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Nektar Pacer Midi Foot Controller
So I have some Birthday moneys to spend and was thinking about the Nektar Pacer.
https://amzn.to/3ylN8bT (Affliliate link)
Anybody have one that they use with iOS?
There are not a lot of videos on it which tells me either it's not popular/useful or its so easy to use then no one really feels the need to do any demo videos.
I have looked at a few other midi foot controllers and they are either out of my price range or seem to have some half-baked monetary switch hack that doesn't play well with some apps.
I currently own the Line6 FBV Express MKII which is a great controller but is limited as it only has the 4 switches and no other presets. I am looking for something bigger.
I am mainly looking to control quantiloop or loopy along with being able to switch on some effects like tonestack and add some additional controls to my Eventide H9 pedal for patch switching.
Comments
it looks like a good choice, especially that it can combined with quality expression pedals. I don’t know about the prices, the Behringer FCP with two pedals built in might be another good choice, although I had some problems with its pedals. Maybe just a bad apple from the first batch, in general there are not many reports about erroneous FCP pedals.
I have used SoftStep2 with Loopy. It is very programmable.
The AirTurn BT series is very reliable.
Line 6 FBV Shortboard MKII ( not the Express). It is a great choice, can be found used for $100 sometimes. If you are already familiar with the line 6 programming software on Mac/PC, then you already know how versatile this is. The Shortboard doesn’t have any of the limitations that the Express does. I use my Shortboard in conjunction with a Yamaha UD BT01 dongle and the midimittr app, so my Shortboard is Bluetooth.
Works perfectly.
The Nektar looks like a great choice potentially. They claim iOS compatibility, but it’s worth finding out if the unit is programmable on the actual hardware, since there’s no app for it. The Shortboard has clicky switches, where as the Nektar has the soft pads, so that’s a matter of preference…
@Phil999 I had an older FCB1010 and it worked. A learning curve to program and I found myself not really using it much. It was just very cumbersome.
@mojozart I looked at the Keith McMillen stuff and although versatile, I owned the QuNeo and it left a bad taste. Although some people absolutely love their stuff.
@JoyceRoadStudios It can be programmed via the hardware itself. Someone made a website that can edit as well but everything can be done on the unit. If I could find a shortboard for $100 it would be tempting. The Pacer does have the 5-pin midi which would allow me to hook it directly to my Eventide H9 pedal for additional controls.
I got my Shortboard for $90 plus tax/shipping on reverb.com, it’s a waiting game but they do show up that cheap. No harm in trying the Pacer and returning if it doesn’t work for you… looks like a good piece of gear. Someone on the forum has mentioned before that it works well on iOS for them.
I love the shortboard, built well and so easy to program on Mac/PC. The one thing I don’t love is the noisy switches, very clicky.
The Pacer seems like a good alternative for quiet switches, along with all the other features probably worth the extra cost if you can manage it.
ah yes, FCB, not FCP. I agree, it may not be the best choice, and not very intuitive for programming, but in the affordable price range I believe. And there is a free iOS app for it by Secret Base Design.
I had the FCB1010 and hated it. It's not bus-powered, a pain to program, and feels cheap.
I have an FBV Shortboard MkII from when I had a Pod bean and have used it for the computer but I don't like the clicky switches if I want to use it while mic'ed. The build quality is great though. Plus it has an expression pedal baked in.
The Pacer is my favorite though. Great build quality, very customizable, and I prefer the larger, silent switches. This is the one I have on my floor at my desk all the time and I probably should just sell the FBV.
yeah, very good summary - very stable, and comfortable. They should make some app to configure it
As a guitarist I actually like the clicky switches, because they remind me of pedals and stompboxes. Not the Boss ones of course, but pretty much everything else. There’s a real satisfaction with clicky switches and no question mark about their activation. Depending on the design of a soft pad switch, sometimes it’s hard to tell if you pressed it or not. But yeah in all other ways clicky switches are annoying. They wouldn’t show up on a DI track recording, but definitely show up when near a mic. And here’s a real wtf… I have an Xtone which is an audio interface but in the form factor of a midi stompbox as well, so a usb interface midi controller combo unit. It has 3 clicky switches on it, but the thing is, when recording direct with guitar into daw, the switches can be heard on the recording! Something wrong with the shielding or internals there…
+1 for clicky switches. I have trouble knowing if I've actually engaged my iRig Blueboard switches most times. Never had that problem with stomp box switches.
Gonna build my own BLE Midi enabled foot controller with old-school stomp box switches one of these days.
Happy Birthday![:) :)](https://forum.loopypro.com/resources/emoji/smile.png)
I remember seeing one of the developers talking about this one over at KVR (justin3am/Justin at Nektar). I'm sure he wants it to be as useful and as widely-used as possible, so it's worth knowing how to reach him anyway. Seems to be the authority on what it can do and how it works, and he's open to feature requests (at least he was last February).
https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7039156#p7039156
Just in case : https://studiocode.dev/pacer-editor/#/
I’ve just ordered the Nektar Pacer. Seems to be the most versatile and programmable midi foot controller for my needs.
One of the things I want to do, is to load up AUM sessions from the Pacer.
Does anyone know if AUM will respond to the Pacer’s Transport functions?
The Pacer uses MCU - and AUM uses MMC. And I don’t know what those abbreviations even mean 😂
Can anyone educate me on this?
It would be great to be able to call up a session, rewind and press play, and then control different settings in that session - all from the same foot controller.
I’ve had my Pacer for quite a while and I really like it, but now I’m in a situation where I need to have footswitches two different places on stage - and I’m thinking about how the external Footswitch function works.
Does anyone know if I will be able to connect a footswitch to the Pacer and program a midi message for the footswitch and how? Can’t seem to figure it out from the manual, and I don’t have a footswitch at hand to try it out right now.
Going to answer this myself. Yes, it is possible! 😊
Tried with my tuner and the Pacer detected it as a switch that I could program, just like the native buttons on the device 😎
@galmandsværk One reason I went with the Pacer was the ability to have foot switches all over the place to be able to trigger loops or recording and not be nailed down to the the pedal board if my piano is on the other side of the room.
Seriously looking at one myself.. appreciate all the feedback.. 🙏
Great to hear! Which foot switches do you use and what do you recommend? I’m looking for a switch with two buttons. That would suit my needs perfectly.
My tuner seems to only be able to send “hold” mode, and I want a switch where I can use both tap, double-tap, and hold.
I know it’s a good unit, but it would be even better if it also had an expression pedal built in.
@michael_m Its already a fairly large controller. If you added an expression pedal or 2 it would take up the entire stage.![](https://forum.audiob.us/uploads/editor/nq/vb9mfy9wuowi.jpg)
I have their expression pedal. it seems to be decent especially for the price. Oh and the pedal board is the Pedaltrain Pro. It is large.
Just bumping this thread again. I’m looking for a foot switch that I can connect to the Pacer.
But I’m not sure how all these foot switches work? Most of them seem designed for specific guitar systems.
Can I just use any foot switch and then the Pacer will recognize it?
I tried with an old Fender foot switch for switching distortion and reverb, and that didn’t work. My tuner works, but only sends in “latch” mode, I think.
I would prefer something that could work with press, double-press and hold in Loopy Pro.
Any suggestions for an affordable but solid switch? Preferably with at least two switches.
@TheAudioDabbler ?
@galmandsværk I would say any thing like the single or dual.
Boss FS-6
https://amzn.to/3KMLXf8
https://amzn.to/3Yb5sRS