Frank

Hi guys, My take on this is no commercialisation. I may be wrong but the impression i get from Thorsten is that he does this projects because :- 1. He needs the device for his own use 2. To keep up his assembly programming skills 3. for the challenge and his own interests 4. To accomodate the rest of our needs if it doesnt cost him too much time and is an improvement to an existing device. I dont think anyone should commercialize the apps (i.e. Midibox16E, Midbox64, MB LC/MC etc). I dont think he wants to make life difficult for the companies that do this for a living cos we all know his designs knocks the socks off the competition performance and feature wise. Like everything else in this world if you want to own one of Thorsten's designs then you have to pay the price; and his price is $DIY. I think thats more than a fair price cost you get freebies like enjoyment , a sense of personal achievement and knowledge if you're willing to pick it up. For those that can't than get a friend who can to help. But with the upcoming approved kits being sold with parts list and PCBs it should be even easier. And if you still cant, my advice is to buy of the shelf. For maybe US$800.00 you get 9 channels of Touch sense P&G optical MotorFaders, encoders with ledrings, nice scrubwheel and a whole lot more without losing your precious revenue generating time, your patience and a whole lot of hair. Peace Frank

Hi Nat, The documentation for Midibox LC is not done yet but if you're gonna use it in Mackie Control mode for cubase SX then whatever support Steinberg has for Mackie Control you will also have those features when using Thorsten's MB LC/MC emulation plus some additional features not fully documented yet. Please check Mackie's Site for PDF on Mackie Control for Cubase SX or Steinbergs site. Info on additional features like layer changes and others can be found in this forum by doing a search for the relevant threads. Peace Frank

Hi Nat, The documentation for Midibox LC is not done yet but if you're gonna use it in Mackie Control mode for cubase SX then whatever support Steinberg has for Mackie Control you will also have those features when using Thorsten's MB LC/MC emulation plus some additional features not fully documented yet. Please check Mackie's Site for PDF on Mackie Control for Cubase SX or Steinbergs site. Info on additional features like layer changes and others can be found in this forum by doing a search for the relevant threads. Peace Frank

Hi Nat, You do not need to learn to program for MIOS, just use the ready made applications and adapt it to your needs, but you do need to read up and understand the apps and the user parameters that can be changed. For example :- the LC emulation application can be used in Mackie Control emulation mode which is supported by Cubase SX by changing the machine ID parameter in "main.asm" file. Thats all you need to do and you will have control over cubase sx mixer, eq, fx, vstplugins, maybe some supported vst softsynthes and transport control and others. If you can wait Thorsten will be porting MB16E and MB64 for the MIOS platform later on in the year. You can use this for Synthe control and anything midi your heart desires cos they have midi learn funtion. But if you cant wait, you can construct MB16E and MB64 for Pic16F877 now. They're not difficult projects and they have midi learn functions so you can control any synthe or vst plugins but maybe less features than the upcoming ports. So read up on all the different apps features and learn what its all about and you'll discover there's really no need to program your own app. Thorsten has given us a range of wonderful toys to play with and you'll not find a more wonderful and helpful bunch of people than the geeks here. Read up and ask more questions if you need to and enjoy your stay here Peace Frank

Hi msi, The cheapest solution would be to use VCA's for the analog audio path. And then use MBMF fader control voltage to also drive the VCA's. The easier but more expensive solution is to use motorised audio faders (eg. P&G). They have both a control track and an analog audio track. This is the most preferred method cos the audio does not have to go through another op-amp and the fader just replaces your existing mixer's fader. Peace Frank

Hi TK, If you could help me out a little on this, i would be grateful. Its a question regarding bootloaders and apps that use them. If an app was wriiten to use a bootloader can you recode the program memory start location and run the app without a bootloader. Take a look at this : - ; ; --------------------- ; YOUR CODE BEGINS HERE ; --------------------- ; org 0x0003 ; UCode goto Start ; ; ------------------ ; ERROR MESSAGE DATA ; ------------------ ; errMessDt clrf PCLATH movf MessPt,W addwf PCL DT "EEPROM ERROR" ; and at the very last of the code is this :- ; ; ----------------------- ; BOOT CODE START ADDRESS ; ----------------------- ; DO NOT PLACE ANY CODE PAST THIS POINT ; org 0x1F00 MonCode org 0x1FFF EnterBoot ; ; end So will changing to org 0x0000 and the end bit allow the app to work without the bootoader. If its possible, can you clue me in to what to do. Peace Frank

Hi TK, If you could help me out a little on this, i would be grateful. Its a question regarding bootloaders and apps that use them. If an app was wriiten to use a bootloader can you recode the program memory start location and run the app without a bootloader. Take a look at this : - ; ; --------------------- ; YOUR CODE BEGINS HERE ; --------------------- ; org 0x0003 ; UCode goto Start ; ; ------------------ ; ERROR MESSAGE DATA ; ------------------ ; errMessDt clrf PCLATH movf MessPt,W addwf PCL DT "EEPROM ERROR" ; and at the very last of the code is this :- ; ; ----------------------- ; BOOT CODE START ADDRESS ; ----------------------- ; DO NOT PLACE ANY CODE PAST THIS POINT ; org 0x1F00 MonCode org 0x1FFF EnterBoot ; ; end So will changing to org 0x0000 and the end bit allow the app to work without the bootoader. If its possible, can you clue me in to what to do. Peace Frank

Hi guys, This is the upcoming Mackie C4 controller for Vst fx plugins and Softsynthes. Hey Axel, a new design project for you ;) . If MIOS and MBNG is capable of driving 8 multiplexed 2x40 lcds, 32 encoders, 32 ledrings and some buttons, this will make a good end of year present ;D. Hmm, we never stop wanting the shiny new toys, oops i mean working tools. Peace Frank

Nice update TK ;) But a question, in LCD mode is it by design that in Beats display mode it will only count 99 bars? The previous V1.1 could display up to 999 bars. Peace Frank

Hi Axel, I think this was what the Nuendo Pro users were asking for and this is what Steinberg is giving them. It's a total controller - mixer surface, editor surface, vst plugins controller ;). If you're using either Cubase SX or Nuendo, you can have meter led display using an additional old MB16E together with the MBNG LC/MC emulation. Just use the generic remote setup together with the Mackie Control one. Assign both setups to the same midi out ports. Make sure the generic remote template is blank with no entries, and then enter the channel and controller nos you want to use for the meters and assign them to the relevent 8 channels meter assignments . Likewise in MB16e ini file enter the relevant cc nos . You can use all 16 bits to make a 16 led bargraph vu meter. It sure beats the Logic/Mackie controllers single led display. Peace Frank

Hi Ian, Something like this? Or ne1 with ideas for a better implementation please feel free to chip in ;). Peace Frank

Hi Ian, Something like this? Or ne1 with ideas for a better implementation please feel free to chip in ;). Peace Frank

test 1 2 3 4 [http://www.ucapps.de/tmp/2lcd.jpg]

I agree ;D, i think this is what the internet was invented for and not for big companies to use it for their own greed >:(. Its all about the sharing of knowledge for the benefit of all. Peace Frank

Yes Hastings, the "Rock" part was actually for the French & German Peoples. Peace Frank

Hi, I just wanna say I admire the German and French people and their Governments in standing up to the Rumsfeld-Cheney-Bush illegally elected US Government and their forthcoming Irag War. You guys ROCK!! Peace Frank

Yes, a Merry Xmas and a happy New Year to the midibox community. I would like to say this community has been a most inspiring and wonderful knowledge base with a wonderful sharing spirit. This has been my best 2 years on the web a real testament of what the internet was all about. Also to the man , Mr Thorsten Klose, thank you for playing Santa Claus year in and year out :-). Peace Frank

hi TK, Good to to know MB development is on track. O.k. graphic LCD support is only on MBNG so i guess Mackie/Logic control emulation will have 40x2 support with drop characters?, which is fine but I was wondering if there was a way to support 2 40x2 LCDs as in the Radikal Technologies SAC2K controller. If we are using 2 cores to a box, each core has its own 40x2 display but the display handler for each works differently. The first core's display handler only excepts the first half of characters from Logic Control emulation while the 2nd core's display handles the other half. Is this a workable alternative. If it is maybe a way could be found to enable or disable this feature and also to select which firrmware (MBMF or MB16E) is the first half display so as to not have to many firmware variants for you to support. Peace Frank

hi TK, Good to to know MB development is on track. O.k. graphic LCD support is only on MBNG so i guess Mackie/Logic control emulation will have 40x2 support with drop characters?, which is fine but I was wondering if there was a way to support 2 40x2 LCDs as in the Radikal Technologies SAC2K controller. If we are using 2 cores to a box, each core has its own 40x2 display but the display handler for each works differently. The first core's display handler only excepts the first half of characters from Logic Control emulation while the 2nd core's display handles the other half. Is this a workable alternative. If it is maybe a way could be found to enable or disable this feature and also to select which firrmware (MBMF or MB16E) is the first half display so as to not have to many firmware variants for you to support. Peace Frank

Hi, If you're using Cubase SX, then its possible to display the track meter onto the MB16E' s led ring display. You need to use generic remote and change some parameters in MB16E. I've tried using all 16LED steps to display trk volume, it looks cool but i think displaying too many tracks will eat midi bandwidth. Peace Frank

Hi, If you're using Cubase SX, then its possible to display the track meter onto the MB16E' s led ring display. You need to use generic remote and change some parameters in MB16E. I've tried using all 16LED steps to display trk volume, it looks cool but i think displaying too many tracks will eat midi bandwidth. Peace Frank

Hi guys, I followed a link on one of the threads to SAC2k website and saw a picture of their display implementation on their controller. They were using 3 40x2 displays. What caught my eye were the 40x2 displays each on a group of 4 faders. So that got me thinking of another alternative of using 2 displays that wont look too stupid :-). Each 40x2 display services 4 faders which can display 10 characters per fader. In each Midibox LC emulator there would be 2 cores (MB16E+MBMF), so there is possibility of each core to its own 40x2 or 1 core drives 2 40x2 displays or using the midimon. I guess the only considerations against the Graphic LCD alternative would be the cost of 2 40x2 displays and the complexity of writing the display handling software if it is possible at all. What do you think T.Klose?

Hi TK, O.k, i'm testing MB16E LC Emu v1004pre2 on Cubase SX. Everything is working really well so far except i cant change led ring patterns using th mksyx script. Can you get this working in Logic ? when i'm finished checking for compatability in Cubase SX i'll issue midi implementation in Cubase SX cos some funtions are different than Logics and are mapped to different CCs Peace Frank

Hi TK, O.k, i'm testing MB16E LC Emu v1004pre2 on Cubase SX. Everything is working really well so far except i cant change led ring patterns using th mksyx script. Can you get this working in Logic ? when i'm finished checking for compatability in Cubase SX i'll issue midi implementation in Cubase SX cos some funtions are different than Logics and are mapped to different CCs Peace Frank

You're welcome Damien, the pleasure is all mine :-). I enjoy Thorsten's projects very much and its the least i could do to support his untiring efforts for this community. Peace Frank