Thanks for your suggestions, Iain.

Do you know whether Midibox can be built with USB? (I don't see any
indication that it can.) What stuff did you build into *your* box? I just
might try building one myself.

My requirements for fast-sampled controls must not be very great; for one
thing, I nearly always move controls slowly; for another (maybe because I
use a lot of slowly-sampled controls!), I always add some glide (port) to
smooth them out. Obviously, latency is not an issue for me!

A good way to test the resolution of any control is to assign it to
amplitude and see how much "hash" you get sliding it up and down. One of the
reasons I like longer-throw sliders is because you get less of that.

I'm familiar with Doepfer (great) and Peavey; with the latter, the 1600
seems much better resolution for sliders than the Studiomix (the latter
being motorized), though they're both 60mm sliders.

Art Hunkins
----- Original Message -----
From: "Iain Duncan" 
To: 
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2005 12:24 AM
Subject: Re: [Csnd] Searching for my ideal MIDI slider bank for live Csound


> 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
> >
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