7 Months and Counting Waiting For Full Midi

[Jethrobowdean]

We are now 7 months into the Mk2 release which was supposedly focused on Midi but still hasn't deployed Midi to its main global functions or Live Edits (also one of the central functions of this device). Many of us bought the MK2 for this reason, some after reading misinformation on their website switched from the original to the MK2 on the promise that they were addressing Midi. To date I have not even seen a reasonable explanation of how such central functionality was missed on the release in the first place nor a reasonable plan to fix this. In the interim we have watched a couple minor releases some focused on things no-one is asking for but not even an explanation or promise to fix the main reason for this release in the first place. It appears that the support for this device is not adequate or in the arena of serious business and I fear no one serious will be using these devices if this is not addressed.

[Tarekith]

Was any of that kind of functionality promised when the MK2 version came out? I don’t remember seeing them talk about any of that stuff.

[Jethrobowdean]

As a matter of fact it was. If you query on Midi on the forum you will find these discussions going back long before my posts Ad nauseam for more than 2 years before. But I find your question odd on the face of it. What do you propose the new, additional USB jack on the MK2 was for if it wasn't for Midi? And if you are adding a new form factor and jack primarily for Midi under what logic would you suggest leaving the most featured global features and Live Edits out of your Midi implementation? Its like getting new fire hoses for the fire department but not wanting to let any water go through the new hoses . . . what that was kind of the point in the first place. If you want to hit a way back machine on their website before they removed the Midi mentions on the prior version you can find them . . . and I have screenshots of them as well.

[Jones]

Jea its true that ot would be great if you could use live edits with midi.
Another feature that is missing for me are the rotary encoders on the live edits it would be great if they were custom map able to dmx or funktions.

[Tarekith]

I’m not criticizing, I was just genuinely curious what was talked about before. I don’t follow these forums often so I wasn’t sure.

[Jethrobowdean]

Yeah, communication is the other frustrating issue with Wolfmix. Sometimes they engage on some subjects but it is really hard to ascertain what the direction of the product is and I usually have no clue what is likely to come out on any given release. We have been trying to decide whether the product is likely to make some critical enhancements that are needed or whether we need to just move on, which the poor communication exasperates. At a certain point we only have so many hours in a day to spend on this and if the basics of Midi are not going to be addressed then we'll need to just consider this a bad decision, cut our losses and move on. I guess the false hope that has prolonged our decision to just move on is that the product has some really fun, useful features in such a small package . . . and the gap could be so easily filled with fairly minor work on Midi (I run a programming shop myself--but this isn't an open source project) and it just seems so darned illogical why they started to address midi with presets and left out global functions and Live Edits. So, you can see the finish line but you just don't know if they are going to complete through to the finish line.

[leesinthemix]

I've been going on about the lack of comms from the Wolfmix team on this forum for over a year now.

They simply DO NOT CARE what we have to say.

I've asked for tons and tons and tons of features and suggested tweaks to existing features and literally none of it is ever taken on board or acknowledged.

I hope Soundswitch 3.0 and their next piece of hardware smacks this out of the water.

[willm]

Hello,

I have been reading through this thread as it has been pointed out to me that some users have had some issues with the product and in particular, requesting features that have not been implemented. I just wanted to make a couple of quick notes here to clear some things up:

1) A disclaimer. Wolfmix, in terms of staff, is a very small company with a comparatively large user base. We have 1 full time developer, and 2 technical support members (and a whole heap of users!). We listen to as much feedback and suggestions as we possibly can, and we 100% aim to create the best product that our users want to see as we can. It goes without saying however that we can in no way guarantee to implement everything that our users request, nor can we confirm when certain features on our backlog/list of future ideas will be implemented. We do our best and we do consider all suggestions that we receive!

2) MIDI. I am aware that some users have a particular dissatisfaction with the MIDI implementation in the Wolfmix. I will say that when we released the mk2 controller, this was not advertised as the fully mappable MIDI compatible version of the Wolfmix that many of you would like it to be. It was not pushed in such a way that we wanted all users to upgrade immediately or anything like that, the mk2 controller was simply meant to be an improved version of the existing with new features (and importantly, more potential for future features) that replaces the mk1 in our manufacturing. To my knowledge, we never explicitly advertised that the mk2 would have any specific MIDI functionality such as Live Edit triggering, Flash FX triggering, etc. In fact, I believe the first mention of the mk2 was specifically advertised as using 'MIDI in 3 ways'- which was always the goal. The main idea of MIDI implementation was to address Presets/Group Dimmer mapping, as well as MIDI Clock. So far, this has been well received- but I understand that there is a desire for more. We of course have heard the requests, had discussions about the idease, logged the requests, and for certain- will be considering the ideas going forward (as we always have done with our firmware updates since the very first mk1 was released). We have never 'settled' and said that "enough is enough, no new features for the W1"- in fact we have been regularly releasing new updates with new features and improvements since day 1 (and we will continue in this fashion for as long as we are around!). So, to conclude- whilst I can not confirm if or when we will expand the MIDI compatibility of the Wolfmix, I can guarantee that it will be looked into and considered going forward- as with all feature requests we receive.

Kind regards,
Will

[leesinthemix]

In fact, I believe the first mention of the mk2 was specifically advertised as using 'MIDI in 3 ways'- which was always the goal. The main idea of MIDI implementation was to address Presets/Group Dimmer mapping, as well as MIDI Clock.

Kind regards,
Will

No one asked for an implementation that relied on having to buy multiple third party devices and MIDI hosts (+extra cables) to use MIDI clock and a MIDI controller at the same time.

You've highlighted that you have a LARGE user base, but literally never, ever consult us on the direction of the product.
You don't even have a beta testing program, despite many willing users.

If you had run by your intentions, I guarantee that everyone would have been against it.

[willm]

Hi Lee,

I appreciate your opinion and feedback, it is important that we take on board all ideas, complaints and suggestions from customers equally- so your thoughts are helpful to read.

The idea of MIDI implementation was to, as I mentioned, provide 3 different forms of MIDI control- 1) Presets. 2) Dimmers. 3) MIDI Clock. Points 1 and 2 definitely work well together if for example you are using a MIDI controller for some extra faders and buttons (which is the most common use case for this), point 3 works well if you are using a MIDI Clock sending device. I appreciate that combining all 3 does take some work arounds, but the possibility is there now when it absolutely was not before- which to me at least, is a positive.

We take on lots of feedback from all sorts of places (this forum, social media, our support tickets system) and this has led to many features being added that people have requested, and now enjoy (for example- Live Edits now having extra control dials, cycle/jump between presets via DMX input, set beat lengths for Preset hold times... just off the top of my head). Of course given the size of our team, the scale of our user base, and the consequent number of suggestions and ideas we get- it is unfeasible for us to implement everything that is requested.

We do not have a beta testing program, but we do release Beta firmware versions as and when they are ready- which I would presume is the sort of thing you are looking for.

From the feedback we have received so far, the addition of MIDI appears to have been mostly well received, as I'm sure you will agree that it is an improvement on the mk1 model. Of course the deciding factor on how you feel overall about MIDI is to what extent you want to use it- and this is where there is perhaps more of a divide. MIDI was intended to add some extra possibilities for users in a live environment where they might need some extra control. It is not and was never intended to be a complete overhaul on the existing controller, nor was it advertised as such. Again, this is why there was not a huge promotional/marketing push made about the release of the mk2 controller, no system or encouragement for users to 'upgrade' their controller or anything like that- it is simply an upgrade to the hardware that supersedes the older model in our production.

To summarise- the addition of MIDI was always intended to be straight forward and simple. From the first mention of the mk2 controller, it was advertised as having 3 forms of MIDI control- which works well for the average user who just wants to use their MIDI controller to trigger some presets and set some dimmer levels, or sync their tempo within their setup. Whether or not we will look implement additional MIDI customisation options going forward I can not confirm for certain, but I can assure you that we hear yours and others feedback on the subject and it is all taken on board and noted down.

Kind regards,
Will