Mackie Control with HD?

[Bell Studios]

Has anyone tried using the Mackie Control with a Protools HD system...or any Protools system? I am thinking of trying one out as a cost-effective controller option.

[rtcstudio]

Well, my HUIs worked fine with my HD system before I got my Control 24, so I would assume that the Mackie Control with the new HUI emulation upgrade works great. They have a ProTools Lexan overlay now.

[doug_hti]

And what's the difference in "feel" and "response" between a midi based controller (mackie) and ethernet based (c24)?

[rtcstudio]

Not as big as some would have you believe. I don't notice a night and day difference. But I've never gotten a "lost communicatin" message on the C24. I would get those every now and then on the HUIs (midi).

The faders on the C24 just work better than the HUIs, mainly because the HUIs always had a touch sensitivity grounding problem. Depending on the day and the weather, I was always having to hook a wire up to a ground lug on the back and either hold it in one hand, or stuff it in my sock so that the faders wouldn't fight me. And I have professional grade grounding and AC in my facility.

The Mackie Controls don't seem to have this problem.

[BradLyons]

Many years ago, Mackie designed the HUI (Human User Interface) in conjunction with Digidesign to be a dedicated control surface for ProTools. Obviously, the HUI has been a very successful product. Mackie understood there was a HUGE market for a universal and affordable control surface, that becoming the MACKIE CONTROL which until recently did NOT support ProTools. If you want an affordable control surface for PT right now, you're looking at the Mackie Control or a CM Labs Motormix. What most people do NOT know is that if you plan on using the Expanders for the Mackie Control, you ONLY get fader control... NO control of Pans, Mutes, Arming Tracks, Solos, etc. That has to be done using bank-switching on the master unit. I'm sorry, that just stinks. BUT it's still worthwhile if all you want is to have faders for multiple tracks at once.

I persononally use the Control24 with ProTools and love its feel over the Mackie Control, but as you know there is a huge difference in price. If you're buying just a single Mackie Control as an effort to save some $$, it's definitely worth it. If you're looking at the Master unit plus some Expanders, then you might want to re-consider the CM Labs Motormix units.

[Ted Spencer]

Originally posted by BradLyons:
What most people do NOT know is that if you plan on using the Expanders for the Mackie Control, you ONLY get fader control... NO control of Pans, Mutes, Arming Tracks, Solos, etc. That has to be done using bank-switching on the master unit. I'm sorry, that just stinks. BUT it's still worthwhile if all you want is to have faders for multiple tracks at once.

If you're looking at the Master unit plus some Expanders, then you might want to re-consider the CM Labs Motormix units.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I'm amazed that the Mackie expanders only function in the manner you described. I have a Logic Control and Logic Control XT setup (16 faders) and everything on the expander works just like the main unit does. Track arming, solo, mute, pan etc. What's puzzling is that Mackie builds both the Mackie and Logic Control units, which are virtually identical hardare-wise. There are differences in software and firmware though, so the buttons do different things in each case.

Logic Control, along with its OMS HUI/Mackie Control emulator (OS9 only, obviously) works with Logic, Pro Tools and Digital Performer. This is still the only product that will do that, and it does it very well. I recently sold a pair of MotorMix units because their Digital Performer implementation was so weak (it barely works at all). The fact that the faders aren't really touch sensitive is also a major drawback. With Logic Control, I regularly switch back and forth beteween PT and DP and am a very happy camper although I have no regular clients yet who use Logic. I'll be ready for when they do though.

The only drag right now is the unavailabilty of an OSX Logic Control driver for PT and DP. Hopefully Emagic will get it going by the time I'm ready to start using PT6 and DP4 for real, which will be some time as I'm still working through the details, updating plugins etc. In OS9 though, it sounds to me as though Logic Control has it all over Mackie Control with these apps.

[SHIRK]

Yeah that is a real drag about the way the mackie control works with PT once you start adding expander packs. Thanks for the heads up Brad! I was looking at getting a main controller and a few expanders once I get in my new space. Looks like I'll keep my eyes open for something else. There is no way I'll go with an expanded motormix system either. I have a motormix right now that I've used since my digi 001 days. I'm currently using it with my HD3 setup...but I have to say I really don't like it. I amazed that I decided that buying 8 plastic faders for $800 a few years ago was a smart move. I guess I was impressed by the "oooh look...they move" factor. We live and learn. Hopefully digi will release a more space efficient alternative to the C24.

[woodywho]

In one of my rooms I updated the D8B to Ver. 5 and the Hui emulation is the best! It works so well, I sold my Hui. The fader response is much better and as someone said earlier about lost communication messages w/ Hui, I haven't received one yet since I upgraded...its been 5 months. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

QUESTION: Shirk, what don't you like about the motormix?

[SHIRK]

QUESTION: Shirk, what don't you like about the motormix?

I hate the plastic (motion sesitive...not touch sensitive faders) Half the time when I go to write in automation in "touch" mode. I can't get the fader to recognize/sense my movements. It bothers me that writing automation (on one fader) has to be either a two handed thing (one finger pressing the shift button and the other hand riding the fader) or you have to be in a different mode. We got a HUI at the studio where I work by day. and it totally made me realize what a turd the Motormix is. The HUI is not perfect...but it's miles ahead of a motormix in my mind...as far as automation goes.


My thoughts...that's all.

[Bell Studios]

Thanks for the info! I think I'll wait a little while and see how things pan out. I also think it would be cool if digidesign came out with a small controller or their own type of HUI that also had monitoring control. I would use my Mackie D8B as my controller, but I need to sell it in order to get my HD1 system.

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