The upcoming foot controller vs the FCB1010

    Hello all,


    I know this is impossible to answer 100% until it's out but here goes anyway.....


    The 1010 seems to be well loved. For about £120 new (or cheaper used) you get the uno chip and the ability to talk to the Kemper with 2 expression pedals. Reliable, big, available, cheap. Upgradable as the Kemper grows (the uno chap seems very responsive to changes as shown by the recent tap tempo beat scanner developments)


    With the upcoming 'official' board, there are 2 proposed sizes. Neither has an expression pedal. So, to get the same functionality as the Behringer you'd need to spend far more than £100 to get two reasonable expression pedals AND you've got to buy the floorboard from Kemper which no-one is expecting to be at Behringer pricing.


    So what is the big advantage going to be to justify the extra expense? At one time I wondered 'looper memory in the floor board' which would indeed be a good reason to go with this. And I daresay it would connect via a single network cable as opposed to a pair of MIDI cables but that's really not a big deal is it?


    I'm getting to the position of needing foot control (on a live holiday at present but likely to play out again soon). I'm trying to figure out what is *wrong* with the Behringer to make so many people so keen on a more expensive future ;). I have one expression pedal that works fine with the Kemper but obviously if I wait for the official board it's still one more exp plus the board.....


    Thanks


    Gary

    Size is my main concern. I also want to use my own mission exp pedals. The single Ethernet connector for two way communication means one less cable. The FCB is good for what it is, the best bang for buck option but it's not for me so personal preference could be thrown in as well. I am hoping kemper will surprise us with something unexpected too.


    I'll wait till Musikmesse now then if it doesn't show FMAC gets my money for now.

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    At the moment there is no Kemper foot controller available and "upcoming" seems to be very vague...


    Right now the FCB with unO4K seems to be an inexpensive and very reasonable solution.

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    Although many seem happy with it, imo the FCB1010 is unsatisfactory. I wish i could have a version of it without the useless plasticy expression pedals. Having to run 2 midi cables is an expensive (network cables: dirt cheap) pain in the ass, +power is needed. The fact that the FCB1010 used the KPA's only midi "in" means I've had to purchase yet more gear to allow me to connect an audio interface to the KPA simultaneously. There is very little information about currently selected performance/rig on the FCB1010, a good memory is required. The switchs on the FCB1010 are horrible tiny plasticy things. The midi ports on the FCB1010 are ridiculously tight.

    For me, it's mostly about the increased lag over standard 5-pin midi. I'm pretty sure the switching time will be reduced over ethernet (someone quoted the switching time via FCB at 30+ ms, whereas the KPA is capable of less than half that IIRC). Having three cables (2 X midi and 1 power) is also quite inconvenient, especially as I'm also currently having to use an external pedal for spring reverb...


    Cheers,
    Sam

    One cable as opposed to three, as others have stated; plus the KPA's midi ports are freed up for other purposes, like automation from a laptop running a clicktrack.


    As I understand it, the Kemper foot controller will also be more programmable on a rig-by-rig basis so that, for instance, one switch can simultaneously or alternately toggle two stomps. The FCB1010 with Uno4kemper is currently fixed to whatever stomp/effect position you assigned to each switch, regardless of the active rig.

    Thanks for the replies, folks.


    So collating this we have most complaints about '3 cables vs 1 cable' and then we have comments on the quality of the exp pedals and the hope that the 'official' pedal will be programable per rig. Also midi being used elsewhere in the system so a network cable would be better.


    Interesting that the Behringer may soon be 1 cable.... Wonder how that works??

    Currently using UNO4K - played a bunch of shows with it and its relatively good solution. I use a Mission spring loaded pedal for the wah, so the size does get a little cumbersome since the Mission pedal is off to the side. Using a Pedal snake keeps things tidy enough. I wish I could use the "extra" pedal on the 1010 I have for some other parameter but unfortunately the Uno4K only allows the pedals to be wah and volume. The 1010's exp pedals are fine for volume but I prefer the spring loaded feel for wah. It was nice for the tap tempo until the beta detection upgrade threw that off...


    I've been waiting for LAMC to process my order for a Liquid Foot+ JR+ since November..... :wacko:

    I'm curious how the officially released FC will be an upgrade over the FCB1010. I've been using the Behringer for months with good results, but I would like to have the complete Kemper setup. Does this make me superficial? :cursing:

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    Quote from Gary_W

    Thanks for the replies, folks.

    Quote from Gary_W

    So collating this we have most complaints about '3 cables vs 1 cable' and then we have comments on the quality of the exp pedals and the hope that the 'official' pedal will be programable per rig. Also midi being used elsewhere in the system so a network cable would be better.

    Quote from Gary_W

    Interesting that the Behringer may soon be 1 cable.... Wonder how that works??

    +1

    Quote from Uno4Kemper

    Quoted from "sambrox"



    someone quoted the switching time via FCB at 30+ ms
    Then I have to correct this. Lag of the FCB1010 (between switch click and MIDI message at the KPA input) is 1 to 2 ms.


    Hmmm, sounds like the person in question wasn't running a Uno4Kemper EPROM then, maybe...


    Quote from Uno4Kemper

    Quoted from "sambrox"



    Having three cables (2 X midi and 1 power) is also quite inconvenient
    There will be a one-cable solution for the FCB1010 in the course of next month


    Cool! I'll look forward to seeing this! I saw the tutorial you'd linked to for modding the FCB to run off one cable, but it looked like it was a bit out of my league, haha!


    One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post is that the FCB occasionally

    Quote from ewrath2

    I wish I could use the "extra" pedal on the 1010 I have for some other parameter but unfortunately the Uno4K only allows the pedals to be wah and volume.


    In the KPA there's a setting for Wah to Pitch, amongst others, enabling you to use which ever pedal you have set up as wah on the FCB as a pitch controller (think Digitech's Whammy pedal...).


    Cheers,
    Sam