MIDI desktop controller
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Has anyone tried to use a MIDI controller with knobs and an iPad and BIAS FX?
I want to control things in BIAS FX that have continuous values (gain, treble, etc), and not just on/off as with most MIDI footboards.
I believe such things are called MIDI desktop controllers, and look like this:
This is the Behringer X-TOUCH MINI, which connects MIDI through USB. $79.
Korg, Pyle, Ammoon, and others make very similar controllers at similar prices, some with sliders.
Is it possible to use one of these with BIAS FX on iOS?
Thanks,
Greg
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No one's tried this?
How about the nanoKONTROL2 from Korg with sliders?
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PG support finally responded to my question (it took them 22 days!).
Answer: no, BIAS FX 2 mobile doesn't support continuous MIDI controls like the sliders on the Korg nanoKONTROL2 or the knobs on the Behringer X-TOUCH MINI.
It only supports MIDI CC and MIDI PC commands. I don't know what those are, but the implication was that they are on/off only.
:-(
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are you sure? with my controller I have an expression pedal and I can control volume, pitch, wah. I haven't tried other kind of continuous controls, but I can test later.
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@korkenknopfus What products are you using?
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@holmberg2066 I have a Meloaudio MIDI Commander with an expression pedal, normally used with Bias FX. Now I am starting to play (not so much yet) with FX2. Yesterday I tested with FX2 and could control an EQ with my expression pedal, changing continuously the amount of low frequencies (you long press on the EQ and then you can choose which parameter to control, continuously or just toggle, depending on parameter). Maybe I am wrong, but I see no reason that with a controller with knobs and sliders this can’t be done.
Do you know? I have an Axiom 61 midi controller keyboard with knobs and sliders. I will test it later today and tell you if it is possible or not. Give me a couple of hours, it is 8 am here and want to rest a little more, after a nightmarelish week.
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@holmberg2066
I connected my Axiom 61 via midi cable (not usb) with my iRig Pro Duo (which I use with the iPad). One can easily assign knobs and sliders to control parameters that change continuously like volume or lows, middles and highs in an eq, and so on. I realized the sliders and knobs were on midi channel 11 in my keyboard. -
@korkenknopfus Wow, cool. Thank you for looking into this. I have sent a link to this discussion to the PG support, asking them to explain this.
By the way, the link to dropbox doesn't work. I get "404 That file isn’t here anymore."
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@holmberg2066
And now?
I hope it works. -
Just following.
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Support replies:
I've looked up in the nanoKONTROL2 manual ,
It has a CC mode which can make every control send out MIDI CC messages. It should work with BIAS FX 2.
BIAS FX 2 can work with any controller which can send out MIDI CC messages.
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I don't know anything about MIDI, but support had previously implied that CC messages can not be continuous, but it now appears that CC messages can be continuous.
Does anyone out there know more about it?
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@holmberg2066 said in MIDI desktop controller:
I don't know anything about MIDI, but support had previously implied that CC messages can not be continuous, but it now appears that CC messages can be continuous.
Does anyone out there know more about it?
You send a message: the message has a message number (so we can identify the message) and additionally has a value. This value from the same message can vary in time and so you can change a parameter in a hardware or software based on MIDI. This is what I did in the short video above, first with a slider and then with an encoder, both from my Axiom 61 (MAudio), to change the values of two different parameters in an EQ pedal. I don’t remember the numbers, so I will just invent values: the slider sent, for example, message 20 with different values. We speak of MIDI CC 20. The Low-mids knob in the EQ pedal was configured to receive data from the MIDI CC 20. Each time I moved the slider, a different value was sent for MIDI CC 20. This value was interpreted as the amount of Low-mids that the EQ had. The same with the encoder: the encoder sent for example MIDI CC 22 and the Treble control in the EQ pedal was configured to receive data from MIDI CC 22. Each time I moved the encoder a different value for MIDI CC 22 was sent and so the Treble could change.
I am by far not expert in MIDI, so if I made mistakes in the explanation, please don’t kill me.
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I bought the Korg nanoKONTROL2 and connected it to my iPad (7th gen, running iOS 14.3) via a "camera adapter" (Lightning to USB, made by RVOKOMS), and it works great with BIAS FX 2 Mobile (version 1.3.0.2143). The iPad can't power the Korg (because Lightning doesn't do that), so I connect the charger to the camera adapter, which powers the Korg and charges the iPad. This means I need an AC outlet, but this could possibly be solved with a USB power pack. Consumes 0.5 watts over USB (5 volts * 0.1 amps).
I can easily assign any of the eight sliders or eight knobs to settings on the amp or on any effect. For example, the amp's gain, bass, mids, treble, and master.
There are also many buttons I can assign. They are by default in "momentary" mode, but with some Korg software on a Mac I can set them to "toggle" mode, and then they work for switching effects on and off.
I'm pretty happy, and only $75. Much easier to grab a physical knob or slider while playing than to try to put my finger on the iPad touch-screen.
Some MIDI foot switches would complete the picture. Something like the MeloAudio MIDI Commander $160 perhaps. This is also MIDI over USB, and USB powered. Can take two expression pedals.
