First Midibox LC

[all_on_black]

[Made this a new topic rather than a reply, not sure if i was ment to put it in the other topic :-\]

Hey guys, lol, welcome another n00b to the forum  ;)

Heh, nah been reading this for a few weeks so decided to register and actually do something about my ideas!

After reading over the spec's of the various projects i think i've found  that the midibox LC will do the things i want from a control surface, and from what i gather, its based on the Mackie Control?, which is supported by most Sequencers (I'll be using Sonar 4 Producer edition or Cubase SX 3, probably Sonar).

Another reason why the LC sounds like the best idea for me is because i can expand on it easily, buy just adding another core with the 'mixer' section, and hopefuly set it up as the Mackie Control XT (the extention bit)... thats the theory anyway?

After looking around and giving it some thought i decided on the modules i would require. From what i gather, i'll need the following for the 'main' part of my surface (ie, with no 'extentions'):

Core Module      x 1

DIN Module        x 3

DOUT Module    x 4

MF Module          x 1

LCD Module        x 1

I believe this will allow me to have:

8 Touch Sensitive Motorised Channel Faders

16 Channel Encoders + 1 Jog Wheel Encoder

24 Buttons with LED's for Channel Controls  (Solo/Mute/Select)

8 Buttons with LED's for the Channel Assignments (Pan, EQ, Plug ins etc)

32 Extra Assignable Buttons With LED's for various control uses

4 Buttons for Fader Banks +/- and Fader Channel =/-

5 Buttons with LED's for the transport bar

5 Buttons for a D-pad

1 Main LCD Display  (1 2x 40?)

1 Timeclock Display

I have made a quick render of what the surface will look like, though it needs some work, it gives a basic idea.  On the picture i missed out 8 of the 'assignable buttons' (should be 32 not 24), and forgot to add the buttons for the fader +/-.  woops. ::)

[found another mistake, the LCD should say 2x40, not 2x50! hehe]

http://myspace-375.vo.llnwd.net/00174/57/36/174216375_l.gif

> Does this seem about right for a MidiBox LC, and have i missed anything out?

> Will it be possible to link another core module to the controller i have 'made' and use it as an extention?

Thats about it for now, il see what response i get before i ask anything else, as i cant really think of anything at the moment  :-\

[raphael]

> Does this seem about right for a MidiBox LC, and have i missed anything out?

Looks OK for a LC.

> Will it be possible to link another core module to the controller i have 'made' and use it as an extention?

No, you will have to connect the second core (XT) directely to your computer via a second MIDI IN/OUT connection. This is required by the Mackie protocol. Every controller needs it`s own connection.

[all_on_black]

No, you will have to connect the second core (XT) directely to your computer via a second MIDI IN/OUT connection. This is required by the Mackie protocol. Every controller needs it`s own connection.

So if i wanted to build a 24 fader LC using the Mackie Protocol, i would need 3 cores and each would in effect, be a seperate controler?

[raphael]

So if i wanted to build a 24 fader LC using the Mackie Protocol, i would need 3 cores and each would in effect, be a seperate controler?

Yes, only the host software (Cubase, Logic, Samplitude...) assigns the channels to the controllers. So you would need 3 MIDI IN/OUT and assign one of them to your "master" LC and the other two to the XTs. Take a look at the controller implementation in your host software and read the Mackie Control manuals you can download from Mackie (I've posted the links to this manual some time ago here in the forum... search for it.)

Raphael