locoDog
for comms yes chrome but for other browsers you can make sysex dumps, Firefox will have an addon somewhere
Posted Tue 26 May 20 @ 4:51 pm
Nicotux
Many browsers...
https://jazz-soft.net/
https://jazz-soft.net/
Posted Tue 26 May 20 @ 5:19 pm
locoDog
locoDog wrote :
"out the box" review I'll revisit this when it has some miles on the clock.
Necro post but I re-found this post because of a search, 'some miles' have been done and it recently had a firmware update so I figure what the hell, long term review time.
FADERFOX EC4
How it's held up mechanically? Very well, all the encoders have loosened a bit, the most frequently used ones more than others but everything is still firm, there's still no accidental turning.
Dial caps still good no rubber flakiness, none of that vomit smell you can get with some ageing rubber like plastics.
Usb port is still solid, still using the provided type A to B cable.
OLED display, had a replacement a few months into its life with me, no fault of the product, me being clumsy & unlucky [dropped a screwdriver about 1.2 meter above it, and it landed perfectly wrong]
Simple [tool-less] to replace and the manufacturer sold me one for less than I could have bought 1 unit online.
This thing was designed and built by an engineer who doesn't want recalls, very well made at a very reasonable price.
Mapping and living with it.
I wrote a program to write the definition file for
16 midi channels *
{
128 * buttons
128 * encoders
128 * inputs [value sent from vdj to OLED]
}
A huge amount of inputs [2048 of each] and that's just half of it, the above covers pretty much every CC and every note of all 16 channels, there's scope for the same number again with a software shift [vdj variable, which of course I did]
I defined the encoders as sliders as that makes sense in most cases, but for a few entries I have them defined as actual relative encoders. I jump in and out of the definition on a case by case basis.
Cool stuff with the firmware update,
1 increased the resolution from 36 ticks per revolution upto 72
2 device now sends sysex out when you change grouping, also accepts sysex to change grouping. Very cool when I change grouping with the device it sets a variable in vdj, changing the variable in vdj changes the grouping on the device. That's how I get my software shift.
3 Recently introduced is dial snapshot and recall, I can save upto 15 profiles of dial positions [of an entire group] and call them to send to vdj.
4 4 more sysex buttons that are a 2 button press on the device, I use them as select deck 1 to 4
5 shift button on device sends sysex, a mixed bag on this one, it only seems to work as a toggle, it should work as momentary, midiTrace says it should work like that, but in app it doesn't, but I can live with it as I use a variable based shift on my mappings [I like shift to work across several devices].
6 Dial acceleration got a tweak, there always was 4 levels [turn faster move more] now there's 3 dividers so it's less sensitive [a couple of encoder ticks until it sends to vdj] in the moment it makes sense.
What I use it for;
I use it all the time, it lives right next to my machine, when my machine moves it comes with it.
I've got 'cozy' workflows were I just use the EC4 and my keyboard and the EC4 controls the mixer, fx, loops, browser scroll
I have workflows with an analogue mixer & dvs, there it's just loops & dedicated fx
I have a few grouping dedicated to my remix skin [a lot of fun and real easy to set up on a conventional rig]
I have single vst profiles, probably a bit too deep for dj use but it is nice to get in there and control dial 12
I've even a few stem fx setups for experimenting [I don't use stems live so much, I resample stuff I want to stem split].
Smartest use is fx experimenting, I'll set something up with the 6 fx slots then dial it in, when I'm happy I'll make a profile with those fx hardcoded to come back to. ATM I'm all about capturing loops with tape_mprv then aggressive transformations with filters distortion and delays, resampling that with echo out [no decay] and experimenting more.
Problems with it & workarounds
The value display, you can choose 0 to 100 , 0 to 127, -50 to +50, -63 to +63, all fine for a level slider or a eq dial, but not so good when it's a loop length or a effect_beat length.
I've devised my own shorthand to display that stuff like on the -63 to +63 setting.
-32 tells me it's 1/32th, and +32 tells me it's 32 beat loop etc, all well and good until you have to handle 3/2. To be truthful the display mapping gets a bit mathy but you get it right once then copy and paste where you need it.
It does do text over sysex but not quite where and how I'd like it.
Value display problem 2; There are 3 main ways to display
1; just name, 4 chars used to display the dial name [fixed and preprogrammed]
2; bar, it shows just a fill bar from left to right or from centre to left/right
3; value, it shows a number [as listed above in first value problem]
Then there's 2 hybrid views where it shows name most of the time until you touch the dial then it shows the bar/value for a couple of seconds.
All well and good and if you use several groupings you probably want a hybrid view,
the problem... the bar/value only displays when that dial has been touched on the hardware, if the dial is controlled externally to the hardware, everything works values are passed but the display doesn't switch over. Not the end of the world but this is a long term review and nits will be picked!.
Skin problem, phantom slider ghost, this is a skin engine thing, because I have lots of dials hardcoded to fx dials, there's an visual issue with the take over ghost with effect_slider 1 1, it's just visual it seems it's only the skin ghost that is confused, the actual script only controls what it's supposed to.
Minor gripe, naming stuff has a T9 style input [younger readers, that's how we sent texts in the long long ago when phones weren't smart and batteries lasted days] It's the one bit I dislike the most. I could use the mapping software but that needs chrome browsers and I'm no fan of google's.
Conclusions; very well made with an insane amount of scope for use, most likely overkill for most users if you're just using it for vdj.
[128 profiles without getting technical is way more than several people could ever need]
the midi fighter twister is a little less money [if in the US] maybe LED rings are better, maybe not. Not sure on the build quality of the twister [not sure what the British Brexit based sulk has done for the UK prices of either, I can't imagine it helped either case]
If you're also a DAW user or Live midi performer I'd say it's a no brainer, I'd say it's impossible not to find a good 30 or 40 uses for it. It also comes in for video users vdj and other sw that has midi in.
Mapping; not quite a Sisyphean task because it is quite easy for mapping once you get the flow, but also a bit Sisyphean as you'll never completely finish mapping it because there's 4096 possible dials, buttons.
This has been my long term review of the faderfox EC4.
If you've just bought one or are thinking about it, I've got the definition file [it's huge btw, like 7000 lines long] and know my way around most of it [for vdj]
Posted Wed 22 May 24 @ 7:03 pm
djles.co.uk
I used a Faderfox DJ2 back in 2006 at The Orange Corner, San Antonio, Ibiza. That was when using Traktor Studio 3 for a year before switching to VirtualDJ. It was great for travelling. I still have it, but one of the faders got bent carrying it around in the UK as a backup. I straightened it although that fader never worked again. Oh well. 🤷♂️
The Orange Corner, San Antonio, Ibiza
The Orange Corner, San Antonio, Ibiza
Posted Wed 22 May 24 @ 7:29 pm
locoDog
Ah 2MP camera days.
An 18 year old controller you'd normally just shrug and move on, but really if you made it today the tech wouldn't be any different.
A new fader and a soldering iron and it would do as good as a job it did back then with modern software today.
Tech that old isn't going to resell, the DJ models aren't as useful to the midi crowd compared to the UC or EC devices.
But bang a battery in it and a bluetooth send module and it becomes useful again, sometimes you really only need a play button and a volume control.
An 18 year old controller you'd normally just shrug and move on, but really if you made it today the tech wouldn't be any different.
A new fader and a soldering iron and it would do as good as a job it did back then with modern software today.
Tech that old isn't going to resell, the DJ models aren't as useful to the midi crowd compared to the UC or EC devices.
But bang a battery in it and a bluetooth send module and it becomes useful again, sometimes you really only need a play button and a volume control.
Posted Wed 22 May 24 @ 8:02 pm
djles.co.uk
locoDog wrote :
Ah 2MP camera days.
Ha ha, authentic then.
I think I've still got the digital camera somewhere, it's like a museum here. I had a MIDI to USB converter box for it but sold it many years ago, so can't use it, and have no intention of anyway.
I've still got loads of music gear from the 80s and 90s, Who would have thought? 🤣
Posted Wed 22 May 24 @ 8:58 pm