A new idea...

rjmmusic

rjmmusic

Administrator
Staff member
[I've also sent this to our mailing list, apologies if you've seen this twice]

In our continued quest to come out with the best MIDI controller we can, we've decided to investigate a new option...

What if we were to remove the touchscreen from the Mastermind GT, replace it with a more standard LCD display, and do the all of the editing on an iPhone, iPad, PC or Mac? This is something that a number of people have suggested since showing the prototype at NAMM, but until recently, we weren't really considering it as a possibility. We're having terrible trouble sourcing the exact right kind of LCD touchscreens, so it made us think outside the box a little.

There are pros and cons to this approach, of course:

Integrated touchscreen advantages:
  • No additional hardware required to program the controller. Can do everything you need without using a PC, iPad, etc.
    Looks more high tech. :)
    It has a full color graphic display (can configure colors, font sizes, etc).

iPhone/iPad, etc. advantages:
  • Preset name display could use a standard monochrome LCD, which is the most visible in a wide range of lighting conditions. (We're still having trouble finding color displays that look good in all lighting conditions).
    GT's cost would be lower without the touchscreen (probably $200 or so less).
    Screen size would be larger (The preset name display would be larger on the controller, and of course iPad/PC/Mac editing would be on a much larger screen)
    Less worries about breaking the touchscreen during performance.

We'd love to hear any opinions you have on this idea - we're trying to deliver the most useful product we can, and hearing from all of you is the best way to do that.
 
I think I was one of the folks who suggested this approach, way back when, and I'd vote for it again now. I think the touch screen feature is a great idea...but, in reality, probably only marginal necessary for most people. Especially if this will lower the cost of the GT by $200, that's almost half the price of an I-pad or other tablet, and it allows you to not worry about integrating soon-to-be-obsolete hardware into a unit that otherwise sounds incredibly expandable and future-proof. I would much rather see a nice, large size OLED display on the GT, and a great user app. to edit from a tablet, standing up attached to my mic stand or rack case, rather than tapping on a display on the floor. I say, absolutely +1.
 
While I liked the touchscreen on the prototype (although it wasn't the most responsive thing in the world), you would need some kind of clip-on or slide-on cover on it before I'd allow it at my feet at a gig... so while you don't program on the fly anyway, that would negate the use of the touchscreen.

I liked the colour screen very much, although I appreciate that it's difficult to get the contrast anywhere near what a monochrome screen would be.

One thing I would say, though, is that it would be a bad move to not have an Android compatible editor. Android tablets and phones are much cheaper than similar Apple products, and certainly in Europe are becoming increasingly prevalent as people realise they're better than the iPhone etc!
 
Thanks guys. Your input is much appreciated.

I mention the iPhone a lot, primarily because the vast majority of musicians I know has one (at least here in the US). I certainly would like to support Android, but there are a few obstacles, primarily the fact that user applications generally can't access USB devices (except for the few standard things supported by the OS). There wouldn't be a way to connect the phone or tablet directly to the controller.

That leaves us with transferring settings via SD card (the GT will likely have an SD card slot), or over the air using Bluetooth or WiFi (not sure I want a radio in the MIDI controller, but it's a possibility!) Hopefully, there will be a good solution at some point, but for now that's what we're up against.
 
Hi ron as your looking at Ipod/iphone I assume you looking at midi over wifi or direct access vusing PC over USB, that would be pretty cool and personally I think for programming this would be a much better option than trying to program from within the unit
 
Hello. Ever since I saw the GT I have been so excited and can't wait to get it when it is released! This new idea is nice but would certainly alienate users who either don't have/wish to purchase any aditional hardware. It seems the most obvious solution would including the ability to control it remotely, but still retain the touch screen which I (and I'm sure many) consider a brilliant idea. Something like what Presonus has done with their new Studiolive mixers. This would give you the best of both worlds and give people options for the ways they use it.
 
I know exactly what your saying but its the touch screen part that adds signficantly to the cost. Maybe the best of both worlds is some basic programability on the unit. Full featured prgramability via pc or other device

every unit I won is programmable via the unit itsel I just wish I could use a pc to edit some of them it would make it so much easier particularly the foot controller as its always on the floor
 
gemlink said:
Hello. Ever since I saw the GT I have been so excited and can't wait to get it when it is released! This new idea is nice but would certainly alienate users who either don't have/wish to purchase any aditional hardware. It seems the most obvious solution would including the ability to control it remotely, but still retain the touch screen which I (and I'm sure many) consider a brilliant idea. Something like what Presonus has done with their new Studiolive mixers. This would give you the best of both worlds and give people options for the ways they use it.
Click to expand...

Well, of course it's is a cool idea. But my retort is, why should those of us that already have the additional hardware have to purchase it again in a form that would be redundant, and less useful than and I-phone or tablet? Remember- as expensive as all this gear is, once you start bundling in features that only a small percentage of users actually require, you end up pricing people out of the product. Buyers simply can't justify the extra $ for features they have no real use for. For example, if the Mastermind GT comes in at or under $1000, it starts to compare favorably on price with other competing products, like the CAE RST series, Liquid Foot (not that anyone in their right mind should send that company any money), Fractal MFC 101, etc. At $1400? Not so much. Also, a smaller price jump between the Mastermind and the Mastermind GT would encourage more people to step up to the larger unit. I don't need a touchscreen on the unit itself. Nor, I would wager, do most of the people who would buy this controller. It's a brilliant idea in a way, but it's sort of both ahead of and behind the times as well. If the touchscreen were super responsive, 7 inches across with brilliant color, if it were impossible to scratch or damage, and cost $20, I'd say sure, why not? But it's $200, delicate, small, and not especially responsive. Anyway last point, I promise-This is a FOOT CONTROLLER. It's designed to be stepped on. Touchscreens are designed to be lightly tapped with fingertips. How many times do you think you can "accidently" step on an I-phone before it breaks? Probably a lot less times than you would accidently step on a touch screen built into a foot controller...
 
Both option are really cool BUT if you remove the touch screen the player will always need an external device to change presets. If you're on stage and you have to made a quick set up and you don't have your Iphone with you...you're in crap. I love both of them, I have an Ipod Touch 4 so I think i'm ok for the app. I think the best solution is: made it with the PC/Iphone/etc (no touch screen) version BUT that you can also program with the unit itself for a quick set up. May be just add a couple of control button beside the screen. But I hope whatever you choose that the colored LCD screen over each button will still there.
 
I think we'll still have at least basic preset editing features built into the GT. With a good size (albeit non-touchscreen) main display and screens over every button, we can still make a pretty nice user interface.

Our experiences with the RGB color backlit displays have not been uniformly good. As soon as you bring the controller outside, you can't see the colors at all. Depending on the backlight color, it can be easy or harder to read the text (blue background especially makes it hard to read the text) Also, those displays have fixed font sizes, not allowing you to configure you big the letters are.

I'm currently working on a new solution that is very promising - very vivid, high contrast, configurable font sizes. We will hopefully have a test board in a couple of weeks and if it works out as I hope I'll show it off here.
 
This actually sounds really promising! The touchscreen was a cool idea, though.
For me, the innovation in the GT is in the configurable footswitches! Colored LCDs to indicate type of function would be sweet! How about multicolored LEDs around the switches if the LCDs don't work out? (Just an idea stolen from the TC G-System...)
 
rjmmusic said:
Thanks guys. Your input is much appreciated.

I mention the iPhone a lot, primarily because the vast majority of musicians I know has one (at least here in the US). I certainly would like to support Android, but there are a few obstacles, primarily the fact that user applications generally can't access USB devices (except for the few standard things supported by the OS). There wouldn't be a way to connect the phone or tablet directly to the controller.

That leaves us with transferring settings via SD card (the GT will likely have an SD card slot), or over the air using Bluetooth or WiFi (not sure I want a radio in the MIDI controller, but it's a possibility!) Hopefully, there will be a good solution at some point, but for now that's what we're up against.
Click to expand...

As an iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro user, I love the idea of editing on any of these devices. Why couldn't the GT connect to the peripheral of choice via MIDI? iOS devices support Core MIDI.
 
We'll definitely support MIDI connections on the iPhone and iPad! It's only Android that lacks system-level MIDI support. (Maybe they'll fix that one day???)
 
Tom-Andrew said:
This actually sounds really promising! The touchscreen was a cool idea, though.
For me, the innovation in the GT is in the configurable footswitches! Colored LCDs to indicate type of function would be sweet! How about multicolored LEDs around the switches if the LCDs don't work out? (Just an idea stolen from the TC G-System...)
Click to expand...

Not being able to see exactly where my footswitches are on a dark stage has been a problem for me before, so I agree that LEDs around the switches would be a nice addition.

If sacrificing the touchscreen means it will be $200 cheaper, I am all for that. iPhone support is also a really great idea, but I wouldn't want any crucial settings to be only adjustable on the iPhone in case my battery died or if my iPhone was somehow destroyed. It would probably be best if all settings were adjustable from either the screen on the Mastermind or on the iPhone/Mac/PC so you could just use whatever is most convenient for you.

Also, do you have a new test board to show us yet? :D
 
No pictures yet, but now that the Rack Gizmo is in production, I can focus more on the GT. The hardware is finally coming together, so I hope to have something to show people in September...
 
NIce one Ron keep us posted as anyone who asks me for advice on a footcontroller I will point them in your direction
 
Sorry if this has already been discussed but I couldn't find it anywhere....When is the release date? If you guys don't have an "exact" date, have an approximate yet? Thanks!
 
It's still a bit early for a firm release date, but as I've mentioned in another thread, I'm well into what should be the final design now, I don't think it's possible to make our end of the year goal at this point, but winter 2012 should be a safe bet.
 
Make it an option to get the touchscreen. Price is everything right now. $1000 without the touchscreen, $1200 with. Don't sacrifice quality whatever you do. It doesn't matter how innovative a product you release if it's junk.

I plan on buying the mastermind GT to run with my rack gizmo. The whole idea behind my purchase was an easy to use interface that I could reduce program/setup time. I think you would be making a mistake by not including your touchscreen. Remember most of your customers are not rockstars. They are average musicians like me that have involved setups, but want a better way to manage them.

Brad
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top