DROID M4 motor fader controller with 4 faders
This module provides you with four motorised faders (aka flying faders) to be attached to your DROID master. You can attach up to 16 of these units (or any other DROID controllers) to one master, so the maximum number of faders on a DROID is 64. Below each fader is a touch button and an LED.
You can use the faders, the buttons and the LEDs in very flexible ways to control all parameters in your DROID patches, like steps of a sequence, volumes of channels of a digital mixer (controlled via MIDI with the X7), parameters of a large bank of envelopes, CV values that are organized in presets and much more.
The special thing about the motorized faders is that each fader can be assigned several functions or presets. When you switch the function, the fader moves to the exact position that corresponds to the current value. The usual Eurorack "picking up" of potentiometers or faders, where you never know exactly which value is currently set, is now a thing of the past.
Another unique feature is the "haptic feedback". If a fader is used, for example, in a sequencer to select a note from a scale, you can feel each individual note like an artificial notch. The fader intelligently creates these virtual grooves with its motor. This is very useful and very intuitive whenever you use the fader to select one out of several discrete values. Other examples are clock divider settings, the number of a preset, a waveform, a clock offset and much more. Due to the haptic feedback you don't need any display for seeing what you are doing. You can concentrate on making music and play very intuitively.
Another kind of haptic feedback is a kind of "pitch bend wheel", where the fader always pushes back to the center position by itself. Here the motor creates an artifcial spring. When setting analog values such as a volume or a filter cutoff, the fader then runs freely, of course.
Applications
The DROID plus the faders can be used for various applications - and due to the possibility of switching even at the same time! Here are some example:
- A multi track performance sequencer
- Use a MIDI controllable digital audio interface as mixer
- Control a bank of four envelopes with A, D, S, R each with just four faders
- Use the faders for CV presets
- Use the faders and their haptic feedback for live performing with pitch bends, ratcheting and all other crazy stuff
Power
Motor faders need much energy. Theoretically one single fader can draw up to 800 mA when at full power. That seems to be the main reason why nobody dared in bringing motorised faders into Eurorack so far.
We have solved that challenge by making use of the fact that the fader need their power always just for a very short time. The M4 unit comes with four big power tanks (called super caps) that are loaded with a low current but provide the full power when the faders need them. That way the maximum current of one M4 unit is limited. With jumpers on the back you can choose between a peak current of 350, 450, 500 or 600 mA.
How much is my shipping?
Shipping is automatically calculated before you submit your payment information. Simply add items to your cart and proceed to the checkout page, where you'll be offered shipping options and their prices. In the UK it's normally around £4 for order values under £150, and free above that. Shipping to mainland EU is typically between £7 and £20, depending on the shipping method and the size and weight of the order.
Do you ship to my country?
Almost certainly - the site will give you an estimate of shipping costs if you add an item to the cart and then enter your country and postcode. If you have specific requirements (such as if you prefer UPS over FedEx, for example) then let us know in advance and we'll try to work something out for you.
Shipping methods
We use a combination of Parcelforce, DPD, Royal Mail and UPS for the UK, and for international orders it's either Royal Mail, UPS, DHL or FedEx depending on where you are in the world. If you have a particular preference then try to let us know BEFORE you order so we can look into it for you. Please note that there may occasionally be additional shipping charges if you live in a remote area, depending on what surcharges are applied by the shipper. We'll get in touch to discuss this with you in such cases.
Dispatch times
For UK orders, we normally dispatch the same working day if we get the order before 15:00. If you have a really urgent situation then of course drop us an email before ordering and we'll always do our absolute best to accommodate you.
For international orders, we normally dispatch the same day if we get the order before 13:00 but again, occasionally it might be the next day before we can send it out, and sometimes FedEx or UPS may come a little earlier than scheduled which would also push an order into the next day.
Shipping times
Since April 2020 the couriers we use have suspended guarantees for shipping times, so even though we're paying them for priority services - 24-48 hours for most of the world - in practice it's often an extra day on top and sometimes it can be longer.
There is absolutely nothing we can do about this unfortunately. If you are outside the UK and it's a life-or-death situation where you absolutely MUST have that passive mult for the next day then... it may be better to find a local supplier.
Saturday shipping
If you're in the UK and you order before 15:30 on a Friday then we can send something for a Saturday delivery (NB: this applies to UK mainland addresses only). The success rate with DPD is about 95% so it's worth a punt most of the time. Please note that if you select Saturday shipping on an order placed earlier in the week, we'll wait until Friday to ship it.
Pre-orders
If a product is listed as a pre-order, it means we've ordered it from the supplier but it's not physically in stock yet. The product listing will include an estimated shipping date based on the best information we have from the supplier, but do bear in mind this is subject to change and is not a guaranteed date.
If you place an order containing a mixture of in-stock and pre-order items, we'll normally hold off on shipping anything until the pre-order item(s) have arrived, rather than splitting it into multiple shipments. If you need the in-stock items sooner, we'd recommend placing separate orders. As always, please get in touch if you have questions.
Product Overview
DROID M4 motor fader controller with 4 faders
This module provides you with four motorised faders (aka flying faders) to be attached to your DROID master. You can attach up to 16 of these units (or any other DROID controllers) to one master, so the maximum number of faders on a DROID is 64. Below each fader is a touch button and an LED.
You can use the faders, the buttons and the LEDs in very flexible ways to control all parameters in your DROID patches, like steps of a sequence, volumes of channels of a digital mixer (controlled via MIDI with the X7), parameters of a large bank of envelopes, CV values that are organized in presets and much more.
The special thing about the motorized faders is that each fader can be assigned several functions or presets. When you switch the function, the fader moves to the exact position that corresponds to the current value. The usual Eurorack "picking up" of potentiometers or faders, where you never know exactly which value is currently set, is now a thing of the past.
Another unique feature is the "haptic feedback". If a fader is used, for example, in a sequencer to select a note from a scale, you can feel each individual note like an artificial notch. The fader intelligently creates these virtual grooves with its motor. This is very useful and very intuitive whenever you use the fader to select one out of several discrete values. Other examples are clock divider settings, the number of a preset, a waveform, a clock offset and much more. Due to the haptic feedback you don't need any display for seeing what you are doing. You can concentrate on making music and play very intuitively.
Another kind of haptic feedback is a kind of "pitch bend wheel", where the fader always pushes back to the center position by itself. Here the motor creates an artifcial spring. When setting analog values such as a volume or a filter cutoff, the fader then runs freely, of course.
Applications
The DROID plus the faders can be used for various applications - and due to the possibility of switching even at the same time! Here are some example:
- A multi track performance sequencer
- Use a MIDI controllable digital audio interface as mixer
- Control a bank of four envelopes with A, D, S, R each with just four faders
- Use the faders for CV presets
- Use the faders and their haptic feedback for live performing with pitch bends, ratcheting and all other crazy stuff
Power
Motor faders need much energy. Theoretically one single fader can draw up to 800 mA when at full power. That seems to be the main reason why nobody dared in bringing motorised faders into Eurorack so far.
We have solved that challenge by making use of the fact that the fader need their power always just for a very short time. The M4 unit comes with four big power tanks (called super caps) that are loaded with a low current but provide the full power when the faders need them. That way the maximum current of one M4 unit is limited. With jumpers on the back you can choose between a peak current of 350, 450, 500 or 600 mA.
Technical Specs
Shipping Details
How much is my shipping?
Shipping is automatically calculated before you submit your payment information. Simply add items to your cart and proceed to the checkout page, where you'll be offered shipping options and their prices. In the UK it's normally around £4 for order values under £150, and free above that. Shipping to mainland EU is typically between £7 and £20, depending on the shipping method and the size and weight of the order.
Do you ship to my country?
Almost certainly - the site will give you an estimate of shipping costs if you add an item to the cart and then enter your country and postcode. If you have specific requirements (such as if you prefer UPS over FedEx, for example) then let us know in advance and we'll try to work something out for you.
Shipping methods
We use a combination of Parcelforce, DPD, Royal Mail and UPS for the UK, and for international orders it's either Royal Mail, UPS, DHL or FedEx depending on where you are in the world. If you have a particular preference then try to let us know BEFORE you order so we can look into it for you. Please note that there may occasionally be additional shipping charges if you live in a remote area, depending on what surcharges are applied by the shipper. We'll get in touch to discuss this with you in such cases.
Dispatch times
For UK orders, we normally dispatch the same working day if we get the order before 15:00. If you have a really urgent situation then of course drop us an email before ordering and we'll always do our absolute best to accommodate you.
For international orders, we normally dispatch the same day if we get the order before 13:00 but again, occasionally it might be the next day before we can send it out, and sometimes FedEx or UPS may come a little earlier than scheduled which would also push an order into the next day.
Shipping times
Since April 2020 the couriers we use have suspended guarantees for shipping times, so even though we're paying them for priority services - 24-48 hours for most of the world - in practice it's often an extra day on top and sometimes it can be longer.
There is absolutely nothing we can do about this unfortunately. If you are outside the UK and it's a life-or-death situation where you absolutely MUST have that passive mult for the next day then... it may be better to find a local supplier.
Saturday shipping
If you're in the UK and you order before 15:30 on a Friday then we can send something for a Saturday delivery (NB: this applies to UK mainland addresses only). The success rate with DPD is about 95% so it's worth a punt most of the time. Please note that if you select Saturday shipping on an order placed earlier in the week, we'll wait until Friday to ship it.
Pre-orders
If a product is listed as a pre-order, it means we've ordered it from the supplier but it's not physically in stock yet. The product listing will include an estimated shipping date based on the best information we have from the supplier, but do bear in mind this is subject to change and is not a guaranteed date.
If you place an order containing a mixture of in-stock and pre-order items, we'll normally hold off on shipping anything until the pre-order item(s) have arrived, rather than splitting it into multiple shipments. If you need the in-stock items sooner, we'd recommend placing separate orders. As always, please get in touch if you have questions.
