Add this up to 3 groups, easily selected using a switch, and the controller has in reality 96 potentiometers, 24 sliders and 24 push buttons. Should make up for a nice mixing console or some heavy synth tweaking.

It also features a nice backlit 16x2 characters LCD display and two operating modes: mode 1 sends universal control messages and mode 2 sends user defined MIDI events (up to 24 bytes/message).

The Bitstream Pro comes with software which easily lets you program any MIDI-message to any potentiometer/slider/button, but what sets it even more ahead of the rest, is that it lets you assign a user defined text string (16 chars) to any of the potentiometers- /sliders/buttons. So for instance, when you twist a knob, the display can read "LFO rate" or "filter cutoff", or if you use a slider it could read "Master volume", etc. All in all a brilliant idea I cannot for my life figure out why no one else has implemented in their controllers.

I mapped out a softsynth this way, and as I went along I found out I stared less and less at the monitor when programming patches. When I was finished I could actually turn off the monitor and focus on the values and readings on the LCD when I programmed a patch. Totally splendid.

The 30mm sliders seems a bit small for precision use, but they seem to be of high quality, and I had absolutely no problems chosing the exact MIDI value (0-127) when I used the controller for Propellerheads Reason 2.

The unit also comes with a built-in LFO, which is integrated in any MIDI-message. It makes for some real useful filter sweeps - or in general whatever. Only imagination will be the limitation for its use.

All in all, it's a highly recommended unit which really stands out from any other controller out there.

http://www.waveidea.com/english/index.htm