This is a wiki post containing a list of hardware controllers that supports MPE. Please edit or reply to this list if you know of more that can be added to it.
note: this lists contains controllers only, so no sound engine.
Instruments with a sound engine that can also be used as controllers are listed in the Hardware Synths with MPE topic
I think its important that this topic does not overlap with Hardware synths support MPE, we need to strictly have this for ‘controllers’ only i.e that do NOT contain a sound engine.
e.g. only the first edition (?) continuum would be listed here, since all subsequent have EM.
I might edit the hardware synth wiki topic, to make it clearer which ‘synths’ can send mpe out too.
but, overall this should work ok, though there are a couple of oddities due to models.
that said, only two I can think of are Push 3 (standalone/controller) , and continuum (first version vs current models)
also, we might want to indicate if they are still available or not (unfortunately), and provide urls as other wikis do.
How about hardware devices with focus on that they can send MPE, as opposed to devices that receive/make use of MPE (be it internally or not)?
We have quite limited choices of MPE-capable devices so far anyway, so if I was looking for a good piece of hardware that I can MPE-control other synths with I’d be happy both with a controller and a synth that happens to be able to control external gear (price aside).
yeah, thats what we are using for controller vs “synth”
but I think we have to go on capability rather than ‘focus’,
what I want to avoid is having things on both lists/ambiguity etc.
e.g. one person might use an osmose primary as a controller, other as a hardware synth.
anyway, lets keep it simple…
the idea was just to have a quick list for someone to look over, honestly, I think most visiting the site already will know most of them.
I really only created the synth lists initially as it was quite common that MPE would be added later to a synth. also w/ software it was quite common to be looking for something ‘new’ and a quick list was useful - frankly, for hardware you were more likely to be ‘deep in research’ anyway
EDIT:
Ive updated the hardware synth topic to clarify those with controller functionality,
also updated this list… not exhaustive yet,
also Ive split into sections, to identity how ‘complete’ the mpe support is, as I think if you are looking for a controller this is a pretty important part.
note: im using 3-axis liberally here, meaning you have control on these dimensions. so something like the Osmose would still be ‘complete’, despite Y being attached to Z.
its not strictly true, but for most users they’d likely think of it this way.
Agreed, that’s what I meant actually, so the list should focus, not the controller! I personally wouldn’t mind duplicates in lists… if a device does both, or if it is hard to place… why not both.
Devices that can send MPE ↔ devices that can receive MPE
yeah, I dont want to have dupes, because once you have one ‘exception’,
then someone could (reasonably) add all the hardware synths with mpe output to this list.
I think the key here is not ‘tech specs’ , but rather what is the user looking for?
if you are looking at controllers, then you are talking about something that cannot be used without a synth engine ( hardware, or software vst etc) - possibly something (often) a bit cheaper.
whereas, if you are looking for something that can be used standalone, go to the other list.
anyways, now the hardware synth topic has those with controller functionality split out. I think it’s pretty clear.
ofc, lets bare in mind, lists are just simplification - a starting point to dig deeper.
I dont really want to get too deep here. e.g. you could argue controllers that need a computer (eigenharp/soundplane) should be separate from those that are truly standalone.
but the more you separate things out, the less useful they are as an overview (imho)
Sad to see how many of those are now already discontinued. Fortunately existing instruments still function - and hopefully continue to do so for a long time.
I see there’s a link to the MPE synths wiki, but I think adding a link from there to this thread would also be useful.
I think it would also be helpful to identify that in both threads. If you were about to make a purchase on the second hand market, it would be helpful to know that support or future upgrades are unlikely.
yeah, I was going to mark those not currently available etc,
but couldn’t decide on a word that encompasses the various reason.
it might be an discontinued product, a defunct company,
unsupported?
e.g. Push 2… its not available now, but it is (kind of) still supported.
need something ‘snappy’ so it can go on one line, to keep the list tidy
I’ll add some tags here, and we can decide if they fit (feel free to edit)
I will mention that I plan on migrating both of my lists of MPE hardware from KVR Audio Forum to Poly Expression, converting them into Markdown tables, then retiring both of the aforementioned lists. This will be a slow transition over the course of 2025 due to a significant lack of resources on my end, but it will eventually be done. Here is an example:
already on the synth list, as has a built in sound engine… so can be used ‘standalone’
indeed… its great instrument, arguably the best portable one
Id love to see this get some more “exposure” (trade shows etc), as I do think it’s a bit of a sleeper, that few get to try, but would love.
I completely forget about the built-in sound; I play it with the iPad and all my nice instruments from Roli and GeoShred, etc. Now that I think about it, does the iPad/ThumbJam pair count as a controller/synth?
Playing the internal sound, optionally over an effects pedal is surprisingly versatile. Imho a great idea to give a controller one default “voice”, making it a self contained instrument with an identity.
