Midi Expression Pedal recommendations

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#31

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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#32

@Gino,

You might have misread my post and intentions.

I thought the sentence

should have said enough. Mod units sure have their share of pros but also of cons, and I even agree with you on some of them – such as the GUI revamp. I am not a MOD apologist and was simply trying to point to possible technical hurdles that prompted their decision to not include a EXP port. I am not in any point saying that it was a right decision. And they did leave some options open, such as DIN midi or USB midi.

And, again, what I made was an educated guess – meaning I am examining possible technical reasons for their choices against my previous knowledge of electronics in general. I am not affiliated to MOD in any way.

I must point, however, to a couple things:

  1. Boss/Roland stripped some of their units of basic MIDI ports. For instance, the GP-10 has USB midi only, in spite of being a guitar to midi converter, and the MS-3 – a switcher, among other things!! – has only a midi out DIN port. Not to mention GP-10’s extremely poor midi implementation, where by a number of CC messages aren’t even transmitted. In their thought process, they figured out the demand for such wasn’t as high as that of other ports: Expression, Controller, and headphones. Which brings me to #2;
  1. It is a port that is very high demand. Even the Yamaha Magicstomp units discontinued in the mid 2000s sell for 30-40% more if they have the phone out jack than when they don’t ($80-120 without, $130-180 with.) The fact that you can practice silently, coupled with reduced dimensions and extensive sonic possibilities is a major selling point to many – if not all – multi-effect units today.

So, even Boss/Roland has chosen to drop a port that’s highly useful to keep another that is in higher demand.

Therefore, I can perfectly understand your stance on the usefulness of an EXP port and how that topic makes your “blood boil.” Indeed, “go make an Arduino converter” is not a valid option – though in reviewing your posts here and in 2 other threads I only found one instance of such a solution being offered to you directly. Still, as it stands, your options with the Dwarf are employing a DIN midi or USB midi pedal. (I have responded with more details on another post of yours regarding the Beatbars unit.)

However,

I don’t see why anyone should put up with this. It is quite clear there are other options in the market, price notwithstanding, that would probably serve you better. You may wish to reassess your plans regarding the Dwarf.

Again, I see that MOD has its share of shortcomings, and it’s hard to predict when or if some much desirable changes will be made. Worse yet, whether or not MOD will thrive as a company. It might be the case that Dwarfs will cost $700 in 5 years due to high demand or sell for $100 for old-timers. Only time will tell, but I am hopeful and see how hard they’re trying. Let’s see how they come out of their crowdfunding projects and work towards solidifying their platform.

But not you, not anyone has to wait until it finally “thrives”.

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#33

I know I said I would refrain from posting here. But I thought it was important to reply to this part of your post. In the “Pedalboards” section check out the one I shared called “Loonie Bin”
That sound has not ever been possible with any device I have ever owned and it is the reason I am sticking with it and keeping the Dwarf. It’s a double edged sword because that sound also reminds me of my frustration with the Dwarf. For now I can only imagine what would have been possible with that pedalboard if I could connect an EXP pedal. I have given in and ordered a thankfully relatively inexpensive exp to midi converter. I await its arrival in hopes that it does the job but also hedged my bets by purchasing a Crumar USB connected exp pedal for under $100 that I came upon on eBay.

1 Like
#34

I had already listened to and hearted it. :wink:

I hope one of these solutions will ease your path with the Dwarf and also expect that MOD will be able to make substantial improvements to their products once they deliver the remaining units for their crowdfunding projects. I guess the 2022-2023 period will be critical.

1 Like
#35

I know nothing beats a real expression pedal but as a workaround I use the CV SlewRate or the CV Envelope and map these to a footswitch on the dwarf. Like in the video posted for this pedalboard ANDY:Weird Intervals - MOD Devices
Granted I manly use it for swells and nothing crazy but this keeps my footprint low or is handy when I use my expression pedal on the other board.

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#36

Another option, if not wanting to find a midi expression pedal, is to use a midi footswitch that has an expression pedal port. I already had a Morningstar MC6 because the three switches on my old HX Stomp were limiting, and it has two standard expression pedal inputs. I realize that’s an expensive way to attach a cheap exp pedal, but hey, more buttons! Plus they make a less expensive three-switch pedal with a single exp port.

3 Likes
#37

Not really. But MIDI is not so hard with that, if you DIY some cable and provide on the right pin 5V from a power supply or batteries it should work.

That’s actually something from where you can get the power from. You can get the 5V from there.

I’m curious about this @Simon :slight_smile:

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#38

Already started the project here : https://forum.moddevices.com/t/arduino-midiusb-volume-expression/7182/3

:slight_smile:

1 Like
#39

There is a review of very cheap midi controller with exp - chocolate, I got one and it works great, it would be perfect extension for Dwarf - 4 extra buttons plus MIDI EXP - I use it with Moog EP3. There are one issue, exp works reversed, but it can be solved with some CV plugins, which I dit and now it works as it should.

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#40

We have another topic with some suggestions already here Expression pedals and adapter options for the Dwarf

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#41

The cheapest and smallest solution I’ve found is to get the Chocolate controller for about £25 from Ali express and plug a normal expression pedal into it.

This works for me and you get 4 extra footswitches thrown in, powered by the mod through USB, with a tiny form factor.

I’ve built my own auduino controller with 2 expression inputs (and 4 buttons and 2 knobs!) but the chocolate units much more pocket able and robust.

There’s a detailed post about using the chocolate unit on this forum. I’m on my phone so don’t have the link to hand but you can search for it

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#42

I’ve just checked Sonuus Wahoo and Voluum and they both work great using USB.

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#43

considering flexibility and extra opportunities, this seems the most interesting scenario in my book

#44

Do you have a link for the Chocolate please?

#45

downloaded the aliexpress app and search that for best price if not…

￡19.88 50%OFF | M-VAVE Chocolate BT Wireless MIDI Controller Rechargeable 4 Buttons Portable MIDI Foot Controller Pedal APP Control Guitar Parts

Hope the link works

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#46

Thanks man.

#47

no worries - dont forget exp pedal is backwards so you will need to adjust at the Dwarf

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#48

Here’s a link to the forum post - credit to @SrMouraSilva for investing so much time in it.

Note my little fix for inverting the Expression Pedal operation if it’s wired the wrong way around.

Here’s the link to purchase it on Ali Express - even cheaper than I remembered!
https://www.aliexpress.com/i/1005003192985706.html

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#49

A little late to the game here, but if you connect an insert cable (TRS on one end, splits to 2 TS on the other end) to your volume pedal, you can often use that as a makeshift expression pedal. I learned this from the JHS show. I’ve tried it out and it worked with at least 1 pedal that had an expression input (EHX Oceans 12).

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#50

The editor has been updated and now allows for inverse CC so can put the expression pedal the wrong way round to make it the right way round ; )

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