Quote:
Originally Posted by Piszpan
Thank you for detailed answers.
If you want to know "people's opinion", please take a while to read the following: 
For the last five years I've been trying to find the best solution to control VST synths (and maybe also FX) inside Studio One and later inside Reaper. I ended with having multiple controllers and only came to conclusion that every single of them has some significant flaws.
So far, the best (in my opinion) is Nektar Panorama P1. My main concerns about it are:
1) Every time I switch the page/bank of 8 parameters, I have to wait for a second and *very precisely* move the knob which controls this function - that's the way it is designed. In practice it turns, that I sometimes prefer to grab a mouse, becasuse... it is quicker (sic!).
2) Some buttons on Panorama P1 are too stiff and awkward to use (although the encoders are very good).
Overall, my over five year experience with a multitude of controllers, scripts, configs etc. drove me to this conclusion:
EVERY SOLUTION IS, SADLY, ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS WEAKEST POINT. 
Many designers have some brilliant ideas, but one or two things can in practice ruin the usability of a given product. So far, every single solution I tried has some kind of a showstopper.
You seem to bo on a right way, but bear in mind, that your design needs to be *VERY good*, as *only good* is not enough. I have enough of *just good* controllers, that gather dust.
OK, now backing to your project:
1. Please, make the font in the displays AS BIG AS POSSIBLE. Otherwise I couldn't imagine using your controller in a live situation. (The current trend of putting microscoping OLEDs in synths drives me crazy.)
2. Will the encoders support acceleration?
3. I guess it'to early too say, but... will your controller be bus-powered?
Expect futher questions. |
Hi Piszpan,
Thanks again for your message. I hear what you are saying about a controller being as good as the weakest link. I'll do my best to not have a weak link. That being said, in the end, if the cost is too prohibited then the whole thing fails. There is a reason why many larger companies are not doing a large number of encoders with screens on each encoder. I am making this for me, but with the kind of money I'm spending I will want to recoup it. If I don't recoup all and can only get a small batch out to recoup most, I would be satisfied, because the controller will satisfy my needs exactly, but I am looking at this as an opportunity to make something bigger and expanding it.
The good news is that I'm not a large company at the time, so the overhead is low. Therefore the returns don't need to be what a bigger company would expect or require.
1. Regarding the screen, unfortunately there are a few factors that drove the decision of the OLED size. One is to keep the controller on the smaller size. I want it to be big enough so it can do what it needs to do comfortably, but not bigger. With these many encoders and screens the size is already not super small, but not very large either. I feel that as it's currently designed, it's in a sweet spot. I understand the text being too small for some, so there will be options as far as the screens that people can select from. Also, the available OLEDs that have full color only come in certain sizes. They are not always the best proportion for this project, so I feel like I selected the largest OLED that has enough pixels to convey a lot of information without being too large.
2. I do believe they will support acceleration. I'll have to test how best to implement this smoothly as best as possible.
3. Currently I don't believe it will be bus powered only. Perhaps there might be a way to do this without the screens being turned on or them being dimmed as low as possible which might affect brightness and readability. But as per my designer, this will need more power than a USB connection can provide. You have to remember that there will be 24 encoders, each has 18 LED lights around it, and each has a roughly 1" OLED screen, and 8 buttons at the bottom that light up. So, there are more things that draw power than in most controllers.
I thank you for your questions and welcome any further ones.
Much appreciate your time.