Earlier this year I sold all my outboard effects and started just using ITB effects. I’m happy with my decision except I found I really need a hardware controller for controlling ITB effect parameters. One parameter at a time with a mouse while also playing a hardware synth is a bit too fiddly lol.
I was thinking about getting the faderfox EC4, but before I pulled the trigger I was wondering if there were any other options I should look at as well.
I’m mostly using Bitwig so hardware integration is not great. I would love something like the Softube stuff for mixing etc., but I am going to have to choose something else unless I change daws. Its hard enough just getting a single faderport working in Bitwig lol.
Also, the electra one looks great, but don’t think it is available for purchase right now. Midi fighter twister also looks nice…
I’ve been looking into options for a MIDI controller with a lot of controls, both for software and hardware. I tend to find controllers with endless rotaries and different pages of mappings a bit of a pain. I just want “direct” control for certain key parameters.
The front runner is Faderfox PC12 because it has 12 x 6 rows of normal rotary knobs. I could easily map that to common control on Digitakt or Syntakt but also do normal MIDI learn in software.
It also has 12 buttons which could be mapped to launch scenes in software or mutes on hardware.
I haven’t seen anything else that has so much control in one place without pages etc.
I’ve used it a fair bit with the Reaper version using controllers I already had, including a Push 2, a LaunchControl XL, and a NI Komplete Kontrol S-series keyboard. Highly recommend this project, especially if you already have some midi gear on hand.
I my Electra One, just wish I could figure out how to use the encoders in a relative mode. I know the scripting can do it, I’m just not as savvy as I thought I was.
This is very good advice given the fact you use Bitwig.
I own the Faderfox EC4 and the Midi Fighter Twister (amongst a whole cupboard of other controllers lol)…I like them both. Trhe Faderfox obviously allows for more mappings with its 16 groups x 16 scenes pro group…plus the screen is nice. However, what bothers me about the EC4 is that I can’t freely map the push function of each knob. It’s either the knob’s CC + 8 or reserved for internal functions.
The MFT allows for seperate mappings of the knobs and their push functions, which is really nice for mapping VST buttons (eg the OSC buttons in Repro 5). The MFT also gives colour feedback which helps navigate it nicely — in a way to me it’s more convenient than the screen on the EC4 (eg I like to have filter parameters mapped in red, OSC parameters in blue, envelopes in green etc)
Both are excellent controllers though, especially for their form factors. If you have any questions about these specifically, feel free to ask.
Re DrivenbyMoss, it’s super easy to map any generic controller to his script inside of Bitwig. Jürgen has got a tutorial on it, you do it once and that’s it.
If you’re not married to Bitwig, Studio One has got killer midi mapping functionalities for VSTs, but it’s a very different DAW of course.
Id suggest looking for something that will automap to your daw. The best feature by far is not having to
Load 3rd party scripts and stuff. I say this since I owned a fighter twister and a uc4 and sold both for a lowly little novation launchkey. It is by far the best solution for me because I just plug it in and any synth or plugin I click on, the knobs are already mapped. No scripts required or anything.
In my opinion that is the coolest feature to have and you will appreciate it. I am quite sure there is a good controller for bitwig that does the same.
I also found the MP Midi Controller. It looks pretty nice (although also huge), but it uses its own plugin as a container for your other plugins. Really thinking about doing this one or the upcoming electra one mkII… I am just worried the solution might be more trouble than the problem lol.
my Electra One, just wish I could figure out how to use the encoders in a relative mode. I know the scripting can do it, I’m just not as savvy as I thought I was.