Doepfer R2M Midi Ribbon controller with manual and power adapter + cable

The Doepfer R2M MIDI Ribbon Controller is a ribbon controller that generates control signals by moving the finger on the ribbon manual. The output signals are generated asMidi and CV/Gate control voltages simultaneously. Consequently R2M allows to control both Midi and CV/Gate based equipment (e.g. analog synthesizers or analog modular systems). R2M is the abbreviation for Ribbon to (2) MIDI.
R2M is made of two parts: the manual and the control box. For the manual the same type as the for the modular version A-198 is used. It includes a 50 cm position sensor and a pressure sensor. The control box converts the data coming from the manual (finger position and pressure) into the corresponding Midi data resp. CV/Gate voltages. The control box is available even without manual to make use of an already existing A-198 manual and take advantage of the additional features of the R2M control unit compared to the comparatively simple A-198.

The main features of the Doepfer R2M MIDI Ribbon Controller include:  

Manual:

• very precise and sensitive position sensor (length 50 cm) that responds even to light finger touch
• sensible pressure sensor located below the position sensor
• solid metal frame (double U-shape profile), silver-grey color
• remark: from June 2011 the cases are black with white printing instead of  silvergrey with black printing
• several M3 threads on all sides (e.g. to mount the manual on a base or to mount several manuals together or to fix a strap or ...)
• measures: about 600 length x 30 width x 18 height (measures in mm)
• weight: about 900 g
• connection to the control box via 4-pin cable (same as used for USB connections but no USB function )
• cable included, length 1m (longer cables are available at extra charge, a standard USB cable type A-A can be used)

Control Box:

• receives the analog resistance data coming from the position and pressure sensor of the manual and converts these information into Midi date resp. CV/Gate voltages
• operation via 10 buttons, 6 LEDs and illuminated 2 line LCD
• these MIDI messages can be assigned to the two sensors:
  • note on/off without pitch bend
  • note on/off with pitch bend
  • pitch bend
  • after touch
  • any MIDI controller (any control change number)
  • program change
• "Trautonium" mode: in this special mode only a single note on message is generated when the position sensor is touched. After that only pitch bend messages are generated until the finger is lifted off. Attention! This mode requires that the MIDI receiver (e.g expander or software synthesizer/ emulation) offers a sufficient pitch bend range (e.g. 5 octaves if a 5 octave "Trautonium" has to be emulated) and sufficient pitch bend resolution so that no steps can be heard. If for e.g. the maximum pitch bend width of the receiver is one octave only even the trautonium mode will work only over one octave ! For details about the Trautonium please refer to the Trautonium document on our web site.
• Adjustable pitch bend width to adjust the R2M pitch bend to the receiver's pitch bend (pitch bend is not an absolute MIDI message, the full pitch bend data range may correspond in the receiver e.g. to +/- one semitone, +/- one quint, +/- one octave and so on)
• 12 bit pitch bend resolution
• MIDI channel, control change number and pitch scale can be adjusted 
• quantization option, i.e. only certain notes resp. control voltages (e.g. only major or minor notes) are generated, for details please refer to the A-100 quantizer module A-156 as the quantization of the R2M is very similar.
• adjustable manual scaling (i.e. which length of the manual corresponds to one octave, full length is max. 5 octaves)
• inverse scaling is possible (important if e.g. the manual is put on with a strap)
• MIDI output
• resolution of the analog manual data: 12 Bit
• simultaneous output of MIDI data and CV/Gate voltages
• 2 CV outputs (3.5 mm mono jack sockets, same as used in the A-100 system):
• CV1 outputs the position sensor data (1V/octave standard, 0...max. +5V, i.e. max. 5 octaves)
• CV2 outputs the pressure sensor data (0...+5V)
• Gate output (corresponds to CV1, 3.5 mm mono jack socket, same as used in the A-100 system):
• Gate can be configured as voltage gate (0/+5V) or switched trigger (jumper inside the box)
• normal: 0 -> +5V when the sensor is touched
• inverse: +5V -> 0V when the sensor is touched
• adjustable gate polarity:
• CV output resolution: 12 Bit
• all settings (e.g. scaling or quantization) affect both MIDI and CV/Gate outputs
• CV hold and active Gate are possible at the same time (was not possible for the A-198)
• no CV drift in hold mode (A-198 has a small CV drift in hold mode)
• 16 user defined presets (i.e. non volatile memory for 16 complete settings of the unit)
• measures: about 128 width x 91 depth x 26 height (front) resp. 42 height (rear, because of desktop shape, measures in mm)
• weight: about 450g
• connection cable between manual and control unit is included (length 1m, longer cables are available at extra charge, a standard USB cable type A-A can be used)
• midi cables are not included
• external AC adapter for power supply, AC adapter for 230V AC and European type of mains connector is included within Europe
• Black case with white printing