kdiamond

Thank you Novski

Dear Midibox community. I'm a designing a fader plate for upcoming Waves eMotion line mixing console. It's very simple. 16 motorized faders. That's it. From what I could gather I will need a: 16 x motorized faders. 2 x MF_NG module I have a few beginner's questions, before I can move on. I would really appreciate if someone is willing to give me some basics. - Is this all I need to get 16 faders working? - Will any motorized fader work with MF_NG? I can get motorized faders from Taiwan for 5€/piece. To my knowledge alps faders here in Europe costs arround 20€/piece, My console will have 48 faders, and that's a a lot of money :) - What do I need to add in order to get USB or LAN connectivity. (CORE_LPC17 Module) ? - Can those modules be purchased done, or I need to solder it from the scratch? Thank you very much for your help. Any info regarding my first steps is most welcome. Thank you Br, kd

But in order to get my controller working I would need huge amount of modules, that would need to get connected together. If I understand correctly, for bidirectional mode I must use DIN and DOUT modules for each LED button. For 124 Illuminated buttons only, I need 4 DIN and 4 DOUT modules. And if buttons have RBG colors that's even more. One LPC17 can handle only 128 addresses if I'm not mistaken. so for complete controller I would need something like: 2 x LPC17 6 x DIN 6 x DOUT + LCD modules That's huge amount of modules where each should be mounted somewhere and connected with wires. It would take too much space. What about designing a big motherboard and put all modules on one board? That seems the only workable solution as module count is so big. Thank you Br, Dali

I was thinking to patch the router before LPC17 (like a data mapper) to provide mixer switching and WebUI options. Kinda gateway mapper. Br, Dali

Hi there folks. Here's the quick sketch of a front panel. Today I'll look at the modules to see which and how many do I have to wire together. The controller has 17 Motorized Touch sensitive Faders 17 Push Pots with Rotary Led Meters. 1 Big LCD Screen, or 17 small ones 124 LED illuminated buttons (colors selectable in user GUI) It should be a controller with it's own brain, mixer changing, programmable through WebUI. For the main brain part I was thinking to use a Router. Routers have their GUI, fast CPU's, 4 ports of LAN, wireless and linux embed. Seems like a great bundle of features for the task. Then the controller could be Wired or wireless out of the box. There is a whole community out there dedicated to programming/hacking Linux firmwares for many routers. I think I can find someone willing to contribute. You can check debate at SAC forum. http://www.sawstudiouser.com/forums/showthread.php?p=159106#post159106 Br, Dali

I was on Frankfurt Music fair about month ago. There was one manufacturer from China with huge collection of motorized faders, buttons, LCD's etc. Probably cheap as hell. I was stupid not to take their contact, because the idea of making a controller came on my way back as recalling the impressions from the fair. After it I could not locate them on internet. Anyone knows what company this could be? Thank you Br, Dali

Well, design is the last concern to me. It would be the 19" panel with holes for faders, buttons, and LCDs. I would just draw the panel in one software such as Google SketchIt or Autocad Inventor. I did that many times for some connector panels and power panels and it turned out totally pro. Ethernet is the biggest question here. I know much about TCP/IP protocol from user perspective (I'm network admin, I have my own server and know some linux basics too), but nothing under the hood. That's what's preventing me to make a step. Like I buy ETH module and what now? Does it work like routers, with web UI, how do I configure it??? Thank you, that's great help for beginner like me. First, before bugging you here with RTFM question, I'll have to read module descriptions and all the documentation to get the puzzle together. I'll do some quick schematics and post it here for review. Thank you very much. Your help is very encouraging! By the way... I was on Frankfurt Music fair about month ago. There was one manufacturer from China with huge collection of motorized faders, buttons, LCD's etc. Probably cheap as hell. I was stupid not to take their contact, because the idea of making a controller came on my way back as recalling the impressions from the fair. After it I could not locate them on internet. Damn. Anyone knows what company this could be? I will ask the same on Parts forum. Br, Dali

Yeah, those are all needed info to get the puzzle together. Also I might get it done up to 70%, but for the rest I might need someone experienced to jump aboard. Not for free of course. I would not like to stuck on some barrier I can not overcome personally. It's a huge project. I'm sure I can not make it on my own. What about parts? Can I buy motorized faders with colored trays, LED Colored Buttons etc? Thank you

Hi Ilmenator. Thank you for your reply. Software I'm trying to connect it to is called SAC (software audio console). http://www.softwareaudioconsole.com/ It's the only Software for live PA mixing and it's great. I've done over 200 shows with it. It does support several midi hardware controllers, but only faders, pots and LCD. No level or gain reduction metering via midi. I guess midi bandwidth doesn't allow for 32 or 64 channels of level metering + gain reduction metering. However. This software allows to connect up to 24 remote laptops with TCP/IP protocol. Having all the features remotely wired or wireless. Complete 24 mixers with all parameters and all meters. Hardware controller should connect as one remote laptop, having access to all parameters. That's why ethernet. The guy who makes SAC said he would give all controller ID's. Thank you Br, Dali

Hi. I just found this amazing site. For a long time I'm thinking to develop a good hardware controller with the advanced features such as motorized faders with colored trays, LCS screens, meter bridge, gain reduction meters etc... It should also be Ethernet, along the optional midi. I'm electrician (soldering is well known to me). I did some basic parts of programing too, so a simple code should not give me problems. Closest visual match of what I want would be lower part of Soundcraft digital console. But before I dive into it and loose bunch of time I would ask experienced users here, how far from reality my wishes are, or if this is doable at all on individual level. I would probably handle to connect standard motorized faders, buttons and pots (using predefined DIY boards) to MIDI CC, but that would probably be all. Apart from that I would need. - LED level meters next to each volume fader. - Ethernet connectivity - LCD screen that transfers track names from the DAW. - Hardware controller should have it's own logistics in a way that when I press a Dyn button all motorized faders become DYN Tresholds, or when I ress EQ all motorized faders become 31band EQ and so on. Thank you for your time. Br, kd