Behringer FCV100 & iPad / sysex questions

[jdiercks]

Hi, here's a pre-purchase question--

Looks like the MIDI Expression is a real swiss-army-knife for pedals! I hope it can address my specific issue. I have an M-Audio Keystation 88es and a Behringer FCV100 pedal, and they appear not to be compatible with each other (the 88es appears to expect a 10k pedal, but the FCV100 is 50k). I'm hoping the MIDI Expression will help me work around this problem, but I can't find any specifics on what impedance it expects/supports.

So I guess the main question is: will MIDI Expression work with the Behringer FCV100?

Also, I'm planning to use this with an iPad Air via the USB Camera Connection Kit (which works for most other class-compliant devices). Any known issues with MIDI Expression and iPad/CCK? How much voltage does it draw?

And finally, since I assume there is no control app for iPad, can the MIDI Expression receive sysex or other MIDI messages to change its settings on the fly with only an iPad and no computer?

Thanks.

--Jon

[Rob]

I have an M-Audio Keystation 88es and a Behringer FCV100 pedal, and they appear not to be compatible with each other (the 88es appears to expect a 10k pedal, but the FCV100 is 50k). I'm hoping the MIDI Expression will help me work around this problem, but I can't find any specifics on what impedance it expects/supports.

I wish I could say that buying a MIDI Expression would solve your problem, but I suspect the issue is with your setup and not the type of pot your pedal uses. I've looked around the web about this pedal and have read some conflicting reports. Some people say it should work and others say it doesn't. Let's just make sure you are connecting your pedal correctly to the 88es.

1) You have the pedal set to CV mode.
2) You have a TRS cable (stereo, not guitar lead) plugged into Output 2.

Regards,
Rob

[jdiercks]

Thanks for the quick reply, Rob! Yes, CV mode and TRS, connected to the es88's Volume Pedal input. I have tested the same pedal with a Nord Stage keyboard, and it works as expected there.

[Rob]

So I looked up the 88es and it looks like it accepts sustain pedals and not expression pedals, so that would explain the problem.

In that case, ya, a MIDI Expression would definitely sort you out. On to the parts of your questions from the original post, I do know that some users are using ME with the iPad CCK. I don't have specific info on power consuption, but I'll look into it. Given the size of the micro-controller inside ME, I think it's safe to assume that it's current draw is very low. I'll do some tests this coming week.

Regards,
Rob.

[jdiercks]

Rob-- The 88es definitely does have a volume pedal input (the smaller keystation models do not, but the 88es does) and I've even gotten mine to produce cc11 output, but not full 0-127 range and not linear.

So anyway, based on your comments I think the ME is what I need. I'll order tonight! Thanks for being so responsive.

--Jon

[Rob]

Rob-- The 88es definitely does have a volume pedal input (the smaller keystation models do not, but the 88es does) and I've even gotten mine to produce cc11 output, but not full 0-127 range and not linear.

Okay, now we're getting somewhere. MIDI Expression can definitely help you out with those issue. It has a calibration function which tracks the voltage range of your pedal. This will ensure the values go from 0-127. Secondly, because your pedal has a log pot in it (volume), you can use the Expression Curve to approximate linear.

Regards,
Rob

[jdiercks]

Order in! I'll let you know how it goes when I get it.

[jdiercks]

Got it and love it! I did need to apply a custom curve in order for the FCV100 to do a smooth sweep from 0 to 127, but after a little trial and error I got that smooth like butter!

Thanks for such a useful product!