Since it's looking like we won't be able to use the MFC-101...

I'd say that this is THE chance for a 3rd party to develop custom firmware for the MFC. :-)
Just like the UNO firmware for the FCB, etc.
Firmware that replaces the internal stuff that comes with the MFC, and goes beyond the general MIDI capabilities that the MFC already offers.
 
yek said:
I'd say that this is THE chance for a 3rd party to develop custom firmware for the MFC.
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Yeah, but FAS would have to open the MFC internals up a bit, wouldn’t it? I don’t think anyone really knows how to do custom firmware for it.
 
i'm sure the new controllers will handle presets/banks, scenes/channels and stomps just fine. we're just going to have to adapt to a different work flow. I hope the tuner works better than on the MFC.
 
chris said:
It’s time to move forward.
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I’m all for moving forward and haven’t been a huge fan of the MFC, with all its limitations, but, given that the new controllers are months away and the MFC won’t work properly with the III, it’s kind of hard to move anywhere as things stand. :)

Also, while the new controllers have some truly great new capabilities, it’s not at all clear whether they (or the MIDI block in the III) are even able to replace the MFC as far as controlling other gear along with Axe is concerned.

Other than that, sure, it’s a welcome change.
 
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I hope that at least they don't decide to downgrade the simple functions that work over general midi: preset name, tempo and tuner. They can be easily implemented over the MIDI connector (as standard, ultra and axe fx 2 does) and it's important for the stage.

The only explanation for that is to force deprecation for economic reasons.

Note that fractal offer today february 2018 the MFC101 as the top controller in the website. Don't have sense to be deprecated in this way.
 
edding said:
I hope that at least they don't decide to downgrade the simple functions that work over general mid
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Now we’re in pure speculation territory, but what we do know is some things went wrong with these controllers. I doubt they planned to release them a month or two after the III.
 
I switched from an Axe-FX II to an Ax8 a little over a year ago, one of my biggest concerns was going from all the switches on the MFC down to only 8 IA switches and 3 function switches. After getting used to the flexibility of the per preset assignable switches I cant imagine going back to the MFC.
Just yesterday I was creating a preset for a song that had a part where I needed to use a momentary switch to kick in a trem it was very easy to just assign one of the switches on the first row to be a momentary trem but still use that switch for its normal function on the rest of my presets. With the MFC I would have had to reprogram that footswitch for ALL my presets.
 
chris said:
March 2014. Original MFC released in 2010. The Mark III isn’t a huge change from the original design.

It’s time to move forward.
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I have no problem moving forward and have always applauded Cliff for not allowing backwards compatibility to hinder new advancements. In this case I'm less than thrilled about less switches.

On the positive side I do like the LCD's for the switches and it appears as if the switches are further apart(?). And if Cliff's Tree Fiddy statement wasn't just humor, the price point is a welcomed change. At any rate, I can't afford either the Axe III or the MFC right now. It'll be at least Christmas of next year (if that). Who knows, maybe there will be an MFC-17 by then.
 
I completely understand the need for a new protocol since as Fractal has stated the MFC firmware was "full", and of course until all the features/capabilities of the new FC pedals are revealed it's a little bit of the cart ahead of the horse....but I do wonder (and was surprised) why less buttons are being used on the new FC pedal? I didn't think the MFC was too large and needed to be whittled down...? Just curious why buttons were removed instead of staying the same? I like 10 presets per bank with the next 5 being stomp switches and then of course tap tempo/tuner, bank up/down...with that layout I rarely if ever have to leave my main bank in an entire show...not sure how that will play out with less buttons...? Wait and see. Started with the Ultra many years ago, then the II...will definitely be looking to move up to the III. It's the best most versatile product of it's type made.
 
trancegodz said:
I wish someone would do a tutorial video showing how to do all this. The existing MFC-101 tutorial videos don't address this. It would come in handy for those needing to use the MFC-101 with the Axe FXIII.
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I’ll do it. It’s actually very easy. I’ll do it tomorrow
 
wezx said:
I didn't think the MFC was too large and needed to be whittled down...?
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I, for one, think the MFC does have too many buttons and is too large for what it does. Flexible button assignment could let you work with fewer of those, depending on implementation. I may use no more than 4 scenes per song but keep 8 buttons reserved for scenes for the sake of consistency. Even if I scaled that down to 4, that would be too many for most songs, where I need 1 to 3. Just an example.
 
I don't like less buttons....at all. My main motivation for wanting the III is CPU. I can't have everything I want for every patch on the II because it exceeds the CPU. Now the power is about to be available...but the new controlller doesn't have enough buttons to control the blocks I have now much less for what I was going to add.

My hope is more information will be released and that it will alleviate my mixed emotions about the III.
 
Unless you always want to control all those blocks in every song, you might have a solution - switch assignments seem to be flexible, or at least that's the plan, apparently.
 
MKeditor said:
I don't like less buttons....at all. My main motivation for wanting the III is CPU. I can't have everything I want for every patch on the II because it exceeds the CPU. Now the power is about to be available...but the new controlller doesn't have enough buttons to control the blocks I have now much less for what I was going to add.

My hope is more information will be released and that it will alleviate my mixed emotions about the III.
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Don't forget that the buttons on the new FCs are multi-function, so that may help in some cases. Also, the new Layouts may help... Although depending on exactly how they are implemented, I'm not sure how easy they will be to use live (I never use Reveal mode on the MFC-101 during a song because it's easy to forget which mode you're in).
 
unix-guy said:
Although depending on exactly how they are implemented, I'm not sure how easy they will be to use live (I never use Reveal mode on the MFC-101 during a song because it's easy to forget which mode you're in).
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^ This. I can't imagine switching between 12(!) pages while playing live, that sounds like a skill as difficult as playing the guitar itself to me. :)

Of course we need to see how that works to make any final judgment.
 
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