MIDI Foot Controller Recommendation

Using MOD devices
#33

My first post here. I’m eagerly awaiting the delivery of my Dwarf. I’m looking to get a foot controller that will handle the Dwarf and my Mesa TC50 head. I’m leaning towards the Behringer FCB1010 but my mind is not set yet. Are the expression pedals on the Behringer sturdy enough for wha and volume control? I don’t think I have a heavy foot but I’m used to working a Morley wah pedal fairly vigorously. Thank you for all the recommendations.

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#34

Greetings ElCid (El Campeador?) I’ve not used the Behringer and can’t attest to the build quality, but in investigating it in the past I’ve thought it would be good to experiment with. I’m a total midi newbie but I know the fcb1010 is mentioned a lot in this forum and a lot of people apparently use it on a regular basis.

If you’ve got a mesa tc50 I’m guessing you’re playing out a lot or hope to be again soon. I researched a little on the web and it looks like a lot of folks love the behringer and think it’s built like a tank. It seems to be mentioned a lot in comparison with the Roland FC-300(?).

Being new to midi and never having used it on a gig I actually can’t tell you much. Obviously I’m giving you my opinion of opinions of others I’ve read on the net. Not much help.

I guess this is the tldr version of "Welcome to the Forum, El Cid!

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#35

Expression pedals on FCB1010 are plastic and a bit flappy but work perfectly - almost like roland Ev5. its built quite well and is heavy. It can be prone to a tranformer hum but that doesnt enter the audio chain. I actually prefer the feel of my Nektar expression pedals which are really cheap to buy but feel great to me. The cable is cheap but doesnt effect how it works. And they plug into most controllers and synths etc but not the Dwarf without a foot controller such as Blackstar, Nektar Pacer etc

#36

If the transformer itself is humming - sound coming from physical vibrations - give this puppy a shot:

Check out the rest of the stuff on his website.

#37

You might also want to consider the Nektar Pacer PACER Foot Controller ▷ Hands-Free DAW and MIDI Control | - Nektar Technology, Inc, which you would have to supplement with expression pedals like Austin73 mentioned (or if you would prefer something built like a tank, you could go with BOSS’s offerings - https://www.boss.info/us/products/fv-500h_500l/). The build quality for the Pacer is solid, and there is a 3rd party web interface that is quite usable. It sends midi but doesn’t receive info about what has been changed back from the device (Am I turning it on or off? Is it already on? - these can be overcome by consistent choices when setting up your pedalboards). It is also designed to help with hands-free recording with Logic, Ableton, etc., but I haven’t used it in that way.

#38

I have a Behringer FCB1010, but nothing beats Mod Footswitch.
The FCB1010 is in its box.

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#39

I have set the FCB1010 like this with the Un0 Eprom https://www.fcb1010.eu/:

To reduce the hum of the FCB1010 I did this: https://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=21586&p=120094&hilit=fcb1010#p120094

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#40

Welcome to the forum, @ElCid.

Any midi foot controller that can send CC and PC messages should work with the MOD. There are some very robust ones, like the Roland FC-200 and FC-300 units, or else units plenty of stompbox-like switches like the Voodoo Lab Ground Control or the Rocktron Midi Raider Pro – as well as the Melo Audio mentioned above. Other, now discontinued but much loved units include Yamaha MFC-10 units, probably one of the sturdiest ever built.

Then you have newer, highly programmable units like Keith McMillen SoftStep (the one @this.ven mentions above), which I have tried and is indeed fabulous – but if you have a 48(EU)/13(US) sized-foot like me, you’ll have trouble with it. :confused:

So, options are plentiful, you need to search something that fits your playing stile. For instance, the switches on Roland and Behringer units tend to be easier to use by someone seated, as opposed to standing.

The FCB1010 is one of the very few Behringer items that is very well regarded across the board. I’ve had one since 2009, and one of my fellow midi guitar players toured with one for 10 years. It is a workhorse, in spite of looking fragile and flimsy. The thing with the expression pedals is that they are optical (at least it was in some versions), and you may need to recalibrate them as at times you can’t reach 0 or 127 in full.

Plus, as @khz mentions above, with alternate firmwares it grows in functionality quite nicely. Both the Uno and the EurekaProm are very well documented. (I use the Uno.)

I would however advise against the Source Audio Soleman, as it is expensive and more tailored for the use with TRS-midi pedals. It should work with the MOD, but for that money you can get a much better and flexible unit.

Good luck.

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#41

Hi, first post here!
I’d like to extend my Duo X with the Mod Devices Footswitch for live rigs. But there is not much documentation on how it works and what you can do with it.
Question is : can you set it to navigate through pedalboards?
Can it control plugins such as midi and audio routers (to switch between several signal paths for instance)?
Can you access more than 4 actions (maybe with button combinations or long presses…)?
Anyone had a chance to try it?

#42

Hi. I will just answer those quickly.

No

Yes

Not at the moment, though it is possible to create sorta macro controls with CV plugins.

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#43

Thanks for your answer, I bought one anyway.
Works pretty well, and very easy to set up.

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#44

I just got a Tech 21 Midi Mongoose and a Boss type A midi cable (5-pin to TRS male) but nothing at all is happening. I keep hitting “save” and pushing any of the buttons. Total newbie here at using midi, so please be kind, but any help is much appreciated!

#45

if you have a usb midi interface for pc or a soundcard with midi try plugging the mongoose to that and download midiox or similar to monitor what the 'goose is sending out when you click switches. You never know it might be programmed to do something other than pc/cc etc

If not see if you can plug in to something else via Din plug to see if it works.

Also always check Midi out on the goose goes to Midi in on the dwarf - seems a no brainer but everyone one of us on here has got that mixed up at least once ; )

Hitting save shouldnt do anything by the way on either unit. You might have ended up saving a blank preset.

Also if you are a complete Midi newbie check out what midi commands do what and get a feel of what you want to achieve.

PC or program change messages normally send preset changes and CC or control change normally need to be set on both units and have to ve defined a bit more ie are they a switch or is it a pedal / knob and range.

Have a google around then jump back in later with more questions. I don’t have my dwarrf yet so can’t help further than general stuff but plenty of boffins on here will help you

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#46

Thanks so much for the on-ramp @Austin73 !! I did as you said: found a midi2usb cable I had at home, plugged it into my Mac, loaded midi monitor, and saw that the Tech 21 Midi Mongoose only sent program change messages, not control change messages. If I understood @unbracketed from this post, the Dwarf needs control change messages to assign pedal parameters, so the Tech 21 unit has to be returned. Now I’m looking for alternatives… and very much appreciate your helping me learn. Thank you again!

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#47

By the way, the Midi Mongoose’s PC messages worked perfectly with changing snapshots, but I really wanted to have a foot controller that allowed me to use the SooperLooper, as the Dwarf normally sits on my desk when not gigging. Any alternative suggestions I may not have considered are always appreciated!

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#48

The manual was dreadful for the mongoose but I thought it sent CC - it even has pedal inputs so maybe give it one more day. I’m busy tonight but can see what I can find tomorrow if you hold on.

My experience with Midi controllers is as follows

Behringer FBC1010 with UNO if poss. Massive floor space required - pain to program but good pc/mac editors around but crap pedals. Plenty of hacks and mods for it though.

Nektar Pacer - does everything - not that easy to program but I migrated to it for Ableton and my Helix etc with good results. Solid and cheap ish. Bit smaller than FCB1010 and takes 2 pedals plus 4 more switches, so plenty of scope. PC editor a bit rubbish but does the job.

NI RigKontrol 3 - I have one as a spare audio card. Easy to program and small footprint but doubt it would work without a PC attached. Takes 2 exp pedals

Lake Butler MidiMitigator - cool 80’s kit but dreadful footswitches and does not do cc toggle. Takes a impossibly hard to find power supply and exp has to be 25k off hand.

Could even go down the Arduino route - check out Notes and Volts its pretty easy to follow to roll your own.

Hope that helps

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#49

Actually sack the mongoose - its pc sends only. Its the expression pedals that send cc so pretty useless as its too static

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#50

Thanks @Austin73, yes, I saw that also. FWIW, the expression pedal feature works really nicely, but the rest of that Mongoose pedal is useless. I’m going to get the Hotone Midi pedal and see how it goes. Looks pretty programmable, so am hoping that works. I’ll also check out the Arduino route. Will report back.

Thanks again for your help.

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#51

Actually I have 3 Mod Footswitch, so 12 footswitch
They are just perfect, with a lot of possibilities that a midi footswitch will never offer.
But in fact there are a lot of issue with 3 Mod footswitch and I only use two. With two Mod Footswitch it’s more stable. That give me 8 footswitch
So if you don’t need more than 8 footswitches you should only consider Mod footswitch because it’s very well implemented with Mod Devices. You can can change snapshot, navigate in plugin preset, assign a tap tempo and control any plugin.
But because I want more than 8 footswitches with my Mod Duo X I’m planning to buy a Morningstar MC8. Those midi footswitch look fabulous with a lot of possibilities and have a looper mode. So I’m planning to use it to recall snapshot with program change and to control the Mod looper.
As soon I have it I’ll give to Mod users my opinion.

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#52

Julien - what do the Mod Footswitches offer that MIDI controllers don’t?

Apart from the addition of a screen which with my eyesight is not a bonus : ( ?

Just curious as we all lusted after your set up but you then were having some issues too. I presume its still booting out the footswitches randomly?

Tempted to pull the trigger on one but just not feeling it, what is it that you like the most about them?

Sorry lots of questions

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