Midi Fighter 3D?

Just saw the new blog post....

Seems like an awesome idea, but i honestly think that's a little bit too... far?

I really can't see this style of controller taking off, because lets face it... We arn't all as energetic as Ean when playing a set :L Well at least, i definitely am not. And i guess it would be a 'center piece' controller... As in the main controller, because with the classic or pro, they were kind of additions to a setup where you could reach over and tap in a few effects, but this seems to be much more like a game controller where it needs to ALWAYS be in your hands.

I guess it has a freaking WOW factor, because lets face it. That is a seriously awesome piece of hardware, just seems to be over the top for what it should be. And i don't think anyone saw this kind of construction coming as the 'new djtt controller'...

But yeah. Thoughts?

my first thoughts are that the design is more professional looking (and less like a diy kit). I'm not too sure about those feet though; looks like it might make the midi fighter unstable when you press the shift buttons...

and the 3d aspect is obviously not for everyone (niche feature on a niche device, lol) but the rgb leds are certainly gonna be popular :)

awesome device, completely useles to me, gonna buy it anyway. :D

Really cool, but I'm not sure if I could use one.

I would love a MF classic with those new RGB buttons though...

Great idea and application! Definitely more specialist/creative DJ territory...

How about this....
Pre-record long mixes/mini sets you can chop up on the fly within the main dj set, move between your controller/cdj's as you play out tracks according to the crowds....???

I've been waiting for my unit for a few months now.

There lies great potential in the accelerometer-features. Think of Gui Boratto who used to incorporate the Wiimote in his sets! All that without the hazzle of configuring that. Albeit it may look stupid to wave around the MF3D :D

I love the design of it, it looks great. Also loving the multi coloured LEDs.

Personally I find the movement stuff to be a gimmick I would never use.

This controller looks like itd be fun to mess around with in bedroom sets or making mixes, but i dont see me waving a controller around at a show honestly but who knows. I wanna see a video of this thing in action.

Why didn't they make it wireless with bluetooth for example ? It's easy to implement and the latency is good enough for a button controller like this. Perhaps that will be something in the future, if they can make this they can make it wireless :-)
Keep up the good work DJTT !

It wouldn't be a standards compliant HID then and therefore require drivers and would also be more difficult to setup.

Think I'll call it the MIDI Fighter Full Tilt.
Colored LEDs, nice design

I probably wont use it but will enjoy seeing what others will do.

Seems like a monome, midi fighter style.. Not really my style but cool none the less..

I do love that quality looks like it just keeps getting. Better and better.

Really like the RGB Buttons and the software not sure i would use the tilt feature tho.

I'm with the op, looks great nice to have rgbs but the tilt movement functions
seems like a bit of gimmick to me

It's should of been called the MF Motion or MF Momentum

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Originally Posted by Skirmitt

Why didn't they make it wireless with bluetooth for example ? It's easy to implement and the latency is good enough for a button controller like this. Perhaps that will be something in the future, if they can make this they can make it wireless :-)
Keep up the good work DJTT !

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this

o and all the people saying the tilt feature is hyperbole or will be embarrassing or w/e are overlooking the fact that it is probably FUN. the accelerator gaming devices(wii,kinect etc) take on a new aspect and level of immersion. the best thing about regular MF is that they are fun to play with, and anyone that can tap their foot to the beat can have fun with one.

I can see people like LMFAO loving it. I bet we see more of these in the hands of the crazy style of DJ/Performers that the classic midi fighter.

Any DJ with attitude who likes to rock out will want one

Indeed, Karlos.

How about you though? Do you like to rock out?

the innovation ean and djtt has brought into edm is exactly what this community needs. we need more live creativity and expression when preforming future electronic music on stage. dj'ing and mixing has its purpose, but its all about the big picture. this product will lead to more like it and a new age in musical history....just my 2 cents tho :p

It looks well built and engineered. It's also the first MF that I have absolutely no desire to own. I like to have a bit of a boogie when I mix but 'rocking out' - nah

I understand a lot of djs aren't the 'rocking out' type, lol. I am definitely not. But I can see using the accelerometer features in a normal way.

A lot of monomes have accelerometers, and those aren't thought of only for 'rocking out'.

The viddy of Ean rocking out with it is him doing his style. And probably also meant to showcase the extremes of posibility. But I don't think it's the only way the 3d feature would be useful.

Also, the RGB buttons, new build design, and extra shift buttons look awesome!

i love the new buttons, but as other people said.. waving it around just isn't my taste lol

I think it would be cool to have some kind of lazy susan/ arm acessorie to help you use other gear at the same time.

They were originally looking into making this wireless from what I could tell; there was a similar video a few months ago and a couple pages of speculation in the forum as I recall. This is something I was working on about a year ago (the wireless thing, not the accelerometer) with a MF classic. I have a guitar hero controller that is perfectly wireless with a USB dongle; it sends IR signals like a TV remote and it works fine. But strangely enough you can't just buy the wireless mechanism itself - I would love to buy a USB dongle and a little remote interface that could be added on to any project to make the controller wireless; but the best I could find was going from USB-MIDI on the controller and getting a MIDI wireless and then MIDI-USB on the computer. But clearly somebody manufactures something like this since they're in guitar hero controllers. No idea how to find one on the open market though.

ean could/should tap into this technology.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Skirmitt

Why didn't they make it wireless with bluetooth for example ? It's easy to implement and the latency is good enough for a button controller like this. Perhaps that will be something in the future, if they can make this they can make it wireless :-)
Keep up the good work DJTT !

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I've been experimenting with wireless MIDI and in my experience bluetooth has three problems:

1. Latency is terrible when a lot of data is being streamed. Probably not an issue with the MF3D, since it only has buttons, but would certainly be a problem if it had knobs or faders.
2. The biggy: bluetooth has no notion of MIDI like USB does. That means the only way to get it working is to either use some kind of bluetooth-to-midi bridge program (I've done this) or writing a driver. A driver is the more fool proof version for the end user and is the only real solution for a consumer device, but adds a lot of development, support and maintenance work (ie its an expensive option)
3. Adds to the cost of the controller - I imagine DJTT were trying hard to keep the costs down and adding any kind of wireless would definitely have brought the cost up a bit more

The lack of HID compliant MIDI on bluetooth I think is the real deal breaker for bluetooth. The best option, for the end user and for latency, would be to build a USB base station and communicate wirelessly between the controller or base station.

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Originally Posted by djproben

No idea how to find one on the open market though.

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I've spent a lot of time over the past six months looking into various wireless solutions (not just for MIDI) and I think the only real way to get anything at a decent price is to order direct off the manufacturers (in bulk) - most are in China. No idea if theres a ready-to-use product already available though.

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Originally Posted by guywithknife

I've been experimenting with wireless MIDI and in my experience bluetooth has three problems:

1. Latency is terrible when a lot of data is being streamed. Probably not an issue with the MF3D, since it only has buttons, but would certainly be a problem if it had knobs or faders.
2. The biggy: bluetooth has no notion of MIDI like USB does. That means the only way to get it working is to either use some kind of bluetooth-to-midi bridge program (I've done this) or writing a driver. A driver is the more fool proof version for the end user and is the only real solution for a consumer device, but adds a lot of development, support and maintenance work (ie its an expensive option)
3. Adds to the cost of the controller - I imagine DJTT were trying hard to keep the costs down and adding any kind of wireless would definitely have brought the cost up a bit more

The lack of HID compliant MIDI on bluetooth I think is the real deal breaker for bluetooth. The best option, for the end user and for latency, would be to build a USB base station and communicate wirelessly between the controller or base station.

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What about the accelerometers? they are practicaly the same as an potmeter

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Originally Posted by DJDoubleYou

What about the accelerometers? they are practicaly the same as an potmeter

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Good point. For some reason one of the main features of the MF3D slipped my mind just now :eek: Yeah, this is definitely a problem.

Now, that doesn't mean its not doable - and maybe the increased latency would still be low enough.

wow... i love the form factor of the original midi fighter classic and wished it had different led colors and an extra four small buttons for bank changes... huzzah! plus the extra 3 shift buttons are cool ;)

i think the tilt+shift possibilities of this new MF could be pretty cool as part of a performance... but even without using that i still want one :D

plus it's not like you have to go over board and hold the thing above your head for the tilty goodness to be useful. small movements to help modulate a control could be very very useful...

was never over impressed with the midi fighter pro's but this looks cooooooooooool

Midifighter has come of age.

I was never impressed with the previous versions - but this is an awesome piece of kit. 4xbanks, and 6xshifts? That's good stuff. Love the GUI, and the buttons look sick. This is a LEAP forwards. You can see that a great deal of thought has been put into this.

Well done DJ Tech Tools.

Now - what I would LOVE to see, is a version that DOES not have the accelerometers, but has pots instead. I love the idea of holding down a button then changing the value with a knob.

(While I'm dreaming, how about a 8x2 grid with 2 pots at each end - this would live nicely behind my DDM4K and between my 1200's)..

Accelerometers. I did not ask for this. But man, the look on peoples faces when you add a clearly audible effect such as a filter to the mix by just tilting your controller. They must be amazed whether they are DJs or not.

And full RGB, yes, hell yes.

Edit: and am I the only the price of 249 dollars or 185 euros is really low for such a device ?

Buying it.

This controller is the answer to all my questions!

-Why are the blog post so lame lately?
-Is this site just for making money instead of promoting controllerism?
-Is this just a digital shrine to Eans gospel?

Kep up the good work!

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Originally Posted by Patch

Now - what I would LOVE to see, is a version that DOES not have the accelerometers, but has pots instead. I love the idea of holding down a button then changing the value with a knob.

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So, like, a cross between the MF3D and the MF Pro? Basically Pro with RGB leds, dedicated bank buttons and six shift buttons. Would be pretty cool alright.

I feel like if I used this at a gig I would need to explain to ppl what the hell I am doing but then it would get quite a reaction....still I probably would always keep one corner on the table, ive just never been able to get that into the music I'm spinning haha. Still if there is a combined sample deck mapping with the instant grat/wtf mapping then it could be perfect to go with my s4.

disclaimer: I can't view the blog video from work...


From the pics, I only see the 4 extra (shift) buttons on top. But there are 6 shift buttons? What am I missing?

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Originally Posted by HedgeHog

Indeed, Karlos.

How about you though? Do you like to rock out?

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I'm always too drunk to do what Ean does. I'd spend half the nite on my ass:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by boarderbas

This controller is the answer to all my questions!

-Why are the blog post so lame lately?
-Is this site just for making money instead of promoting controllerism?
-Is this just a digital shrine to Eans gospel?

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You took the words right outta my mouth. It is REALLY exciting to think how much work is going on behind the scenes at DJTT.

The MF3D has a lot of performance possibilities and not just for show-offs, especially when you have full control over the LEDs and can use them to give you feedback about the program state. With the right MIDI mapping there's no need to look at the screen any more, you know right away which bank you are in and what functions are currently active. Key state is persistent so setting an LED color on a Bank is remembered throught the session as you swap banks. Want to know if a deck is playing? Turn a key on bank 1 from white to red.

The rockout moves aren't the only thing you can do with the LEDs. For instance, hold the box above your head with the LEDs pointing towards the audience. Move the MF3D side to side in a 180 degree arc above your head and the audience can see the values changing. That's audience interaction and direct control all at the same time. How could you use that to engage your audience? What other features would you want to see?

The MF3D also has _absolute_ orientation tracking so subtle movements can also be output as MIDI CCs - mixing subtle tracks or controlling slow tonal events is just as easy as tracking the "rocking out" movements. Once you get it in your hands you really feel the machine reading your movements - it's Apple-style natural once you get it in your hands, we've worked hard on that.

It also outputs a storm of MIDI data - three orientation CCs for every button held down and buttons "pick up" from the place they were pressed allowing you to do up-sweeps and down-sweeps with just one motion by timing the keypresses. That's a huge amount of control and way more CCs than you could ever tweak at one time using just two hands. These features are really a solution looking for a problem and we're hoping that people will play with the device and find ways of using it we've never thought of. That's the kind of capabilities tht good artistic tools provide.

So go be creative with it, show us what it can do.

In a booth. Completely uselss imo. Unless you hold it in the air and do stuff.

BUT I could see this working awesome for a duo. One person mixing, another person in the crowd mashing effects. If they do it right cue juggle etc. Let people in the audience try touching a button or two. You can really engage your audience in that manner.