Control Surface for PT10 - Not Euphonix/Artist series

[miketeachesclass]

Hi guys,

I'd like to get a control surface for PT10. Can anybody recommend one that works well with PT, that uses automated faders?

I was originally considering an artist mix, but it seems like everyone thinks they're poorly built and not worth the money. I considered the Mackie Control Universal, but I hear that HUI support will probably be dropped in 11.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Mike

[guitardom]

I see no reason for HUI support to be dropped. I remember back in 6 somewhere there was a release where it was not working properly and you would have thought digidesign physically stole somebody's baby the uproar was so ugly!

Also w an array of avid controllers losing support on 11 because of the 64 bit changeover I am sure it will be needed even more. I am sure avid has a card up there sleeve for new controllers or modifications to the euphonix to hit the lower end market especially. The capabilities of the iPad and some of the new software for control surface capability is pretty cool. though they run in HUi mode also.

[lberrios1962]

Originally Posted by miketeachesclass

Hi guys,

I'd like to get a control surface for PT10. Can anybody recommend one that works well with PT, that uses automated faders?

I was originally considering an artist mix, but it seems like everyone thinks they're poorly built and not worth the money. I considered the Mackie Control Universal, but I hear that HUI support will probably be dropped in 11.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Mike

I'm in the market for a control also. I was using the Mackie Pro Control for almost 2 years with Protools 8 and its very nice and not problems at all. I changed a month ago to the Artist Control looking for more versatility and it was a BIG mistake.

I'm planning in going back to the Mackie Pro Control in the next few days but I have the same concern as you about the HIU support. Definitely I think it will be better than dealing with the tech support from Avid. After a month of reporting 3 problems with my Artist control I'm still waiting for their respond.

[Dism]

Originally Posted by guitardom

I see no reason for HUI support to be dropped. I remember back in 6 somewhere there was a release where it was not working properly and you would have thought digidesign physically stole somebody's baby the uproar was so ugly!

Also w an array of avid controllers losing support on 11 because of the 64 bit changeover I am sure it will be needed even more. I am sure avid has a card up there sleeve for new controllers or modifications to the euphonix to hit the lower end market especially. The capabilities of the iPad and some of the new software for control surface capability is pretty cool. though they run in HUi mode also.

I agree.

If HUI goes anywhere for any DAW, that means instantly turning out the lights on 90% of control surfaces out there, including high end brands like SSL and Neve. Most, if not all digital control surfaces (AC-7 on iPad, for example) also operate via HUI. It's about the simplest form of remote DAW control (ridiculously easy to program yourself if you take the time, seriously), and it's also the original.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as we still use MIDI, we'll still have HUI.

Now, as far as surfaces are concerned... it comes down to two main points:

1. Budget. Easy to spend anywhere from $150 to $150,000. Not exactly a narrow market.

2. How much "control" do you want? Artist Series is worth a real look, since it has WAY more functionality than HUI. Anything with EUCON will give you far better control than anything else short of an ICON. A C|24 could also be a good investment if it's within your budget.

There are also a few all-in-one interfaces that are worth a look. There's the Project Mix from M-Audio, but who knows how much longer that will be supported. SSL has the Nucleus, but it's not exactly inexpensive. Lots of stuff out there, but it's really going to come down to what you need vs. what you want.

[lberrios1962]

Originally Posted by Dism

I agree.

If HUI goes anywhere for any DAW, that means instantly turning out the lights on 90% of control surfaces out there, including high end brands like SSL and Neve. Most, if not all digital control surfaces (AC-7 on iPad, for example) also operate via HUI. It's about the simplest form of remote DAW control (ridiculously easy to program yourself if you take the time, seriously), and it's also the original.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as we still use MIDI, we'll still have HUI.

Now, as far as surfaces are concerned... it comes down to two main points:

1. Budget. Easy to spend anywhere from $150 to $150,000. Not exactly a narrow market.

2. How much "control" do you want? Artist Series is worth a real look, since it has WAY more functionality than HUI. Anything with EUCON will give you far better control than anything else short of an ICON. A C|24 could also be a good investment if it's within your budget.

There are also a few all-in-one interfaces that are worth a look. There's the Project Mix from M-Audio, but who knows how much longer that will be supported. SSL has the Nucleus, but it's not exactly inexpensive. Lots of stuff out there, but it's really going to come down to what you need vs. what you want.

I agree too.

As far as the Project Mix from M-Audio, its already a dead horse. Tech support is almost non-existent and you cant find good repair facilities by now. A friend of mine have one and he is trying to get it fix and their tech support is not even there.

The latest problems that I had with the Artist Control make me ran away from everything that have the Avid log on it (as far as control surfaces). The quality of the machine do not match the price. As far as the software, is unstable with too many connectivity issues, produced too many noises (at least the unit that was sent to me) that the only way to eliminate them was removing the software, and this was tested in 3 different computers with different configurations all of them Avid compatible.

If you are looking just to control Protools and nothing else I agree that the C24 could be the way to go if the money is not an issue, but do not try to swap DAW because then you will be back to the market for another control surface.

[miketeachesclass]

Originally Posted by Dism

I agree.

If HUI goes anywhere for any DAW, that means instantly turning out the lights on 90% of control surfaces out there, including high end brands like SSL and Neve. Most, if not all digital control surfaces (AC-7 on iPad, for example) also operate via HUI. It's about the simplest form of remote DAW control (ridiculously easy to program yourself if you take the time, seriously), and it's also the original.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as we still use MIDI, we'll still have HUI.

Now, as far as surfaces are concerned... it comes down to two main points:

1. Budget. Easy to spend anywhere from $150 to $150,000. Not exactly a narrow market.

2. How much "control" do you want? Artist Series is worth a real look, since it has WAY more functionality than HUI. Anything with EUCON will give you far better control than anything else short of an ICON. A C|24 could also be a good investment if it's within your budget.

There are also a few all-in-one interfaces that are worth a look. There's the Project Mix from M-Audio, but who knows how much longer that will be supported. SSL has the Nucleus, but it's not exactly inexpensive. Lots of stuff out there, but it's really going to come down to what you need vs. what you want.

In term of budget, I'm looking for something $1500 or under, and expandable. That's why the mackie and artist appealed to me.

I do like the c24, but it's too large for me physically.

Thanks,
Mike

[YYR123]

I have no idea how old this thread is but - does PT support Mackie Control??? I know they support HUI but they also have the Mackie control - which is supposedly supposed to have more detail in the control

[dave911]

I'd gladly pay for a driver that makes OO2/003's forget about being audio interfaces and keeps the control functions.
Can't expect AVID to do it for free at this point.
I don't think writing a abstraction layer to translate between 32 bit and 64 bit is beyond the ability of mankind if AVID wanted to do it.

[Bill Denton]

Originally Posted by YYR123

I have no idea how old this thread is but - does PT support Mackie Control??? I know they support HUI but they also have the Mackie control - which is supposedly supposed to have more detail in the control

PT doesn't support MCU at this point, only HUI.

Here's my thinking on the subject...

Avid is pretty much going to be rewriting everything when PT goes 64-bit. Why would they want to write code to support a basically obsolete protocol, HUI, when most of the control surfaces that support HUI (including those from SSL et al) also support MCU?

So, my guess is that if Avid does support third-party control surfaces in PT 11 (which is not guaranteed), they will go with MCU...

[Dism]

Originally Posted by Bill Denton

Avid is pretty much going to be rewriting everything when PT goes 64-bit. Why would they want to write code to support a basically obsolete protocol, HUI, when most of the control surfaces that support HUI (including those from SSL et al) also support MCU?.

Because HUI is still the most universal and the most basic. I could teach you how to write HUI protocol in a night. It's also just MIDI. It's easy to incorporate it into keyboards for playback control, and ALL iOS based control surface apps operate via HUi. Plus, all the other DAWs still support it. So why drop it when it's incredibly simple to impliment and is still widely used?