What are you using for a control surface?

  • Thread starter Thread starter RecordingMaster
  • Start date Start date
RecordingMaster

RecordingMaster

A Sarcastic Statement
Just wondered how you're all mixing? Mixing in the box with a mouse? Mixing in the box with your hands on a midi control surface with total recall motorized faders? Mixing out of the box on a board?

I know a lot of guys will wire up their big boards to be fully midi compatable with their DAW, etc, nut isn't that sort of rare because it's a huge pain? I also know a lot of old school guys will still do mix down on their boards and then sum it to their DAW. And then there's guys like me, who will mix itb and use a control fader to move everything around in their DAW, instead of clicking a mouse.

But what about you guys who are using an analog boards and then running that to pro tools and THEN mixing itb? Are you really just clicking around one thing at a time with a mouse? And then there's the guys that just mix itb clicking everything with a mouse. I just see all these nice pics of fancy looking studios with tons of gear, amazing looking rooms, great acoustics, crazy monitoring, tons of work gone into everything except I'll either see just a big huge board (not like an Avid Control 24) or I'll see tons of preamps and just a regular computer keyboard with different colored keys and a mouse. If those guys are having to move the faders, mutes, arming, solo-ing, etc all with their mouse....why would they not invest any money into the one thing that would really improve and speed up work flow?

Maybe I'm missing something here?...

In my case I use a BCF2000 which is a far cry from anything impressive looking or commercial and can be hard to get used to when you're only using one (8 faders per bank each) and you have a 50 track session including all your busses, etc. I DO someday plan on getting either a control 24 or an MCU Pro with a couple extenders, but even with what I have it makes a world of a difference as opposed to just a mouse.
 
BushmasterM4 said:
Mackie MCU
Click to expand...

Jealous! Did you pay full price for the thing? I just can't justify (at the moment) paying that much for something I already have with a few less features. Wish I had just waited and saved up and got one. But even the extenders are a pretty huge dent!
 
An older mackie control. It has the MCU firmware though.

I can't stand the P&G faders. I would look elsewhere if I had to buy something else, or I would just buy transport controls (which is what I use it the most for, the faders can be so bad that mixing isn't fun on it).
 
My faders were touchy when I got it and one didnt work. I tore it apart, cleaned and lubed everything and all work as they should. Actually picked up a bunch of extra faders (6) for $20 too. Got lucky
 
If I could find them for cheap I would replace every single fader on mine, I imagine it would make the thing more enjoyable.
 
I use the Novation Zero SL MkII. I regret buying it and wish I had gone for the Behringer BCF2000. It's not that it's a bad unit but non-motorised sliders are a pain if you are using more than the physical 8. I don't like stop-ended knobs either and the SL features only eight endless knobs, with the rest being end-stop. Even the BCR is covered in endless knobs. You can also forget what they say about the usefulness of LCD feedback. It's not all it's cracked up to be, the lights around the knobs tell you absolutely nothing and you still have to keep one eye on the screen. It also has a set of drum pads which do precisely F*-all (really sweet); space which could have been used for more knobs. It looks impressive on my desk, but to be honest, by the time I've searched through MIDI control templates and loaded one up, I can reach for the mouse and get the job done in a fraction of the time. Using sliders just makes you feel more important than you really are. I'm currently collecting toothpaste tube tops to stick on a cardboard box so I can really impress my visitors.
 
depends where i am in my studio, if im tracking my drums, i use my akai MPD32 for control of the group faders, and any vsts i use i just map the knobs to the session plus the pads are mapped for arming & soloing. the faders are sh!te with only 45mm of travel, but if you dont look when you adjust, they seem fine for the job. if im at my desk i use my little akai mpk mini for midi touch ups and transport functions. this is the secondary use for these 2 devices, as i got both of em for live djing, not studio work.

i used smacktop for my mac once, only 4 signals to choose from, but can make the 4 buttons you use the most that much easier, but you have to be willing to spank your mac.

and the trackpads for the mac are pretty good to use as well
 
I'm surprised to hear the Mackie faders are unsatisfactory! Although they ARE the olders ones you say. I wonder if the new ones are any better. I could definitely say the faders aren't very enjoyable on my bcf2000 either. They're too touchy. As in if I want to raise a given fader to say +4 db, getting it right on takes some fiddling with. It's annoying. And when I automate a fader, during playback the fader makes a good bit of noise.

So it looks like if we actually want something usable that isn't annoying, we need to spend the $5-10k and get a Control 24!? Ridiculous.

Unless there is some magical secret control fader out there that costs less than $5k that will do the job with minimal fuss, or at least with better faders.
 
Guitargodgt said:
The Euphonic stuff is really nice.
Click to expand...

Ha ha ha, some of you are talking way out of my price range ! When I was looking at digital machines back in 2004/5, I was drawn to them. They seemed to do everything I wanted, particularly varispeeding. Then I saw the prices and reality asserted itself with cruel, uncompromising bluntness. :p

My "control surface" is just the plain surface of my AKAI DPS 12i akai-dps12i.webp. I have two of these and recently, it struck me that if I used one as my mixdown deck and connected the two, I could mix in sections, which is what tipped the scales in my decision to go digital eight years ago. Except that I'd gotten it wrong. I thought 'automation' meant you could mix in sections but I was informed that that's not what it was actually. But a little thought soon sorted that and now I can take full advantage and get each segment of a song {if indeed I choose to do it that way} as I want it, then join all the bits. I've had to write in my own numbers system on the actual surface as the lines aren't very condusive to exactness.
Doctor Varney said:
Using sliders just makes you feel more important than you really are.
Click to expand...
Ouch !
Doctor Varney said:
I'm currently collecting toothpaste tube tops to stick on a cardboard box so I can really impress my visitors.
Click to expand...
Aaaaarrrrggghh !!
 
Guitargodgt said:
If I could find them for cheap I would replace every single fader on mine, I imagine it would make the thing more enjoyable.
Click to expand...

Mackie still sells them at $60 a pop (kind of steep). Its not that hard to take it apart and remove the faders. A simple cleaning with deox and some white lithum grease on moving parts should clear up any issues.
 
I'm surprised the command 8 hasn't gotten a mention.
I used to love my digi 003, and from what I can see, the cmd8 has the same control functionality.
 
Steenamaroo said:
I'm surprised the command 8 hasn't gotten a mention.
I used to love my digi 003, and from what I can see, the cmd8 has the same control functionality.
Click to expand...

Is the Command 8 daisy-chain-able for more channels? That's why I love the new Mackies due to their extenders but they're so damn expensive! Digi 003 seems alright, but it's an interface as well, while it looks like the command 8 is strictly a control surface.
 
Very much a poor home producer here

I use two of the new ipads with



V-control pro, works as a control surface for just about any DAW...also can control anything shown on the PC screen, wireless





TouchAble, for Live 8...also wireless





just got Auria, not exactly a control surface as a 48 track daw with vst plugs




also use Maschine in midi controller mode and a Launchpad
 
Sigh, I just found another used BCF2000 locally for almost 50% of list price. I think I might cave and just get it to daisy chain to mine for now. Double my faders. But a GOOD control surface has a screen to show you track names so you're not constantly looking back up at the screen. That's what I really want...some day I guess. I don't know why that extra luxury costs so much.
 
I use A Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2 with Studio One Software connected to my Mac Pro via firewire...a sweet combination!
 
Cyparski said:
I use A Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2 with Studio One Software connected to my Mac Pro via firewire...a sweet combination!
Click to expand...

Sounds pretty sweet! Does that thing have motorized faders/total recall for using it as a control surface for mixing?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top