Roland EV-5 expression pedal Problem!

[bramstad]

Thanks for the quick replies now.

I tried the gain at 2 and different numbers, but it just went faster, it didn't change the range, it still stops around 60%...

[TheOtherSupport@KMI]

Then there is something very strange going on with your setup. What OS are you on? What version of the editor are you using? Are you using custom presets or factory ones?

I might suggest deleting the app and doing a clean reinstall, because the behavior you are describing has never been seen before. There is something limiting your data output to half the range somewhere in your software setup or within Live.

[bramstad]

Ok. I used the Editor version 2.0.
To my surprise I was indeed using an older version. I didn't realize there was a new version, I'm sorry.
I just installed 2.1, updated the firmware with that editor, loaded the same presets, and there is a big improvement now.
The range now goes until 120 ! That's much better than 60 120 is workable.
However there's still a strange issue, besides that it doesn't go up to 127, also this happens:
In Standalone, when the pedal is completely up, it keeps fluctuating between 118-119 (seen in Midi Monitor app). So my volume is ableton is quickly changing/fluctuating by itself.
In Hosted mode, when pedal is up, it does stay completely still at 119. Though, it doesn't go to 127.

In any case, I think could play my gig with this, but if I can reach the 127 without strange fluctuations in Standalone, that would be perfect!

[TheOtherSupport@KMI]

Fantastic. Haha, funny that we took all that time for such an easy fix.

The fluctuation is inherent noise in the electronics in the pedal, one solution is to crank the gain up a bit, so that you'll peg at 127 with a little bit of room at the top of the pedals range. I set mine to about 1.2 and found it to work pretty well.

[bramstad]

Yeah! That solves everything Thanks a lot whoeveryouare@KMI, that made my day!

While we are talking, there is one question left, that I've had since I bought the SS1 for the first time (when my pedal actually worked normally):

When I press my pedal slowly from heel to toe, the SS (and ableton) goes exponentially faster up.
This means that it's hard for me to control the upper levels of for example volume, while it's easy to control the lower levels. I want this to be the other way around - I want the high levels to be slowly changing, and the lower levels can be "quicker". If it would be all linear that would be fine too, but now it's very exponential in the wrong direction.

I have set the "Table" drop-down menu to Linear. I also tried all the other settings (Sine, Cosine, Exponential etc.), however they give the same result.

Hope you still have time for this

[TheOtherSupport@KMI]

You'll want to use a logarithmic curve. And even then i doubt it will get you all the way back to linear. It sounds like the pot in your pedal is exponential rather than linear. Which is strange because the EV5 is supposed to have a linear 10k pot.

[bramstad]

Ok thanks! That works for me.

[bramstad]

I still notice the fluctuations, in the middle range (anywhere between range 10-90 or something.)
I'm not sure if it's because of the inherent noise in the electronics of the pedal, because I don't have the problem in Hosted mode. The gain-increase solution worked to get the range to 127, and the fluctuations stop on top, but not in the middle range... It's a little annoying still..

[TheOtherSupport@KMI]

You could try turning the smoothing up in the pedal settings.

[awdwon]

I just got my SS2 up and running and I was having a similar problem with the EV-5 acting up. What was happening was the EV-5 would only engage above 0 when the pedal was pressed down around 40% of it's range. In other words the first 40% of the range of the pedal nothing was happening, so the range of the pedal was harder to control. I tried using a midi monitor and it was showing 0 and 127 at the top and bottom of the ranges, but the SS editor was still showing no response for the first 40%.

I took off the bottom of the EV-5 and started to tinker. I've got a very basic working knowledge of pots and some basic electronics stuff but I'm not afraid to take something apart if I feel I can easily put it back together. There's a set screw with an allen key fitting that attaches the pot to the pedal. I loosened it off and started fiddling with the pot with my fingers to see how it reacted in the SS editor. I found the bottom end at 0 and backed it off just a little bit and then tightened it up and now it works like a charm. To the OP, you might want to take off the bottom and have a look, perhaps the fluctuations in the middle of the range are just a loose set screw or something.

Reading around the web for reviews on the EV-5 it seems as though this range thing is a fairly common problem so hopefully this may help others. I attempted to also use my Ernie Ball VP Jr. as an expression pedal and it's way worse than my EV-5 originally was, it engages from 0-127 only in the last 10% of the pedal's range, rendering the beginning 90% of the pedal useless. I'm gonna rip it apart and see if it's a similar problem.