Rockman MIDI Octopus

Very easy to use.

Hi there! After a deep search for the manual of this gear (I *lllove* to read manuals!), I've found it! Yeah, the unit it's simple enough to be a dummmy-proof, but if U wanna read the manual, here it is:
http://www.rockmancentral.com/RockmanCentral/Manuals/Manual_MIDI_Octopus.html.
Save 5 bucks for the beers...
Enjoy!

Soon I'll post my impression of use this unit.

This is probably the most easiest piece of MIDI gear on the planet... other than something like the midi mouse that just changes patches up and down... I bought mine used without a manual and I was able to figure out how to program it in a matter of minutes. No more difficult than saving stations on your car stereo.

no sound other than a sigh of relief that it worked when I bought it off ebay and worked well.

I haven't really used mine a lot out of the house yet. It's 12 years old and is going strong, so... I also bought a second one that was very used and it works great as well.

none available. not much online info either.

I bought two of these of ebay for less than $100. I bought the second because it had a remote loop. Remote loops are like gold, so if you find one, buy it. The remote loop makes it possible to switch fx boxes in and out of the signal path. It's basically just an fx loop add on. The Octopus is mana from heaven when it comes to switching functions on an amp. I use it on my Marshall Artist 3203 and a Mesa Boogie V-Twin. It gives me every switching combination possible just by choosing a patch. If it were stolen, I'd be pissed of course. But I do have a spare and they're relatively common on ebay. I wish it had built in remote loops. Theoretically you could change your stomp box switches from momentary/off/on to 1/4" TR switches.

I gave it to my cat and he figured it out in 2 minutes, it took me 4 minutes. You put in your preset from 1-99, hold the record button, it blinks a few times, and it is saved.

No sound quality involved, it switches fx on non-midi devices and midi devices as well. If your still confused think of it this way. Your guitar is the cable company, your effects are the signal boosters, the Midi Octopus is your cable box, a Midi Pedal would be the remote control (no one goes up and changes channels on the cable box anyways), and your amplifier is the tv.
The octopus doesn't turn your guitar into midi it is just controlled that way. So you can get that old analog sound that we all love, with digital control that we all love.
I would spend the money getting a Midi Pedal so you aren't stopping in the middle of a song to press the up and down button on the octopus (going back to the remote control/cable box theory).

It's a Rockman. Enough said.

No longer made, no longer owned by SR&D, and so it is no longer worth buying anything Rockman new from Dunlop. The one and only good thing about Dunlop owning Rockman is that all the old SR&D engineers are currently repairing and putting factory revisions on all the old Rockman stuff for $50.

Easy to use and reliable but are hard to find for a good price. Feel free to email me about the MIDI Octopus and any other Rockman gear (Sustainor, EQ, Distortion Generator, Smart Gate, Stereo Echo, Stereo Chorus, Midi Pedal) which I have reviewed.

Simple to use, set the switches, press the save button
didn't get the manual, there are a few things, like midi channel
setup ect. that might be useful. replaced with rolls patchwork,
an replaced that with a Peavey MidiPro and Rocktron PatchMate

didn't add noise

Ancient by FX standards, Tom Sholtz was way ahead of the curve
never gig without backup if you can

Rockman is long gone, Dunlop doesn't support it,
your on your own

Its a good unit for switching. It only has 99 patches, so if I remember right,
it wraps around if your setup addresses more than 99.
If I remember right there are dip switches on the back to set the midi channel

thier starting to get scarce, specially for those who already have
some rockman fx in their racks. If you don't, you might look for
newer alternatives. Rolls Patchwork, DMC MX-8, Peavey Midipro*, Rocktron Pathmate* both discontinued too, I think. Look around,
there are others

can't get much simpler, now can it?

...

The Midi Octopus switches ground to tip and thus may cause ground loop hum if you want to control more then one amp with it. Lifting the ground of one of the two devices may help to prevent problems.

I had problems with mine when I bought it on Ebay, a few switches were not working. Because Jim Dunlop doesn't support the Rockman Midi Octopus I would have had to send it out to a qualitfied repairman here in the Netherlands, if I could find one. But I talked to Mario Marino from AXESS ELECTRONICS and he told me this:
"The reason some of the switches weren't working when you got it is
because the previous owner probably tried connecting it to an amp that has "switch to positive" switching, such as a Soldano Decatone, which blew that part of the chip..."

He told me to replace the two ULN2803A IC's with new ones and everythign would work again. So I did and.... it WORKED !!!. These products cost less then the solder you use to repair it, so this guy saved me a lot of money !!!. Love him !!.

Nice piece of product, which they were still made. I use it to switch my Mesa/Boogie Quad preamp.

If you are a gear freak, check out my website: www.vanhelden.demon.nl/gear

Easy enough to use. Push the button for the switchs you want, hit the save button. Cool enough. Now select the preset you want, either by hand or by midi and your set. Very convineient to control footswitchable amps and effects through midi.

Doesn't effect sound quality. Any noise caused during switching is caused by what your switching. Switching between presets is instantaneous, so there isn't any lag between them.

I haven't had it long enough to really tell about reliability, but it seems fine. The hardwired ac cord is a real plus. No wall wart, and I don't have to worry about the cord falling or getting pulled out.

This unit has been long discountinued, and Rockman is now owned by Dunlop. (like everything else!) I e-mailed them about a manual, which they later responded to 4 days later saying that a copy could be mailed for $5. I really didn't see the point, there isn't anything that complicated to warrent a manual. I was kind of annoyed they wanted five dollars though. Every other company I've dealt with mailed me schematics and manuals for free.

It's very handy to be able to switch my Mesa Boogie Basis M-2000 through my Ground Control Midi controller. The M-2000 has six footswitchable functions, and the footswitch for it costs about $160. So I saved about $80 and don't have to tap dance between several controllers. Very cool. It helps in making my gear disappear in a live situation while still giving me complete control. I can concentrate on playing instead of what I'm going to have to switch on and off.

Very easy to use. I have many of his modules and getting the midi-octopus made it very easy to setup all my rockman modules and my peavey pro fex II thru a midi footpedal. All you have to do is turn a effect on or off save it to patch and you done.

There is no effect on overall sound

Very realiable. I use this setup as my rig and have had many people comment on how it sounds and works

Since Tom Scholtz company was sold to Jim Dunlop I have called and got a photocopy of the manual for 5 bucks.

I love the boston guitar sound. I use all of his modules controlled by the octopus and have found that is a very versatile and fit my needs. I have picked a second one and programmed it to match my current one as a backup.

Very simple unit for switching non-MIDI effects and amps.

Does not effect sound at all.

Haven't ad any problems. I have heard that hard bumps will erase the unit's memory, but hav not experienced this.

The Rockman line was bought by Jim Dunlop and the MIDI Octopus was discontinued. I bought the unit used and when I needed a manual, they mailed me a photo-copy of a manual... for 5 bucks.

I like this unit, but there is an accessory called the "MIDI Octopus Loop Box." Since they are no longer made, I have been looking for any of these units in order to switch stomp boxes with the Octopus. I have found on, but am looking for others.
If you have any you would be willing to part with, let me know.