Hi Tim,
I’m sorry to hear you also have had health issues, but it’s good you
are on the mend. Thanks again for taking the time to look into this
issue, and I will be eagerly awaiting the arrival of your extender
application file. In the meantime, my extender is working normally,
just with the ID mode speech. I totally agree with your views on
using your ears for mixing rather than Db readouts. I engineered in
an analog studio back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, and riding
faders were all we had. No way were we at the level of affording and
SSL or Neave board with their automation. Prior to getting this
Mackie control surface, I did fader changes from the keyboard in
Sonar, which speaks out every change. I do find that annoying, and
usually have muted JAWS while mixing.
So, please be well, and I hope to hear from you again soon.
Best regards,
Fran Franks
On 5/9/19, tim@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <tim@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Fran,PLEASE READ THIS FOOTER AT LEAST ONCE!
Again, many apologies for the long delay in responding - I've had my own
health issues at this end, but I should be eqasier to get hold of now.
Here's a few things:
1 - The problem of the extender behaving like it's in ID Mode made me
scratch my head for a bit, but I think I've figured it out. I created a
Sonar appolication configuration file for the main unit, but not for the
extender as I didn't have access to one. These files tell SurfaceReader what
to do when each control is manipulated and the default behaviour if no
configuration file is available is to announce the control's name (like ID
Mode). Give me a few days and I should be able to create a Sonar
configuration for the extender that'll fix this.
2 - Nearly all of the information that SurfaceReader announces appears on
one of the displays provided by your control surface. By default, Mackie
units do not display fader volume levels, so they're not announced. I also
take the view that you shouldn't be volume mixing by numbers - that's what
your ears are for😊 Having said this, there's a work-around: just press the
Flip button on the main unit. This button swaps the functions of the faders
and the V-pots above them, so your V-pots will now control volume and the
faders will control panning (assuming that you're in Track mode). Since the
Mackie units display the state of the V-pots on the LCD display,
SurfaceReader will now have volume information available to it and will
announce it. Pressing Flip again takes you back to faders controlling volume
and V-pots controlling pan, etc..
Best wishes.
Tim Burgess
-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf
Of Fran Franks
Sent: 29 April 2019 02:33
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Trouble installing MCU Pro and Surface Reader
Hi Tim and all,
I have been dealing with health issues lately, and have not been able to
spend much time in the studio since the last communication. Tim, I'm very
grateful for the time you have taken to give advice on my problems.
I now seem to have everything working up to a point, including the MCU XT
extension. I get functionality where it should be, but the speech doesn't
seem right. For one thing, even though the extension is functioning
correctly, the speech acts like it is in ID mode, even though in Surface
Reader, both surfaces are in live mode. Also, I'm not getting any speech
when touching faders on the main surface, though they are otherwise
functioning with Sonar volumes controls. I am also not hearing any value
changes when moving the faders of either surface while focused on the volume
control of a track or bus. The situation is somewhat perplexing because
this is my first ever control surface, and I'm not too clear on what to
expect or what speech I'm supposed to get when everything is set up
correctly. I've carefully followed the setup and configuration
documentation in Surface Reader, Sonar, and advice I have received here on
the list. I've done triple and quadruple checking that I am not missing
something. But here I sit scratching my head. Is there anything
straight-forward that jumps out from the description of my symptom? Do the
cakewalk and extension application configurations in Surface Reader need to
be looked at or modified?
Despite the problems I have had in this setup, I'm very excited to finally
have something physical to touch and control my DAW. Once I have this under
my belt, it will be almost better than chocolate, And no worries about
gaining weight from overindulgence!
Best regards,
Fran Franks
-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of tim@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2019 3:46 AM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Trouble installing MCU Pro and Surface Reader
Hi,
There's a complete description of how Sonar and an MCU interact to be found
at:
C:\program files\cakewalk\shared surfaces\MackieControl.chm
Here's the section that relates to setting up an extender within Sonar:
Configuring XT Units
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
You can connect as many XT extension units to your Mackie Control as you
have ports on your MIDI interface (each unit uses a separate input and
output port).
To Configure an XT Unit
Connect the XT unit to SONAR (see To Connect the Mackie Control (or XT) to
SONAR).
Open the property page for the main Mackie Control.
Click the Configure Layout button in the property page.
Turn V-pot 1 on the main Mackie Control to select the tracks you want the
main unit to control.
Turn V-pot 1 on the Mackie XT unit to select the tracks you want the XT unit
to control.
In the property page, click the Press Again When Done button.
This article relates to the older units where extenders connected to a MIDI
interface. The newer, USB-connected MCU provides ports on itself for
connection of extenders, so use those. Additionally, when you add the
extender to Sonar, pick the input and output ports that match where you've
got the extender plugged in - I don't have a USB version of an MCU here, so
can't be more specific. Make sure that the extender is working (i.e. its
faders initialize) using its hardware ports before proceeding.
You now need to add 2 more virtual ports to handle the extender before
configuring SurfaceReader, so please do that using LoopB30, then change the
ports for the extender in Sonar as you did for the MCU itself. I'd suggest
having Sonar configured to use virtual port 3 for input and virtual port 4
for output. Remember to disable the actual hardware inputs and outputs in
Sonar's MIDI Devices dialog using the same pattern as for the MCU.
In SurfaceReader you just need to add a surface from the Surfaces menu, just
like you did for the MCU. The only differences should be:
1 - Give it a unique name (e.g. MCU-Ext1);
2 - Pick Mackie Extender as the protocol;
3 - Configure the ports to match your setup.
This is the first time I've had a user with an extender (I don't own one
myself), so I'm really keen to know how you get along.
Best wishes.
Tim Burgess
-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf
Of Fran Franks
Sent: 11 April 2019 17:58
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Trouble installing MCU Pro and Surface Reader
Hi Tim and everyone,
Thanks again for your advice, which has got me through the installation.
Now I need to get the extension running. What must I do with ports and
other settings?
Then, on to learn the functions and other particulars. I'm just now
launching into the tutorials built into the Surface Reader help. Is there
additional instructional material available for study?
Best regards,
Fran Franks
-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of tim@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2019 1:32 AM
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Re: Trouble installing MCU Pro and Surface Reader
Hi Fran,
Many apologies for taking so long to reply, but I'm the author of
SurfaceReader, so want to get you up and running. Having said that, my
availability is likely to be sparse over the next few days.
Your configuration looks good to me, though there are a few things missing:
1 - In Sonar you need to disable the ports presented by the MCU itself. You
can do this in the Options|MIDI Devices dialog. You also need to disable the
Internal MIDI 2 input and the Internal MIDI 1 output to prevent MIDI loops;
2 - Within SurfaceReader you'll need to highlight your MCU then go to the
Surfaces menu and choose Load Application Configuration. Within the dialog
that appears, select Sonar then Tab to the OK button and press Enter - this
configures SurfaceReader to act properly when used in conjunction with
Sonar.
A couple of notes:
- Please continue to use the USB connections, as this is the way the MCU Pro
is designed to work;
- There are additional steps required in both Sonar and SurfaceReader to
handle the extender, so please ignore this for now - let's get the basic
setup working;
- The very latest versions of SurfaceReader can be had from:
32-bit:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g04w58c36fl7lcz/SurfaceReader32.msi?dl=0
64-bit:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/56kx7cb8v2f4zkl/SurfaceReader64.msi?dl=0
Please make sure that you uninstall the previous version before installing
the new one. I'd also recommend deleting the following folders by hand once
you've done the uninstall of your current version:
C:\program files\raised bar\surfacereader
C:\programdata\raised bar\surfacereader
Please note that, depending on what version you currently have installed,
there might be a space between "surface" and "reader" in the folder names
above.
Best wishes.
Tim Burgess
-----Original Message-----
From: ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <ddots-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf
Of Fran Franks
Sent: 07 April 2019 03:23
To: ddots-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ddots-l] Trouble installing MCU Pro and Surface Reader
Hello everyone,
I am installing my very first control surface, a Mackie MCU Pro and one
extension, plus Surface Reader to get it talking. I have done my best to
follow the Surface Reader documentation, but I'm hitting a snag, and I hope
someone in the group here has time to look at this email and suggest what is
going wrong.
My system is running Sonar 8.5 on Windows 7, 64 bit, Jaws 16, and Cake
Talking, and the MCU Pro is connected to the computer via USB.
Here is what I have done so far:
1. Set the mode on the MCU pro to Mackie control.
2. Installed LoopBe30, with default settings and 2 virtual cables,
which Windows calls Internal MIDI.
3. I added the control surface to Sonar with the initial port settings
to test communication between Sonar and MCU pro as follows. Mackie control
1, Input port, MCU Pro USB v3.1, Output port, MCU Pro USB v3.1. The MCU Pro
main unit showed positive functionality and communication with the DAW,
however I'm not getting anything with the extension, a problem to work on
later. Then I reset the input port to internal MIDI 1, and the output port
to internal MIDI 2, the two virtual MIDI cables from LoopBe30. Then I shut
down Sonar before the next step.
4. Opening Surface reader, I added a new surface as Mackie MCU Pro with
the Mackie Control protocol. In the Hardware MIDI Setup, I set the input to
MCU Pro USB v3.1 and output port to Internal MIDI 1. In the Display MIDI
Setup, I set the input port to Internal MIDI 2, and the output port to MCU
Pro USB v3.1.
5. Then, when restarting Sonar, there was no functionality with the MCU
Pro, and later after rebooting the computer and first running surface
reader, I got the following Surface Reader error message. "MCU Pro USB v3.1
could not be opened." Followed by still no function when running Sonar.
Even though Sonar and the MCU Pro initially worked together with the
seemingly same input and output port, MCU Pro USB v3.1, I wonder if this is
somehow part of the problem in Surface Reader despite the care I took in
following their documentation. But, that is a very uneducated guess at
this point.
I hope someone here can point me in the right direction.
Best regards,
Fran Franks
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