nOb is a very precise, endless knob controller. It features a big knob and performs smoothly with any of your applications. It was designed with the author in mind, who wants to adjust any type of parameter during demanding media production. By intelligently emulating a Human Interface Device (NOT simply implementing a mouse scroll wheel), nOb is able to control virtually any parameter you would normally adjust with your mouse, delivering out-of-the-box compatibility with any operating system and software package. You simply have to point your mouse cursor to the parameter you want to control and use nOb’s big knob to fine-tune it to taste. Based on the current mode of operation, any draggable interface element found in modern media production software can be controlled, including sliders, scrollbars, knobs, radial buttons or even draggable value indicators.
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The majority of remaining nObs for the backers have been assembled, tested and ready to get packaged. So expect them to get shipped this week. At the end of the week, we will report, if there are any nObs remaining to get shipped and when exactly. We are trying our best to ship all nObs this week, however we are still waiting for a batch of wooden enclosures to be delivered to us, so that we can finish every last nOb remaining. Thank you for your patience and understanding!
No need to worry. We are gradually shipping the remaining nObs. If everything goes according to schedule, we will ship everything by the end of September.
Many of the August nObs have already been shipped. We are now shipping the rest. Each backer gets a confirmation with tracking details after his nob has been shipped. We are giving our best to deliver all nObs by the end of September. Thank you for your patience!
Thank you!
Hi Hollis, all supplies for the first 200+ devices have now been shipped to us. We expect to be able to start assembling at the beginning of May. Possible delays may only take place because of certification issues (completing the tests in the laboratory and filing the technical reports). We expect no significant delays for our European backers. However, other countries and continents have different regulations and therefore we have to pay extra attention in each case.
We will report on our progress in detail at the end of the month. So stay tuned!
It is going well so far! We have ordered supplies and we are working on demonstrating conformity with international standards. More on this in our report update at the end of the month.
This way you can easily rest your fingers on the switch while turning the knob, which is useful on certain occasions, like temporarily changing the drag direction while your finger rests on the right switch.
Thanks for the question! We plan to introduce custom mapping curves between encoder ticks and output values (MIDI, OSC, ets). This means, you will be able to do a lo more than what you describe. For example, mapping 128 ticks for MIDI 0-64 and 1000 ticks for MIDI 65-127...
Excellent question!
It would not be possible without installing extra software. Once nAc* gets MIDI and OSC support, multiple nObs may send independent MIDI CC and OSC messages to different devices (even with custom mapping curves, and with shortcuts to change the current assigned MIDI/OSC parameter). As nAc progresses, you will be able to use multiple nObs at once to control on-screen elements à la nOb-style in multi-touch compatible applications. *nOb Assignment center
Thanks for your support. The general schedule looks like this:
- Receive funds in February
- Order materials/electronics/tools by the end of February
- Make a small nOb batch (around 10 devices) to optimize our workflow (with materials we have in stock) and for testing purposes in March.
-By end of March we should have received all necessary materials and be able to start the assembly of the early birds.
-April is assembly->testing->packaging Time!
-Shipping of Super Early Birds in May. From that point, we manufacture continuously to deliver the rest of our awards. We will keep you posted with regular updates the whole time! @Peter Jolly
Thanks for your comment. nAc will be available and free of charge for all nOb users. Receiving enough Funds (over EUR 75000) will allow us to allocate more resources for its developement and finish it on time, as we ship the last backer's nOb. Milestone beta versions will be available to all nOb users that will have already received their nOb's. So you dont have to sign up for something! You can help, however, by spreading the word about nOB and keep up with your support and feedback!
Thanks for your comments and questions!
These are some of the reasons, one would rather use nOb to adjust something in an audio environment, instead of the mouse:
1) Being able to perform single pixel adjustments with a relaxed hand (no mouse button pressing) and with confidence (precise encoder + big knob), and still being able to make bigger adjustments without a problem, if you make big knob turns.
2) Reproducibility of movements. Try this: Start moving a fader with your mouse without looking at the screen or listening to any sound. After you moved the fader a couple of times up and down, bring it back to where it was at the beginning, purely by feeling. Now look back at your screen. Did you come close to the point you started out? Using a big knob, this task can be easily accomplished. You start turning nOb with a certain relaxed finger posture, then after e.g. recording some automation you comeback to this posture and as a result you come very close to value you started out with. This has to do with "Proprioception" , the ability to know how your fingers are positioned in relation to each other, without looking at them, and being able to reproduce the finger postures. On the long run, this gives you a lot more control confidence.
- A lot of people (older generation working with analog stuff) are used to turning real knobs to adjust audio parameters. To these people adjustments with nOb feel a lot more natural, than with the mouse (and also a lot better than those small knobs found on most cheap MIDI controllers)
- There are cases in which you want to drag something along only the vertical or horizontal axis. For example, dragging an audio clip from one track to another without messing up the timing (purely vertical drag), or moving some volume automation points strictly along the horizontal axis, or moving a point inside a grafical equalizer strictly downwards to reduce a specific resonant frequency. This can be easily done with nOb. Of course, there are key modifiers in certain programs to lock a drag along an axis, but that is not the case with every program and every plugin.
- When mixing or mastering, you may use a lot of different plugins with lots of parameters and adjust your workflow to a specific track. Being able to spontaneously fine-tune something with precision is a plus. With MIDI controllers, you need to open a MIDI learn menu first, then you turn your knob to make the assignement and then you try to fine-tune the parameter, only to find out that its value jumps as soon as you start controlling! This is not a problem however with (expensive) motorized faders, or intelligently programmed endless knobs (pretty rare). As for further developments, expect announcements from us pretty soon!
This is something we are considering for the future. At the time being, we don't want to introduce any further manufacturing complexities. We rather use any extra resources to improve the user experience even further with a nice and light-weight nOb Assignment Center for all platforms. More on this pretty soon. Thanks for your comment!
looking sooo must forward to receive my nOb
Provided that there is a tap button on the delay plugin, configuring nOb to do what you ask would not be that difficult. However, if you do so, it is likely that you would lose some other functionality (for example, double tapping to undo the last adjustment). With some clever programming, one could make an exception and provide the functionality you desire, if a specific plugin is in focus (allowing nOb to work as usual otherwise). To make a long story short: What you ask is possible, but not implemented right now :)
Thanks for your question!
Please consider that the wooden case is hand crafted and that that each device will be hand-assembled and individually tested in Germany. $20 for the electronics is an underestimation. Even cheap hi-res encoders from China cost more than $15. Our encoder is an optical design, customized to meet our needs. Thanks for your question!
Thanks for the question. If the funding target is not reached, producing nOb will be much more difficult for us. Nevertheless, bringing the device out there will remain one of our main goals.
Yes, nOb works with MacBook Pro.
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The protocol for communicating with nOb over the serial device will be released under the proper license shortly after successful funding.
It is then up to the developers to create OSC, MIDI or other kind of software bridges. nOb can control virtually any UI element, you would normally adjust with the mouse. This functionalily is inherit to the way the HID device was designed. It is just that using the serial interface would allow developers to overwrite nOb's default behaviour and use it as they please. I hope this answers your questions. Thank you for your support!