I own an X15, which I modified for the 7-pin phantom power feature. I really like this controller. It has a few things I don't like, but it's usually available (used) at bargain basement prices, and that makes it a very good contender.
PROS:
- Extremely flexible - it has a preset mode (10 buttons recall 10 patches from current bank), and an effects mode (10 buttons can be assigned to continuous controllers or IAs)
- Two continuous controller pedals built in !!!
- The continuous controller pedals are optical - no scratchy pots - and seem to last (and stay calibrated) forever
- Easy to program
- Relatively compact and light for something with two built-in CC pedals
- Fits very nicely in my Line 6 carry bag for the FBV ;-)
CONS:
- Awkward to switch between preset and effects modes ... I would like to have an option to split that (into, say, 5 preset buttons and 5 effects buttons)
- The LED that indicates you're in effects mode can easily be confused with the LED that lights up when your first preset of any bank is active... and you can make the monumental mistake of hitting a button thinking you're activating an effect, when in fact you're recalling another preset (and murphy's law always makes this happen when you're playing a soft ballad, in front of 3500 people, and the patch you accidentally recalls just as the female singer enters into a quiet verse is in fact your death-metal soaring lead patch). A different color LED would have been smarter (and you cannot just swap it out for another LED because it's an assembly)
- Even though some versions look ok (mine included), there was a crop of X15 controllers that had the ugliest shocking-fuschia graphics ever to offend the eye (see
http://tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:jmY ... 5-0701.jpg). Beware, you may look cheesy using one of these.
All in all, Fractal's controller better be affordable for me to abandon my X15... even though it doesn't display the tuner output, I can live with it (and the tuner output is an Axe-FX idiosyncracy or mismatch, not the X15's fault, because my X15 displayed tuner output from previous gear just fine). The biggest reason for me to switch would be the possibility of assigning the buttons differently.
Cheers,
Daniel
