tonymckenziecom | 5 years ago
A review of the MeloAudio MIDI commander control pedal works with Kemper, Jam Up, Axe-FX, BIAS FX, Atomic, DAW and other equipment. Here used with a Kemper amplifier. I took a look at this midi controller inside and out and show how easy it all is to connect to one of the many different midi controlled devices available.
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The MIDI Commander is a very well made and robust unit for sure. And MeloAudio make a few more products like the 'Tone Shifter' audio interface with MIDI control, this MIDI commander shown here and a really nice Wah/Volume expression pedal that does work with the other devices described here. They also make things like digital microphones for mobile, and Hi-fi Bluetooth earphones and speakers all of very high quality. Here is a link to it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KDQSC57?ref=myi_title_dp and as I write the price in £ is just £139.99
MeloAudio started back in 2006 or thereabouts and was formed by a group of musicians who were also engineers. Needless to say, they had some problems in finding MIDI control equipment for their needs just as most guys do... and then MeloAudio was born from that need!
They are an Apple MFI certified company with many years of audio product design experience since back in 2006 as I said. The company is based in China in fact form a small town near to Beijing and have been growing since the company was formed.
The MA1010 as the MIDI commander is also known, is made of sturdy metal casing just right if you're out there gigging; its small, light and low cost. But don't assume that this controller is using anything less than high quality components throughout and as you will see in the review it is QC checked and marked accordingly even inside the unit to ensure the high standards have been met that it is made to.
The commander can support the following devices by internal program host modes, but also any MIDI device with the use of CC and PC modes: Kemper, AXE-FX, Jam Up, BIAS FX, Atomic Series of products, a PC mode for controlling things like DAW or plug ins and two custom modes that can be setup for almost anything else - probably very nice with Eventide gear. There's even a MIDI learn feature. Basically set the MINI Commander in to this mode and it's possible to program features even without knowing the exact CC codes.
I did come across an issue when making this review where the software for upgrading the unit would not install and reported a missing DLL file (MFC120.DLL). This was quickly determined to be something like a missing C++ library that is easily downloaded from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=52685
Install both the 64 bit and x86 versions from the Microsoft link and you're all set. The application to upgrade the MIDI Commander then worked flawlessly and I upgraded the pedal with the downloaded software from MeloAudio website.
Overall this is an interesting midi control pedal and I was drawn to review it because of the support for different MIDI devices - which is pretty uncommon among the products I have seen.
For far more information visit https://meloaudio.com and you can see all of the products that this company makes.
This MIDI Commander was supplied to me free of charge for this review. However, the standards of my reviews have not been compromised in any way and this is a genuine independent review. I have offered to return the device to MeloAudio if they want it back.
Visit http://www.tonymckenzie.com for other non YouTube reviews of fine guitars, amps and other guitar related gear, and of course my YouTube channel with at least 300+ reviews online right now! I buy all of the equipment and my reviews are not sponsored by third parties so you get a review that will always 'tell it the way it is' about all reviewed equipment.
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#meloaudio #midicommander #kemperamp #midicontroller
