Line6 FBV Express MKII

Using this for a few months now. This was recommended to me by one of Thomann's studio techs (kudos to them!), and i couldn't have been more happy.

Positive sides: first of all, the unit feels very sturdy and rugged, and looks like it could withstand fair amount of abuse. Also, the included software lets you map keys however you want - Hi/Lo values, CC's, notes, whatever. You can even save the mappings as presets if you use different mappings for different software. Works perfectly with DAWs and with Amplitube 3. Uses pretty standard USB connector (type B), no proprietary crap here (except for Line6 amp connector which looks like a regular Cat5 cable anyway), doesn't need any special drivers - works out of the box with Windows 7 x64. Top notch stuff, really love this thing.

There are a few small flaws with it, however. First of all, the USB cable is not included. As a IT guy i have loads of cables lying around so it wasn't a problem for me, but i think this should be clearly indicated on the product page.

The wah/volume switch takes a bit of time getting used to, but works quite well. The pedal itself, when pulled completely downwards, doesn't always rest on a zero value so if you're controlling a Whammy pedal emulation, you'd have to constantly press the pedal down to make the pedal value zero and thus NOT slightly pitch-shift the sound all the time. Not a big deal though, since you can just switch off the Whammy with a button :-)

Also, sometimes the unit stops sending MIDI signals without any apparent reason - although the problem usually solves itself after a minute or two.

Overall, a great product and well worth its asking price. I would give it five stars if it wasn't for a few small flaws.