Ableton Forum

hi, im planing to buy some controller for playing live, a compact one is im looking for..
been around the net and people saying that's faderfox lv2 and lx2 is a compact all in one solution for controlling live....
but since the price is quite pricy for me and the only way to get em is buying it online...
so before i pick it up i need few things that i should know first and hopefully you guys can help. bought an Edirol PCR-300 and still cant use it properly (set 1 knob for 1 command, instead they're 4 knob etc) and its driving me insane! been trough the net and the manual but i still dont get it!

im using ableton live suite

1. is it hard to set up the faderfoxes? i've read they come with cds and templates
2. im looking for a setup so i dont have to use a mouse or the trackpad when going live, any control suggestions?

my friend also recommend me to check Akai MPD 24, anyone got this?
thx before...

As of Live 7 you don't need any templates for the Faderfoxes - they map natively within Live. Look in the Control Surfaces lessons for more info on how they map. They are very easy to set up.

.m

I've replied to your pm on this subject mate

thx Lo-Fi, ollyb303....
just upgraded my 7 to 7.0.10
on the midi pref, now there's an option for faderfoxes...
for getting my hand off the mouse should i get the lv2s or do i need any other faderfox like the lx2 or the ld2?
is the akai mpd is also easy to setup? since it got display guess it got much more feature

Depends on what you do with your mouse. How big your set it (Faderfoxes are built to fit 12 tracks). If you're prepared to do some custom mappings as well as the native ones.

Did you check the lessons yet?

.m

I have PM'd this to you, but thought I would post it here as well for the benefit of any other faderfox newbs!!

I will attempt to answer your questions...

deadtotheworld wrote:
1. can I choose any clips/scene and play it? which button will replace "enter"? is it the blue ones?

1. Yes - I use two of the rotary encoders for slot/scene scroll and track select (this is how live assigns them anyway) - then the slot/scene scroll is also your clip launch (they're endless rotary push encoders, so just push to launch) and the track select is also push to stop a clip.

deadtotheworld wrote:
2. it got 6 slider, theres a green and red indicator above it, is it means we got 6 slider x 2 bank?

2. Yes - the small black button below and to the left of the faders will switch between tracks 1-6 and 7-12, so you can control 12 tracks with one unit.

deadtotheworld wrote:
3. do i still need another faderfox so i can loose the mouse? which one you recommend?

3. This really depends how many tracks you're running & how much control you need over them (plugins etc). I've only used the LV2 and DJ2 units, but if you needed more in the way of buttons or rotaries, maybe the LD2 or LX2 would make sense(?). However, if you only use 12 tracks and only need to control 6 of them at exactly the same time (without the need to switch banks) then you could control a set with 1 LV2.

deadtotheworld wrote:
4. what do you do with 2 lv2s anyway? would you explain it a bit?

4. I have 2 LV2s so that I can use 12 tracks at the same time without having to switch banks - I mix everything in session view for my live set so I sometimes need full control over, say track 1 and track 12 at the same time!
They are set up like this (and this is one variation on how live assigns it for you).:

1st LV2 -
Joystick: assignable to any FXplugin (usually this is a filter on a drum track)
Rotaries: 1 slot/scene scroll(and clip launch); 2 track select(and clip stop); 3 cue volume(and clip select); 4 master volume(and master select)
Faders: track volume for tracks 1-6
Buttons(just the coloured ones, the others are for switching modes, etc):
top row - track mute 1-6
bottom row - solo track 1-6

2nd LV2 -
Joystick: assignable to any FXplugin (usually this is a filter on a synth track)
Rotaries: Assigned to 4-band EQ on all tracks (the rotaries will control the currently focused track)
Faders: track volume for tracks 7-12
Buttons(just the coloured ones, the others are for switching modes, etc):
top row - track mute 7-12
bottom row - solo track 7-12

DJ2 -
Joystick: assignable to any FXplugin (usually this is a filter on a bass track)
Upfaders: track volume for tracks 13/14
Crossfader - The Live crossfader
I use 4 of the keys below the crossfader as track mute/solo for tracks 13/14.
all other rotaries/keys on the DJ2 I just assign as I need them(I've only just got this unit and still trying to work out the best way to use it in live)

There is more you can do with the LV2 as the rotaries in particular can perform 6 different functions (clip selecting/eq/sends and 3 banks of FX control) and I'm only really using the first 2 functions. The coloured keys at the bottom (my mutes/solos) could instead be assigned to scene launch or slot launch or record.

Hope this helps - if you need to know anything else let me know - it may also be worth downloading the manual from
http://faderfox.de/LV2_User_manual_V02.PDF or http://faderfox.de/LV2_Bedienungsanleitung_V02.PDF and having a read through it - it's available in English or German (and I will warn you now that the English translation is quite poor!). May give you more insight into what you can do with the unit.

Peace.

You're very generous Olly.

.m

Oh yeah! Notice how I got a sneaky little "rtfm" in there as well though

So both LV2 are on the same setup and you just set the second one -gray button on-for scrolling and the tracks to 7-12? I dont like using any shift keys while on stage so it make sense to get second LV2.
Regarding RTFM there should be disclaimer there that reading it may cause rage, fits,depressions, frustration,delusions, uncontrolled fury and lead to permanent mental damages, English version being significantly more dangerous.
@ OP if Akai then definitely MPD32 not 24. Faderfox or Akai? Mango or banana, you must find whats best for you, I like and use both.

yeah pretty much - I need simultaneous access to track volume, mute and solo on 12 tracks (sometimes more hence the DJ2 as well), so my LV2s are set up much the same - the other difference is the rotaries on one are for transport functions and on the other are for my EQs.

And I did warn about the manual - perhaps not in strong enough terms! The info is all in there- you just need to work out what it's trying to say first - I speak a little German as well and I think that helped me to understand some of the more bizarre sentence structuring!

But the built in lessons in Live gives a pretty broad picture of what they can do within Live.

.m

deadtotheworld wrote:bought an Edirol PCR-300 and still cant use it properly (set 1 knob for 1 command, instead they're 4 knob etc) and its driving me insane! been trough the net and the manual but i still dont get it!

anyone experienced similar problems? going for an edirol pcr-300 but now i'm a bit worried! hab some problems with recent m-audio controllers!