Midi-Fighter DIY Now Available
The much awaited Midi-Fighter project has officially kicked off, and it’s first incarnation — the DIY kit — is up for sale in the DJ TechTools webstore. This first production run of Black PCBs and clear acrylic layers look amazing and can be easily configured into any color scheme you want. More info, videos and photos after the break.
One of the main breakthroughs on the Midi-Fighter are the custom designed arcade button clips, which allow you to snap in and remove high-performance Sanwa arcade buttons. These hand soldered clips enable a number of amazing possibilities that would not be possible with traditional controller construction. First, you can assemble the entire kit without any soldering or electronics equipment; only the included hex wrench is required. Second, you can use any color combination of buttons that reflect your personal tastes or the mapping of your choice. Finally, everything is re-configurable at any time. Take the controller apart in minutes, re-arrange the buttons, re-paint a new top sheet and you have a brand new look without dishing out any cash.
Not just a DIY project, the Midi-Fighter is also a DIY MIDI board and controller all wrapped in one. There are 4 analog and 4 digital input ports on the side of the PCB. Just solder extensions to your buttons, sliders, toys, joysticks and add more analog controls. Now what commercial controller can do that?
DO IT YOURSELF
Putting together a Midi-Fighter is a super fun and easy process. Check out the video above to learn how to assemble one yourself and then peep the video below to dive into some custom painting ideas. In the first part of the video we visit San Francisco based stencil artist, Casemo, who is going to be painting a limited-edition group of Midi-Fighters next month.
SE MODELS
In a respectful nod to our most popular product, we are going to create 50 SE models of the Midi-Fighter from this first batch of 350. The SEs will come fully assembled with corian sidewalls, custom tops and a few special modifications to the PCB. The color configuration has yet to be determined, but we hope to have the SEs up for sale in late December or January. Sign up on the Midi-Fighter email list for more info as these become available.
MIDIFIGHTER.COM
We created a mini-site dedicated to the Midi-Fighter, which will be expanding over time. The main purpose of the site is to collect information about how people are using our controller platform and spread resourses to enable more creativity. Tag your photos with #midifighter, and they will show up in the buttons. Tweet about your controller with #midifighter, and it will also show up on the site.
THANK YOU!
I have to give a big thanks to the DJ TechTools community and a few specific people who helped support the development of this project over the past year. It would not have been possible without your help and dedication.
MidiFidler: The muscle behind the electronics desings- Michael made this thing possible and will help us build many more.
Fatlimey: The brains inside the firmware- Robin created an amazing open source firmware that will grow into many exciting things.
Tommy: The Coder guru who created our new store, webstore and now Midifighter.com!
Thanks to both of these gentlemen and to all those that have pitched in along the way including Chris, Sam, Nicholas and anyone else I might have left out in my exhaustion.
SO MANY POSSIBILITIES
Instead of everyone owning the same controller, I am most excited that there are soon going to be endless variations of Midi-Fighters out there that each express their owners creativity. What will you create?
December 9th, 2009 at 2:29 am Quote
Yessss. Now I need money…
December 9th, 2009 at 2:42 am Quote
Should look nice next to my monome rig….
December 9th, 2009 at 3:39 am Quote
Hooray for that!
Can’t wait to get mine!
Thanks for the hard work too!
December 9th, 2009 at 4:31 am Quote
it would be nice to have that many triggers, but… $125 oof.
December 9th, 2009 at 4:46 am Quote
Ean
Firt of all, congratulations, you are a special kind of person, determinated, creative and for shure a great bussinesman, I´m very pleased to follow you and your website along these years and learn a lot with it, congratulations again and wait for my Midi Fighter order
December 9th, 2009 at 4:54 am Quote
Ean, why don’t you make a expecial case for midifighter? It would be awesome to have a case for it (you could include some free space to put a small wrench there too)
There is anyway to plug the Joystick controls or a XY pad on the MF ?
How can I do it?
Do you will sell them as separated pieces to plug on MF?
I need to see a exemple, I would buy it if I understand how to plug these controls on MF.
December 9th, 2009 at 4:57 am Quote
Ean,
Great work and to everyone who pitched in developing the midifighter. I know I’m jumping ahead but you mentioned you’re working on a midifighter with sliders and knobs any word when this controller will be available, I’m wondering if I should hold out until then.
Many Thanks,
Mark
December 9th, 2009 at 5:10 am Quote
Are ou guys going to release great TSI’s to compliment these controllers?
December 9th, 2009 at 6:41 am Quote
yes a TSI would be great… i was expecting there to be a general dj techtools mapping like the one for the vciSE
one more thing that concerns me… will these first 350 be the only midifighters with LED BLUE LIGHTS??? cause i would be a shame if they were
December 9th, 2009 at 9:23 am Quote
the djtt crew gonna sign these if i buy one?
December 9th, 2009 at 9:42 am Quote
bought one last night, but i might end up re gifting that lol. kinda want the SE one now. but maybe i’ll just wait for the ones with joysticks
December 9th, 2009 at 10:42 am Quote
Can’t wait to pick it up from the post office tomorrow! Thinking stenciling and adding faders+crossfader for this one. :D
December 9th, 2009 at 11:28 am Quote
Ean, do you will give us specific measures of the unit so we can order a style flip layer or something?
December 9th, 2009 at 12:03 pm Quote
Not sure if i should be patient and wait for the SE or Casemo stencilled midifighters!!! humm…..
December 9th, 2009 at 12:26 pm Quote
Hey ean I was wondering if the corian sidewalls would fit midifighters available now? So maybe people could buy them later to fit their midifghter if they become available?
December 9th, 2009 at 12:47 pm Quote
I almost know nothing about MIDI but could someone explain to me why you would want a controller with just 16 buttons and nothing else?
December 9th, 2009 at 12:56 pm Quote
Just bought mine. Can’t wait… Can we expect how-to videos on how to add joysticks and such.
December 9th, 2009 at 1:28 pm Quote
ordered mine last night before I went to work. I’ve no regrets about missing out on the SE or stenciled version either, because I get mine sooner!
Excellent looking product, and I can’t wait to get it.
December 9th, 2009 at 1:45 pm Quote
Ean are you going to sign these…
December 9th, 2009 at 1:59 pm Quote
Bravooooooo. Excellent
December 9th, 2009 at 2:00 pm Quote
no- but they will be hand numbered! only the arcades get signed :)
Yes- absolutely.
Yes- thats the idea. The side-walls can be added on after the fact and we are probably going to be selling them separately later on. (not for sure though)
Absolutely! There will be many :)
December 9th, 2009 at 2:06 pm Quote
Congratulations Ean!
Controller looks very cool, cant wait to see what you have in store next.
December 9th, 2009 at 2:37 pm Quote
Because 1) you get the firmware as open source – no need to program MIDI translators when you can flash it into the firmware directly, 2) it has expansion ports so you can add your own extensions, 3) no other commercially available controller has arcade buttons and 4) Which other controllers are this customizable out of the box? It’s not the only controller you’ll ever need, but it’s a good one and it can act as the basis of your next modding project.
December 9th, 2009 at 2:38 pm Quote
Ordered mine as soon as the pre-release went out to the mailing list. Can’t wait, keep up the great work!
December 9th, 2009 at 2:45 pm Quote
Can anyone tell me if the digital extensions would support a rotary encoder if it was put across two terminals?
I wouldn’t be using it for scratching, but selecting songs and effects.
December 9th, 2009 at 3:01 pm Quote
Love the open concept – but seems the limit on analogue ins (4 at present by the looks) is rather restrictive! Is there going to be add-on capability to support lots more analogue ins? Or alternatively, rotary encoders?
For my purposes, I am always running out of knobs rather than buttons.
December 9th, 2009 at 4:00 pm Quote
Crap, I ordered before I saw the SE model… will it be possible to upgrade to that (by adding the case) at a later date? If not, and you haven’t shipped mine yet can I cancel and wait for those to come out?
December 9th, 2009 at 4:01 pm Quote
Erm, NM, I see that it might be a possibility to add the case later… that would be ideal.
December 9th, 2009 at 4:11 pm Quote
Include the arcade buttons and you got a deal.
December 9th, 2009 at 4:15 pm Quote
Looks like I may have been one of the first from the UK to pick one of these bad boys up! I’ll be sure to post loads of unboxing goodness!
December 9th, 2009 at 4:59 pm Quote
The expandability is a lot less restricting than you might imagine, because the digital lines on the expansion port are hooked to some fancy hardware on the controller (the UART/SPI Master pins) that can run a high speed bus. Expansion is essentially unlimited.
December 9th, 2009 at 5:45 pm Quote
After much fuss over button color, I put my order in…
I know I’ma end up changing my mind and ordering more…
Looking forward to the next version(s) as well. Happy to
support.. Big Ups!
December 9th, 2009 at 6:25 pm Quote
Sorry guys, i had an itchy trigger finger and bought an apc40 when the midi-fighter didn’t go on sale on the 30th. I hope you aren’t mad at me, I am having a blast playing with extra faders, knobs, and lights. I got it for 120 bucks more, what else could you ask for?
December 9th, 2009 at 7:49 pm Quote
/sigh…i’ve been waiting for these to hit the shop anxiously, and literally, the night before it happens tragedy struck my wallet. i still hope to pick one up when the next paycheck rolls in, but i guess it depends on availability.
that said, props to all of you involved. midifidler, it was a thing of beauty since you first conceived it. to the djtt team, you taken it 10 steps higher with the open firmware, expandability, custom-ability, etc. respect.
i want to give a special shout to the stencil vid. the acrylic faceplate is perfect for this kind of ultimately customization. just about anyone can put together dope stencil designs…if you aren’t sure, there are tutorials all over the place. i’m looking forward to seeing shit tons of awesome, completely original midi weapons! :)
December 9th, 2009 at 9:10 pm Quote
Mine’s coming soon!
I’ll try to post some videos with it on torq.
And i’ve already got a nifty idea for use with mainstage.
Very exciting.
Does anyone know whether you can have a modifier button on torq?
For example, to change the midi send values for all the other buttons? Similar to the “scene” button on the korg nanopad…
I wouldn’t mind having that kind of ability.
If not, is this something I could code into the firmware?
Or could it be done in an intermediate software?
December 9th, 2009 at 10:32 pm Quote
So i’m a TOTAL DIY newb. I jumped on the MIDI Fighter simply because it’s compact enough to fit in my backpack with my APC and I have alot of faith in DJTT’s review of the response/solid drivers. It will serve as a performance tool to replace my Nanopads that just keep breaking and are not as responsive as I would prefer.
For those of you with mod experience, regarding the expandability of the MIDI Fighter, do you see it possible to add a jog wheel (ala the VCI-100) using the expansion unputs? I’m a little confused when you say Analog and Digital inputs in terms of PCB boards.
Alternatively, are you saying that using the MIDI fighter analog inputs, you could theoretically use a DVS system? I am particularly interested as an Ableton user, and see this as a really useful piece if the Serato / Ableton partnership yields the scrub/scratchability that we’ve been waiting for.
Basically, if I can add a jog wheel to the Midi Fighter i think this may be the best piece of gear I would’ve purchased ever!
December 9th, 2009 at 10:34 pm Quote
expansion “INputs” (LOL @ unputs)
December 10th, 2009 at 12:11 am Quote
Hey Ean, or anyone else?
I use ableton, any good tutorials about how to use this with ableton? Also interested about the joystick application too!
December 10th, 2009 at 12:57 am Quote
Also, is it just me or does the concept SE look like the most delicious, rocking Oreo of all time? Tasty.
December 10th, 2009 at 2:46 am Quote
Hey congrats Ean!
This thing looks fantastic. In a way, I think it looks cooler without the corian walls.
Are you guys selling the Midi Fighter T-shirts like the one you wore on G4? Also, I know this is a bit premature, but when do you think the next version of the Midi Fighter with knobs/faders will be coming out? Any estimates on the ETA?
December 10th, 2009 at 4:00 am Quote
Hey Ean,
I just ordered my MF and had a few questions:
First- I was wondering if you know where I can get custom acrylic top plates and housing/enclosures for other pots and switches, or if you guys are going to start offering different or custom housing options?
Second- I did not have the choice between the different DIY levels when I ordered, will you guys send a form before shipping or what?
Last but not least – I just saw this SE version, what are the differences in the PCB? or are you just not telling us yet? :)
December 10th, 2009 at 9:37 am Quote
Looks great. Was kinda hoping for for the joysticks like in the early edition of the midi fighter. How comes they got left out?
So tempted to buy one now. But really don’t want to be fiddling around adding joysticks later on. I’m not much of a DIY electronics person despite my B grade in GCSE electronics lol :P
Probs wont get it delivered until the new year even if i do order now :( Sucks to be in the UK.
December 10th, 2009 at 11:19 am Quote
I love the SE versions. For the price though, I’m going to try to get similar performance out of my APC40.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:10 pm Quote
I love this controller already and I still gotta get me one. On a side note Ean, you guys always do a great job with the pictures… who’s the in house photog, and what lenses do you guys use?
December 10th, 2009 at 1:34 pm Quote
I have an APC too and the buttons on the APC aren’t responsive enough for tapping out beat juggles IMO. They are more effective for launching tracks/clips in an organized fashion and musical bits that you need to drop in, quantized. i also have a bunch assigned as effect toggles in my current Live DJ set; but again they are all set to a quantize of some sort to ensure the timing, due to the APC’s limitations.
Again I really liked my nanopads for tapping stuff out un-quantized, but the durability is an issue with those things, especially if you’re heavy handed like me.
I am really hoping the midi fighter lives up to its name, because I intend to have some brawls with my clips and effects.
December 10th, 2009 at 11:38 pm Quote
hey why dont u ensamble some as a guitar, just like guitar hero controller, would look great when playing
December 11th, 2009 at 9:11 am Quote
After ordering mine I got really excited and my buddy next to me at the coffee shop asked what the Midi Fighter was…. after explaining he looked at me surprised and exclaimed “It’s like a MPC, for only $125!” … “Yes, in a way it could be used like an MPC, but you still need it hooked up to a computer.”
My friend is not very computer literate. He asked me then if I could make one of these with a built in soundcard/sampler so that it wouldn’t need to be connected to a computer. If he already had his samples sliced into 16 parts and saved on some sort of card.. say Compact Flash, or an SM card, how difficult would it be to enable to Midi Fighter to read and use those samples without being attached to the computer?
Or perhaps this would be easier… what if the Midi Fighter just had a built in memory so that you could connect it to your computer to download the samples, and then break off the usb umbilical cord so it can sing on its own.
Off course, all of this would require a soundcard with audio outs … and you would be missing out on a lot of flexibility that a midi controller has when paired with a computer… but you really wanted a Midi Fighter w/o the computer.. could it be done?
December 12th, 2009 at 1:03 am Quote
Oh man…. I can’t wait to get mine in. If I’m not mistaken, I can essentially use the midi fighter with a VCI-100 and still rock beats like an arcade VCI, right guys?
December 12th, 2009 at 1:04 am Quote
At Jonny…. That would be dope to have pre-recorded samples with a built in soundcard and a 9 volt battery.
December 12th, 2009 at 7:14 am Quote
Cannot wait for mine to arrive :) Plan on buying the SE as well and building a larger box for the original + wire in some faders. Could Get Hectic
December 13th, 2009 at 11:22 pm Quote
Yes- rotary encoders should be easily supported.
Yes- that is the idea. Rock beats on decks 3/4 with arcades..
yes- the cases will be available later as an add on and you can easily dis-assemble and slide them on..
you can actually add a lot more than just 4 if you are willing to re-program the firmware a little bit. I think the limits are fairly high but for plug and play its limited to 4 by 4
December 14th, 2009 at 3:16 am Quote
Getting mine for christmas!!!!
December 14th, 2009 at 6:26 am Quote
Just ordered mine after reading that the sidewalls can be added on later. Protection is important to me especially when transporting gear in drunken state at a club!
Got those fusia buttons ordered too! looks dam sexy.
December 14th, 2009 at 7:26 am Quote
Dude thats awsome, it’ll be great for my midi effects with abelton LIVE
December 14th, 2009 at 7:03 pm Quote
Ean what about the potential for a VCI style jog wheel being added via the inputs on the MIDI fighter?
December 20th, 2009 at 2:01 pm Quote
Christmas gift to myself… should be fun!
December 22nd, 2009 at 5:33 pm Quote
im very interested in the MF-T1, you mentioned on a previous post, i love the idea joystick controls! and you can never have to many knobs and sliders.
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:28 pm Quote
Are you planning on making a kit (or two) for something with some knobs/faders to it? Looks like a great start to a setup that doesn’t require mastering the soldering iron and an engineering degree to get it running. (Ableton Live user here)
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:41 pm Quote
Does/can the firmware speak OSC?
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:36 pm Quote
will this work with hardware? or is it USB only?
can it send sysex? RPN/NRPN? how many joystick/sliders/buttons can it handle?
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:41 pm Quote
Good question. Quick answer: The Midifighter is easily capable of generating OSC and sending it over USB. Drivers on the host computers, however, are a much larger problem that has no good long-term solution.
The aim of the Midifighter project was to make a USB-MIDI based device that you can just plug into any computer and get DJ-quality results from. To do this we followed the “Class Compliant” rules as laid out in the USB standards which allows us to write the firmware once and have it work on any computer that speaks the USB standard. There is no standard USB “class” for OSC, so to be able to plug in the device and have it work we would need us to provide drivers for Mac, Linux and Win32 that would bridge the gap between the Midifighter and your OSC application. To do that properly is a lot of work.
Testing drivers against multiple versions of the three platforms as well as committing to producing updates for future OS versions is a big undertaking and the main reason why ancient computer hardware gathers “cruft” and eventually stops working (see most SCSI-based samplers for a current example). It would take many more programmers, a lot larger investment in testing hardware and a long term investment in keeping the platform alive that would have to be passed on to you, dear user, in the form of a much higher price.
If someone wants to take on the task of generating OSC, the Midifighter is a full development platform with all open-source code ready for you to bend the machine to your will, but a professional cross platform solution requires a larger developer pool than we currently have. But who knows what the future holds…
December 29th, 2009 at 9:50 am Quote
Hi. The MIDIFighter looks really cool. Nice work guys. I was wondering if the arcade buttons are capable of transmitting velocity. Anyone have an answer to this? Thx.
December 29th, 2009 at 11:40 am Quote
At this time they are not capable of transmitting velocity.
January 5th, 2010 at 11:02 am Quote
emm. am i the only one who didn’t get the 4 screws needed to secure the top acrylic? :-/
January 6th, 2010 at 12:00 am Quote
Hey you guys sorry to be asking such an elementary question,but how do you put the beats on to the midi fighter hardware. Im thinking of purchasing one but how exactly does it work and what connections does it have??? Please any help would be greatly appreciated.
January 6th, 2010 at 12:13 am Quote
Like a simple connection to just play beats nothing complicated. Do I just hook it up to me laptop?
January 6th, 2010 at 4:07 pm Quote
Can this be used with LSDJ on the Gameboy??
January 14th, 2010 at 4:32 am Quote
@ braking boss: there are no sounds, this is a midi device (maybe wiki “midi” or something to learn more about the protocol).
So it is sending infomation only to another device, in ean’s case probably traktor or maybe live which accepts this type of data and makes the device/software do, well, stuff, basically whatever you can figure out (with various other pieces of software and hardware) to make it do.
to ean, classy shit dude, love a bit of diy, and thanks for the continuing controllerist education !
MUST SAVE CA$H
January 17th, 2010 at 2:40 am Quote
Does this little guy use the standerd round midi connections or does it have a USB conector for easily connecting to a pc without a game port for midi controll.
January 17th, 2010 at 11:12 am Quote
this a USB device- so all you need for power and data is a usb cable.
January 22nd, 2010 at 6:23 pm Quote
So… it’s a DIY kit, but all you do is snap in the buttons? No soldering? No customization other than color?
Why don’t I just take the pads out of a trigger finger and spray paint them gold?
Congrats on the price, however. Looks cool too. Let me know when the PCB ships blank and I’ll get one.
January 22nd, 2010 at 6:26 pm Quote
ps- I guess what I’m in want/need of is a kit that SHOWS me how MIDI circuit boards and controllers are designed… this one would be cool for what I want if there was a little more in depth work that could help me eventually understand and build my own controller… this one is just pretty colored buttons you snap in…