MIDI Association Member Hotone’s new Ampero Control is deceptively simple, but extremely powerful
At first glance, the Ampero Control looks like it is just 4 simple footswitches, but it is really so much more.
Let’s take a look at the complete feature set and then dig into details of each feature.
- Compact, smart 4-footswitch Bluetooth MIDI controller
- Supports standard MIDI, USB MIDI and Bluetooth MIDI input/output/thru
- Sending/transferring MIDI messages to separated/combined MIDI outputs
- Send max. 16 MIDI messages by one footswitch (32 for A/B groups)
- 100 banks (each bank includes 4 footswitches settings, 2 CTRL/EXP jack settings and more)
- Different footswitch triggering actions for flexible switching and various uses
- Dedicated mobile App lets you easily set your controller on the fly
- 2 CTRL/EXP TRS jacks for adapting external footswitches/expression pedals
- 3-digit LED for MIDI message info and Bluetooth connection status display
- DC 9-18V or 5V USB bus power supply
Smart 4-footswitch Bluetooth MIDI Controller
The Ampero Control is not just a dumb footswitch.
You can download a smartphone app for iOS or Android and intelligently control all of the settings of the Ampero Control.
The app lets you configure 100 Banks and each bank contains all these settings.
- The Bank name
- The footswitch modes of 4 built-in footswitches (Single, Toggle, Momentary and Hold)
The Ampero Control can store two different groups of MIDI Messages. Single, Toggle, Momentary and Hold subtly change when those groups are sent out for different use cases.
- Up to 16 MIDI messages including channels, types, values, etc. ) for each footswitch
The Ampero Control can send out 4 different types of MIDI Messages- Program Changes, Continuous Controller messages with values and Note On/Off with Velocity.
As an example you could set one internal footswitch to Momentary, and set Group A to send an 8 Note Chord with 8 Pan Values when you stepped on the footswitch and a different 8 note chord with 8 Filter Cutoff values when the footswitch was released.
Like we said, not just a simple footswitch!
- CTRL 1/2 controller assign and related settings
5 Pin Din, USB and Bluetooth MIDI connectivity
Another feature of each Bank allows you to select the MIDI Output where each MIDI message will be sent. You can route MIDI messages out via Bluetooth, USB, the MIDI OUT 5 Pin DIN or any combinations of those. Again that gives you a lot of flexibility and routing possibilities.
Bridging simple analog pedals and MIDI
This could be one of the most interesting features of the Ampero Control. It has 2 CTRL/EXP TRS jacks for adapting external footswitches/expression pedals.
You can take any analog single foot switch, double footswitch or expression pedal and use it to expand your Ampero Control.
Each bank has individual settings for the external footswitches and pedals. So a simple single analog footswitch can be programmed to send out 100 different MIDI messages.
The Ampero Control also converts the analog signal from an expression pedal into MIDI, and you can assign up to 4 different CC messages (each with their own individually programmed min and max settings) per bank.
The programmable min and max are a really intelligent feature and take a simple analog expression pedal and transform it into a powerful MIDI controller.
Remember you can store 100 Banks that combine all the settings for the 4 internal switches and any connected pedals including up to two expression pedals.
Of course, the Ampero Control is a perfect match for Hotone’s Ampero multi-effects processor, but because it is MIDI it can be easily setup to work with any MIDI device whether it’s another company’s guitar multi effector, a keyboard or even a MIDI controlled lighting rig.
Anyone who has their hands full (pun intended) when playing live should look at what the Ampero Control can do in controlling MIDI via footswitches and pedals.
If you already own an expression pedal, think about what you could do if you could transform that simple analog signal into multiple CC messages with min and max settings.
The Ampero Control is a powerful MIDI Controller with extensive programmability via its smartphone app that belies its simple exterior design.
