MIDI Expression iO not working with 3 pedal unit

[brett]

I'm trying to get a MIDI expression iO (older model with 3 inputs) working with this: https://www.roland.com/au/products/rpu-3/

It's 3 pedals in one unit, with 3 separate plugs.

But it's not working -- either the macOS or the iOS app:

- it only recognises 2 of the 3 pedals
- sometimes the second pedal will be recognised as the same one as the first pedal
- when I hit the 3rd pedal it stops recognising anything until I unplug and replug it

Any ideas what might be happening?

[Rob]

That pedal should work fine. I know I have several customers using it.

Are you using the latest version of the control application and firmware?

[brett]

The Mac version of MIDI expression says "current firmware 2.8.8.0 latest firmware 2.8.8.0"

The iOS version says "current firmware 2.8.8.0 latest firmware 2.8.7.5 .... the firmware for this device higher than the installed firmware"

[Rob]

If you disable pedal sensing by clicking in the 'expression pedal' icon for each input, does the device track pedals properly?

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[brett]

Changing to "expression pedal" didn't fix this in itself.

After factory resetting the unit (twice) it did start working with the pedals as expression pedals. They support half damping and do output continuous values from 0-127 so I guess they can be treated as expression pedals.

But switching them back to sustain pedals causes it to get very confused again -- a single pedal causes two pedals to fire and I can't seem to get them working consistently as sustain pedals at all.

[Rob]

So I today I tested some continuous controller damper pedals I have, and see some issues when they are forced to function as sustain pedals (most notably my Roland DP-10). I see if I can make some improvements.

[brett]

That’s great; thanks for the prompt reply.

Here’s a feature request: it would be nice if I could play two different notes with one pedal. Maybe in a similar way to “dual CC” mode, but a “dual note mode” where a short press generates one note and a long press generates the other one.

I can see hihat mode does something similar, but with a note and a “splash note” on release instead.

[Rob]

The problem with that is controlling the length of the note.

[brett]

Ah, I see. My use case is using the pedals for sound effects, where the length of the note either doesn’t matter (the shortest possible note is long enough) or doesn’t make any difference.

[ejaf01]

The problem with that is controlling the length of the note.

Has this issue been resolved? I was planning on ordering a MIDI Expression iO. But, I want to use the Expression iO with this exact triple pedal unit. It will simply be used as a regular triple pedal for a digital piano connected to my PC.

EDIT: I just realized the original poster was using the RPU-3 triple pedal with an older three port MIDI Expression iO. Are there any problems using the redesigned Dec 2021 MIDI Expression iO with continuous sustain pedals such as this?