Midi Fighter 3D?

[kelsey7k]

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!

[Xoduzz]

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

[LoveBass]

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.

[djproben]

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.

[Deejaesnafu]

ean could/should tap into this technology.

[guywithknife]

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 !

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.

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

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.

[DJDoubleYou]

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.

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

[guywithknife]

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

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.

[zestoi]

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

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

[Patch]

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)..