Some more pedal porn… After doing a little bit of usability testing we already have some ideas for improvement which only require some holes in the enclosure to move around so no big design changes. Meanwhile @Jan is preparing the PCB so we can test the functionality
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AMAZING. I’m getting that same stoked feeling when I first ordered this again. Thanks for keeping us posted James, it looks awesome 
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So… You don’t think it’ll be ready for the end of this year!
I’m just waiting for Dwarf (option 3) and I like to buy the pedal with it… Mmmm
I’m afraid there are some underwhelming news.
The Covid case numbers are increasing surprisingly fast again in Germany. The State of Thuringia, where our contract manufacturer is located, is a hot spot. Partially quarantined workforce and late material shipments lead to disruptions and delays. Even planning a pilot run there at the moment does not make sense at all. Looking into all kind of alternatives now.
Also @James would love to continue on the final detail changes before we can order a first batch of enclosure parts. But he needs to care about Duo X issues first, as the current production is affected. We are just a small team and are all wearing a lot of hats.
That said, I can just underline our commitment again: We won’t kick-off any new hardware project before the Expression Pedal ships.
We’ll keep you updated. Stay patient please - and healthy!
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Happy new Year all,
@James would you kindly share some status, even though I imagine that the situation did not progress much during the past few weeks.
cheers
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Happy new year!
Yes! I actually was planning to make a quick update before the holidays but we had quite a rush of Dwarfs arrive from production that we wanted to ship out to backers before we took a break.
I’ve just arrived back in the office today and am slowly getting through all the emails and notifications 
As @friedsilence said, I had to spend some time fixing some production related issues for the Duo X.
I was able to already get back to work on the Expression Pedal in the weeks leading up to the break and got quite a lot done.
We already have a prototype from our new manufacturer which I’m happy to report as being very nice and I’m confident we can move forward with them. We wanted to check the mechanical fit and functionality of the device which was mostly very good but informed us of a few minor tweaks we should make. Most of those have been done and it only changes one part which is the top part of the enclosure.
So this week I’m planning to send out files for a new version of this top part which I’m hoping will be good enough for an EVT
In parallel, I will aim to order the first PCB prototype to fit the new design. Not this latest change but all the changes in the past 2 years.
Jan is meanwhile working on the firmware on the old PCB so it’s ready for the new one as well as planning the changes that will be needed in the control chain library.
I’ll try to share some more photos soon 
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I always wondered about this one. I missed the original backing for it.
What is special about this unit ? I haven’t been able to find anything in depth.
Is it something we should be waiting to unleash on our Dwarfs.
It probably sounds rude but its not meant that way. Just curious as the prototypes look cool, I just hope they are more than just a pretty screen and 1 pedal.
Cheers
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What is the current timeline ?
To give you the TLDR on the unique points of the device
- Control chain device meaning the control resolution is much higher than with MIDI, its is powered by the device it’s connected to and can be daisy chained
- 1 expression pedal + 3 footswitches (2 assignable and 1 for pagination)
- A display to show you what the buttons and expression pedal are assigned to as well as their state/value and the page you are on.
- LEDs to also show the parameter and page states/values
- Pagination so that you can cycle through different uses for the expression (wah, volume, delay feedback etc)
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Currently we’re aiming to have an EVT that we’re happy with in Q1 but of course with all things in this climate this could be subject to change
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Thanks James for the quick update.
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One positive on the control chain side, though still to be implemented, is to get the “HMI Widgets” feature introduced in v1.11 for the Dwarf to them as well.
Meaning that when a plugin parameter is assigned to a control chain device, it should be possible to have the plugin change details of the addressing (label, unit, value and LED color/brightness/blink state).
I want to see the looperlative plugin being controlled by the MOD footswitch.
Soon…
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(original backer here) I’m glad to see that there is progress in the production of the Expression pedal. What is the current timeline?
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Thank you very much for your response and for the work you are doing to build the best possible product 
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James - does this:
translate to (I hope) “…happy with…”?
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I just didn’t want to sound passive-aggressive by quoting my last post
But yes I am happy that we are making progress here again
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