MORTRIX MIDI foot controller

[Quatschmacher]

52 minutes ago, itu said:

My uneducated guess is something around £500, which is already steep. I think, this is a good example of a super unit:

 

An ultimate expression pedal that is nearly impossible to find nowadays:

https://www.sourceaudio.net/reflex-expression-controller.html

Top unit, top performance, too good, too short-lived.

I love Source Audio dearly and everything they do, but MIDIUM is way beyond what Reflex and its successor can do. 

Edited September 24, 2022 by Quatschmacher

[EBS_freak]

@Quatschmacher- your first problem is that folk don't understand the differences between what this unit can do compared to the (non) competition.

 

If people don't get that... the product is dead in the water. Maybe you need to revisit your marketing.

Edited September 24, 2022 by EBS_freak

[Quatschmacher]

13 minutes ago, prowla said:

I suppose its nearest competitor is the Morningstar MC8, which is £320; there's a bit of latitude on the price given that it's got a better display, but the role will be similar.

Not really a close competitor at all. Midium won’t be competition with Morningstar. In James’ own words to me in an email this week:

 

“when I saw this it definitely looks like an original idea with a lot of work put in (based on the features in the website)…Definitely a leap above our current range of controllers…”

[Quatschmacher]

3 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

@Quatschmacher- your first problem is that folk don't understand the differences between what this unit can do compared to the (non) competition.

 

If people don't get that... the product is dead in the water. Maybe you need to revisit your marketing.

There are plenty of people looking at MIDI controllers who don’t know the first thing about MIDI, period. (I was in the same boat about 4-5 years ago.)

 

Anyone with a bit more experience of controllers will know how and why this is a step up from most stuff out there, and that is more who this is aimed at.

 

Whether it does well or not remains to be seen. I obviously hope so as a lot of effort has gone into this. I’m not involved of any of the financial stuff so it’s not my place to worry about that side of things. 

[EBS_freak]

Sounds like you’ve got it in hand then.

 

Basschat would appear to not be your target audience.

[prowla]

3 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

Not really a close competitor at all. Midium won’t be competition with Morningstar. In James’ own words to me in an email this week:

 

“when I saw this it definitely looks like an original idea with a lot of work put in (based on the features in the website)…Definitely a leap above our current range of controllers…”

In terms of the functionality, a lot of folks will use it for essentially the same thing. 

[prowla]

10 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

Sounds like you’ve got it in hand then.

 

Basschat would appear to not be your target audience.

I'm not sure I agree with that; I have a couple of pedals and MIDI devices which would benefit from a MIDI controller like this.

Maybe a HX Stomp, a C4, and a Minitaur, even a guitar synth.

I'm assuming that you can encompass the settings for several devices for each song (or sections thereof) in a set-list, maybe even shift the pedals off the floor and safely into a rack.

 

11 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

Not really a close competitor at all. Midium won’t be competition with Morningstar. In James’ own words to me in an email this week:

 

“when I saw this it definitely looks like an original idea with a lot of work put in (based on the features in the website)…Definitely a leap above our current range of controllers…”

I meant in the role it fulfils, ie. a single pedal to control multiple MIDI devices at a time.

It's plain to see it is a step forward in at least presentation of the information.

 

[Quatschmacher]

2 hours ago, prowla said:

13 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

 

I meant in the role it fulfils, ie. a single pedal to control multiple MIDI devices at a time.

Ah, yes, much of the core role is definitely the same. Its features like the poly sequencers, fully-programmable envelopes and LFOs, comprehensive expression control and the easy onboard programming are what take it to another level. There are a fair few other features that haven’t been mentioned yet too. More on those later…

[Quatschmacher]

10 hours ago, prowla said:

In terms of the functionality, a lot of folks will use it for essentially the same thing. 

I can get behind that statement. 

[Quatschmacher]

2 hours ago, prowla said:

Minitaur

Yes, this is one of the devices I want to prioritise ahead of the show - it has so many under-the-hood features, some of which can only be accessed via the editor or MIDI. There are panel shortcuts for some but others are frustratingly inaccessible. 

[Quatschmacher]

2 hours ago, prowla said:

I'm assuming that you can encompass the settings for several devices for each song (or sections thereof) in a set-list,

How you organise your scenes and presets is entirely up to you. A single preset can of course contain messages being sent to any number/combination of devices you want so I’m sure you’d find a way to set it up that works for you. 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Quatschmacher

[Al Krow]

50 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Ah, yes, much of the core role is definitely the same. Its features like the poly sequencers, fully-programmable envelopes and LFOs, comprehensive expression control and the easy onboard programming are what take it to another level. There are a fair few other features that haven’t been mentioned yet too. More on those later…

 

That's very useful. It definitely sounds like it's not an appropriate device for midi novices like me, given its features and price, and I'd be much better off with something like an MC6 as a more entry level device. 

 

But it does look fabulous and great job on getting it to this stage, Peter. 

[Quatschmacher]

22 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

 

That's very useful. It definitely sounds like it's not an appropriate device for midi novices like me, given its features and price, and I'd be much better off with something like an MC6 as a more entry level device. 

 

But it does look fabulous and great job on getting it to this stage, Peter. 

The irony is this would be perfect as an entry-level controller precisely because it’s such a doddle to program. 

[EBS_freak]

10 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

The irony is this would be perfect as an entry-level controller precisely because it’s such a doddle to program. 

Why don’t you offer a lite and full fat (achievable with firmware update)

[Woodinblack]

16 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Why don’t you offer a lite and full fat (achievable with firmware update)

 

The costs to make would be the same though (in fact more as you then have to make a simpler model), you would just be getting less. I suppose the advantage is you would sell more, but that only works out when you have a larger scale operation, and there isn't going to be a huge market.

[Quatschmacher]

26 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Why don’t you offer a lite and full fat (achievable with firmware update)

I think I can grasp your thinking behind this - a lower-cost, stripped down firmware and a more expensive, fully-featured one - is that what you were suggesting? Sadly, I don’t think that would make an appreciable difference to the costs as the hardware and development costs would still be the same.
 

Or if you meant more for simplicity’s sake, there’s not much need as the interface is so clean and simple as it is that the more advanced features won’t feel intimidating by their presence. 

Edited September 25, 2022 by Quatschmacher

[EBS_freak]

2 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

The costs to make would be the same though (in fact more as you then have to make a simpler model), you would just be getting less. I suppose the advantage is you would sell more, but that only works out when you have a larger scale operation, and there isn't going to be a huge market.

Same hardware - and then the chance to upsell as a user becomes more demanding on the units use… or a second owner can generate a revenue stream in its second lifetime.

 

The majority of costs here will have been in the sw development.

 

The lite version appropriately costed would give the opportunity to lower the price to compete with the existing market offerings maybe?

 

Cater for the masses and all that.

 

This model worked well for the XDeep dive computer. Meant they could sell a bottom timer, upgradeable to an air computer, upgradeable to a nitrox computer. All was going well until the manufacturer of the OLED screen stopped making it.

[EBS_freak]

4 hours ago, prowla said:

I'm not sure I agree with that;

 

So 1 member of basschat…!

[BigRedX]

The thing is that a lot of people who are doing MIDI manipulation live are already using a computer at the centre of their performance set-up. In order to compete this device needs to be essentially bomb-proof in build and operation. The PSU connector doesn't say that to me. 

 

Given that everyone else apart from EBS-freak and myself seems to be perfectly happy to take devices with consumer-grade computer connections on stage without cocooning them in gig-hardened cases means that we are in the minority and not the target customer base.

[Woodinblack]

Isn't the psu connector the same as every boss connector that has been on a stage with pretty well every group since the end of the 70s? It seems to do alright mostly (and of all connectors, its the one I haven't had a problem with).

[HazBeen]

Wow, just got onto this…. specialty kit with a feature set (and price I expect) that is overkill for most, but there are going to be decent numbers of folks (pro and amateur) that will see midi control on the fly never seen before. Glorious!

[itu]

As seen here, it might be eye-opening for many potential users to show different user scenarios:

- rack units

- certain pedals (FI!)

- other unit communicating via MIDI

 

That could help users with less MIDI-knowledge to see possibilities that are there, but aren't so obvious to us mortals.

[prowla]

5 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

So 1 member of basschat…!

I'm sensing negativity...

[prowla]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

The thing is that a lot of people who are doing MIDI manipulation live are already using a computer at the centre of their performance set-up. In order to compete this device needs to be essentially bomb-proof in build and operation. The PSU connector doesn't say that to me. 

 

Given that everyone else apart from EBS-freak and myself seems to be perfectly happy to take devices with consumer-grade computer connections on stage without cocooning them in gig-hardened cases means that we are in the minority and not the target customer base.

 

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

Isn't the psu connector the same as every boss connector that has been on a stage with pretty well every group since the end of the 70s? It seems to do alright mostly (and of all connectors, its the one I haven't had a problem with).

It looks pretty much the same to me.

Also similar to the ones on the Roland PK5 and Keith McMillen 12-Step MIDI pedals.

My thought is: you wire these things up on a pedalboard and never plug things directly into it.

[prowla]

5 hours ago, EBS_freak said:

Same hardware - and then the chance to upsell as a user becomes more demanding on the units use… or a second owner can generate a revenue stream in its second lifetime.

 

The majority of costs here will have been in the sw development.

 

The lite version appropriately costed would give the opportunity to lower the price to compete with the existing market offerings maybe?

 

Cater for the masses and all that.

 

This model worked well for the XDeep dive computer. Meant they could sell a bottom timer, upgradeable to an air computer, upgradeable to a nitrox computer. All was going well until the manufacturer of the OLED screen stopped making it.

 I would've thought that two versions would increase the development costs.