Is there any GOOD Plug In controller for Pro Tools?

[Spaced]

Command 8 (faders, pans, sends) + Novation ZeroSLII (plug-ins) + Automap + Bluecat PatchWork here. Great solution for me.

Better and cheaper than Console One (essentially the same principle)- enormous choice of plug-ins (VST 2) and completely flexible mapping to the the surface.

Duende Channel strip fits on one page of the Zero SL, sped up my mixing no end

[Drew Mazurek]

This market is dying and will soon be dead. (traditional hardware controllers)

Younger engineers are and will be using the KB and mouse/trackpad OR a touch panel (even though they are inefficient and not ergonomic)

So find something you like and baby it!!


I'm still debating an S6 (while desperately hoping for an S6 MKII)

[Jay_uk]

Originally Posted by JFreak

It's pretty much the same thing (controller-wise). C8 just doesn't have preamps and cannot be used as an interface. But as you cannot connect two 002/003 together, connecting a C8 to a setup gives you 16 faders.

I imagine when you add a Command 8 to another or 003 console: then you just get the fader operation and lose the other functions.

[Michael Zull]

Originally Posted by Drew Mazurek

This market is dying and will soon be dead. (traditional hardware controllers)

Seems to be that way doesn't it? Higher end facilities are installing them, in part I'm assuming because of the client "wow" factor (more pretty lights means better audio, right?). I currently have a Presonus Faderport and my Axiom 49 mapped to plugins, and that setup gives me all the tactile control I really need.

I'd like to see a unit that had 8 physical faders, pans, solos and mutes, and above or next to that a multi-point touchscreen dedicated to plugin control. If they could build something like that in the 1.5k to 2k range I'd be sold. The higher end Avid control surfaces are prohibitively expensive for most smaller or project studios, particularly with the only functionality being knobs and faders. Most would rather take that money and use it for better interfaces, pres, mics, etc.

[propower]

Hey how about a controller with
- at least 4 faders
- Solo - rec - mute buttons
- Transport section and wheel
- Touch screen
- Eucon

Oh wait - they already have it !

SOOOOOO--- AVID - lets make a deal?

How about you
- Rework that awful Eucon software
- Make macros and batch command programming - map to soft keys
- ability to save and recall different layouts
- plug in mapping (user customizable) using the knobs buttons and the touchscreen
- plus suggestions from others

And charge me $100 for the new software! I'd gladly pay. For the 5 years I have owned these things there has been almost zero development.

[simontheoracle]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Far from useless. Maybe you haven't taken the time to really get used to it? C8 is a best kept secret it seems...

I owned a Command 8 for 2 years but just found it to be inaccurate and laggy when trying to control faders and plugins.

Slate Raven on the other hand gives me 5ms of latency which is nothing so very happy now.

[jacko]

Originally Posted by simontheoracle

I owned a Command 8 and I found the plugin control to be absolutely useless too! The latency and inaccuracy when turning a knob in relation to the plugin was really bad IMO. I haven't found a single Hardware DAW controller that does this well enough (excluding the higher end controllers such as Icon and S6 which I have never used).

Originally Posted by JFreak

No it's not. Ethernet and USB are two different beasts. But whatever uses HUI protocol has to deal with MIDI latency (about 100ms or so) and the only way to not have it is to do it with a mouse. That is why most controllers fail.

I finally got Command8 for a test. I compared it side by side with Artist Mix.
First of all - there is no latency and Command8 works very smooth. Much smoother than Artist Mix.
I recorded volume automation with two faders going up and down - one fader on Artist Mix, the other on Command8.
Here is the result:
Screen Shot 2015-01-23 at 17.53.42.jpg

As you can see - the volume envelope from Command8 is much smoother.

Generally - for adjusting faders and controlling plugins Command8 beats Artist Series by a long stretch. There is no comparison in quality and smoothness.
Eucon controllers feel "shaky" and laggy. I even see this on S6 videos. From Command8 you get total smoothness and responsiveness.
The only reason why I can't switch back to Command8 is that I rely on soft keys too much: Preview, Capture, Manual Write, switching automation modes - I do that all the time on Artist Control.

[jacko]

Take a look at the video made about controlling plugins with Command8 and Artist Mix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faqwPMq_Kqo

[ArKay99]

Well, I have an Artist Mix and a Transport. I was about to purchase another Artist Mix and an Artist Control, but I'm no longer going to do that.These things are glorified toys. Looking at those graphs it looks like they have at least 3 problems...1: they switched to cheaper lower resolution DAC's for decoding to the motors and maybe even ADC's for encoding, and 2: there is excessive noise on the analog buss and/or 3: The scanning timing is inconsistent. These are not the fault of the software but a failing of the hardware...poor design. The bean counters got hold of the purse strings when they spec'd them. THEN you get to the software...if you have the time to figure out how to navigate to the control you want, then you can use the crippled interface to try and get accurate tracking of knobs and faders to approximater what you can do with the mouse and keyboard. Sad and poor....

The Raven has my eye these days.