JLCooper CS32 32channel Daw Controller using only 1 Midiport

[Arno Jordan]

Like some other saw users i am looking for a daw controller to use with saw in live mode that has as many directly acessible faders, solos and mutes as possible.
As i know from earlier posts nearly all available controllers can only control 8 tracks in SS because they use more than one midi port.
I´ve found a small 32 channel daw controller called JLCooper CS32. It has 32 Faders, 3x32 switches and 6 knobs all in a size of a sheet of A4 paper.

Also the software manual claims it can be "programmed" to assign custom midi messages to any fader or knob, at least with the mac drivers, i could not find out if this is true for the new windows driver too.

I dont know if it´s a serious piece of hardware because the faders look very small. Is there anyone who has already been able to try it ? Is there a possibility that it will work with Saw ?

It is available for ca. 400 Euro here in europe .

This sounds either too good to be true or too crappy to be usefull.
But yes, i still believe in miracles !

Arno Jordan
Sacred Sounds
Dresden, Germany

[Cary B. Cornett]

Are the faders in that thing motorized? I have seen a few "midi controllers" with non-motorized faders, at least one of them made by JL Cooper. If the faders cannot chase current settings, then you have no reliable way of being able to write automation that smoothly matches at entry and exit points of the current "write".

As to the "only controlling 8 channels", you need to add the phrase "at a given time". Every 8-fader controller that I know about can be bank-switched to any contiguous group of 8 channels, so that you can quickly navigate anywhere in a mix to do what you need. The only area where I can see a problem with that is in a live performance mixing situation, and even then I suspect that in many cases you can make it work just fine. In fact, there are at least a couple of users here who are using SS for live band mixes using 8-fader motorized controllers, including the Behringer BCF2000, which might be worth a look.

[Craig Allen]

I was one of them using the BCF2000 (I haven't been doing a lot of live stuff lately). While bank switching is usable, it can be a PITA for live stuff when you need to access a channel quickly (someone knocks a mic stand over on top of a monitor and it starts feeding back, etc).

[Dave Labrecque]

...it can be a PITA for live stuff when you need to access a channel quickly (someone knocks a mic stand over on top of a monitor and it starts feeding back, etc).

Or just tell the bass player not to drink so much. :p

[Craig Allen]

Or just tell the bass player not to drink so much. :p
I did but I never listened... :o

[johndale]

I had the CS32 when I first came over to SAW. No the faders are not motorized, it is a nice little mixer and it will not work with SAW. I think I was able to get it to play, 'bout it. I consulted with Bob on this, as well as Astro and they looked at all the Tech sheets, the software and such. It will not work. So I sold it and got a CM Labs, which I like better.

If you are planning on spending some money. That Mackie Control seems to be the way to go. But I do like my Motor Mix. It is a shame about those Coopers, nice little unit. Stay away from the cheap stuff. A mixer is something you should hang on to IMHO. It can be like a special guitar etc.
John

[Bob L]

Anything without motorized faders is pretty useless overall as a controller for SAStudio... SAW needs to be able to control the faders as well as vice versa.

Bob L

[Arno Jordan]

Yes, that makes it pretty useless. Somewhere the price tag made me suspect something like that.
I already own a cm motormix and i am quite happy with it. But i do a lot of live recording where i use mic preamps feeding the ad-converters on stage and then i have 32 Adat I/O conected to to the FOH using a single cat5 lan cable using two Audiorail units. The cable between the two units can be as long as 100 meters which is very handy. Ifyou ever had to roll up the cable of a wet and dirty 50 meter 32 channel stagebox after a rock show you´ll really learn to appreciate the difference. ;)
At the FOH i have to use da-converters again to feed the analog mixing desk.

Saw´s amazing live capabilities made me think of just mixing everything digital and send it back through the same lan cable to the stage where the pa and monitor amplifiers are. But doing it that way i need to be able to instantly hit a mute or ride two faders which may not be located on the same bank. I think also immediate controll over the master volume without bank switching is a must.

Maybe SAC will do the job ? I would be happy with a digital console that accepts 4x8 adat i/o but they are either very expensive or very scary (like the behringer ddx3216 with 2 Adat I/O´s). Is there somebody with similar experiences or ideas ? Any help or insight is deeply apreciated.

Arno Jordan
Sacred Sounds
Dresden, Germany

[Bob L]

If you stretch the Full Mixer across a standard 1280 x 1024 screen, you can get 32 channels visible at once... clicking an onscreen mute switch is as fast or faster than doing it across a physical mixing surface.

With everything laid out in front of you that way, its a click away to almost any control... if you experiment in the virtual interface, you will see that you can pretty much do whatever you have to without the need for 32 physical faders.

If you then use an 8 channel surface, and use the Chase Hardware option, the surface will chase you as you click on any hot channel onscreen... therefore, you can easily grab multiple faders when needed... just re-arrange your onscreen channel order to place needed groups side by side.

Let go of the old and welcoime the new... its a brave new world out there when you embrace the virtual concept fully. :)

Bob L

[Naturally Digital]

If you stretch the Full Mixer across a standard 1280 x 1024 screen, you can get 32 channels visible at once... clicking an onscreen mute switch is as fast or faster than doing it across a physical mixing surface.I recently found something I wasn't aware of...

If you shift-right-click on the Full Mixer view it brings up the Wide Mixer view for that channel. :cool: I'd missed this one. :o

[UpTilDawn]

I recently found something I wasn't aware of...

If you shift-right-click on the Full Mixer view it brings up the Wide Mixer view for that channel. :cool: I'd missed this one. :o

Cool!
Ctrl/right-click on the mixer brings up the zoom mixer as well..... Didn't know that one either.

DanT