bcf 2000 help

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Pony!

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Ahoy,

Just got a bcf2000. I use xp64. Behringer has told me the two are not compatible. So, I downgraded to xp32. I run cubase sx5, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the bcf set up with my computer and cubase. I've gone through several tutorials on how to do it and it still won't work and the manual was next to no help.

Anyone who can give me some help would be very much appreciated.
 
I wish I could help you out a little more on this one, but at the least I might be able to save you some time. After the BCF's came out I actually bought one. I figured that it was behringer so I shouldn't waste my time or money, but at the same time it is also just a remote control and has no actual sonic properties so it couldn't actually damage my sound. What I learned quickly however is that my gut was right about it the whole time. First off, the BCF, at least with Cubase is extremely unintuitive. There is no labeling, strange orders that must be followed upon every power up etc... It was very hit and miss on how or or whether it would work at all. Also, I went through three of those suckers because they would lose their firmware and Behringer said I had to return them. Finally, on the 4th one that I had gooten form GC I left it sealed and just sold it and ate my loss.

The bottom line..... I have used the Steingberg Houston controller before, which wasn't so bad, the Mackie Universal which actually works pretty well, and a yamaha 01V96 which was a little hard to get set up initially, but once you do absolutely blows the other controllers away, at least my impression from limited use. The Behringer, in this case at least was a worthless waste of my time and money I personally would jsut return it now and save your frustration. I did finally get my Behringer working and decided that even if the install was flawless and easy (which it certainly was not) that the way it runs even and its lack of so many features and functions through basic use make it fairly worthless. I have found that I like the single channel Presonus Faderport better than the Behringer.

Anyhow, I am definitely not a "pro Behringer" guy, but this post is in no way a Behringer bashing one. This is just a summary of my experience with this specific Behringer item. Believe me, I tried to like it and make it work because it fits a great price point for what can be a pretty usable tool. They just failed miserably in my opinion.
 
thanks static. It's been sitting in my basement for two weeks. I can't for the life of me get it to work. I think I will just sell it off. I just figured 100 bucks for an 8 channel surface with motorized faders would have been great. I will look into those other surfaces.

Also, sorry altitude... I meant cubase 5.
 
I use this device with Cubase 4 and it works great and for the price it's as intuitive as I can expect.

Pony,
One thing I will say is that Behringer's support and documentation is appalling. It took me a couple of days to realise that with an updated firmware, you can use Mackie Universal emulation modes in Behringer. To update go here: http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/BCF2000.aspx and scroll down where you can download the firmware updater and firmware files to update your device's firmware to the latest version (this was very easy to do).

The emulation modes are explained here: http://www.behringerdownload.de/BCF2000/BCF2000_Emulation_modes.pdf

In essence: Turn the device off, then hold down the 2nd of the top row of push buttons and turn on the device, still holding the push button but as soon as you see the display say something like 'NC C' then let go of the button. If you see 'EG' or anything else, then you held the button for too long and are in edit mode. Just try again if this happens. Also make sure that you print off the Cubase emulation template in that pdf file so you know what does what.


Hope this helps and let me know if you need any more help.
Don't give up just yet!
 
+1 to what dremits said.

And to add:

The general config for controllers not naively supported is the "generic remote" under midi devices, it has a whole list of parameters which you can manually assign. When in HUI mode, you just select Mackie HUI from the same list and assign the in and out ports for the controller.

I would also check out the Yahoo group since there has been a lot of 3rd party (opensource) development for those controllers and there is some very cool non-behringer software for it
 
dremits said:
Yes, I must recommend the BCManager app as an alternative to the editor provided by Behringer. Altitude909, with the 'Generic Remote' how can you do bank control? I found a Cubase presets zip at the Behringer page (http://www.behringerdownload.de/B-Control_download/PC-CubaseSX22MIDI-BCF.zip) which includes an XML map which I think can be imported using the Generic Device Import function. Will give it a try and report back.
Click to expand...

No sure what you mean by bank control. The generic remote is for transport/mixer duties, you can customize it for plugins but the plug must be loaded to be available there for assigning a control. If you are talking Bank/patch MSB/LSB stuff, I just use my midi controller for the program LSB and set the bank manually in the midi track
 
By bank control I mean the controling of the relationship between the 8 fader channels on the control surface and the tracks/channels on screen. In mackie emu mode you can use the button normally used for preset switching to control the track selection for the faders and I'm not sure how you work with this using a generic controller template. I didn't mention anything about VST plugins, I was just referring to an XML file provided by Behringer which contains mapping for the BCF2000 to be used in Cubase with a Generic Device. When I get a chance I will have a go at importing it and testing.

Thanks anyway.
 
Ah.

The way it works is that you have a pull down menu for however many banks are supported (32 faders total in 4 groups?). I am not sure if you can bind that to a button though.
 
Ok, quick update. I was able to get the BCF working. I boot in babyhui mode and have it running in cubase. The faders match up with the faders in cubase... and when I change a fader with the mouse it moves... but when I try to move a fader on the bcf it doesn't change anything in cubase. Did I set something up wrong?
 
Make sure you set the midi outs as the BCF2000 in the Setup window in Cubase. I haven't used Baby HUI, I use the Mackie Emu (second button on the BCF). Try that if the Baby HUI doesn't work out.
 
Pony! said:
Ok, quick update. I was able to get the BCF working. I boot in babyhui mode and have it running in cubase. The faders match up with the faders in cubase... and when I change a fader with the mouse it moves... but when I try to move a fader on the bcf it doesn't change anything in cubase. Did I set something up wrong?
Click to expand...

Check the midi and make sure you have read AND write automation turned on for the track. The BCF faders are NOT touch sensitive so they do not work like normal motofaders and you will have to fight them to a degree. Apparently there has been some updates to address this but I dont have any details
 
I think pony has the problem has the problem of Cubase not responding to input from BCF full stop not just for automation so turining on Read/Write shouldn't make any difference (unless of course it's automation your trying to do). The BCF's lack of touch sensitive faders is obviously disadvantageous but I haven't had any problems recording automation and even if I need to redo a bit, just turning Read off means I don't have to fight with the faders.
 
Ok, well... I've had the BCF up and running for a while but I'm running into a reoccurring problem. Channel 7 continually resets the the mechanical fader to 0 but it doesn't change anything in the DAW. I can reset the channel by hitting the "preset" button and returning to the that set of 8 channels. But what could cause this? Does anyone know how to fix it?
 
I've not come accross this. Are you using Baby HUI or Mackie mode?
 
Holy thread revival batman!

I'm still experiencing it. I'm in baby HUI mode. But, I've just gotten used to it at this point.
 
Good cause I don't know what else to suggest! (except using in mackie mode)
 
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