| Art, you can't beat these for your purposes.
www.midibox.org
If you get the pcb kits made by smash tv, it is totally doable as a
beginner project. I had done no soldering before and have had no problems.
By the way, the Niche is really bad. I got one off a friend for $50 Can,
so I don't mind it for that price, but the firmware is awful, the scan
rate very low, the buttons not debounced properly, etc. The only usable
thing is the faders if you're only going to use them for slow movements.
I've heard bad things about the Evolution quality as well, while the
Peavey stuff is at least well made. So is Doepfer.
Iain
Art Hunkins wrote:
> Does anyone know of a MIDI slider bank (control surface) that meets the
> following criteria? I can't seem to find one, though a few come close.
>
> 1) USB, deriving power from computer. (Wall-wart/AC power supplies are a
> needless nuisance, and performance on a laptop is a requirement today.)
>
> 2) At least 16 CC sliders arranged linearly or in two stacked rows of 8.
> Sliders should be 60mm throw or more. CC numbering should be consecutive in
> banks of 8 (i.e., some configuration should permit this).
>
> 3) At least 8 buttons arranged linearly, preferably under corresponding
> sliders. Buttons programmable for *toggling* note on/note off.
>
> 4) Buttons have corresponding LED's to show state on or off.
>
> 5) Compact footprint. (This rules out any units incorporating even a 25-note
> keyboard. Portability is again important.)
>
>
> The *closest* units I've seen so far are: 1) the Niche Automation Station
> (long since out of production), which has everything except USB. (It's
> basically a Peavey1600 with LED's.) 2) The Evolution U-Control UC-33, which
> is limited to 9 sliders, but has *3* other nicely aligned sets of 8 rotary
> pots. (No LED's, and the buttons are *not* user-friendly in their
> arrangement.)
>
> Any hardware info (recommendations) to share?
>
> FWIW, the above hypothetical unit could perform *all* the live Csound pieces
> I've done - portably, on a laptop.
>
> Art Hunkins
> |