Faderfox EC4

Excellent controller, very small and compact with huge capabilities.

I use it in Bitwig Studio and I have to admit that it works perfectly with the associated script (available on github). With EC4 you can control literally everything.

It is well designed and durable, the encoders are excellent - the spacing is just right and I personally prefer the slightly "sharpened" encoders on top. The push encoder function is also great. The very good thing is that it has an OLED screen which is top notch - EC4 is very easy to program thanks to the OLED screen.

Faderfox controllers are a bit more expensive, but the quality is worth it.

Love it. Absolutely.

I will only mention what I consider the non-obvious:

PROS:
- It comes preloaded with the "apparent" CC messages based on the Setup (Bank), Groups and Encoders. So, in the case of CC-ing, configuring the names is just a matter of vanity and ergonomics.
- It is much lighter than you'd think (maybe a con?)
- Changes are applied immediately. No need to press "save" all the time and no fear of losing a long work session.
- It can be configured via a web-based editor... I could not care less for the web-based editor. Doing it on the device has become a pleasure.
- The navigation/configuration is initially a bit complex but then you realise that it's natural for a device that does so much.
- The encoders feel a little hard (maybe a con? I like it)

CONS
- Its much lighter than you think. The enclosure plastic feels a little... cheap... plastic-y.
- The top LEDs have a cheap-ish feel to them.
- The top buttons also have a cheap-ish feel to them and they wiggle.
- TRS MIDI type B.
- That ugly squared USB connection.
- The manual. Absolutely awful. I just learned without it.
- There are some software features things I would love to see but I don't think they belong here (the most popular review on u-tube talks about these and more)

Der Faderfox hat meinen Workflow 100% verändert und einfacher gemacht. Ich habe ziemlich viele Synths und am Faderfox für alle Bank Select (MSB/LSB) und Program Change eingerichtet sowie die wichtigsten Knöpfe wie ADSR, Filter, Resonanz usw. Das heißt: ich kann direkt am Masterkeyboard sitzen bleiben, Presets auswählen und Parameter ändern, ohne aufzustehen, zum Synth zu laufen, was zu ändern (und dann ist das Keyboard wieder nicht in Reichweite). Die wichtigsten Parameter sind jetzt für alle Synths im Faderfox an derselben Stelle - ich muss also auch nicht mehr im Dunkeln Knöpfe suchen. Und auch Effektpedale wie das Hologram Chroma oder Vongon Polyphrase kann ich über MIDI fernbedienen, das spart irre viel Zeit und erhält vor allem den "Flow", auch wenn's erstmal echt viel Arbeit zur Konfiguration war.

Ursprünglich gab es Probleme mit NRPN durch Verwendung von 7-bit messages, das wurde aber mit der v2.0 Firmware zu Weihnachten 2023 gelöst. Diese Firmware hat zig neue Funktionen eingeführt (u.a. auch den längst überfälligen Screensaver gegen Einbrennen der Anzeige), unbedingt updaten! Der Entwickler/Hersteller antwortet schnell und hilft sehr kompetent bei Einrichtungsproblemen, absolut empfehlenswert.