MOTUnation.com

I am looking for a MIDI controller (no keyboard) with sliders or faders and knobs to facilitate entering CC data. Anything anyone has found works well. Needs to be compatible with Mac OS Sierra and USB connection.

Having said this, am I better to learn how to use Custom Consoles? I find setting up a console confusing for some reason.

Thanks

If you have an iPad, I really, really like MIDI Designer Pro:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/MIDI-de ... 91712?mt=8

I think you'll find agreement that the console setup is not very elegant. I haven't touched it in years.

I totally agree with cuttime on MIDI Designer Pro. The developer is incredibly active and they are frequently adding features and making it more and more powerful. Even if you end up getting a hardware box, MIDI Designer Pro could be a useful way to display your controls in a meaningful way and reroute the hardware controls to different CC#'s as needed.

There's the Behringer BCR2000 (with rotary controls), this one is kind of impressive for the price. It has both USB and MIDI i/o. Also, the BCF2000 (with motorized faders) similarly impressive, but with faders. Both are capable of transmitting 14-bit NRPN's-- which you will appreciate if you want to send high resolution data. Those are not very expensive, but folks have occasionally complained of quality control issues-- (you might want to get the extended warranty). There are newer Behringer control surfaces like the X-Touch or X-Touch compact-- which have some more up-to-date features. I've not used any of those, so you'd need to search these forums and reviews to get to know what kinds of snags people run into.

PreSonus FaderPort, Novation Launch Control, and FaderFox are some other things you could look into.

The two Behringer controllers mentioned by stubbsonic are incredibly amazing, especially for the price!

The BCR-2000 has 32 knobs (with lights showing your encoder position) and 16 switches.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BCR2000

The BCF-2000 has eight knobs, 16 switches and eight motorized faders.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BCF2000

Both units permit the saving of entire groups which can be recalled on-the-fly.

Thanks for reminding me about these, Jon!

Terry

Thanks for the emails in this thread. I'm really looking seriously at MIDI Designer Pro 2. I've tried a few other iPad MIDI controller apps and am having a bit of trouble getting them working fully with DP9. Is there a good set of instructions with MDP2 for getting the iPad app to work properly in DP9?
I can set things up to get the iPad communicating with DP9, but can't get Performer to record the CC data I am sending.
Thanks

cuttime wrote:If you have an iPad, I really, really like MIDI Designer Pro:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/MIDI-de ... 91712?mt=8

Hmmm... I like the price. Is there a decent tutorial somewhere? Looks like it would be very useful on my 12.9 iPad Pro.

daerp1 wrote: I can set things up to get the iPad communicating with DP9, but can't get Performer to record the CC data I am sending.
Thanks

I'm not at my Mac right now, and will double check this later, but if you select the MIDI track input as "Network", you should be able to record the data. The MIDI routing needs to reflect the correct devices in the Audio MIDI Setup Network Sessions.

mikehalloran wrote:

cuttime wrote:If you have an iPad, I really, really like MIDI Designer Pro:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/MIDI-de ... 91712?mt=8

Hmmm... I like the price. Is there a decent tutorial somewhere? Looks like it would be very useful on my 12.9 iPad Pro.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotatio ... wMjOTjzTS8, various and sundry YouTube tutorials out there, but a complete manual here:
http://mididesigner.com/wiki/doku.php/manual:10_intro

cuttime wrote: I'm not at my Mac right now, and will double check this later

Just tried this, and I got it to work well. Under Audio MIDI Setup Network settings, make sure the "Live routings" settings shows the network session as "Network Session" (or whatever you've named it) routed to "DP Input". If you are using OS Sierra, MIDI networking has gotten pretty squirrelly, and connections can be iffy sometimes. See this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=62607

I'm also looking for a compact, no keys, MIDI controller w/sliders, knobs, and buttons.

I just ordered the Akai MidiMix.
http://www.akaipro.com/product/midimix

Have heard nice things about it, and it looks like it'll solve a lot of ergonomic problems.

Will let y'all know.

I'm reporting back on the Akai MIDIMix controller after a week of useage.

http://www.akaipro.com/product/midimix

Excellent product! Don't hesitate to buy it! Works like a charm!

This thing is easy to use, easy to set up as any kind of MIDI contoller, and easy to save as many presets as you like with their free Akai software.

You can assign any fader, button, or knob to anything with a 'MidiLearn' capability. Nice size (9" x 8") yet the faders feel excellent to the touch and aren't too small at all. Much nicer than a Korg Nano or Samson fader controller, which I've also tried (and took back.)

Also, you can decide between having the buttons send out 'note on/off' info or have it send out 'CC#' info.

So, this thing is great for setting up keyswitching or whatever you'd like.

I've been setting it up the last few days to work with Cinesample instruments, which has given me a whole new appreciation for the Cinesample software design as well. I'm saving a 'Cinesample control' preseet which I can customize to my liking.

I also like the way that it retains the last presets in it's memory without having to boot up the software until you need to customize or save another setting.

Anyways, this is a great purchase for the price.

This thread is from more than a year ago, but very helpful to see a positive opinion about the AKai MIDIMix controller. I just bought a used one for $60 and am hoping it will work well with DP 9.52. I’ll post again once I know how things go.

That's a nice deal. Yea, let us know how it goes with configuring.

I think there are quite a few nice options for USB. I won't buy anything without MIDI DIN at this point, because I still use a few Kurzweils and a couple other pieces that have great MIDI modulation capabilities.

BTW, Novation's Launch Control looks similarly featured (but I'm not familiar with it).

If ArtFarm 1 sees this, or if anyone else can help, that would be great.
I'm having a little trouble setting up my Akai MIDI Mix to use in DP 9.52.
I started off ok, but then things got a bit confusing...

Thanks