Mackie again - controller

[trock]

I know this has been covered to death and i am notasking how it works or anything

couple questions

1) does anyone have one and want to sell it??

2) does anyone actually use on with SAW?

i would have to say i am pretty familiar now with SAW basics, love it and the whole community etc that goes along with it. but i swear i can;t get over the fadrs etc from all those tascam and roland years.

i know i am the odd one out here and i promise i have given this a lot of time and patience without it, but i just really miss faders and buttons etc

the big question for BOB is

3) will you continue to support this or control surfaces in general??

there are some nice ones out, like the tascam DM3200 that interest me but i don;t want to spend so much and have it nor work

and

4) will SAW ever support more than 8 faders at a time??

i am def the lone wolf on this Bob so no biggee if no plans to roll with more integration.

thanks though

tim

[Naturally Digital]

i know i am the odd one out here and i promise i have given this a lot of time and patience without it, but i just really miss faders and buttons etc

<snip>

i am def the lone wolf on this Bob so no biggee if no plans to roll with more integration.Don't be so sure that you're alone... There's always a time and a place for 'hands-on control'.

[SoundSuite]

The Mackie Control definately has it's place...
To shine, or step back out of the way, is the question depending on the scenario ;)

I love mine, there's things to me it does more 'normal' than mouse and keyboard alone. Theres also as many situations I dont use it for.
I'd like more faders, but Ive gotten used to the channel jumping and tracking in the MT, so 8x at a time really isnt that restrictive.

I do love the hands on faders and rough-mixing abilities alone, but all the integration with the mackie control in particular, it makes it much more usefull (to me) than for 'just roughing in' anymore.

On another note, the Tranzport looks to be very, very slick.
I want to add a Tranzport, that little bugger will be handy in the environment room. But I want more faders for my 'main' controller. 'I' couldn't just use the Tranzport alone as happily, maybe you can though :D
It's alot less $$$, so check it out too.

[Craig Allen]

Also check out the Behringer BCF2000 - much cheaper than the Mackie and you get 8 faders. You can do a search on it here and find a lot of useful info on it.

[trock]

Hey thanks all

it is nice to hear you guys are using some sort of surface.

I have watched all the video's from Bob and i have now recorded a few songs in SAW so i understand his concept and really respect it.

this is just a personal thing for me.

one thing i would add, i was on Mackie's page last night and i was very happy to saw SAWstudio listed as a supported DAW and that it has its own cover.

that was nice to see us on a big companies site.

i will look at the nehringer also, does it work as well and as in depth as the mackie??

i have looked at the tranzport too, looks pretty sweet to have that wireless capability, especially for a single guy recorsding like me. what a pain sometimes to click the keyboard, turn around, hope you are in the right mic spot, not make any noise and start playing, all during the 4 beat count in :)

[Craig Allen]

i will look at the nehringer also, does it work as well and as in depth as the mackie??No, but it does well and it's something around $800 cheaper.

[AudioAstronomer]

I have a broken mackie control "for sale". Cost to fix it probably more than getting it new..

and dont expect mackie to own up to their shoddy workmanship *GRRR*

get a tranzport instead! heheh. Mega fun if not slightly slower to use for such things

[Eric]

I have a broken mackie control "for sale". Cost to fix it probably more than getting it new..

and dont expect mackie to own up to their shoddy workmanship *GRRR*

get a tranzport instead! heheh. Mega fun if not slightly slower to use for such things
What's wrong with it?

[AudioAstronomer]

What's wrong with it?

Broken master fader, 4 lights out, missing a knob

and probably if I end up reconnecting it to see if it's working, it may have a permanent footprint.

[Eric]

it may have a permanent footprint.
:D

[trock]

well we will see what happens and if i eat my words

just won a used one on ebay for 500 bucks. i figure if this idea tanks (as so many have) 500 is easier to eat the 1K

anyway. if it doesn't ceom with the SAW template can i just get that from Mackie? does anyone know how?

and is there a link here to the controller set up for SAW??

thanks!

[Jon Stoll]

Tim,

I have been using the Mackie control for a couple of years and love it. A couple of the big pluses are: the readout is always visible no matter what views you are currently using, and the transport controls are Always active no matter which window has focus. There are many more things that really make a pleasure to work with. It is certainly possible to work without it, but I won't be giving up mine any time soon.

Bob's implementation of it is a masterpiece - the best in the industry. Although he doesn't support the sidecars, I really don't miss that feature at all. I still do most of the fine adjusting on screen.

I'm not sure that I understand your last point, but there is a .pdf file on the SAWStudio website that has all the labeling information on it. Jeanne had some overlays and maybe still has some, and I think they are available from Mackie for about $10.00. I ordered one, but before I got that I just put some masking tape over the cubase overlay and marked that.

Jon

[Bob L]

We still have a few Mackie overlays left... contact Jeanne and request one while they still last.

Support@SAWStudio.com

Bob L

[trock]

thanks bob

just wondering about something like the new tascam DM3200??

is this just something you are steering away from since there are so many?? i ask cause a friend said i should be able to set it up in HUI mode and get it to work?? but i thought i should ask you first for down the road.

the mackie will def answer this lingering question for me though

thanks!

[Bob L]

The HUI emulation is not complete on any of the controllers I've tested that claim it.... it works... almost... in a limited fashion.

If a controller is important to you... I suggest the Mackie... my bet is you can find them cheap on EBay... or from other SAWStudio users who had originally bought one... and very quickly tired of it as they learned the interface and realized they really did not need the Mackie anymore.

I have heard back from numerous users who now claim the Mackie is in the closet.

Bob L

[Shawn]

Trock,

You might want to bear in mind that the TASCAM DM3200 is a full fledged digital mixer, it's not "just" a control surface, to fully use it with SSBasic you would want to have enough hardware outputs from your computer to actually mix on it, if you are happy with SAWStudio's Channel FX, AUX Send/Return FX, and mixing, this would be an un-needed and expensive purchase.

:)

[olzzon]

I have a retired HUI in the studio, are there drivers for that one?

[Naturally Digital]

thanks bob

just wondering about something like the new tascam DM3200??

is this just something you are steering away from since there are so many?? i ask cause a friend said i should be able to set it up in HUI mode and get it to work?? but i thought i should ask you first for down the road.FWIW, my understanding is that the DM3200 will have mackie control emulation. I just checked one out at a recent trade show... I don't know if Tascam has the firmware completed for this yet.

[trock]

thanks for that guys

i won;t be buying the 3200, its one of those crazed moments when you look at it and read about it and start to lose focus on reality :)

must have it ........ why??........no idea........like knobs and glittery things ......

and Bob please please don't take this personally i will probably chuck it out the window before i even figure it out

you are talking to the man who has successfully purchased an avalon M5, 747, TC M3000, BOSS DR880, AT4050, and Cubase/Reason/groove agent/PEAK/Garage Band and hell an M5 with dual monitors etc and managed to to either sell said equipment for staggering loses, never use it at all, or retire it after meeting you and SAW :)

believe me this is nothing new

i will end up sendign it to robert for some SAW tips :)

[ttako]

I am just wondering if I coul use a setup built from a Mackie MCU and one or several Control extender and a C4? Could thos work together with SAWStudio?
So I could get more Faders, and a grest rotary encoder set....

And what's about the Tascam US2400 24 fader USB controller surface??

Thanks,
Tamas

[Bob L]

Unfortunately, Mackie's extender units require additional midi ports... SAWStudio allotted only one midi port for controller use... it attempts to leave midi ports available for the MWS and MTC timecode use.

It certainly would have made more sense to me if Mackie would have designed the controller to fit on a single midi channel... then we could have used up to 16 extenders on a different midi channel each... especially when you consider the limitations of midi port max counts on Windows, and also the extra expense for multiple hardware ports.

Bob L

[ttako]

That would be so good! I wish Mackie would do something!
And what's with the Tascam Us 2400? It has an USB connection and have Mackie emulation as well??

Tamas

[ttako]

Just one more Idea.
I thing the problem with the MIDI implementation (multiple midi portsneeded, but only multiple MID channels give on one port) could be solved using MIDISOLUTION'sMIDI merge and/or MIDI event processor.
I may can ask John Fast at Midisolutions.

Thanks,

Tamas