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  • Midi Controllers- What do you use?

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    I'm looking for a midi controller with a mixture of faders and buttons such as can be found on my Eiderol PCR 800

    The buttons are handy to use for the VSL keyswitches and the faders for mod, expression etc.

    I keep searching for products but I can't find anything suitable. I don't need motorised faders or to control my DAW. There is the Korg nano controller (which I have) but I'm not keen on it.

    What are you using?

    Thanks


  • I had been using the Fatar SL 880 Studiologic but there were issues with the power on/off switch which all but stopped working in the first 100 days. I just left it on after that and used a power strip switch for the on/off function. So my point is that Fatar has the most likeable  piano hammer action feel but not so hot on electronics.  Fatar still makes fine instruments but those are not the most sophisticated in terms of features. I'd look elsewhere. 

    I had other issues with the Fatar recently and gave up on it, I keep it around as a back up -I have found back up equipment is always necessary for me.

    I currently use the M-Audio- Oxygen 88-which is ok. I don't find the supposed hammer action to be as likeable as the Fatar. Additionally the features are not fully workable with Cubase 7.0 and higher. M-Audio was bought out by inMusic and there are no updates for the Direct Link drivers. Still Cubase 7.0 does recognize the Oxygen 88. I don't have a lot of use for controllers on the midi controller anyway, that's why I have a DAW. 

    Next stop would be the Akai MPK88 Hammer-Action USB/MIDI Controller-hefty 67 lbs, kind of klunky but probably the better of the three I've talked about. The hammer action is critically acclaimed. But that feature has to be actually tried to know . 

    I guess it depends on what you want out of a midi controller; that will drive your buying decision. If hammer action is not such a hot button item to you go with a synth like touch and save the extra bucks. 


  • Thanks for your reply.

    I don't actually want a keyboard as I have a Roland RD300 which is 88 note and has a very nice action. What it doesn't have is sliders and knobs and even the mod wheel has very little travel. The PCR800 has got the sliders but crappy action and not enough notes.

    I'd like a separate box buttons and sliders only. I've noticed on youtube videos some people using a Peavy unit but they are no longer made. I have also seen people using ipads with apps but I'm not sure if that's a cost effective route.

    I'm surpised there aren't more units on the market to fill the gap left btween the Korg nanokontroller and expensive control surfaces with motorised faders.


  • Hi MDT,

    I have to agree, it is very strange that there aren't more intermediate level control consoles between the Korg NanoKontrol and much larger Digidesign-style ones. On a side note, is the NanoKontrol suitable for VSL work, in your opinion? Are the faders high enough resolution?

    I spent a lot of time a year or so ago looking at getting the perfect controller. I had an M-Audio MidAir-25 (basically an Oxygen-25) which had eight rotary encoders on it, a slider and a modwheel. I still use it for inputting keyswitches, but I found that the other controls weren't really suitable. The encoders were too hard to control to a high degree of accuracy, and the modwheel was jumpy.

    I also bought a VMeter for around £50, which is a 4" ribbon controller. It looked great in all its promotional material, but the end product isn't as useful as I'd hoped. The idea is that your DAW can feed back to LEDs on the VMeter, effectively creating a monitoring level display alongside a fader. The reality is that it isn't fully compatible with many DAWs. Also its pressure sensor is less about finger pressure and more about finger surface area, which is slightly harder to control precisely.

    Perhaps I'm not the best person to listen to, because I'm only really working on the one project of my album, and so accuracy to me is far more important than speed, but I have to agree with what someone on here ultimately told me: You're going to end up redrawing controller curves on your DAW anyway to finetune and repair them, so it's actually quicker and easier to draw them on in the first place. So I've never even tried the VMeter for velocity crossfade, I just draw everything into the three controller lanes below the MIDI track. Perhaps that will become inefficient when I move onto other projects that require swifter workflows, but for now that seems to be the best option.

    One other option did occur to me - people on here talk about breath controllers as the most intuitive way to input velocity crossfade information, and that does make sense. Given how hard they can be to get hold of, I wondered about something more like a theremin, where you could wave your hands in the air above it and 'conduct' your virtual orchestra in real time, at least in terms of velocity crossfading. MIDI-capable theremins, however, are either kit-built and somewhat suspect, or very expensive, so I went off the idea. Then I saw the LeapMotion. If the idea sounds interesting to you, I'd highly recommend checking the LeapMotion out. Cheap and potentially ideal.


  • Hi Pyre,

    Thnks for that. I'll explore some of the things you mentioned.

    I think the Korg nano faders are probably high enough res for my use but I found it hard to customize. I think I'll have another go if I don't find another more suitable contoller.