Hello,
I was on the brink of purchasing a Mod Device already and actually considering a Dwarf.
But now I realised, hey - the Duo X is far more powerful than the Dwarf -
guessing, for my needs maybe the Duo X will be more suited?
So, I have a few question, if I may:
Is the Duo X still fully supported? Is it still in production, or something to be dropped in near-future? (…as the advertisement on this website is focussed on the Dwarf mostly)
Are there deeper hardware differences, as the Duo X is an earlier development, like other preamp, etc?
I like the Expression INon the Duo X - but, the Dwarf (without this feature) an easily be used with an Expression2Midi-Pedal i guess? Is this a thing?
Unfortunately, the MDX is no longer in production at this time. Support is limited to firmware upgrades, but will not have feature parity with Dwarf for further development (correct me if I’m wrong).
The Dwarf is the way forward with MOD, at least until they are in a position to open production on the current MDX, or a upgraded flagship.
If you find an MDX with no powerswitch on the back, its an LE model, and lacks the same power as the full production unit’s, and also is lagging on firmware.
In terms of the expression pedal, MOD is working on unit specifically for MOD units (also offer USB for non MOD), but you should be able to hook up an expression pedal through midi (dont quote me on that lmao)
Either way, both devices are solid. If you are complex with boards, or work with CV based external gear, I recommend the MDX.
If you want a sound playground, and already know the plugins you need, the dwarf might be a good fit even with the lower processing power. It also readily available and in regular production.
If you find an MDX with no powerswitch on the back, its an LE model, and lacks the same power as the full production unit’s, and also is lagging on firmware
So, the ‘last’ version of the DuoX are those WITH a power switch on the back, correct?
Understood…
I guess, the firmware updates will stay to be cross-version (Dwarf & DuoX) ?
…
as you were mentioning a maybe future-model to come sometimes…
will MOD take care of heritage-users may export their once-done custom presets to a possible future model (keeping it upward-compatible somewhat)?
History shows that MOD have been supporting their legacy devices quite well (the MOD Duo has been out of production for quite some time, and most pedalboards + pugins still run fine on it).
I would not expect any problems moving existing pedalboards to a newer device.
In the other direction, a new pedalboard created for the Duo X or the Dwarf might not run on the Duo because of limited processing power, but I suppose a new generation MOD device will have more power rather than less.
Hi all i came here with this exact question in mind . i can get a mod duo x LE in mint condition for the same price on cheaper than the dwarf !! i don’t know that to do haha!!! i have a pretty complex signal chain on my quad cortex; but i’m nowhere near the limit because i am using mostly captures !!!
is there a big difference between the limited edition duo x and the dwarf?
@Elk_wrath Thank you for your answer!! Helps a lot ! going to pull the trigger soon! i’m pretty confident that i can get the sound i want ! probably not as easily as a quad cortex or a helix ! but ae this is a geek machine!!
For what its worth, I own both a dwarf and the production MDX.
As a synth player that has both MIDI and CV based instruments, the MDX is amazing for my personal needs, but its super powerful and I rarely use its full potential.
The dwarf is amazing if CV isnt a need. I have run into some processessing limits before, but I make boards to break stuff lol. Now that portal has been released, the CPU limitations are negligible
I maybe disagree with you, CV is the only argument to buy a MDX.
I {will} need both inputs with Amp-Sims and Cab-Sims, aside from 2Gates, 4 Filters, 2 EQ’s, 1Chorus, 2 Reverb, 2 Compressors, 1Enhancer, 2 Delays, some parallel chaining, etc…
so - calculus power is more there too
I’ve moved to the dwarf for future work, the lack of power is definite, as I have to drop a lot off my MDX boards to meet the CPU limits of the dwarf. I am very good at hitting those limits on the dwarf, which I why I bought the MDX shortly after the dwarf.
Moot point anyway, as I’ve begun re-installing my dedicated hardware pedals back into my mix. The dwarf is my experimental box and use my OXI one and CV.OCD (good partner for Dwarf) for all midi-CV/sequencing.
True, only MDX has CV, and actually only the production model has the full 10V range. I too thought inputting CV directly to Duo X was a good idea, but due to its very unreliable midi sync I ended up using CV only in the external modules and doing basic processing with the Dwarf. I think @Elk_wrath is precisely trying to say that if you don’t need CV you can go with a Dwarf. Now, the MDX is a better product overall and well worth the money. It’s been going up in price lately. Mod has been good at maintaining it, but there are issues lingering for a long time and some improvements will not be developed for the Duo X, so it’s a choice between a more current product with less power and no CV and a more powerful product with CV that may not see any meaningful improvements.
If a Duo X (production, with on/off switch) is good for you know, then go for it.
I guess that depends on the use case.
MDX seems to have much less support, it is not produced anymore, and you cannot expect new features coming to it - to my understanding only updates which can be easily ported to MDX are added.
However, for my chapman stick I really need dual-mono processing, and that doubles the need for processing power. My CPU usage for my current pedalboard is already sitting around 70%, so most probably it would not fit Dwarf at all, so I cannot just replace MDX with MDW without compromises.
From one side my pedalboard looks like this - so probably it is overengineered edge case, and for most practical cases MDW is enough, especially if it is a single-mono processing.
From another side - freedom to do whatever crazy stuff you want is the main point of MOD platform for me.
If my MDX would die I would search for the used MDX to replace, but that’s me.
More conventional guitar player probably should go for MDW.
In any case I see a lot of troubles with updating firmwares with MDX LE (limited edition) devices, and LE is less powerful, and I expect it to lag in features even more than production MDX so if going for MDX - I would buy production, non-LE version.
I would say you both have good points, @ignis32 and @leDamien.
On one hand, I don’t want to replace my Duo X with a Dwarf, cause I use encoders and keys quite a lot. Footswitches are useless for me, I already have a midi pedalboard. The X is much better for my use case.
On the other hand, support has been poor for all Xs, production or LE. There are tons of issues (crosstalk, noise, etc) lingering over the Duo X since early 2021. Many threads and complaints. And the worst for me is the clock, though that affects Dwarf as well. And not a word of how and when those will be addressed. Threads are open and not a meaningful reply is ever posted.
I hope my saying this here doesn’t go down as pure whining, it’s a legitimate demand from users who watched this ad not too long ago and thought they were acquiring the most modern effects processor there was.
Therefore, if you want a Duo X, go for it. Choose production, never LE. But be prepared for waiting long for answers and support.
My 2 pence.
thanks a lot, all.
to @ignis32 :
We both play Chapman Stick - that’s very rare, I must admit. Though, won’t make it easier for us…
I tend to get myself a MDX (production model with on-off switch) - could you tell me your experience with building presets and using them over a pedalboard?
overall, @ignis32, as you maybe know I was willing to invest in 2 Dwarfs same-time simultaneously,
setting them up side-aside for each mono channel…
on paper it seems great running 2 totally discrete mono-channels, each channel on one Dwarf, for Chapman Stick -
…
BUT, AS Mod Support already answered me regarding this issue - there is no easy nor approved
work-flow for using more then one Dwarfs side-aside via the editor.
…
that said, getting this as a Feature near-future would be bonkers. Customers could invest in more than one Dwarf - putting them side aside on a board, audio chaining them if needed, or run it parallel, whatever… So the Dwarf gets sorta scalable though having a rather weak processor unit for us Sound Designers.
Sounds nifty to me.
Even the footprint would make 2 or 3 Dwarfs a great floorboard!
IMHO -
I see great potential here for MOD DEVICES to get unlocked for us customers and the Dwarfs Community
