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Expression Pedal Roundup?


Binkeys

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Just curious Dave .... is your experience with the Boss FV500L based on using it as an expression pedal or as true "volume" pedal? I purchased an FV500L for use as an expression pedal with my RD700SX. The volume control for the RD700SX spans the typical value range of 0-127. With the FV500L properly connected as an expression pedal - I could only sweep RD700SX's volume setting from 0-100. No amount of adjusting the "Minimum Volume" knob on the side would correct this. Assuming I had received a "defective" pedal - I exchanged it for another unit. That one was
tiny
bit better - and allowed me control a value range of 0-104. Neither of the two brand new, straight out of the box units would allow me to sweep the entire range of the volume control.

 

 

Could be just a compatability issue with your brand or model of kbd. I use the Boss FV500L pedal as an expression pedal for Korg Tritons (Rack and Extreme) and it produces the full MIDI Volume range with no problems.

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Just curious Dave .... is your experience with the Boss FV500L based on using it as an expression pedal or as true "volume" pedal? I purchased an FV500L for use as an expression pedal with my RD700SX. The volume control for the RD700SX spans the typical value range of 0-127. With the FV500L properly connected as an expression pedal - I could only sweep RD700SX's volume setting from 0-100. No amount of adjusting the "Minimum Volume" knob on the side would correct this. Assuming I had received a "defective" pedal - I exchanged it for another unit. That one was
tiny
bit better - and allowed me control a value range of 0-104. Neither of the two brand new, straight out of the box units would allow me to sweep the entire range of the volume control.


I badly wanted the the FV500L to work for me. I absolutely
hate
those cheap plastic Roland EV5 pedals. In my experience, I get roughly a year of use out of one before it starts to get flakey. As far as I'm concerned, that's PPP (piss poor performance) for a pedal that sells for $79!

 

 

Hmmm.... We've never had that problem. We use the FV500L with PC3K8's and Motu's Mach 5 and it definitely gives the full range of 0-127.

Each rig also includes one of these little volume meter boxes from Kenton - move the pedal and the meter will show a value of 0-127 or 0-20.

http://www.kentonuk.com/products/items/utilities/ld2-pro.shtml

 

There is a knob on the side of the pedal which can affect the range... maybe that was the problem?

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FC7 and FV-500L are the only two expression pedals that i know of (that are worth buying.)

 

i have both, and i don't even have an opinion as to which one is better. if you had to twist my arm i'd say "FC7" but the FV-500L _is_ sturdier and can be used as a volume pedal.

 

however, the FC7 has M4x0.7 metric machine screw holes on the bottom of it to easily bolt it to a pedalboard (which i did this week, actually.) the FV-500L i had to take the bottom off, punch holes in the bottom, and use those holes with big zip ties to lash the pedal to the pedalboard. i don't really like that. they also cost twice as much as the FC7.

 

to use the FC7 with my JP8000 i have to use a bogus adapter i made (from a panel-mount jack and a ratshack trs plug) that swaps the tip and ring. other than that there are no compatibility issues.

 

 

also, to the guy with the range issue on the RD700: you probably need to calibrate the volume pedal input. i had to do that on my Korg Z1. the way these pedals work is that the keyboard sends a voltage and the pedal attenuates it. on the return, the voltage is digitally sampled. due to manufacturing tolerances, pedal assembly resistances, and component drift et al sometimes these inputs get out of whack and you need to run them through a calibration process.

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