Microdesignum MIDI Forte 14F2D

The Microdesignum MIDI Forte 14F2D is a foot-operated MIDI controller with 14 foot buttons, a numeric LED display and a character LED display, made by the Czech company Microdesignum as part of its MIDI Forte line of controllers¹. It exists to sit at the front of a rig and drive everything that listens to MIDI: pedalboard effects, rack units and amplifiers with MIDI ports. Instead of tapping individual pedal switches, you program the 14 buttons to send the MIDI messages your gear needs and recall whole setups with one press.

The MIDI Forte line sits at the top of Microdesignum's controller range, which the maker presents as its luxury MIDI controllers¹. The 14F2D is the middle of three basic models, between the 10F2D and the 16F2D, and each can be bought as the controller alone or as a set with one or two expression pedals².

A 14-button MIDI foot controller

The 14F2D is operated entirely by foot, with 14 buttons across the top of the unit¹. Two displays give you feedback on stage: a numeric LED display and a character LED display¹. The character display is a 16-character blue backlit LCD that lets you set a name for each layer, so you can label what a button setup does rather than remembering numbers¹.

The unit is a long, low strip: 400 × 16 × max. 50 mm, which is the shape of a pedalboard controller rather than a standalone stompbox¹. It carries two inputs for expression pedals, so you can connect volume or expression pedals and have them send MIDI controller data alongside the buttons¹.

Presets, layers and MIDI commands

The 14F2D organizes its memory as 12 registers across 32 banks¹. Each register has two layers, one red and one green, which effectively doubles the programmable setups per bank¹.

The programming depth is where a controller like this earns its place. Each layer can be set with up to 8 MIDI commands, either Program Change or Control Change, and each command can be on a different MIDI channel¹. In practice that means one button press can:

• switch a program on a MIDI rack unit on channel 1
• change a parameter on a MIDI pedal on channel 5
• hit several devices at once, each on its own channel

With 8 commands available per layer and two layers per register, a single register can hold a substantial amount of switching information, and the 16-character display lets you name each layer so you can see what you are recalling¹.

The MIDI Forte 14F2D versions

The 14F2D is sold in several forms. The base unit is the controller alone, with no ETH port¹. The Plus versions add an Eth (EtherCon) connector that carries MIDI In, MIDI Out and power over one cable, and they come mounted on a board with expression pedals³⁴⁵.

The single-cable Eth connection on the Plus versions is the practical difference for a working player: MIDI In, MIDI Out and power all run through one EtherCon cable rather than a bundle of separate lines from the board to the rack⁴.

Microdesignum's listed prices as of 26 October 2026, in Czech crowns as the maker states them: the base 14F2D at 12 000,00 Kč, the 14F2D Plus at 13 000,00 Kč, the 14F2D-2P at 14 000,00 Kč and the 14F2D-2P Plus at 15 000,00 Kč¹.

Where it sits in the MIDI Forte line

The MIDI Forte series has three basic models: the 10F2D, the 14F2D and the 16F2D, each available as a controller alone or as a set with one or two expression pedals². The 16F2D steps up to 16 buttons and 14 registers × 32 banks, and Microdesignum describes it as one of its largest MIDI controllers; a MIDI Forte 16F2D-2P Plus was used as the MIDI pedalboard in a 2019 custom pedalboard and rack build⁶⁷. The 14F2D keeps the same two-layer, eight-command programming model in a 14-button format¹.

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