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Faderfox LV3: Impressions & Mixed Feelings



Hi folks

I've got my brand-new Faderfox LV3 (http://faderfox.de) now and would like 
to share my first impressions - and unfortunately mixed feelings I had as 
a non-Ableton user so far.

So, first of all, the hardware is really great. Basically, it works just 
plug&play via USB. No midi cable, no power supply. It's wonderful. 8 
faders, 3x8 buttons, 5 push-encoders, 2 joysticks and more... This is an 
excellent form-factor. And it just fits perfectly on top of my Motu 
Ultralite. 
The new rubber encoders work perfectly fine, though I personally prefer 
hard plastic. If I remember right, the rubber feet are also new and they 
provide excellent grip.

Now, let's get to the software... The whole thing is optimized for Ableton 
Live and I'm sure it works great with it (haven't tried it yet). There is 
also a mapping configuration that you can just copy&paste, so it should 
work with Ableton out of the box. The scene encoder & the feedback LEDs 
(clip status for 8 tracks) are also convenient, I guess.
However, I want to use this with Mainstage+Mobius and was hoping for a 
system setting that would provide me a "plain vanilla midi CC mode". Boy, 
I was disappointed... Theoretically, the buttons are "programmable". In 
reality, however - at least as far as I've figured out so far - they are 
extremely limited:
- The 8x black button row is hard-coded. They are intended for track 
select. They send a CC with "127" on press (no release message) for ca. 1 
second.
- The other buttons are "programmable". The only thing you can assign, 
however, are 8 Ableton functions. Out of these 8 functions, only "Clip 
Launch" provides a proper midi CC with press=127/release=0. The other ones 
either work like the black keys (send "127" only) or toggle between 
0/127/0/... with each alternating press (no release message).
This means, I was only able to assign proper CC messages for Mainstage on 
8 buttons with "clip launch". I wasn't able to work with the rest of the 
2x8 buttons (and another 3x8 with Shift key). After spending a whole day 
fiddling, I was kind of able to more or less work-around with the mighty 
MidiPipe (Mac OSX). But this is clearly not how it should be...
I was so busy with the buttons, that I haven't found a solution for the 
encoders yet: They either send 0/1 or toggle between 0-6 and 122-127. 
Wasn't able to use them so far.
The volume faders worked just the way they should: Midi CC 0-127. Perfect.

To sum it up: This is a beautiful, portable, solid plug&play controller. 
Yet, at least in this very first release, it seems that all the love & 
attention has been put into the hardware (and to be fair: Ableton 
useability). For pure midi CC control, I was't yet really satisfied. For a 
250 Euro premium product, I'd expect more:
- Proper documentation (not just 4 page leaflet), at least online 
documentation, wiki or forum.
- A true simple "midi CC mode": All buttons work press=127/release=0. 
Encoders send CC 0 through 127.
- Even better: an editor/configuration tool like Korg nano series.
- Configure (or simply turn off) LEDs.
- More flexible functions, i.e. program change with the scene encoder...
I haven't contacted Mathias Fuchs (developer) yet. Let's just hope some 
improvement is on the way. 
So my suggestion: If you love the form factor and are an Ableton user, 
give it a try. Non-Ableton users: Don't expect comfortable tweaking like 
the Korg Nano series software.
I can respect that the initial focus is on Ableton Live useability. In the 
long run, however, imho a "programmable" midi controller for 250 EUR 
should be able to provide more for the non-Ableton user. Let's hope for 
the best. I'd really love to love this controller... :-)

In the meantime: If anyone else here knows how to work some Faderfox-magic 
with Mainstage/MidiPipe, help is GREATLY appreciated!

best regards
Buzap





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