FBV 3 - Are Line 6 short of sight?

[Ed_Saxman]

Look that pretty FBV 3... easily the most appealing MIDI foot controller out there.

 

But they have again missed the opportunity to have the best MIDI foot controller by omitting MIDI DIN connections.

 

You still can get a MIDI-USB to MIDI-DIN converter as the Kenton MIDI USB Host MKII but... at 125€.

A very expensive price for a device that only does one thing.

But .. what would have been the supplement in the price of the FBV3 if already included MIDI DIN In/Out? Probably just a few dollars.

 

At least they are considering adding the possibility of changing the color of the LEDs, based on the proposal I made in ideascale.

 

But it bothers me a lot to have to spend 125 € extra on a fcking USB converter due to a bad design decision, which in addition they have already committed many times, again and again, with all those prior FBVs.

All this could also be applied to the Helix controller, of course. Here the case is even more blatant, because it can not even be used as a USB MIDI controller.

Guys, have you seen the sad panorama regarding MIDI foot controllers? Old models such as the Boss FC-300 or the Yamaha MFC10, expensive and limited. Or other very expensive artifacts offered by esoteric brands...

When you have the one (or two) that could be the best MIDI foot controler in the market, only if you add MIDI DIN inputs and outputs.

 

You also missed the IOS connectivity by ommiting a direct standard 9V AC connector. (as the ipad cannot feed enough juice to the FBV3 thru USB) Why, Line 6, WHY?

What strange reasoning has led you to omit such things?

[phil_m]

I asked Digital Igloo this same question about the Helix Control a few years ago back when it was still in development. The simple answer is it's a matter of cost. The Line 6 controllers are "dumb" devices. That's to say it would be more accurate to think of them like remote controls rather than standalone controllers. They don't have brains (meaning MCU, storage, file management, more robust firmware development). To add that sort of functionality to them would be expensive from a time and money standpoint, and the MIDI controller market is kind of a niche within a niche. It's not worth increasing the price of the controller a $100 - $200 to add a feature that most users would never use.