Morningstar MC6 PRO

The Morningstar MC6 PRO is a MIDI foot controller made by Morningstar Engineering, a company that builds a family of floor controllers including the MC6, MC3, MC4 PRO and MC8 PRO. A MIDI foot controller sits on the floor and sends MIDI commands to your pedals and modelers, so a single stomp can recall a preset, change a snapshot, bypass a block or adjust a parameter without you bending down. Morningstar describes the category plainly: a device like the Valeton GP-5 "stands to benefit hugely from a MIDI foot controller"¹.

USB Host control

One of the MC6 PRO's distinguishing features is its USB Host port. This lets the controller talk directly to USB-MIDI devices over a USB-C cable, with no separate MIDI interface in between. Morningstar's own guide to the Valeton GP-5 shows the connection in one step: "Connect a USB-C cable from the MC6 PRO's USB Host port to the GP-5 USB port"¹. For players running a USB-MIDI pedal or modeler, that removes a box and a cable from the board.

Relay ports for non-MIDI gear

The MC6 PRO also carries relay ports, which switch closed contacts rather than sending MIDI. That matters for gear that predates MIDI or skips it entirely, such as amp channel switching or older effects. Morningstar explains the design: "We've made our Relay Ports TRS so you have the option to close the Tip, Ring or Both, offering you up to 3 different combinations"³.

Because the ports are TRS, one jack can carry up to three different switching combinations³, which is how a single controller can reach amps and pedals that have no MIDI input at all.

The MC6 family

The MC6 PRO sits in a line of controllers Morningstar has developed over several years. The earlier MC6 MKII established much of what the family does: a 24 x 2 character LCD display⁴, song and set lists with a Bank Jump feature, and preset and bank Copy, Paste and Swap functions that Morningstar says "make managing songs and set lists a breeze"⁴. The MC6 line has also long worked in both directions: since firmware v2.2, the controller "now reads CC and PC messages and calls certain functions such as Bank Up/Down or call presets" from an external MIDI controller⁵, so a second controller or a computer can drive it.

With modelers, the family's use is well documented. In Morningstar's demo with the Line 6 HX Stomp, "the MC6 is used to perform three main functions on the HX Stomp; Block Bypass, Preset Recall and Parameter Control"⁶, and the company has also published a guide to recalling HX Stomp snapshots with the MC6.

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