MidiMate vs All access [was Re: Simulcast of Y2K4: I need advice]

[Jeff Larson <Jeffrey.Larson@Sun.COM>]

Larry Cooperman wrote:

>
>
> They say it will do 5 control changes and I've been beating my head 
> against the wall I take it.  That's really all I needed with the 
> Echoplex foot controller.  Do you know anything about the Rocktron All 
> Access pedal.  That may be the trick to get all the MIDI out of the 
> Echoplex.


The All Access is the most powerful foot controller on the market 
today.  It will do everything you need and more.
But it is very expensive, the cheapest I've seen it go for on eBay is 
around $600.  The usual outlets like Musicians Friend
don't seem to carry it, I'm not sure if it's because it isn't a high 
volume item or if Rocktron isn't distributing it anymore.

If all you want to control is an EDP with control changes, and send 
program changes to at most 5 other
devices, the Behringer FCB1010 is the best value today at around $150.  
It's about the same price as the MidiMate.
Overall the Behringer is more flexible as it supports momentary buttons 
and has builtin expression pedals, but
it is somewhat limited in the number of MIDI channels you can use.  The 
MidiMate can send messages on all 16
MIDI channels on any button, but it doesn't support momentary buttons.  
The MidiMate does not support SYSEX dumps
which let you save and restore all of your button programs, the 
Beheringer does.   The Behringer is
one of the larger pedals, the MidiMate is relatively compact.

I ended up with  a Ground Control Pro which is roughly in between the 
Beheringer and the All Access.
Like the All Access the GCP buttons are arranged in a multi-row grid 
with high quality but "clicky" buttons.
Some people don't like these buttons because they're audible and you 
have to think harder when you
press them to avoid accidentally pressing an adjacent button.  The GCP 
is quite acceptable for
the EDP and is around $400 from MF.

With any foot controller, you have to comfortable with MIDI concepts in 
order to program it effectively.
The MidMate manual is available online, if you're considering one I 
advise you read it and think about
how you would program it for your situation.  If you can get a good deal 
one one, say $75 or less, and
you're willing to live without momentary buttons, it may be ok.  But if 
you only need to control the EDP
and aren't concerned about size, the FCB is better. 

If you have a complicated rig in addition to the EDP, consider the GCP 
or the All Access.

Jeff