Now this is pretty cool....

[sintil8]

You have missed my point. There are no tactile faders on this unit and for me that is what I use the most on Faderport. A touch screen simulating a fader is not the same thing. Rotary controllers are not that great either controlling track levels.

But the thread is not about Faders?

the subject is MP Midi, unless I'm in the wrong thread...

Regards

 

[Jemusic]

Its about the lack of faders and that for me is a downer. For me the real power of this controller would be for software synthesisers control. They have covered many of the synths I actually have. That is very good indeed. Still a lot of money just to do that. But cool none the less. If you spent a lot of time editing patches then it would be great for sure. But these days there are thousands of patches just for one instrument so editing is not so much a thing now but rather browsing and auditioning instead followed by minor tweaking.

 

[sintil8]

Its about the lack of faders and that for me is a downer. For me the real power of this controller would be for software synthesisers control. They have covered many of the synths I actually have. That is very good indeed. Still a lot of money just to do that. But cool none the less. If you spent a lot of time editing patches then it would be great for sure. But these days there are thousands of patches just for one instrument so editing is not so much a thing now but rather browsing and auditioning instead followed by minor tweaking.

I suppose the on-cost of adding Faders would make a device to suit your needs even more expensive.
It is what is and I understand your reasoning. I do not see any mileage in trying to justify what it is not.
However, if we take this to the extreme and follow the logic that browsing is the thing, then all these vst's Synths and Fx might as well just be a bland plane panel, with a menu filter system and a volume control.

Regards

 

[Jemusic]

I am old school coming from transport controls with real buttons and larger format mixers with faders so I cant help being attached to that. Maybe our younger generation is more adept at touch screen technology.

Yes I get what you are saying about the bland panel and the volume control. It can be like that but as someone who uses synths a lot and also has a deep understanding of most of them, the difference is when I do find a sound that is close to what I am hearing in my head I can get in deep rather quickly and make the changes. And often creating new sounds as a result. The other day I made a sound from scratch too with one of them and it turned out rather great so I can still do it! I am blown away with the quality of presets we have got now though.

I do like the approach they have taken with this controller with the synth being displayed in the centre and the rotary controls around the edge all linked liked that. It's the first time someone has put something like that out. And not just for one or two synths but a lot of them. They might consider just creating a software instrument controller/editor only. It would be cheaper too.

 

[sintil8]

This day and age we are spoiled by an array of controllers, strangely beyond setting up the controls and using the SO1 remote the touch screen is eye candy. To some extent it is a distraction but can be used as a 2nd or extra touch screen as general secondary device.

The old school is not so much old school... it's more high end in my mind. There are plenty of much cheaper controller's, there are also much more expensive touch screen options like the Raven. It fell in my price range so I went for it.
It would have been really cool if they had slapped a row of motorised fader's below the the screen but as I say it is what is.

Myself in all honesty prefer hardware synths, but here again there are pro's and cons. Most of the time finding a happy compromise is an expensive path to tread.

Anyway, it's time for me to bow out. Take care.

Kind regards.

 

[lokeyfly]

Useful when getting down to the nitty gritty, but a touch screen with the "Remote desktop app" can cover a lot of it's functions.
The biggest advantage is the 32 hardware encoders, obviously there are other benefits, MMV depending on how far you want to dig into it's features.

Question: I was wondering, are they endless encoders? I saw where each knob illustrated a begining and an end (circle, or perimeter as a position guide). It's my guess, they can be set to be both?
Or, do the knobs have a limit of rotation? I suspect not. But would be curious in how that works.

There are times I need them to be endless (to avoid soft takeover when changing banks), as well as needing actual end positions (for tactile feedback).

Curiosity gets the best of me.
Thanks Sint!

BTW, it'ss a handsome piece of kit. I like the track naming as well, so there are effectively, scribble strips built right in. And with track color no less. How nice.

My major hold off is I'm so totally locked into tactile feedback. But like I said, this makes a wonderful addition to synths and such soft instruments.

 

[sintil8]

Question: I was wondering, are they endless encoders? I saw where each knob illustrated a begining and an end (circle, or perimeter as a position guide). It's my guess, they can be set to be both?
Or, do the knobs have a limit of rotation? I suspect not. But would be curious in how that works.

There are times I need them to be endless (to avoid soft takeover when changing banks), as well as needing actual end positions (for tactile feedback).

Curiosity gets the best of me.
Thanks Sint!

BTW, it'ss a handsome piece of kit. I like the track naming as well, so there are effectively, scribble strips built right in. And with track color no less. How nice.

Hiya Lokeyfly, are you getting settled in the new place?

Now, down to trying to answer your post.
The encoders are continuous, but the software can have a bottom and top stop setting, They also feedback from the Vst GUI so the soft takeover is not an issue. It's a one for one scenario or in old terms WYSIWG.

Vst's,
There is no physical stop, but the software can be set for a range so if it's a CC 0-127, you can say run from 30 - 100 whatever.
They can also be switched to a high res mode.
The encoders for Vst use can be linked and reversed, so turning one encoder will increase whilst the other decreases.
The colours of the on screen knob colours can be set so if the vst has any colour coding you can match them up.

Console,
Until I get round to installing the SO1/FSP template I cannot tell you if the console fader can be set with a max min like the Vst's controls can be?
It looks as though it presents the Console faders like a Faderport. Basically mirroring the same view as on a standard screen.

Sorry...
No tactile feedback from the hardware encoders!!!!
One important thing that folk may not be comfortable with, for VST's you need to insert an MP Midi Vst to a track and then load the Vst instrument or Fx unit. You then load the Vst via the MP Midi hardware.

As you say, It is a nice looking piece of gear and I find it useful, others may not. The usual YMMV caveat applies.

Kindest of regards.

 

[SwitchBack]

Question: I was wondering, are they endless encoders? I saw where each knob illustrated a begining and an end (circle, or perimeter as a position guide). It's my guess, they can be set to be both?
Or, do the knobs have a limit of rotation? I suspect not. But would be curious in how that works.

There are times I need them to be endless (to avoid soft takeover when changing banks), as well as needing actual end positions (for tactile feedback).

Curiosity gets the best of me.
Thanks Sint!

BTW, it'ss a handsome piece of kit. I like the track naming as well, so there are effectively, scribble strips built right in. And with track color no less. How nice.

My major hold off is I'm so totally locked into tactile feedback. But like I said, this makes a wonderful addition to synths and such soft instruments.

Interesting thought. I wonder if endless encoders with 'smart notch' exist, which activates when the selected parameter reaches min or max. Also great for rotary switches. That would be like having your cake and eating it too

 

[sintil8]

Interesting thought. I wonder if endless encoders with 'smart notch' exist, which activates when the selected parameter reaches min or max. Also great for rotary switches. That would be like having your cake and eating it too

This apparently has a notched haptic feedback...

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Regards

 

[SwitchBack]

Those appear to be motorised knobs with 300° end stops, which is also an option but different. A limitation of knobs with end stops is that they don't allow scrolling through long lists or switching to fine control.

 

[sintil8]

My knowledge is scant on this one and thought it worth throwing out there for folk.

I wouldn't know the full spec. I watched a promo and breakdown a few months ago. The team behind it are building the software as they go along.
The vid I saw suggested that you get something similar to a magnetic pull or resistance when linked to a rotary indented switch?

Regards.

 

[SwitchBack]

Yeah, that can be done with a motor. But it looks like the knobs on that controller can only go from full left to 300° full clockwise right and can't keep going round and round as with an endless rotary encoder. So the motor is required anyway to set the physical position of the marked knob to the setting of the next parameter you select.

Endless rotary encoders don't send a knob position or parameter value but only send 'up' or 'down' so there is no need (for a motor) to reset the physical position of the knob. But adding a stepper motor to an endless rotary encoder could provide the haptic feedback of end stops, center notches and rotary switch 'clicks'. Hmm...