Alternative to Morningstar MC6/8

Not as easy to get it setup as it looks, needs a lot of tweaking, understanding and work to make it work properly. I have read pretty much every post about them, that is what I understood among the good things
Several years ago that was definitely the problem, but Morningstar (and other companies) has done a lot of work building up its configuration software to help improve the integration with Fractal's MIDI implementation. Older reviews and comments are very likely based on old experiences and should be taken with a grain of salt. "The Internet never forgets" is often a bad thing.

When the FM3 came out I had an MC6 already and decided to try using it with the Fractal. I got it working but not in the way I wanted to; The MIDI units assumed they were the boss, and Fractal's hardware is designed so that the modeler is in control so trying to resolve the difference was difficult. Eventually, I got tired of the struggle and switched to the FC-6 and, from my experience, the FC units are the best choice for full integration with the modelers, for obvious reasons. A MIDI device still takes more configuring than the FC, which can be plugged in, the appropriate layout selected, and it just works. From that point, you can learn and tweak at your leisure.

If I was to use a MIDI unit, I'd consider the MC8 first knowing they've done a lot to improve their software. When I had my MC6 I felt it was too cramped for my size feet, and the display lacked the information I wanted. I really like the switch spacing on the FC units though, so I'd want something closer to their size and spacing hence my leaning toward the MC8.

Did Morningstar ever add the ability to sync effects block status as you change presets and scenes? That's a big shortfall of a lot of 3rd party controllers without dedicated Fractal functionality.
That was the breaking point for me; I could get the MC6 to tell the modeler to do something, but getting it to show me the current state of the effect blocks drove me crazy. It was a no-brainer with the FC.
 
That was the breaking point for me; I could get the MC6 to tell the modeler to do something, but getting it to show me the current state of the effect blocks drove me crazy. It was a no-brainer with the FC.
Resurrecting this old thread, to say that another Morningstar user suggested inserting a MIDI block in each FM3 scene, which would "tell" the MC6/8 what the effect status was on each scene switch. It's kind of an offshoot of the setup documented by @hole. It's not exactly integration with the FM3, but it does ge the job done and avoids a status mis-match between the units. I have requested true Morningstar-FM3 effect integration on that forum, and there's some interest, but whether it will ever happen isn't clear.
 
inserting a MIDI block in each FM3 scene, which would "tell" the MC6/8 what the effect status was on each scene switch.
That would kind of work as long as the user never toggled the bypass state of a block from the modeler. As soon as the modeler is in a different state than the MIDI board then it gets confusing.

The modeler expects to be in control and the authority about what is happening, and so does the MIDI board, and they both can’t be. One has to be subordinate and forcing the modeler to tell the MIDI unit everything that can happen is a PITA compared to simply using a FC unit. We want to save money going with the MIDI solution but then have to put in additional work for the same functionality as the FC. Eventually I decided it wasn’t worth it.

The MIDI solutions have improved a lot but they’re still not as well integrated. They do offer great flexibility when dealing with multiple types of systems but we should always balance the cost vs. labor of one vs. the other. Just my $0.02.
 
I take it you tried both? What made you choose the voes?
Sorry for the misconception, I built my own and haven't used voes.

My reason for my post is that voes seems like the only one who has intentionally designed for Fractal functionality. (Sysex effect on/off status being the obvious one)

EDIT: Before I decided on building my own, voes was the leading candidate.

Morningstar's seems like an afterthought.
 
Sorry for the misconception, I built my own and haven't used voes.

My reason for my post is that voes seems like the only one who has intentionally designed for Fractal functionality. (Sysex effect on/off status being the obvious one)

EDIT: Before I decided on building my own, voes was the leading candidate.

Morningstar's seems like an afterthought.
Not sure when morningstar last updated their integration stuff, but I take it you did this recently?
 
Back
Top Bottom