Confused about the appeal of the midifighter
Why do people like this thing so much? I have a trigger finger and it does more for less cost… Why does everyone like the midifighter so much? It’s always seemed like such a gimmick to me and I’m curious about the appeal to the people who own them.
Because video games are cool! I don’t have one but I do think they’re neat-o.
because of noobs that think of their image first and function second, and because the buttons are easier to press in combination for effects and have a faster action for cues and such, they also have led feedback making them a better candidate for mapping lots of shift functions into them as you can see the shift so don’t have to remember what setting your in.
The only advantage the trigger finger, mpd etc… have is aftertouch, but it really isn’t that good on low end controllers without phat pads and corks inbetween. although the lpd 8 would be a contender if it had a metal case, 16 pads, better quality knobs, and you could overide the stupid pads led off message built into the hardware 
Honestly, I like mine because it’s an open source project, helps support this community; also arcade buttons are amazingly responsive (I have tried the trigger finger, it’s just not the same… and with traktor you don’t really need the velocity sensitivity, just the on/off). Also build quality and service you get with the midi fighters is worth shelling out that bit extra imo.
Yeah they look cool and flashy and whatnot… but they’re also quite functional… I’m basically rehashing what synthet1c said lol.
Sometimes things are designed with form over function, or vice versa-
I dont have a midifighter myself, but what i can see of them they fuse form AND function beautifully…
And as mentioned above the open source and community surrounding them are Fuckin’ COOL
I think they look like utter shit, and I’d never have one in my booth or studio. Ever.
The closest thing to an appeal would be supporting the DJTT community. And since they veto’d the VIP forum membership thing, I’m down to waiting for the store to stock something I actually want and not cost significantly more than local shops.
Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.
Arcade buttons have an surprisingly tactile touch when it come to music. I don’t have a midi fighter but modding arcade buttons into my VCI was the best thing i ever did.
Anyway, refusing one over looks alone seems a little shallow. Arcade buttons surprisingly have a great musical feel for djing
I wonder about this every time the midi fighter gets mentioned on these boards. I don’t get it at all.
Can you spell ‘gimmick’?
I’d like one, but just for farting about on in the house. Not sure I’d trust it in a live environment going by the look of it. Could prove to be flimsy build with the detachable buttons etc… just kinda feels like there’s too much that could go wrong with it.
Of course, I could be miles off.
I dunno, they hold no appeal for me but from what I’ve seen they seem pretty rock solid.
Don’t forget - this all started with the arcade button mod for the practically unusable VCI rubber cue buttons.
The midifighter (gimmick) evolved from that.
The arcade buttons are simple, and reliable (key word is simple). If you hit it, it’ll trigger something. A lot of pads are velocity sensitive (out of the box).
I’m with mostapha on this - I’d never buy/use a midifighter. Any decent pad controller will out perform a midifighter.
You just have to LEARN to use the pads correctly!!! Hit 'em hard, and in the middle (or turn off the velocity sensitivity!).
I doubt there is much life left in the midifighter. When a controller is released that is a combination of an APC40 (for the faders and knobs) and an MPC/MPD (for the pads), and some assignable buttons (for navigation, etc) you’ll have everything you need for KILLER sets.
Nothing out now feels the same as a Midi Fighter. I wouldn’t call it a gimick, but I think it does have a limited appeal to two types of people. The first group who want the flashy looks and buy it because it has arcade buttons. These guys usually have multi color, bag of M&M’s, looking Midi Fighters. The other group who don’t care what it looks like because it works different from anything else out there and they like it. These guys usually have mostly solid color MF’s. And just to be clear I’m not saying anything about the quality of the DJ’s on your chosen color scheme.
I think DJTT realizes this limited appeal and that’s why they have other things in the store. As far as durability you’re not going to break any part of the Midi fighter unless you have hammers strapped to your fingers, and even then you could probably get through a gig.
Iinteresting.
As I say, I’d like to have one as a plaything, is I’ll probably give it a go once I have the cash lying around doing very little.
I don’t have one and don’t really want one, but it does have some things over other midi controllers and MPDs.
The biggest thing that is different is the 4 banks mode. It has 4 hardware shift banks which make the instant gratification and other maps possible on 4 decks. You can’t do that on other midi controllers with modifiers or one shift mode- the most you can usually replicate is a 2 deck instant gratification type thing.
I imagine the buttons are pretty good. Personally I think most pads absolutely suck on controllers for anything except their intended purpose of drumming, especially ones that don’t light up like the trigger finger and MPDs with no feedback- I never really understood why people bought pad controller to map for DJing.
Really most people buy midifighters to use the maps- usually instant gratification, and trying to use that map on other controllers is not the same. I’ve used instant gratification maps adapted for the iPad, APC40, Launchpad, Maschine, and X1 and the buttons are not great/responsive and it works poorly and would be much better on the real deal.
My thing is…how much use can I get out of a midi-fighter during a set. The IG mapping is super cool, and tons of hard work went into developing the mapping — but how many times can I use those effects in one night without it sounding over done?
I think Photo nailed it when he said there is a limited appeal to certain folks. While it’s neat gadget, I wouldn’t use it in any of my sets.
Not big on the midi-fighters either. Although they do look solid and I’m sure they have a nice feel.
But then again I’m more into mixing and layering, not launching 100s of clips and chopping shit up with a butt load of effects.
Me too, but i can see that there is a place for the Midifighter and that style of DJing if done intelligently
obviously all things are best in moderation. but I think you’d be surprised. to me, the beauty of the IG mapping is how well all the effects work in combination…giving a lot of variation.
and to the appeal of the midifighter:
for me the button action is highest on the list. nothing else is even remotely like them. I used to have an MPD24, and you get basically no tactile response from those buttons…they’re pretty much a step up in tactility from a touch screen. I also have an apc40, an LPD8, and a monome…so i might be a bit of a button nerd 
and nothing compares to arcade buttons for firing off quick effect fills or juggling cue points imo.
second for me is the quality of the traktor mappings djtt offers, and how well they integrate with the gear.
i also like the DIY spirit the MF came from…and still kinda maintains with it’s customizability
i could go on 
Also Andy C has one…
He’s pretty big in the game
I love my midifigher with instant gratification mapping. It’s really great for doing transitions and the dedicated filter mappings in combo sound great.
But I agree it needs to be done in moderation…