Product: Doepfer Pocket Dial
Price Paid: 430 (CDN)
Submitted
03/20/2002
at
07:17pm
by
The Evil Twin
Email: eviltwin<at>digitaldream dot ca
Ease of Use
:
7
I'm using the Pocket Editor 2.5.
No presets.. this is a midi controller
Editing the controls is ok. Could be easier... but it's not that hard.
The manual is originally in German so it's lacking in english. But not by much.
This also greatly depends on your understanding of midi, your routing, and the manual of the thing you are trying to control.
Overall I had this thing up in a matter of hours doing what I want.
Features
:
8
- The knobs feel solid enough. I like the position click. 24 clicks/steps in one revolution.
- They are a little to close for my tastes but the price dictates it I guess.
- The one BIG problem is that not every synth/VSTi/etc. accepts inc/dec or sends feedback for the Pocket Dial. This means that on some instruments you get jumps anyways even though this is infinite rotary. Though it does handle that.
- I would have gladly paid more money and not have to use those dip switches on the back of the unit to set what bank I want. There is four bank buttons on the top. There should be 8 or even 16 in a grouping to allow access to all 128 presets.
- The knobs have acceleration.. the faster your turn.. the faster the position turns. This is nice.
- Software upgradable!
Expressiveness/Sounds
:
No Opinion
N/A
Reliability
:
5
- The unit is housed in a metal case. That's tought enough. But the midi plugs don't feel to sturdy when inserting and removing the jacks.
- The power supply looks REALLY CHEAP and I'm probably going to go to Radio Shack and pick up a better one.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Havn't delt with them so no comment
Overall Rating
:
7
For the price... I can't complain too much. It works for what I want to use it for... but not much else.
I got the special edition that comes in the silver housing and with BLue LEDs... so at least it doesn't look as ugly as the original version. The functionality is the same.
The quality of something like the IBK 10 Control is probably better... but it's not worth it at 3 times the price with 6 less knobs.
Still... I don't know if I would buy it again... the overall feeling is not what I expected... I guess you just can't beet a dedicated controller for whatever you're using. Hardware rulez.
