October 12, 2011
When we redesigned the Block and introduced the OhmRGB, we added something called expansion jacks. At the time we didn’t have explicit plans for it, but we often found ourselves wanting to add just a few more controls to the controllers, so we put a pin header and two 1/4″ jacks that tap into the controller’s Brain. For DIYers this is an awesome feature. We’ve seen sensors, touch strips, joy sticks, and extra faders connected for totally customized controls. We did intend to eventually release more plug and play devices I often referred to as “side cars”, like the one in this video. Well we’ve finally released these side cars in the form of our XPC Expansion Controllers.
The first three devices are available now. These sleek and portable controllers easily connect to the expansion jack of your Block or OhmRGB and greatly extend the possibilities of control. Housed in an anodized aluminum body, these controllers are a perfect match for your Livid device.
The 4K2JS has four rotary knobs and two Playstation style XY joystick controls. This one is a lot of fun to pick up and play with in your hand.
The 8F controller give you eight more high quality 30mm faders.
The 4K4F controller has four rotary knobs and eight really smooth 60mm faders.
All of these devices are available now from our online shop.
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news by Jay
July 22, 2011
Mad Zach from custommidicontrollers.com just released his latest custom creation built for an artist in Australia. This monster has 64 knobs, 32 buttons, 16 LEDs, and 16 sliders. It’s powered by our Brain and has a really nice finish with custom faceplate graphics.
We’ve been following Mad Zach’s work for a while, he’s building his controllers right here in Austin, TX, and we’ve seen this monster in person. This is a great example of a custom controller built to suit the specific needs of an artist, and encompasses the true spirit of our DIY Builder series. Check out his video demo of the controller
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news by Jay
July 14, 2011
The OhmRGB come with our expansion module for added adaptability, flexibility and control. It is the same expansion jacks you may have seen on our latest block controller, and there are a few ways you can use the module. It has 2 1/4″ jacks that let you connect “roland style” foot pedals for expressive control with your feet. It also have a pin header that links directly to the Brain on the controller that lets you connect 8 additional analog controls. You can experiment with touch controls, sensors, accelerometers, faders, rotary knobs, and more. Of course, our Builder series BYOB boards can be easily integrated for a totally customized and modular setup.
In this video I show how the expansion jacks work and give you an example of ways you can utilize it. I am using Ableton Live and use my expansion controls for effects with Live’s device rack. The foot pedal controls an audio effect, and I created a module with four faders and four rotary pots to control two more devices.
This just scratches the surface of what you can do with the expansion jacks. You can check out my other tutorials using the expansion jacks on the block with a touch sensor, and fader module.
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news by Jay
July 5, 2011
2 midi in
2 midi outs
16 audio inputs(4mic ins with vac.tubes)
16 audio outs 2 with vac. tubes
1 block connected directly to motherboard
1 multi card reader
1 cd dvd drive
15 usb
2 firewire
1 3.4gz quad core computer motherboard
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This post was submitted by sherwood.
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projects by sherwood
June 1, 2011
With the addition of the expansion jacks on our block controllers you can add all kinds of analog controls to your existing setup, for very cheap. I’ve made a few tutorials so far, and here’s another one showing how to connect a SoftPot touch fader to it. I’ve often thought about ways to integrate the sides of my controllers with some kind of expressive interface, and within a few minutes I did so with the block. It is really very easy to integrate these kinds of controls with the expansion jacks to give you additional and totally customizable interfaces. At the end of the video you can see how I integrated my controls for use in Ableton Live. I can’t wait to see the first whammy bar addition 
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news by Jay
