New controllers, brand

[Joel Santos]

No. Isn't there an LCD? You're talking about SL MK2 right?

[MrPopinjay]

I said the nocation nocturn, not the novation sl zero.

[zestoi]

No no not problem at all but i'm aiming for a medium controller not a a small one.

if i were you i'd aim for as small as it economically viable and modular.

as for led feedback i'd say thats a must have. at least for any buttons/pads etc anyway. ofc there's the cheap launchpad for lots of non-velocity sensitive pads with feedback - not great pads but does the job and all in a fairly nice small package.

pots/rotaries/faders would be very cool - if rotaries then i think it'd need led feedback of some kind - ideally with any rotaries also pushable as well.

certainly plenty of cdj/mixer style controllers around - so that market is pretty much covered anyway. the twitch is a very cool idea with the touch strips. personally i like jogs for controlling traktor but just need more pots/rotaries for ableton.

i'd really like to see some kind of modular product - where i could buy a grid module or a fader module or rotary one etc - and have them all connect together somehow.

currently i'm using my old hercules mk2 for traktor with launchpad for cues/samples etc as well as re-using a diff page on the launchpad for ableton and using a nanokontrol for levels. would really like more pots on the nanokontrol and also some endless encoders for effects in traktor.

haven't experimented too much with my scs.3d yet - but i like the possibilities of the touch surface esp with all the led feedback options.

the lpd8 is a nice combination of pads and pots - would have loved twice as many of both tho - so probably going to pick up another of those.

[Joel Santos]

if i were you i'd aim for as small as it economically viable and modular.

as for led feedback i'd say thats a must have. at least for any buttons/pads etc anyway. ofc there's the cheap launchpad for lots of non-velocity sensitive pads with feedback - not great pads but does the job and all in a fairly nice small package.

pots/rotaries/faders would be very cool - if rotaries then i think it'd need led feedback of some kind - ideally with any rotaries also pushable as well.

certainly plenty of cdj/mixer style controllers around - so that market is pretty much covered anyway. the twitch is a very cool idea with the touch strips. personally i like jogs for controlling traktor but just need more pots/rotaries for ableton.

i'd really like to see some kind of modular product - where i could buy a grid module or a fader module or rotary one etc - and have them all connect together somehow.

currently i'm using my old hercules mk2 for traktor with launchpad for cues/samples etc as well as re-using a diff page on the launchpad for ableton and using a nanokontrol for levels. would really like more pots on the nanokontrol and also some endless encoders for effects in traktor.

haven't experimented too much with my scs.3d yet - but i like the possibilities of the touch surface esp with all the led feedback options.

the lpd8 is a nice combination of pads and pots - would have loved twice as many of both tho - so probably going to pick up another of those.

There are some problems with small things like I stated before at least for now, i'll do a "normal" size one, maybe in a future, when I get better suppliers I can go with small.

About the module... My idea of the module goes for example "i want to buy 5 more faders" and so you buy a module with 5 more faders. I'm not saying modular as one more fader or one more knob but still... didn't find an easy solution for this that won't be expensive. There is an interesting microcontroller that makes this easy but each costs 90$ and for each module you need one (see why only one fader gets expensive? no one will pay 90$ for one fader right?). There is a project with that kind of modular, it's interesting but a project like that... becomes expensive.

About touch... let me just say this... I hate touch! I have an iphone which I love but for controlling things... I need a "touch" feedback also. I don't even know how can people use touch to control eheehhe

[zestoi]

There are some problems with small things like I stated before at least for now, i'll do a "normal" size one, maybe in a future, when I get better suppliers I can go with small.

which is why i said as small as is economically viable.

About the module... ... becomes expensive.

i didnt say micro-modular - just modular in *some* way. 90$ for the controller is a lot tho. i'm sure there must be cheaper alternatives. arduino's etc are pretty cheap.

About touch... let me just say this... I hate touch! I have an iphone which I love but for controlling things... I need a "touch" feedback also. I don't even know how can people use touch to control eheehhe

well that might be - but i presume you want to build a controller that will sell - not one that you particularly want to use tho nice if its both ofc...

so far you seem to be more keen on saying why all the ideas put forward to you are no good than taking them onboard?

you don't want to do a small controller or something the size/scale of the S4 etc - the middle ground of cdj+mixer is pretty much covered so it would either need to be some interesting combination of grid controller and rotaries etc or just rotary/etc based i guess.

there must be a market for a decent controller that comes with arcade buttons but does more than the midi fighters...

[Joel Santos]

Anyhow... here is the first layout... What do you think? I'm using the size of an already made enclosure so it doesn't get much expensive.



What do you think?

Edit: I still don't know if the buttons rest well on the breadboard pcb... So... there may be variations...

[zestoi]

pots and buttons are nice - but you'd really want them to line up i reckon even if that mean less buttons.

the ones at the bottom are arcade buttons? if only space for 6 then i'd say go for more of the other buttons.

[Joel Santos]

pots and buttons are nice - but you'd really want them to line up i reckon even if that mean less buttons.

the ones at the bottom are arcade buttons? if only space for 6 then i'd say go for more of the other buttons.

yes why not line up? this way it can even be used for sequencing for example!

arcade buttons are more robust than the others, you can't smash on the other since they're micro-components. The idea was to use 8 of these but since there is not much space... 6 is better than none.

also, i only have like 4 more slots on the teensy or something.

[MrPopinjay]

Knobs then what then arcades? I'd try and keep controls in columns.

I don't think there's much point in sticking arcade buttons on it, it'll just make a lot of people not take it seriously and those who are fans are much more likely to get a midifighter.

[ToOntown]

Knobs then what then arcades? I'd try and keep controls in columns.

I don't think there's much point in sticking arcade buttons on it, it'll just make a lot of people not take it seriously and those who are fans are much more likely to get a midifighter.

Totally agree... I think pads like what's on the nocturn or APC40 would be a lot cooler, more professional-looking, and not so DJTT-ish. Arcade buttons are great, but DJTT has cornered the DJ market with those types of controllers... Another one would just confuse people OR make you look unoriginal/copycat.

I honestly think that a smaller APC40-type controller with encoders knobs and faders would kill it. If it's housed in an aluminum case (similar to the new MF pros) then there can't be questions of durability... If you build in a sound card, you could have one of the most killer controllers out there.

This is just a concept that I came up with in about 5 minutes so don't go critiquing too harshly