boring topic: expression pedals

[friendship]

I traded an SD-1 for an EV-5 once and that's the one I've used ever since. It's cool.

[doommeow]

I’m late to the party on this but…

I hate crappy cheap plastic expression pedals. ALL of the Boss pedals, the Line 6, the older Moog (haven’t tried the new ones), various Boss/L6 wannabes, the M-audio - hate em.

But there are some good cheap plastic expression pedals. Top of the list - Yamaha FC7. Rugged as hell. I’ve got two, one of which I’ve been banging on for 7? years. Easy to board mount if you want, nice rubber grip for your foot, wide throw. Only minor complaint - cable is hardwired, I prefer detachable.

Then there’s the Behringer. Most of their stuff is hit or miss or outright garbage. IME, the expression pedal is the exception. I’ve had three, never had one fail - either out of the box or after years of abuse - can’t say that about any other Behringer product I’ve used. It’s not just a clone of the Yamaha, it’s arguably better for some people. Build from a lot of the same molds, but you’ve got the option of running active or passive, stereo/mono, EXP/vol, cable isn’t hardwired etc. I’ve got and use both but still slightly prefer the Yamaha strictly for feel, but it’s really minor.

With the switchable active circuitry, the Behringer isn’t electrically identical to the Yamaha, so it will behave somewhat differently with some other pedals - even if those other pedals say that the resistance or pot value of the expression pedal doesn’t matter. GB24 is a perfect example of this. Either the Behringer or the Yamaha will work, but the Behringer has a different range - which can be further tailored using the onboard ctrls. Not better or worse, just different.

Also worth KYEOing for, the Alesis expression pedal. OOP, but a masterpiece of the genre.

[blakestree]

Saturnworks does some nice ones and will customize, too.

http://saturnworkspedals.com/shop/utili ... sion-pedal

[CBA]

Expression

[rfurtkamp]

The blunt answer is that Moog has always loved to be different (often for the sake of difference), and some companies didn't want to choose the "boring, big box" Roland?boss approach no matter how well it worked.

I wish there was a kinder answer but that's how it seems to be.

I remember when the EV-5 was the absolute standard, it was that or...nothing. Times were simpler then.

[JonnyAngle]

Mission Engineering Expressionator?

[CBA]

And yet...

[UglyCasanova]

I use the Moog, but I like how close to the ground the heel is on the RV-5s. Want to pick one up eventually.

[rfurtkamp]

Ask each manufacturer what they developed it for.

That's really the only answer.

[Dark Barn]

Buy my Line-6 expression pedal out of the B/S/T!

With the DL4 I can think of two possible issues you are having with the Moog. The DL4 has a strange protocol for setting the expression function and range that involves power cycling the DL4 while an expression pedal is plugged in, I don't know the exact protocol but if you haven't done it check the manual.

Im not sure if it is realistic to expect one expression pedal to work with everything, but the Line-6 expression pedal is 25k ohm and uses a TS connector, the Moog is 5Ok ohm and TRS. The knob on the Moog is open at full CW and tapers the pot value when you roll it back.

Your issues could be any of the above, afaik.

[CBA]

And yet...

[rfurtkamp]

Yep, it's an annoying mistress at best.

I decided years ago that I'd just stick with the EV-5 as long as it did what I wanted (and it still does) on the majority of devices I want to use it on.

[Dark Barn]

The Reflex is pretty awesome. I have 5 things connected to mine and everything is working great so far. Dip switches on bottom can make any of the expression ports into TRS, TS, or CV. Programming the hardware editor on the Reflex is a small hassle but not too bad, the promised software editor (and user created LFO waveform along with it) has been put on the back burner by Source Audio and who knows when it will see the light of day.

[CBA]

I'll try.

[rfurtkamp]

I can say this much. It looks cheap. It feels..cheap.

But I'm a huge, mean guy. It survived 10 years of absolutely terrible gigs and touring, and another 10 past that. It looks like hell now...but it *still* works.