed of simple, $25 mini-kits (8 sliders, 16 knobs, 16 buttons, or 8 knobs + 8 buttons). Add your own Arduino or Teensy.

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#32

iā€™m seriously considering pursuing this.

is everyone feeling strongly about 100mm or is 60mm acceptable? iā€™m asking because i have yet to find a 100mm fader with a tall arm and iā€™m personally interested in music easel style faders, ie:

easel.jpg1920Ɨ1080 152 KB

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#33

16 60mm buchla style faders would be an instant buy/make/steal.

#35

60mm would be fine by me.
I would reeeeeally like to have a midi jack on there but not sure that would be possible with @tehnā€™s design. Any ideas?

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#36

This seems like it would depend on the microcontroller and firmware? Youā€™d need a little bit more circuitry, and a little bit more firmware, but it should be pretty easy.

This looks like a reasonable tutorial for adding a 5-pin DIN MIDI output jack to an Arduinoā€¦ using a Teensy instead shouldnā€™t be that much different.

#37

That Knobtronix kit looks fantastic - has anyone on here built one? If so, how long did it take and was it easy?

You can still pick up Kenton Control Freaks - they are heavy but really well made and Kenton still support them, I bought a pair of new fader boards a few weeks ago. Programming them is slow but you can get them to do more or less anything you like, provided you want some midi sent.

I also have a Kenton Killamix, which suffers from the worst name any product has ever had. Itā€™s really nice and the switching system works well allowing 9 knobs to cover lots of around. I really struggle with encoders in a gig setting though - they are not quick or slow enough and the vari-speed solution means that if you increment and decrement the dial at different speeds you end up in a different place. Fine in a studio, not at a gig.

Last, I just got a PC4. Itā€™s almost exactly the same size as the Electron boxes, 24 proper dials. Not quite as solidly built as the Kenton stuff but it looks decent quality.

#38

Itā€™s less the length of the faders and more the feel of them. Lotā€™s of short faders feel kind of uncertain. The point of controllers is to connect more directly with the sound - as long as the faders have an appealing action then people will enjoy them.
Iā€™d love 16 Buchla style faders.
If you made it so that it was a good height/width/layout next to a grid I suspect you would have many people interested.

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#39

I own the Faderfox LV3 and the faders feel nice, precise and with a decent action.
16 of those without all the other buttons etc would be great.

2 Likes
#40

it would complicate the circuit and code a little beyond my newb-level understandingā€¦ but seems worth figuring out if enough people want it. a din socket is pretty beefy - whatā€™s the consensus on midi over 3.5mm?

also feeling like the teensyā€™s micro-usb is a bit too fragile. personally, i would prefer mini-usb or even full sized.

2 Likes
#41

The Faderfox PC4 is well built and really brought my A4 to life for me:

150604 elektron A4 mit faderfox pc4.jpg3264Ɨ2448 1.92 MB

5 Likes
#42

I also use the Korg Nanokontrol2 as a faderbox for the 16 main & cue output volumes of the 8 tracks of the Octatrack (and the Akai LPK25 as a keyboard to conveniently set sample pitch parameter locks):

160517 octatrack plus.jpg3024Ɨ4032 2.27 MB

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#43

iā€™d already be ecstatic if you kept the midi-over-USB capability of the original design.
for my intended use case only having USB will be good enough.
and my experience with micro-USB is pretty good, at least in studio use.

#44

Iā€™ve not had a chance to get mine set up but I had to get it out and put it next to the Elektron box, itā€™s a good fit. Did you do the midi remapping on the unit or are you parsing the midi though Max? I didnā€™t see any editor software on their site but the unit came with a DVD!? Presumably because itā€™s been in the post for a decade?

#45

the new faderfox units have a really good midi learn function. (check the manual for how to enter learn mode) just choose the knob, adjust the setting on the elektron you want it mapped to and voila!! :slight_smile:
(you need midi cables in both corrections of course)

1 Like
#46

Wow, thatā€™s really sensible, well played faderfox!

#47

Was it hard to set up? I control mine via Overbridge right now so I have access to all the controls right in front of me, but this would make things so much easier.

#48

Not at all, just like dspk said ā€“ you enter System mode, hold down the right Shift key and turn the pot you want assign to its right end, then you send the MIDI command that the pot shall send to the Faderfox, done.

Hereā€™s the link to the manual PDF.

2 Likes
#49

I missed that postā€¦ perfect! Thanks!

#50

Faderfox uc44

http://www.faderfox.de/uc44.html

#51

Iā€™m sitting with my Faderfox UC44 right now. (I just might have purchased the first one!)
It is lovely! If you have any questions, askā€¦

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