Fine by me… I will still post it as others may be interested.
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yes
Well, apparently Crumar makes a USB connected expression pedal… but no one has them in stock.
The Boss EV1-WL has a USB connection but cannot be bus powered. 
Havent used one but consider Doremidi convertor.
https://www.doremidi.cn/h-pd-48.html?fromColId=2
Hope that helps
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Dude! Thank you!!
This is most promising. Just gotta break out my Microsoft surface to configure it.
Thanks again!!
no worries, if you do go down that route can you post your findings as I’m sure there are a few of us that are tempted.
There is chocolate Mvave controller to consider too but expression is backwards on that but can be fixed on the Dwarf. There is quite a comprehensive post on that one too. And its around £20 ; )
Good luck with it all
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Will do. Thanks, buddy!
I’ve already ordered it.
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That’s $260 here in the US. I think I paid $400 for the Dwarf. To have to pay that much for an otherwise $70 pedal because there’s no regular port on the Dwarf is simply ridiculous.
I’m waiting on delivery for the Doremidi Midi pedal converter that’s available for $40 USD.
But thanks for the suggestion.
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Once the doremidi arrives try the Nektar Expression pedals - I use them alot. Super cheap and a nicer feel than the Roland EV5. They are pretty sturdy too, even though they are plastic - which in all fairness most pedals are.
Totally agree with your other post by the way about re inventing the wheel…pointless.
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WOW! $20 at Musicians Friend!
yeah thats why I have a few!
Not Mission quality but you can lots and lots for same price ; )
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Thanks for the hot tip!
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Honestly, my hunch is that this omission of the expression pedal port is either an oversight or they figured it was a way for them to sell an overly complicated expression pedal festooned with features that we may never find a use for. They announced the new expression pedal in 2019 and they still haven’t managed to release it in 2022.
What really irks me that they kept telling me, “Oh, it’s simple. Just build an Arduino device for the expression pedal.” They actually assume that anybody should be able to do that!! 
The simple fact of the matter is, it’s 2022 - **NOBODY ** should have to do that even if they could.
I’m sorry but this subject really makes my blood boil.
Why get a dwarf in the first place, when the lack of an expression pedal port upsets you so much? I think it’s totally legit to critisice this, but to let it out on the developers and assuming that some plan of selling something due to the lack of an exp port seems a bit unfair to me…
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hey @Austin73
That’s a cool device you post there.
I wan’t aware this existed and I believe this could solve a lot of different issues for other people out there.
Now that I think of it:
I have an old volume/wah I got somewhere in a trade but never used. You think there would be a way to combine a volume pedal in such a way it can become a midi expresson pedal?
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For others with the same problem:
You may try a box that converts Expression voltage to USB, such as AudioFront units (1 to 4 expression inputs), Beatbars Expression to midi (they also have an unit for expression and switch), as well as the aforementioned Doremidi. Some are externally powered and others work with the +5V of the USB port.
There are a few expression pedals with USB outputs, the most recent being the Boss EV-1 wireless, Eowave’s USB Pedal, but these will always be in the 130 EUR / 150 USD price range. (Other than @broupe’s Lehle, of course. Lehle gear, costly as they might be, is just fantastic.)
You may employ a device that turns expression data directly into MIDI data, such as Midi Solutions Pedal Controller. This might be the solution that’s least prone to fail, since you don’t have to deal with possible low voltages at the USB port of your device.
Finally, for the tinkerers, it’s possible to DIY your way out of this.
Please do.
With such a small form factor and all of its other features, my guess – please notice: guess, educated and non-compromised – is that the circuitry for enabling an expression port and its required power (plus the space it would take) prompted MOD to make a choice. They have chosen 2 possible inputs for expression pedals, either via USB midi or DIN midi. Those inputs serve also a multitude of purposes, as opposed to the expression jack. (For the Duo X, MOD found a clever way to use the same jack for expression and CV.)
Sure, come think of it, a teensy board can provide expression connectivity, but that takes space and will require some software layer to operate properly. The 5V line required for the expression pedal to work has to be isolated from the remainder of the circuitry so it doesn’t produce unwanted results. The Blue Chip Axon back in the 90s employed 2 pins of the Midi-Thru connector to output audio, but later they realised it created undue interference with the midi stream, so they dropped that approach to implement 2 output jacks. The immediate consequence was to become a full-sized rack unit, as opposed to the half-sized unit before it.
Please notice that I am not defending MOD or justifying their approach. It is in my opinion highly unlikely that a company would forgo something in high demand just for the sake of selling a proprietary unit that they haven’t produced in a long time. The MOD footswitch was created along with the original Mod Duo, which had only 2 of them. Then, we must consider that bigger companies tried that approach in the past and failed miserably, Vox amps and their evil foot units being a good example.
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Ok. Let’s talk about that space requirement. I haven’t opened up the Dwarf yet so I’m not sure how much space there is along the sides of the unit with relation to its insides and how a 1/4” connector on its side might impact the circuitry.
Even if they kept it on the same plane as the rest of the other connectors, the one connector that is not as important on this device as the others is the headphone connector. They could have used that 3.5mm connector instead of a regular 1/4” connector for the expression pedal. It’s not a big deal to get a TRS cable that has the appropriate connector on each end. It’s a pedal and most devices in this form factor do not have a headphone output so it wouldn’t be missed.
What set me off was the nonchalant, “Oh it’s easy. Anybody can do it”, manner that Mod Devices as well as others here suggested building an Arduino device to get around the issue. As if that shouldn’t be a problem at all. It felt dismissive and flippant.
There’s a pattern here for me and that is that the Dwarf, as supremely capable and flexible as it is, sacrifices the more basic aspects for that flexibility. This prevalent theme extends to the software as well. All the tools are there for the really advanced procedures but something as basic as drag and drop reorganizing of the pedalboards, nope.
Don’t worry. I’m going to shut up about this and live with the Dwarf and its “janky” cobbled together feel, random crashes and disconnects and just hope that maybe someday some kind of improvement will be made to the UI at least. From now on, every time I get frustrated with it I will remind myself that I’m a spoiled brat who got far too used to the experience that products from the likes of Line6, Boss, Zoom, Fender, Yamaha, Vox, Korg and Digitech provided me. Yes, I’ve owned at least one product from each of those companies. No, none of their products can compare to the Dwarf but at least none of them ignored the basic necessities and for me this is where the Dwarf fails spectacularly.
I will refrain from posting on this forum unless absolutely necessary. You won’t have to defend the Dwarf’s honor from the likes of me anymore.
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I couldn’t disagree more with this statement. For me, lacking a headphone out would be a much more severe oversight than the expression input, considering there are three other ways to get expression control into the device.
That said, I’ve not yet purchased my Dwarf, so it’s good to hear your grievances. I’m still considering other options, BUT:
No, none of their products can compare to the Dwarf
The fact that you said this amidst all of your angst kind of sells me on the Dwarf.
I’ve installed MODEP on a Pi to test out the idea, and even though it’s 2 years old, doesn’t include MANY of the plugins and features, and is even more janky than you are saying the Dwarf is, I am finding the routing freedom, synth and drum possibilities, etc, way more exciting than the alternatives.
I personally hope you stick around this community and can alleviate some of your frustrations. Best of luck with it!
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