How do you like your MIDI Fighter Twister?

[killmaster]

I'm thinking of getting one. They seem great from what I can tell. Well built with a ton of customization. I do wonder though if this device could be updated to take advantage of higher resolution and other advantages that will be provided in MIDI 2.0? Mainly thinking of high resolution parameter tweaking.

Thanks for any feedback!

[Widowsky]

I doubt very much that the hardware is capable of more than 7-bit MIDI.

For the stage, the MIDI Fighter Twister is great. It doesn't take up much space. It's different. Its customizable lights attract stares and Instagram videos.

For production, it sucks. Off the top of my head: The encoders are very inaccurate. They send the same value several times in a row. You need an app to program it, and this one is, as always, mediocre. Impossible to send anything other than a single Control Change or MIDI note. Impossible to send a snapshot of encoder positions to the DAW. The buttons used to switch from one bank of controllers to another send controllers themselves, which cannot be deactivated (so you need to filter them in the DAW if you don't want to risk messing things up).

There was a third-party attempt to rewrite the firmware (Muffin), but I don't think it came to anything.

[killmaster]

I doubt very much that the hardware is capable of more than 7-bit MIDI.

For the stage, the MIDI Fighter Twister is great. It doesn't take up much space. It's different. Its customizable lights attract stares and Instagram videos.

For production, it sucks. Off the top of my head: The encoders are very inaccurate. They send the same value several times in a row. You need an app to program it, and this one is, as always, mediocre. Impossible to send anything other than a single Control Change or MIDI note. Impossible to send a snapshot of encoder positions to the DAW. The buttons used to switch from one bank of controllers to another send controllers themselves, which cannot be deactivated (so you need to filter them in the DAW if you don't want to risk messing things up).

There was a third-party attempt to rewrite the firmware (Muffin), but I don't think it came to anything.

Thanks for the reply! This is the first negative feedback I've gotten on them so good to know they aren't perfect! Wow, so surprised. Seems like they would address these issues since they seem basic to what you would expect funtionally.

[Widowsky]

Thanks for the reply! This is the first negative feedback I've gotten on them so good to know they aren't perfect! Wow, so surprised. Seems like they would address these issues since they seem basic to what you would expect funtionally.

Well, I'm happy with it for DJ sets — I use it to control Traktor — but I've kicked it out of my studio because I have better alternatives.

[killmaster]

Thanks for the reply! This is the first negative feedback I've gotten on them so good to know they aren't perfect! Wow, so surprised. Seems like they would address these issues since they seem basic to what you would expect funtionally.

Well, I'm happy with it for DJ sets — I use it to control Traktor — but I've kicked it out of my studio because I have better alternatives.

Thanks! Can you name a few studio alternatives? I'm looking for a controller mainly for my studio, but also hopefully compact enough to take out live if need be.

[Widowsky]

To record single MIDI CCs, I use a NI KK S49 MK2. The hardware is of excellent quality and the encoders top-notch. But the software is so crippled and annoying that it's hard to to recommend it, especially if, like me, you don't give a damn about the preset search functions.

For anything more sophisticated, such as sending CC combinations or SysEx, I use a Yamaha 03D or the interfaces on my synths.

[killmaster]

To record single MIDI CCs, I use a NI KK S49 MK2. The hardware is of excellent quality and the encoders top-notch. But the software is so crippled and annoying that it's hard to to recommend it, especially if, like me, you don't give a damn about the preset search functions.

For anything more sophisticated, such as sending CC combinations or SysEx, I use a Yamaha 03D or the interfaces on my synths.

Thank you for this! Going to take a look.