Nektar Pacer USB MIDI Footswitch Controller with Nektar DAW Integration

Product Information

What's really interesting is the set of other inputs and outputs: two standard expression pedal sockets, two for footswitches (with a maximum of four using a Y-splitter), and there are two relays (with a maximum of four using a Y-splitter) so you would even set this unit up to control your amplifiers, even if they're not MIDI capable. And after some back and forth clarification with their support I still had a very small doubt about the info he gave. The Pacer is USB powered, but can also be powered by a power supply (9V/600mA, not included), provides space for custom presets, and Nektar have also been kind enough to load in presets for relevant models including Line6, Fractal Audio, Avid, Kemper, Elektron and Electro Harmonix.

Also my Pacer pedal has some custom magnetic labels I created and cut to fit between the pedals, that was done in MS Publisher.If you use Pacer to select patches for instruments or effects, using Program Change messages, Presets A1-A4 are a good place to get started.

Once you’ve competed the above steps your preferences window in Ableton Live should look like Image 3 (Windows) or Image 4 (MacOS). By contrast, I’ve hooked up the Pacer, updated the firmware, tried to run the configuration software for Logic Pro (Apple rejected it due to security concerns), played with some buttons, read enough of the manual to get frustrated (the second sentence in one paragraph is, “Sounds confusing? However, the Pacer takes it to another level and allows you to send MIDI messages in a sequence of steps. I’ve had my Pacer for quite a while and I really like it, but now I’m in a situation where I need to have footswitches two different places on stage - and I’m thinking about how the external Footswitch function works.Since the ACS1 has the capability of setting and saving presets, you can use the Pacer to cycle through those presets. Though it's important to keep in mind that your experience with the Pacer will certainly depend on the gear or software you try to use it with.

And with one switch of a button, you can reconfigure your whole setup, with up to 16 MIDI-messages or relay switch states at the same time. The bottom row contains your trigger switches 1-5 that will be programmed to correspond to your RC505MKIIs switches. If your workflow would benefit from putting foot control front and centre, though, Pacer merits a serious look. Worth mentioning is, that each switch can change up to 6 actions simultaneously or in a sequence of presses.Don't stop the music: PACER is the only true hands-free solution for controlling a DAW and features a complete set of dedicated track and transport controls. The Nektor Pacer is compatible with Bitwig, Cubase, GarageBand, Logic, Nuendo, Reason, Reaper and Studio One. While still in the Control Edit menu, turn the Data Encoder to select ‘SETUP’, then press the next Stomp Switch you would like to configure, then follow steps 3-9 again. That way, when I switch back to the CC Preset, GPScript can detect that I’ve changed to this preset and ‘touch’ the widgets, which syncs them up with the Pacer. To do so, you need to change the value of the Program Change message which Pacer transmits, from the Control Edit menu.

You can see the patch name when you select it, but as soon as you step on a button, all it shows you is the numeric data it sent. I use my Shortboard in conjunction with a Yamaha UD BT01 dongle and the midimittr app, so my Shortboard is Bluetooth.However, it’s not so useful, if you would like to control more than one device/plug-in from a single preset. The 3-character display will now show the current Note value for the selected Stomp Switch and the active step. Maybe just a bad apple from the first batch, in general there are not many reports about erroneous FCP pedals. I was very bummed to find out that Akai dropped the footswitch support from the live model, and have been looking for a hasslefree way to trig overdub via MMC for some time now.