64 Rotary/Push encoders in 8x8 grid

[TomViolenz]

Hey guys,
I have been thinking about that whole matrix mixer concept and decided I want one

What I want is pretty straight forward:
An 8x8 grid of rotary push button encoders (the rotary can be pushed as well adding a button on top of the encoder knob).
A LED ring around each encoder.
USB bus powered.
Smallish.
A plus would be if the encoder would have a higher resolution than the standard 128 data points.

Does such a device exist or could it be build with some existing kits (preferably without soldering)?
Thanks for your in-put guys!
Tom

PS: I thought of using two Behringer BCR2000, but one of them is already HUGE and it is not bus powered. (And I would rather have that fuctionality in one device)

[2be]

It's your lucky day!
djtechtools announced the Midi Figther Twister, which would be what you are looking for.
You'd need 4 of them of course.

http://www.djtechtools.com/2013/11/03/m ... r-twister/

[TomViolenz]

It's your lucky day!
djtechtools announced the Midi Figther Twister, which would be what you are looking for.
You'd need 4 of them of course.

http://www.djtechtools.com/2013/11/03/m ... r-twister/

This seems overkill and I would need 4 of those which would make it a hassle to use And would be 800 €
So I hope there are other possibilities...

[2be]

I'd imagine getting a small case for them could work. 800 bucks is a lot of cash but I'm not sure you would be getting what you wanted for much less money.
Maybe you can find something on http://lividinstruments.com/index.php?

[TomViolenz]

I'd imagine getting a small case for them could work. 800 bucks is a lot of cash but I'm not sure you would be getting what you wanted for much less money.
Maybe you can find something on http://lividinstruments.com/index.php?

I checked livids website already. None of the assembly kits have what I want (there is a 4x4 unit but without LEDs or push functionality) For the DIY kits it might be possible, but I hoped to avoid getting a new hobby (building Midi controllers).
But if you know how to do it, maybe you could give me a few pointers on how hard that would be and what parts I would need.

BTW I found a very close product to what I want, only to find out it hasn't been available for quite some time
(Doepfer Drehbank)

[oblique strategies]

BTW I found a very close product to what I want, only to find out it hasn't been available for quite some time
(Doepfer Drehbank)

I highly recommend Doepfer products. I used to have three Drehbanks, two of which I purchased second hand. They are so well built that they are fairly safe to buy used.

I have two Doepfer Pocket Dials:
16 rotary encoders x 4 banks = 64 encoders. Top notch, but also have to be purchased used.


I also have Faderfox LD2 with 16 push-button encoders in a 4x4 grid.

Even with these options available I can definitely see the value of having one big 64 encoder matrix mixer rather than a number of small individual units.

I've been researching this for a while, & the closest ready-made option I can find to a 64 encoder 8x8 matrix controller would be two Livid Code units. I've been eyeing these as replacements for the Pocket Dials.

Do an image search for: "midibox" for some mouth-watering custom built controllers. Here's a direct link: they have lots of components for DIY
http://www.midibox.org/

By the way, those DJ tech Tool units are nifty! Thanks for that.

[Ubik]

The code from livid seems pretty close to what you want but it has only 4 rows of 8.
http://www.lividinstruments.com/hardware_code.php

[TomViolenz]

BTW I found a very close product to what I want, only to find out it hasn't been available for quite some time
(Doepfer Drehbank)

I highly recommend Doepfer products. I used to have three Drehbanks, two of which I purchased second hand. They are so well built that they are fairly safe to buy used.

I have two Doepfer Pocket Dials:
16 rotary encoders x 4 banks = 64 encoders. Top notch, but also have to be purchased used.


I also have Faderfox LD2 with 16 push-button encoders in a 4x4 grid.

Even with these options available I can definitely see the value of having one big 64 encoder matrix mixer rather than a number of small individual units.

I've been researching this for a while, & the closest ready-made option I can find to a 64 encoder 8x8 matrix controller would be two Livid Code units. I've been eyeing these as replacements for the Pocket Dials.

Do an image search for: "midibox" for some mouth-watering custom built controllers. Here's a direct link: they have lots of components for DIY
http://www.midibox.org/

By the way, those DJ tech Tool units are nifty! Thanks for that.

I checked the livid code but two of these would run me 1100USD! Not gonna happen for me
(4 Faderfox units would be 1000€ as well)
I would also have to buy several of the units and couldn't depend on the banking of different 4x4 presets, because for the Matrix Mixer it would be kind of important to have everything visible/accessable the whole time. (For what a Matrix Mixer is, just imagine you have your Return section in Live open and you have 8 Return Tracks and you assigned an encoder to each of the send dials within the return tracks - should be controllable feed back heaven )

I have also found Midibox (but thanks for the suggestion!). The problem I have there, is that this seems like a whole new hobby in itself. I could probably teach myself how to solder (I worked with glue guns before, the difference should only be the temperature and the "glue"), but it seems like you also have to somehow program the boards to do what you would want them to do. It's not that I couldn't learn how to program in Python (I think that's what they mostly use), but it would just take too much time away from making music.

The problem with the Doepfer products is, that they are hard to come by and go for quite a bit more, than they originally sold for. And I just hate using e-bay (I never win the auctions )

[TomViolenz]

The code from livid seems pretty close to what you want but it has only 4 rows of 8.
http://www.lividinstruments.com/hardware_code.php

Yeah, but the price is a problem

[Ubik]

Yes... quite expensive... I guess it's time to learn electronics and soldering... http://tomashg.com/?p=598

[chapelier fou]

http://uCApps.de/

[TomViolenz]

Yes... quite expensive... I guess it's time to learn electronics and soldering... http://tomashg.com/?p=598

I guess I really don't mind the soldering thing so much and I'd think I'm able to read electrical charts, but how much programming would be necessary to get a self build controller to work?
Are the bread boards that they sell in different places the key to not having to program, or are there standard software packages that one could use?
Also: I skimmed your link, but he talks of rewriting software already in the first few lines on the page...I think that would be too involved for me!
So the question is can I achieve what I want without learning how to program?

[TomViolenz]

http://uCApps.de/

Thanks that's a good link, that another nice forum poster had already sent me per PM. But I still couldn't figure out on this site if I'd need to learn how to program in order to self build these great devices.

[oblique strategies]

Since we're talking about matrix mixers...

Here's an analog matrix mixer that I've had my eye on for a while:
ProRack Monitor model M1016



Check out this cute little matrix mixer:




I work with multi-speaker spatialized sound systems, & matrix mixers are ideal.

[TomViolenz]

Since we're talking about matrix mixers...

Here's an analog matrix mixer that I've had my eye on for a while:
ProRack Monitor model M1016



Check out this cute little matrix mixer:




I work with multi-speaker spatialized sound systems, & matrix mixers are ideal.

The middle one is beautiful!!!
But I guess it's not Midi capable?!
Also how does it feel working without LED rings on the encoders, doesn't that get confusing?!