Why has there been no Avid 004 control surface?

[DJ Hellfire]

Why has Avid not put out a control surface with a footprint and button layout like the 003/Command 8, but with the Eucon protocol, Avid Control integration and other features similar to the S series controllers? Would have been nice to have a "004" or whatever it would be named, preferably without the audio interface.

To get as close to this as possible you currently need an S1 and a Dock. But it would be nice to have an all in one unit, despite sacrificing the ability to expand. The money for a product like this from Avid has been burning a hole in my wallet for several years.

[JFreak]

It seems Avid is out of cheap interface business. Too little cash and too much work. (and too much whining about why this and that limitation here and there).

Maybe I am wrong, but it seems their hardware is only pro level in the future. Even latest cheap interfaces were Apogee-made, that kind of says it all. Hopefully they keep making low cost small footprint EUCON controllers.

[DJ Hellfire]

Originally Posted by JFreak

It seems Avid is out of cheap interface business. Too little cash and too much work. (and too much whining about why this and that limitation here and there).

Maybe I am wrong, but it seems their hardware is only pro level in the future. Even latest cheap interfaces were Apogee-made, that kind of says it all. Hopefully they keep making low cost small footprint EUCON controllers.

Yeah, that's why I was saying exclude the audio interface portion but leave all of the control surface functions. Because to be honest, that's how I've used my 003 for the past 5 years anyway. I use my Apollo for the audio and the 003 served only as a controller. Didn't even have audio cables connected.

Just moved to an S1 and love it but am already missing having all of the extra dedicated buttons. Being able to customize the bottom soft keys helps a bit but there's nothing like having dedicated labeled buttons and buttons that don't require Shift.

[albee1952]

This is a question I have been asking for years With the release of S1, I don't see Avid making a controller/interface combo like 002 or 003 again, but I hope they consider a new interface. I actually sat in on one of Avid's ACA meetings and suggested my concept of 004. I suggested taking the Carbon basic design(minus the DSP) with the same IO complement(maybe 2 HP amps instead of 4) with USB or TB3, and shooting for retail under $1499. Sadly, I never got a reply or follow-up on the idea. I agree that Avid has left themselves out of a huge market sector. As cool as Carbon is, not everyone has $4K to spend on an interface, and using AVB has shut out every Windows user on the planet(just as they did with S3)

[JFreak]

2nd hand S3 is not that expensive, but what bugs me is who is the bonehead who put leds on the wrong side of the fader?

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by JFreak

2nd hand S3 is not that expensive, but what bugs me is who is the bonehead who put leds on the wrong side of the fader?

That, and why oh why did the strip get 4 buttons while they told us it could be used for transport control(which needs 5 buttons)??? So close, yet so far....

[DJ Hellfire]

Originally Posted by JFreak

2nd hand S3 is not that expensive, but what bugs me is who is the bonehead who put leds on the wrong side of the fader?

S3 is cool and I was looking into one before deciding on the S1, but even second hand they are still up there in price and not easy to find. I found only one on eBay and it was $3500. For that money, I personally feel two S1's and a pair of iPads/tablets are the better value for those of us that don't need another audio interface. But I have not actually used an S3 so my opinion could be misinformed.

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by DJ Hellfire

S3 is cool and I was looking into one before deciding on the S1, but even second hand they are still up there in price and not easy to find. I found only one on eBay and it was $3500. For that money, I personally feel two S1's and a pair of iPads/tablets are the better value for those of us that don't need another audio interface. But I have not actually used an S3 so my opinion could be misinformed.

I feel exactly the same. I do think the S3 is a cool product and I do like the extra row of encoders, BUT I also would go for less money spent on dual S1's, especially considering the tablets can be added later. I am currently working with a vintage Control 24(using neyrinck's software that turns it into a HUI surface) and I am finding that my old habits are really resistant to change

[JFreak]

I am also on ancient DigiDesign C|8 and Avid C|24 on live rig (former for monitors, latter for FOH). Haven't found suitable replacements that would fit the budget. I am closer to buying DigiDesign ICON Control with 2x16 fader packs in case those old workhorses die, than selling a kidney to buy S6(L). Here's to hoping the old stuff don't break for years.

[DJ Hellfire]

Originally Posted by albee1952

I feel exactly the same. I do think the S3 is a cool product and I do like the extra row of encoders, BUT I also would go for less money spent on dual S1's, especially considering the tablets can be added later. I am currently working with a vintage Control 24(using neyrinck's software that turns it into a HUI surface) and I am finding that my old habits are really resistant to change

Interesting! Does the Neyrinck software work with the 003? Here's my situation below.

I recently upgraded to a Mac Pro 7,1 from my 4,1 and it's running Big Sur. The driver installer for the 003 will not run on Big Sur so I had to manually install the driver by unpacking the contents of the installer and placing the files in the appropriate locations on MacOS. I was able to get the 003 running under Big Sur, but it came with the problem of Pro Tools freezing on Quit until the 003 was powered off. Once the 003 was powered off, Pro Tools would complete the process of closing.

So something in Pro Tools was not able to disconnect from the 003, likely due to having to workaround the driver installation. Powering down the 003 was an easy enough workaround but I know these things have fragile power supplies and I didn't want to be power cycling the unit every time I closed Pro Tools. So I opted to finally move on to the S1, which is cool. But I was content with the 003 as well.