Hi folks - another one for the hive mind. I’m doing my dev for our team of homeworking voice artists using a Behringer XTouch Compact, but the a) the form factor is way overkill for what I really need and b) the motorised faders aren’t exactly subtle in the noise they make when they move. But it’s v good value…
Are there any BMT-friendly controllers that:-
Have at least one motorised fader that’s near-enough silent
Have at least three or so other buttons assignable by BMT to functions
Are well behaved with any static config needed to talk to BMT
Aren’t going to megabucks when I need to get a number of them for the team
I’m trying to avoid a whole bunch of trial-and-error purchasing; I can see the X-TOUCH ONE looks to fit the form factor, and I assume the connectivity, but my guess is that it’s the same components inside and as noisy? Anything else I should consider?
Unfortunately when you go with motorized faders, the price goes up and I have not seen one as inexpensive as the Behringer. Yes, all of their devices use the same technology, so the X-touch One will be pretty much the same.
Maybe instead of motorized faders, you can get something with Encoders that have LED feedback. The MIDI Fighter Twister works well for this and if you push the encoder it can be programmed to send note messages. I think there are 12 LED’s so the resolution may not be enough for your liking.
You didn’t say what application(s) you want to control so it is hard to recommend something without knowing that. There are a lot of small form factor controllers. I think Presonus has a one fader controller (FaderPort) that has 1 motorized fader but have no experience with how much noise the fader makes.
Since I don’t require motorized faders, I prefer the Korg NanoKontrol2. I use it to control Voicemeeter Potato running on my Windows PC. It has a pretty small form factor. You could also look into Korg NanoKontrol Studio which has a jog wheel and some other functions.
Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care
Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz
Thanks for the quick reply. It’s for live audio description voiceover for TV - so I really need a fader for operational feel - as the talent will have their eyes on the screen. Typically we’ll only be using a 0db to -20db dip level, so granularity of fader isn’t likely a major issue.
The device being controlled is a custom unit - it takes a small range of Control Change messages to set current voiceover mix level and the max depth of the mix.
The talent often work in pairs in separate locations, so I was planning on using the networking capabilities of BMT / BomeNetwork etc to be able to mimic the end/release position of a fade from the current-live talent to their buddy.
The mics are gated at the custom unit end (using Comrex Gagl to get the audio to the broadcast control centre), but I don’t want stray fader rumbles breaking out if I can avoid it - or having to tell the talent to stick their faders beyond arm’s reach!
Yes I see why you would want quiet faders. I really didn’t think the faders of the Behringer were particularly noise but I also know I’m a bit hard of hearing. Maybe your unit is just defective. You might try a noise filter on your mic targeting the frequency the faders use.
Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care
Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz
For live audio description with the fader in the same room as the mic, I’d question whether you need motorisation at all. The usual reason for motorised faders is DAW recall, but if the fader is only ever the operator’s live control of a 0 to -20 dB dip on a custom unit, a plain fader plus BMT sending the current value on startup gets you the same operational feel with zero mechanical noise. If you do want position feedback, Steve’s Korg suggestion plus an LED ring or a small display driven from BMT is far quieter than any motor. Where motorisation is genuinely required, the X-Touch One is the same fader family as the Compact, so expect similar noise; the quieter options in that price bracket tend to be single-fader units with belt-driven rather than gear-driven assemblies, and it’s worth asking the seller for a return window so you can listen to it in your room. Two practical noise fixes regardless of choice: get the surface off the desk on isolating feet (a lot of what you hear is the desk resonating) and keep the fader out of the mic’s null-facing side. If you end up with several units for the team, standardising on one model and one BMT project file will save you more grief than chasing the last few dB of fader noise.
Thanks - useful advice. I need some kind of motorisation or equivalent as I need to have two colleagues collaborating from separate locations, but effectively sharing a fader. The fader doesn’t need to be physical per se - it could be an LED representation, but I think linear is probably easier to engage with than rotary.
Definitely agree that we need a common hardware design; I really don’t like having to support variable configs…
@SteveC has there been any use of the iCON Nano-P1 with BMT? Looks like it might be a sensible alternative to the Behringer X-TOUCH ONE, but I’m unclear on how Midi-native it is!