Best Control Surface/Cost vs. Features

[iamstudios]

PC may be more expensive than HUI and other controlsurfaces but when you get to know all functions of it it definitely kicks butt... and yup I am sure it is worth the extra money (but that depends on how big a budget you have)

Barnier Geerling
Imperium Audio Media
www.imperium.nl

[This message has been edited by imperium (edited April 17, 2000).]

[JKD99]

I started with the HUI, and LOVED it! Moving faders, plug-in control, a great leap from mixing one track at a time with a mouse. And, since I usually am only recording one or two mics, or 1 synth at a time, having the 2 preamps w/ talkback meant that my Mackie 32/8 sat in the corner un-needed. So, I LOVED it. Now, I have a 32 ch Pro Control, and yes, it was A LOT OF BUCKS. Ouch. And to tell the truth, tI got it for 2 reasons 1: Much easier to grab faders at opposite ende of your session w/ no bank switching necessary (clients breathing down your neck on a film dub= no fun) 2: Bottom line (and this is SO geeky) : the clients think that it looks cool, that bigger/more MUST be better, and I'd be lying if I said that I'd get the same gigs with or without it. SO....it really depends on the nature of your work: do you have clients in with you a lot? Or is it just you doing your thing? Function-wise, I don't think the ProControl is 4 times better seeing as it costs 4 times as much. I was perfectly happy with the HUI except for the lack of more faders. And, now I totally dig the Pro Control. ANYWAY, blah blah blah, blah, blah! Does that help? Good luck! PS wanna buy a HUI?

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Joe Milner
Puget Sound

[Altrack]

I highly recommend the Mackie D8B. I've worked with both the Pro Control and most other digital mixers and fell in love with the D8B. I didn't like that you had to buy 1622's or another input source on the Pro Control and the D8B completely wiped the other digital mixers off the map.
The converters on the D8B highly surpass those in the 1622, I've seen it on a scope.
The low jitter clock card is fantastic.
They should have charged 10 times the amount for the D8B. If you really want to impress the client, put it in an Argosy console with a sunken monitor and add all the speakers for 5.1 or 7.1 surround. I've never lost a new client after they've seen the 7.1 surround and the Mackie D8B.
Good Luck,
Alex

[Evolution]

I demoed the Motormix in the UK a couple of weeks ago. I have to say I was disappointed. You have to fight the faders quite hard to do any kind of touch update. To be fair the company had only started stocking them and it may not have been completely set up right. On the other hand it is meant (I think) to emulate the HUI. Seconds later we had a HUI on the go and it worked like a dream.

The Motormix is a lot cheaper and you could get several banks of them on the go for the same price as the HUI so that is an obvious consideration.

I would like to give the MM another go. It did not seem to be writing automation properly as it went and you couldn't hear it as it wrote. i.e. as you raised or lowered a fader it didn't affect the volume of the channel but wrote the automation in anyway. Obviously this is worse than useless. As I said this could have been because the sales/tech guy didn't know how to set it up. But then again the HUI worked v. well.

I think the HUI has touch sensitive faders which means that when you are touch updating a mix, as soon as you touch (even the tiniest bit) a fader it knows via some kind of static jobbie that you are changing it.

I would love a Pro Control but think that it is too expensive for what it is. The main reason I have reservations about the HUI is that they don't do fader extension packs for them.

At the moment I am looking at the JL Cooper range myself.

Lastly using a D8B also seems like a good option. The thing that pisses me off about the current scenario regarding the Pro Tools range is that to get 24 bits into your system you have no other alternative but to buy 888 24s. A d8b would take 3 of these. You would be using only the AES EBU on them too !

The thought of buying 888 24s at $3000 or more just to have 8 24 bit ins to PT when you are using the converters of a digital desk I find really inflexible.

I could be wrong on any of this but this is what my research has thrown up so far.Please anyone put me right where I am wrong !

Let me know how you get on as I am trying to solve a similar problem

[Rich Breen]

Evolution - just a real quick note here: Clearly the salesperson who showed you the MM didn't know what they were doing. The MM faders are not touch sensitive, so if you grab a fader and move it, it will go into write and stay in write until you stop moving it, at which time it will drop out of record in the time set by the 'Touch Timeout' pref in ProTools. If you want to punch in on a fader and stay in, just press the 'burn' button on the MM above the fader (latest firmware only), and it will record until you punch that fader out. While the MM clearly makes some sacrifices for cost, and still has a bug or two to work out, overall it's a very nice little package to have around for the money.

Hope that helps,
rich

[joeshepard]

You can Pass 24 bit to the D8B through 888/16s which you can pickup for around $900-$1000 each

[BDWillis]

Couldn't justify the extra mega-$$$ for ProControl on a midline budget… I opted to spend the money on extra 888's, other peripherals & lots of Mogami for patching/interfacing. Ended up going with the HUI, and after the requisite "week to get used to where all the dang buttons are", LOVE it! Portability was another consideration, since I work at various studios around town as well as my home facility & have a cartage company haul the system to where the next record's happening — HUI's small footprint helps there. And yes, with one hand on the transport buttons & the other hand on the touch sensitive faders, you can fly through some fairly complex automation moves! As far as the banks of 8 are concerned, I've found that by establishing a consistent track layout, you can navigate through those just fine. Highly recommended, but if you get one, use a REALLY stupid MIDI interface, like Studio 3 or (much) lower! Good luck!

Warmest Regards,
Brian

[spookyvoodoo]

I am looking to get a control surface for PT on a G4. What in your experience is the best bang-for-the buck professional control surface. I'm really only interested in stuff with moving faders. ProControl is cool, but is it really $8000 better than a HUI or the JLCooper 3000? Anybody used the CMMotorMix? Your help, fellow PT monks, is greatly appriciated!

[spookyvoodoo]

Thanks guys, anybody used JL cooper? I like the fact that it's expandable...

[spookyvoodoo]

Can you control PT with a D8b?