Being an Industrial Design student, I’ve offered my design skills to DJTT. I’ve been speaking to Ean about designing a Midi Fighter case similar to the case for the Kontrol X1 that would prop it up to mixer level and provide a good protective casing for it.
Now, before I get started designing, I’d like to ask for your help since you guys will of course be the end users, and this product is really for you. So far Ean has suggested that it hold 2 Midi Fighters and a little bit more, so theres room for a sound card, or maybe a cable or two. But is there any other feature you guys would like to see?
Also, not owning an X1 myself or the case, if anyone could take some high quality pictures of the case from a few angles, and give me an idea of the size, feel, and material of it, that would be great!
BTW, I’ve seen TWO versions of the kontrol X1 case on the net…whats the deal with that? One with velcro straps and one that seems to have a zipper?
yep like that
thats really helpful
that seems to be the version with the zipper, so there are two versions i’m guessing?
any idea on the material? Is there something in the sides that make it rigid?
Dude, you’re the industrial design student, you get to research materials, that’s the fun part!
I’d be looking along the lines of using the same materials as a well constructed Messenger Bag. Some of the websites about their construction are really into their materials tech:
Cordura 1000 for the outside, Cordura 500, 400 denier packcloth or maybe a softer nylon loopknit for the lining, Webbing for the edge bindings, thin HDPE polyethelyne board for stiffeners, small tooth zips to cope with the small radius corners (YKK brand probably).
Check the brand websites and look at the materials available. Get samples and experiment. You’ll also need to learn to use a Serger to produce the professional edges.
I have been researching materials, but since Ean has told me that he wants it similar to the X1 case, I would just like more information on what that case is made of. The NI site does not give much details on construction other than saying its nylon, so I’d just like a little help figuring out the construction of the case from someone who actually owns it.
I will not be producing the design myself, this will be up to Ean and DJTT should they choose to take my design. I may make some prototypes, but in the end I am only designing the case, not manufacturing it.
A somewhat silly suggestion on materials but a while ago I saw a site selling messenger bags, etc. made from recycled fire hoses… they looked pretty cool and were definitely rugged given the material, water/alcohol proof too I reckon. Anyways this would probably be impractical to acquire but thought it might be worth mentioning.
I think you are going to have to come up with a few concepts and from those we can start to pick and choose features. Then the final design would be an amalgamation of these features into a product we need/want.
Take the lead and most here will happily jump on board.
Indeed I will post my designs and other parts of the design process as I proceed, but its good to gather some research from users before jumping into designing it blindly, or designing it based on what I think it will need.
I’ll gather what research I have so far, work on some designs and then post them in this thread.
you can get rigid (mainly white) nylon blocks/sheets, there’s a lot of it in the factory i work in, mainly in big blocks cut to shape to hold parts of machinery etc…
i would like a double compartment case for holding a midifighter AND audio 4 dj(or similar size external sound card) - could also be used by people without a midifighter for soundcard+headphones. heavy duty zippers with big pulls and make room for a Dicer too also a big glow in the dark ‘pause play’ logo
+1 to wasapa’s idea of having the case be able to hold a soundcard or headphones in addition to a midifighter. The case would then be useful even to those who don’t own a midifighter.
+1 It would be nice if it could hold 2 midi fighters, 1 midi fighter and soundcard, headset and soundcard, etc. Besides that please give it a separate department for the midi-fighter’s wires!
So here’s my progress so far. Some research, looking at the X1 case, and a few ideas. Since its really just a case, theres nothing that special about the ideas. But please, take a look and any feedback on the design you give would be helpful!
Great work - looks like something I’d definitely buy if I had a Midi Fighter. Only thing I’d suggest is making the case the correct depth to raise the MF buttons up to mixer level when being used as a stand… That really is the best point of the Traktor X1 case.
(Only problem with this is the actual depth of the MF - the case has to be deep enough to hold the MF, but not too deep as to raise the MF buttons above mixer level).
Loving your work faeruithir, I think *1 looks the best as the internals are changeable to suit you needs, plus I think it would be the easiest to get the right height like patch said but you’ve got the right direction.
A little OT but is this design something you could apply for VCI 100 owners too where we would be able to incorporate a foam base in the bag so if you turned up at a gig and need to rest the VCI on the existing set up it wouldn’t damage anything and would save having to carry around foam with you? Obviously as well being able to carry cables in the same bag.
I dunno about holding two midiFighters in the same case, but then, I don’t have two.
Being able to hold headphones in the stead of a second midiFighter would be pretty cool, although I don’t know if I could compress my cans down to the size of a midiFighter comfortably.
also a big glow in the dark ‘pause play’ logo 
