KVR Audio

Marcel Deneuve · Post by **Marcel Deneuve** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 3:31 am

Hello!

Recently I thought about a DIY midi controller with pitch and mod wheels.
I wonder where I could buy these wheels for a reasonable price.

In addition, I'd like to know if the Softpot is a good substitution of wheel.

Regards.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 9:12 am

Marcel Deneuve wrote:Hello!

Recently I thought about a DIY midi controller with pitch and mod wheels.
I wonder where I could buy these wheels for a reasonable price.

In addition, I'd like to know if the Softpot is a good substitution of wheel.

Regards.

Wheels are generally just pots with funny knobs...

http://www.doepfer.de/A100_pictures/A174_2.jpg

Doepfer sell premade wheels too...

http://www.doepfer.de/zubeh_e.htm

You'll be able to find spare wheels for all sorts of synths on ebay, so that might be another way.

Softpots have definitely been used for similar purposes, yes. probably feel different from a performance perspective, though.

Marcel Deneuve · Post by **Marcel Deneuve** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 7:36 pm

whyterabbyt, thanks for the reply.

As for softpot, I just wanted to know if these pots are precise enough and comfortable in usage.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Fri Apr 27, 2018 8:57 am

Marcel Deneuve wrote:whyterabbyt, thanks for the reply.

As for softpot, I just wanted to know if these pots are precise enough and comfortable in usage.

Sorry, cant comment on that one first-hand. But I do know there are a couple of Eurorack modules which use softpots, so asking at Muff Wiggler for feedback on that might be useful?

Also, justin3am here used a softpot in a DIY project a year or two back, he might be able to comment.

Marcel Deneuve · Post by **Marcel Deneuve** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 12:22 pm

whyterabbyt, oh thanks! I'll try to contact with some of them.

justin3am · Post by **justin3am** » Sat Apr 28, 2018 5:15 pm

It depends on the size of the softpot and the circuit it's part of. You might find it difficult to make precise adjustments with a softpot, the way you can with a mod wheel. But there are some really easy arduino projects for getting MIDI from a softpot, and the sensors aren't terribly expensive, so I would say, just give it a try.

Marcel Deneuve · Post by **Marcel Deneuve** » Wed May 02, 2018 2:15 pm

justin3am, I think so too ...
I'd like to have precise controls over the parameters.
Having thought a little I decided to replace wheels with the Joystick. Yes, it has its own cons, but it will probably be better for me.

Guys, big thanks for your help!

talfi · Post by **talfi** » Thu Sep 05, 2019 6:09 am

Hey whyterabbyt, about this wheel: http://www.doepfer.de/A100_pictures/A174_2.jpg,
can you branch it to a usb?

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Thu Sep 05, 2019 10:45 am

talfi wrote: ↑Thu Sep 05, 2019 6:09 am Hey whyterabbyt, about this wheel: http://www.doepfer.de/A100_pictures/A174_2.jpg,
can you branch it to a usb?

Im presuming you mean USB MIDI?
Well, that's a Eurorack module, so its outputting a CV conformed to the voltage range for Eurorack, +/- 5.5V. What you'd effectively need to use that directly is some sort of 'Eurorack CV->USB' device but I cant think of one offhand.
Generally, you'd be better off with their 'raw' modwheels, without the voltage conversion, hooked up to a microcontroller (say a Teensy) that could be plugged in as a USB MIDI device, or Doepfer's own USB64. The modwheel is just a regular pot, that's fairly trivial to connect up.

DIY Midi Controller (with pitch and mod wheels)