Anyone using a Faderfox or similar?

Svetlovska

Hi all,

I’m trying to work out the best no-frills sofa surfing companion to the iPad for hands on mixing in AUM?

I’ve got a Launch Control XL which is sort-of ok, but the Faderfox looks like it offers more presets/flexibility. I am aware of the Korg NanoStudio too, like the fact it is Bluetooth, but frankly was put off their whole studio range when the ridiculous micro USB port on my Nanokey broke just a few weeks into owning it, and I wasn’t able to get a refund. The Faderfox looks pretty solid. Any owners here? Thoughts?

rs2000

I've got a Faderfox but tbh the best sofa surfing companion is the iPad itself.
Any other gear around just makes the sofa experience less comfortable.
Isn't AUM hands-on enough?

Svetlovska

@rs2000 : thanks. I get what you mean (currently sitting in a living room surrounded by three modular racks, right old mess, gotta find a better way for that particular away-from-the-iPad distraction…)

However: the only thing is, as I’m not a musician, I need to use track mutes and fades to give a sort-of musical structure to usually 8 channels running at once of randomly playing File Players as I screen cap the whole track live (so as to catch the reverb trails at track end.)

I do have a full size mixer, in a full size home studio elsewhere, but the truth is, I do nearly everything creative on the sofa, and I find the split between creating downstairs and recording ’properly’ upstairs a real buzz kill.

Since no one has yet come up with a properly flexible and viable way of recording fader/mute automation in AUM, (4Pockets rigid template doesn’t work for me), I need physical hands on with all eight channels simultaneously to pull this off. It is just too error prone (and not even possible, I think - how many simultaneous touches does the iPad recognise?) trying to do this on a glass screen while I am screen capping the final mix.

The XL is definitely a step in the right direction for me, but I’m ideally looking for something like it, only more flexible/programmable, and it looks like the FaderFox might be it…

AlmostAnonymous

I have/had quite a few faderfoxes over time. Build quality is hard to beat.
I will say every single one of them has 1 thing that will grate on you. Just 1 flaw. And they're all different.
For example the push encoder function on the ec4, its global, not per encoder. if you set it to note on, its note on for every encoder.

Overall they're great. the uc4 is like drambo's best friend. But controllers are what they are. You only get out of them what time you invest in them, and its usually far more than setting up a device w/ its provided crappy webUI.

The Krazy Wabbit

@Svetlovska said:
@rs2000 : thanks. I get what you mean (currently sitting in a living room surrounded by three modular racks, right old mess, gotta find a better way for that particular away-from-the-iPad distraction…)

However: the only thing is, as I’m not a musician, I need to use track mutes and fades to give a sort-of musical structure to usually 8 channels running at once of randomly playing File Players as I screen cap the whole track live (so as to catch the reverb trails at track end.)

I do have a full size mixer, in a full size home studio elsewhere, but the truth is, I do nearly everything creative on the sofa, and I find the split between creating downstairs and recording ’properly’ upstairs a real buzz kill.

Since no one has yet come up with a properly flexible and viable way of recording fader/mute automation in AUM, (4Pockets rigid template doesn’t work for me), I need physical hands on with all eight channels simultaneously to pull this off. It is just too error prone (and not even possible, I think - how many simultaneous touches does the iPad recognise?) trying to do this on a glass screen while I am screen capping the final mix.

The XL is definitely a step in the right direction for me, but I’m ideally looking for something like it, only more flexible/programmable, and it looks like the FaderFox might be it…

Did you pull the trigger on the Faderfox, something else or nothing?

I too am frustrated with Launchcontrol XL antiquated tech including size. The glass does not cut it for me in terms of adjusting parameters.

audiblevideo

Some fader options for you @thekrazywabbit

https://themidimaker.com/products/sparrow-4x100mm-midi-controller

https://michigansynthworks.com/products/xvi-m

garden

My favorite remains the Midi Fighter Twister. Very compact, many useful features.

rs2000

.> @The Krazy Wabbit said:

@Svetlovska said:
@rs2000 : thanks. I get what you mean (currently sitting in a living room surrounded by three modular racks, right old mess, gotta find a better way for that particular away-from-the-iPad distraction…)

However: the only thing is, as I’m not a musician, I need to use track mutes and fades to give a sort-of musical structure to usually 8 channels running at once of randomly playing File Players as I screen cap the whole track live (so as to catch the reverb trails at track end.)

I do have a full size mixer, in a full size home studio elsewhere, but the truth is, I do nearly everything creative on the sofa, and I find the split between creating downstairs and recording ’properly’ upstairs a real buzz kill.

Since no one has yet come up with a properly flexible and viable way of recording fader/mute automation in AUM, (4Pockets rigid template doesn’t work for me), I need physical hands on with all eight channels simultaneously to pull this off. It is just too error prone (and not even possible, I think - how many simultaneous touches does the iPad recognise?) trying to do this on a glass screen while I am screen capping the final mix.

The XL is definitely a step in the right direction for me, but I’m ideally looking for something like it, only more flexible/programmable, and it looks like the FaderFox might be it…

Did you pull the trigger on the Faderfox, something else or nothing?

I too am frustrated with Launchcontrol XL antiquated tech including size. The glass does not cut it for me in terms of adjusting parameters.

Dunno if that helps but I've found that the Faderfox LC2 (http://faderfox.de/lc2.html) fits quite well for most of my Drambo jam sessions. It's not available anymore so I had to find it second hand.
Also, it doesn't support Bluetooth MIDI dongles (like all Faderfox products 🙁) but I went for a hardware hack so I can use it on battery power without wires.
A joystick to control the XY pad, 4 rotary encoders, 6 faders, an X-fader for Drambo scene control and many banks make it the best fit for me.
After years of using MIDI controllers, I can only say that the perfect MIDI controller, moving and morphing its knobs, buttons, faders and legends magically to replicate the look and feel of a hardware device, has yet to be invented.
So it's always a compromise, covering only a few specific scenarios where you miss hands-on control the most.
Even the simplest MIDI controller with just 4 encoders and 2 buttons can do its job in some situations, others would need a 64 knob and 128 buttons controller that would need proper labelling for each control.