Control surface/interface question?

[bchfnk]

Hey guys,
i need a new interface, i just recentely ebayed my Aardvark q10 because aardvark went out of business. No longer making drivers or supporting there stuff. Which is too bad because that unit rocked. Didnt work with new computer (Athlon 3200+, 1gb ram). The idea of a interface and a control surface all in one sort of sounds interesting. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the Yamaha 01x, M audio projectmix, or Tascam 1884. I was looking around a little and all the units seem to have pretty good reviews. I will be running sonar 5. Any help would be awesome. Thanks Dave

 

[MikeA]

Bump...

I'm surprised you've not gotten any responses on this. I too am interested in an interface/control surface and would like to hear any opinions on the M-Audio Project Mix or Mackie Control. I'll be using Sonar 5 also but I'm using Vegas 6 and Sound Forge too.

 

[Carter]

Well I havent worked with the Project mix, Tascam or the Yamaha But I do own a Mackie Control Universal, you have to remember that the MCU is ONLY a control surface and NOT a interface/control surface like the other ones. they all have good reviews but I liked the Mackie the best.

If you have any specific questions about the MCU lay it down and I will inform you.

 

[altitude909]

The big drawback to any control surface is amount of channels. 8 is not even close, 16 is better, but for my needs, I need at least 20 faders to make it worth it so I usually mix ITB. Control surfaces are pretty useless until you get to the mix down phase since you will need to remap it as you add tracks (at least in cubase). The one I did see that I really like is the JL cooper midi desk, it has 32 channels, a jog wheel and transport controls. Its cheap, but the drawback is its pretty tiny

 

[Ford Van]

The big drawback to any control surface is amount of channels. 8 is not even close, 16 is better, but for my needs, I need at least 20 faders to make it worth it so I usually mix ITB. Control surfaces are pretty useless until you get to the mix down phase since you will need to remap it as you add tracks (at least in cubase). The one I did see that I really like is the JL cooper midi desk, it has 32 channels, a jog wheel and transport controls. Its cheap, but the drawback is its pretty tiny

These devices work in "banks of 8". You are NOT limited to only 8 channels! Only 8 at a time. You push a botton to move to the next bank of 8. No biggie, and hardly impedes work flow at all!

I spent many years on a Yamaha O2R mixer. 32 channel mixer, but on two banks of 16 faders. No biggie.

If you just HAVE to have more faders at once, you can add on to the Mackie Universal Control additional units that offer 8 more faders each.

 

[normalizer]

if you want to go cheap you can link two behringer bcf's toghether.

 

[Carter]

The big drawback to any control surface is amount of channels. 8 is not even close, 16 is better, but for my needs, I need at least 20 faders to make it worth it so I usually mix ITB. Control surfaces are pretty useless until you get to the mix down phase since you will need to remap it as you add tracks (at least in cubase). The one I did see that I really like is the JL cooper midi desk, it has 32 channels, a jog wheel and transport controls. Its cheap, but the drawback is its pretty tiny

What do you mean "useless"? you only have to hit ONE button to go from bank 1-8 to bank 9-16 and so on, also if you only want to move over one channel you only have to push ONE button. and I also run Cubase SX3 and I dont have to remap as I add channels its done automatic. I can tell you never worked on a MCU before

 

[Carter]

These devices work in "banks of 8". You are NOT limited to only 8 channels! Only 8 at a time. You push a botton to move to the next bank of 8. No biggie, and hardly impedes work flow at all!

I spent many years on a Yamaha O2R mixer. 32 channel mixer, but on two banks of 16 faders. No biggie.

If you just HAVE to have more faders at once, you can add on to the Mackie Universal Control additional units that offer 8 more faders each.

Damn you beat me to it!

 

[altitude909]

For me anyway, if I have to sit there and click to through anything to change banks of faders I might as well be mixing ITB. The whole point for me with a control surface is that I dont have to reach for the mouse at all and if I do, then whats the value?

And what I meant by "useless" comment is the fact that while recording and adding tracks cubase moves fader assignments right to left so its kinda hard to keep track of which fader goes to what when adding tracks. I used my mixer as a control surface for a one track before I got sick of finding the windows, switch fader banks and then moving the fader where I can just pull the fader with the mouse in less time.

I would love to have a bank of the mackies to work with but for me the price vs. usabilty factor is not there yet.

 

[Chris.]

For me anyway, if I have to sit there and click to through anything to change banks of faders I might as well be mixing ITB. The whole point for me with a control surface is that I dont have to reach for the mouse at all and if I do, then whats the value?

The bank button is on the control surface, so you don't have to touch the mouse at all. Also I believe on the mackie they have tags, so when you switch banks the new banks will have things like 'kik,' 'snare,' and 'oh r' that will pop up so you know what each track is.

I want a mackie control, but for $1000 I could get some better equipment instead, and right now that's more important than being able to mix easier.

 

[Carter]

The bank button is on the control surface, so you don't have to touch the mouse at all. Also I believe on the mackie they have tags, so when you switch banks the new banks will have things like 'kik,' 'snare,' and 'oh r' that will pop up so you know what each track is.

I want a mackie control, but for $1000 I could get some better equipment instead, and right now that's more important than being able to mix easier.

This gentleman is correct, you dont have to use the mouse at all! $1000.00 for the MCU? I payed $799.00 brand new at Gutair Center.

 

[Chris.]

This gentleman is correct, you dont have to use the mouse at all! $1000.00 for the MCU? I payed $799.00 brand new at Gutair Center.

Well $800 could still be used in much better ways by me right now. Haha.

But damn it looks sweet.

Guitar Center you say...? My GC card is burning a hole in my pocket now. Geeze. Thanks.

 

[Ford Van]

For me anyway, if I have to sit there and click to through anything to change banks of faders I might as well be mixing ITB. The whole point for me with a control surface is that I dont have to reach for the mouse at all and if I do, then whats the value?

And what I meant by "useless" comment is the fact that while recording and adding tracks cubase moves fader assignments right to left so its kinda hard to keep track of which fader goes to what when adding tracks. I used my mixer as a control surface for a one track before I got sick of finding the windows, switch fader banks and then moving the fader where I can just pull the fader with the mouse in less time.

I would love to have a bank of the mackies to work with but for me the price vs. usabilty factor is not there yet.

You can also control your plugins via the Mackie controller.

 

[Ford Van]

I agree though that the Mackies are WAY too expensive for what they do.

Behringer is on the right track price wise. Really, a simple 8 channel moving fader controller these days shouldn't cost more than maybe $300! It is insane that some cost what they do!

 

[Carter]

I agree though that the Mackies are WAY too expensive for what they do.

Behringer is on the right track price wise. Really, a simple 8 channel moving fader controller these days shouldn't cost more than maybe $300! It is insane that some cost what they do!

But the Berry does not do a quarter of the things the MCU can do and plus the moving faders are noisy, the MCU even has its own meterbridge,IMHO for the ease of use and all of the functions it can control it's well worth $800.00
With the Berry you still have to use the mouse for alot of things, I know because I had one and took it back and got the MCU.... Ford, remember "you get what you pay for" "buy cheap buy twice" and so on and so on... But much respect for you and your knowledge....(because I know who you really are )

 

[Ford Van]

Maybe....

I still think it is far too expensive. They are screwing themselves out of a LOT of business at that price.

 

[Carter]

Maybe....

I still think it is far too expensive. They are screwing themselves out of a LOT of business at that price.

True, for the MCU $600.00 would be a better price range!

 

[Ford Van]

$400 tops! They could sell the shit out of it at that price!

My main beef with the Behringer unit is the lack of LCD displays.

 

[Carter]

$400 tops! They could sell the shit out of it at that price!

My main beef with the Behringer unit is the lack of LCD displays.

Yeah! if they were $400 I would have 32 flying faders right now! with 3 ext's

 

[Robert D]

For me anyway, if I have to sit there and click to through anything to change banks of faders I might as well be mixing ITB. The whole point for me with a control surface is that I dont have to reach for the mouse at all and if I do, then whats the value?

And what I meant by "useless" comment is the fact that while recording and adding tracks cubase moves fader assignments right to left so its kinda hard to keep track of which fader goes to what when adding tracks. I used my mixer as a control surface for a one track before I got sick of finding the windows, switch fader banks and then moving the fader where I can just pull the fader with the mouse in less time.

I would love to have a bank of the mackies to work with but for me the price vs. usabilty factor is not there yet.

I have a Mackie Control also, which I use with Samplitude Professional. The key thing here is that the Mackie Control displays track names. So I don't have to look at the screen and corrolate where I am on the control surface, even with bank switching. It's a one button push, no mouse clicks, and flying faders, no seek and latch. This is a beautiful thing! I went into it thinking I would soon be buying the expanders, but I just haven't felt the need to. Also, if you have track groups that span say tracks 3-10, you can scroll across tracks instead of bank switch, so 3-10 is active.
Keep in mind the Mackie control is just a control surface, no audio passes through it, but as a control surface it's beautifully implimented, and a joy to work with.

-RD