Adding A Dock to 2 x Avid S1s?

[Chevron]

I have been getting up to speed with the S1 since adding it to our studio last week, and I really like it. So much that we have another S2 on its way

I am surprised how much we are using the Knobs for plugins with the custom mapping. We have a cool little system going with plugins clicked in Pro Tools appearing on the S1 Knobs. With an SSL channel strip plugin custom mapped to and appearing on the Inserts tab, Pro Q3 showing on the EQ tab with the 7 band preset, and Fabfilter's C2 on DYN.

We had discussions about getting a Dock before the S1 arrived seeing as it might suit a better access to plugin control, but we are reconsidering that idea now as the S1 is very effective, and I imagine a 2nd S1 even more so.

Now, I know the Dock has a lot of features the S1 does not, namely the jog wheel, touch strip, assignable buttons, a more upright iPad display angle, and a bunch of extra dedicated buttons. We were thinking it would be great to add the Dock to get the Knobs a little closer for plugin control with the Control tablet app displayed next to those controls - now I am curious if 16 S1 Knobs will trump the 8 on the Dock and be of more use?

Of course the obvious answer is to get in a Dock to try, which is totally doable - however I am curious how the experienced folks here view it.

[reichman]

I cannot work without the Dock's dedicated automation buttons on the left. And the wheel! Get the Dock. It's really useful.

[Chevron]

Originally Posted by reichman

I cannot work without the Dock's dedicated automation buttons on the left. And the wheel! Get the Dock. It's really useful.

Thanks, sounds cool. The Dock sure has a lot of buttons.

Are the Knobs the same as in the S1? I believe I read they have a tighter feel, more resistance.

[its2loud]

Originally Posted by Chevron

Thanks, sounds cool. The Dock sure has a lot of buttons.

Are the Knobs the same as in the S1? I believe I read they have a tighter feel, more resistance.

They do have a slightly tighter feel to them but you get used to it. It’s also nice to have the option to adjust parameters in two different places at once. For example. Compression on Dock and EQ on S1. Also panning is very nice using the Dock tablet. Really just makes for a complete system.

[jallen01]

Sorry for jumping in on this but regarding the panning on the Dock. I am guessing that's just left and right, not anything close to what you need for Atmos.

[reichman]

Originally Posted by jallen01

Sorry for jumping in on this but regarding the panning on the Dock. I am guessing that's just left and right, not anything close to what you need for Atmos.

Nope. Dock does full Atmos. It doesn't have the flashy 3D box that S4/S6 has, but all the parameters for Atmos panning are on the screen, and the pan puck changes size with height. I use it a lot for Atmos. But I think my most critical Atmos panning decisions have been made with a pan parameter spilled on the faders in flip, FWIW.

[LDS]

The Dock is great. It really shines when you start putting it to work as a method of quickly changing bigger and larger chunks of your session.

Just as an example, the two rows of 'soft keys' below the screen can be programmed to anything really. To recall memory locations that only control track visibility in Pro Tools, or to recall EuCon layouts. It practise it means you don't really need to click a lot of stuff in Pro Tools at all. Hit the button that is your drums memory location or EuCon layout, your Pro Tools screen/S1 faders will switch to display the appropriate tracks. Select the track you want on the S1 which can be set to also open your EQ plugin window automatically in Pro Tools. Populating those S1 knobs with plugin parameters can be only two button presses on your Dock/S1 rather than reaching for a mouse.

While the EuCon stuff works with Pro Tools, it can really become its own universe in controlling it. You can move well beyond the serial one-click-after-another approach of using a mouse. Hitting the preview button on the dock can put Pro Tools in Preview mode, open the automation window in Pro Tools, apply a Do-To-All put in touch mode for all your tracks, and display all of your automation punch selections on the dock tablet, all with just one button press.

Adding a dock really helps because you're just adding so many more buttons that can be programmed to do so many combinations of things at once. The main challenge is to just work it all in with your session template, particularly with static commands like memory locations, so that you aren't constantly backtracking to get it to all work smoothly.

[Chevron]

Originally Posted by LDS

The Dock is great. It really shines when you start putting it to work as a method of quickly changing bigger and larger chunks of your session.

Just as an example, the two rows of 'soft keys' below the screen can be programmed to anything really. To recall memory locations that only control track visibility in Pro Tools, or to recall EuCon layouts. It practise it means you don't really need to click a lot of stuff in Pro Tools at all. Hit the button that is your drums memory location or EuCon layout, your Pro Tools screen/S1 faders will switch to display the appropriate tracks. Select the track you want on the S1 which can be set to also open your EQ plugin window automatically in Pro Tools. Populating those S1 knobs with plugin parameters can be only two button presses on your Dock/S1 rather than reaching for a mouse.

While the EuCon stuff works with Pro Tools, it can really become its own universe in controlling it. You can move well beyond the serial one-click-after-another approach of using a mouse. Hitting the preview button on the dock can put Pro Tools in Preview mode, open the automation window in Pro Tools, apply a Do-To-All put in touch mode for all your tracks, and display all of your automation punch selections on the dock tablet, all with just one button press.

Adding a dock really helps because you're just adding so many more buttons that can be programmed to do so many combinations of things at once. The main challenge is to just work it all in with your session template, particularly with static commands like memory locations, so that you aren't constantly backtracking to get it to all work smoothly.

Thank you, very helpful.

How would you populate the S1 Knobs with button presses? I figure that is something I can already try with the lower S1 User buttons?

[Chevron]

Originally Posted by reichman

I cannot work without the Dock's dedicated automation buttons on the left. And the wheel! Get the Dock. It's really useful.

Dock is ordered although it may be a few weeks before it arrives.

I am going to be using it for some heavy EQ work using the Dock Knobs, and I am curious about replicating the S1s Sel and In Knob buttons on the Dock - I have found them very useful and have quickly become accustomed to them changing various parameters on my plugin maps.

Can you assign the buttons to Sel In - or perhaps add 3rd party plugin buttons to them?

[its2loud]

Originally Posted by Chevron

Dock is ordered although it may be a few weeks before it arrives.

I am going to be using it for some heavy EQ work using the Dock Knobs, and I am curious about replicating the S1s Sel and In Knob buttons on the Dock - I have found them very useful and have quickly become accustomed to them changing various parameters on my plugin maps.

Can you assign the buttons to Sel In - or perhaps add 3rd party plugin buttons to them?

They show up on the tablet screen when you add the tablet to the Dock.

You do know there are probably over 100 videos on YouTube showing every feature of these surfaces including instructional videos from Avid.