Behringer FCB1010

Bought in Octber 2021, eprom has 2.5.0 version. Using it to control ableton live performances at home for my cat.
Well build and quite heavy. To connect it to computer you need to buy a midi interface, I am using simple "doremidi" just like "Thomann Midi USB 1x1" which you can buy here too.
There are plenty of reviews of this device on youtube and also here on Thomann and I don't want to repeat it all, just point out what was not clear for me after these riviews before buying it.
It works perfectly with Ableton, each switch (except Exp pedals) can send cCCs and PCs and a Note and all at the same time which allows you to control much more than one device (if you really need it). Someone on youtube told that Ableton prefers midi notes over CCs. Actually both are possible but I switched to notes just to have same commands as my Launchkey MINI has. Programming FCB itself is a nightmare so I strongly recommend using a dedicated sofware. There are few of them and all have good youtube tutorisals, its up to you wchich to chose. If you know what a midi is and what you actually want to configure it will not take you more than a day so don't be scared by complexity of a manual.
Switch 1 and 2 at the rear panel are the exits to switch presets of your amp via standard jack cable, they are no designed to connect additional pedals etc., but you can actually expand your FCB by connecting additional midi controller (any and not only a pedal) to MIDI IN and instruct FCB to merge incoming signals from its own signals ant send them all thru midi OUT.
Switches are pretty tight and quiet, much better than round metallic click clack buttons cheap pedals have. But there is a lack of feedback so I am not sure which moment exactly the pedal is pressed.
Sadly UP and DOWN buttons are not programmable, they are not sending any midi comands at all. Probably next UNO chip will have this option, they have it on a wish list according to their website. I would love to use it to switch scenes.
That's all for the less than a month use. Due to low price I round up my rating to 5 stars. If you need it it's worth buying it. Thnk you Thomann.

I definitely recommend this product. It is insanely flexibility (basically can do everything) and has great value for money.
There are a few things, however, which I think the average user should be aware of:
1. This devices has no graphical user interface.
2. This device has hardly any limitation as to what you can make each key press do.
3. The combined conclusion from the above two bullets is: you need to actually program the thing - using it's hardware to do so. Remember setting the time in your old watch, where you need to press and hold several buttons in a specific order to get things right? so just like that, but with far more options, and with many more buttons.
I had to watch a 45min YouTube video that explains how to program the thing. As the instruction manual is simply not up-to-par, I recommend you do the same :
you learned the principals, it's quite easy to get going with, and the added value of this extreme flexibility is very much present. You can literally program any switch to shoot any MIDI signal(s) of many types and on many channels. I can't imagine something it can't do.

Also, and regardless, my specific unit produces a certain "hum" when it is on. Not a deal breaker, but could be better off without it. Might be a grounding issue.

Bottom line:
- HUGE value for money. You can do SO MUCH with it...
- VERY LONG learning curve. Expect to spend at least a few hours until you get the hang of it. I am a professional programmer with embedded systems experience and it took me about 4 hours to get it right.

Let me start with saying that Thomann's service and handling was flawless and I got my order in a perfect condition.
As for the FCB1010 itself - make sure you know what you're getting into before you get it. It is a very popular product that has huge dedicated forums with thousands of members, talking about it, fixing, optimizing, modding etc.
The build quality is exceptional. Its heavy duty (literally, it has its weight...) and as such feels solid and appropriate for handling a live performance on stage as well as anything you throw at it at home.
The biggest con is in its lack of a usb interface, meaning you have to use a midi-to-usb cable if you need that functionality, which was my main use case. Although it is possible to use 3rd party software to edit, upload and download configurations to the FCB1010, the 'official' configuration method is done within the device itself, and it takes time to figure out, especially if you've never worked with midi codes before. For me the best way to learn was watching an hour long youtube video explaining and demoing every setting, which just emphasizes how feature rich this thing is :)

Shipped on March 9. Thomann's tracking team's investigation started on March 31. Philpost central office (Philippines main post office) called me on the phone around 9:30am on May 6 for me to pick-up the parcel right away because it's wet and they want to hand it over to me that day since it's been delayed so much. I arrived at Philpost around 2:30pm that day. I saw that what they said on the phone that it's wet is accurate. Philpost wrapped the big parcel's box with clear plastic bag when they received it. They opened the plastic in front of me before releasing the parcel to me. The Thomann branded box is too soft from being soaked to take home with me. I decided I will take home only the FCB1010 box.

I finished claiming it. And I proceeded to opened the plastic and the wet too-large-for-me-to-put-my-arms-around-it rectangular box at the security guards' corner beside the entrance to take out the FCB1010 box. I took pictures and video.

Inside is the also wet FCB1010's box which is starting to deteriorate. The brown paper fillers inside are all wet and crumpled together I almost left the 5-pin MDI cable that I bought with the FCB1010. I opened the FCB1010's box itself and saw that the the unit is wrapped with protective clear plastic with the Styrofoam on both ends of the unit locking the plastic in place and sealing any openings. The power cord is attached to the package with clear adhesive tape. I can see the unit wasn't wet inside the clear plastic wrapping. The clear plastic envelope that held the Quick Start Guide had small water droplets and was moist.

I still hoped that the FCB1010 will turn ON at home and be 100% operational. Post office employees seeing me doing all this asked me where it came from and they said that it is the usual case with parcels coming from Germany. However, I felt I am the only one experiencing this as I see people claiming their normal, dry, parcels.

Luckily , despite all that and that the FCB1010 box already developed tears from my own handling on the way back home because it's too soft from being wet, what I hoped for happened. After taking more pictures, I turned it on and has power and I am able to program it just like in the online video tutorials! It is beautiful. Built like a tank. 100% legit and brand new. Serial number is found on both the box. It is a 220V unit. I bought it to control my Boss Katana 50 MKII (FCB1010 in tandem with a special Dual USB host that is made for that purpose. I think it is only by the manufacturer).

I use this to control a video mixer with my feet: a tap on a switch changes my camera view and the expression pedal controls the volume of my main mic.

The build quality on this unit is excellent for home studio use. It's heavy and sturdy.

Bear in mind that this does NOT have USB MIDI and it NEEDS a mains outlet to work. You won't power it with 9 volts, like you would a regular guitar pedal.

The power cord runs directly into the 220V outlet, so you don't need a proprietary power adapter or a switching unit. I have dozens of similar cables around the house from old electrical appliances, so if I break one cable, I can use another. Thanks Behringer for not making me have another power brick for this device.

You only have DIN-5 Midi connection, so if you expected another modern MIDI controller that runs over USB, this is not it. If you need MIDI into computer, you'll have to use a sound card or a MIDI interface.

The programming and adjusting settings is a bit cryptic, but you only do that once, and the manual on Behringer's site is ok.

I own the FCB 1010 for several months now, and I use it to control my DAW in which I load many things. I run several instances of vst amps and a guitar to midi. It can handle perfectly many things and I have never had any problems on rehearsals or on live stages handling a violin, an el. guitar and a vst keys organ triggered by guitar to midi.

I have to say that handling this device requires somewhat deep knowledge of how midi and your DAW works. You have to figure out what you need precisely and which is the best way to do it, but I think the same applies to all the midi controllers of this type. Also, when you press 1 the light is lid and when you press 2 only the second light is lid, while 1 is not, which for me is not a problem. You can solve this with the installation of the UNO chip, which I don't have, so I don't have experience on that. I strongly recommend using FCB 1010 along with a software fcb1010 manager. The pedals feel a little cheap, but in general FCB1010 is built to last.

Good and reasonably robust MIDI pedal board. It has been around for about twenty years now, and shows it's age in that it uses five pin DIN connectors, and needs it's own power chord. Instead of using MIDI USB, and power over USB. Out of the box, if you want to program MIDI settings you have to use the built in interface, using the pedals and a numerical display and some status leds, which can seem a little clunky. The programming interface is sometimes nicknamed "The River Dance". It's actually not that bad, once you get the logic behind the interface. To make it an even better deal there are at least three different FCB1010 MIDI editor programs for Windows and Mac, plus one for iPad, that I know of. That makes it way easier, and also lets you save different setups for different uses. There is also a MAX4Live device for Ableton Live that does the assignment directly in Live, but translating the MIDI signals from the factory setup to the MIDI functions and values Live needs. That one works like a charm too. I'm really satisfied and would definitely buy it again.

I have now set up my FCB1010 in the way I envisioned, and it took quite a lot of work, but now I'm very satisfied with it.

Out of the box, it works as expected, but configuring it is unintuitive and laborsome, and you don't have that much flexibility for what the buttons can do.

I ended up ordering a third-party non-official firmware which fixes the "software" part of this product, and with that I can now program the MIDI functions in a programming language. This was the definitive solution, and now my setup is very flexible, with features like "trigger" mode for the preset buttons, or "sustain", which as far as I understand are impossible with the official firmware.

Regarding the hardware itself, I have two minor complaints: (1) in a silent room, you can hear a hum from the FCB1010 whenever it is turned on, (2) there seems to be some mild "glue" on the expression pedals such that you can feel some stickiness when the pedal is on the extreme bottom or the extreme top.

All in all, not a perfect device, but definitely has opened a whole world of possibilities when performing live and when you're hands are busy with a musical instrument.