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Old 11-15-2011, 08:51 PM   #41
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I guess we need to know what a low price means to everybody. $1000? $2000? $500?

So many people may be used to spending more money than others, especially if they have been doing this longer professionally, that they have a different idea of what an inexpensive control surface costs.

I think getting this nailed down can help put things into perspective and put this on course.

inexpensive control surface is $1500 adn below. Above $1500, things can get expensive quick.

A modular approach can help with this pricing ordeal. if the 8ch main section was 500-1000ish and you can add on 8ch banks for 250-500ish, makes sense to me.

What do you say.
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Old 11-15-2011, 11:04 PM   #42
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It'd be great to get the price down to whatever I can get for my used MCU!


I would love to see the main module with 9 faders (8 +master), expandable via extra fader modules.

The main module should have:
*Transport controls
*jog wheel (scrub, zoom)
*shift/alt/cntrl modifiers
*record mode
*8-16 buttons to assign to actions, maybe with multiple assignments per button via shift,alt, cntrl modifiers.

Each channel should have:
*rec arm
*mute/solo
*monitor (button could be modified with shift key to invert polarity)
*pan (push pan for width)
*and a meter

A Mackie C4 type module with 24-32 rotary encoders, 2 vertical faders, 2 horizontal faders, and a row of buttons would be great for fx w/ visual feedback from the vsts being controlled. With that setup you could set up the controller maps to mimic the on screen gui of the plug-in, very intuitive. This module could also be used in a separate edit mode for flying items around, modifying fades, manipulating item volume, adjusting loop points, etc

Foot pedal input would be great, too.
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Old 11-16-2011, 12:47 AM   #43
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I like the modular idea. I think we're all on the same page with the 8 touch sensitive motorised faders, potential for +1 master.

In terms for the price, BCF2000 costs $200, and MCU costs $1000. So, for up to $500 it has to exceed the functionality of the BCF (eg LCD, Touch Sensitive Faders), and approaching $1000 it has to exceed the MCU in some way.
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Old 11-16-2011, 01:39 AM   #44
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I have done this before and can source Alps motor faders down to about $5 per motorized fader. Not a big deal to get into motor faders.

I hardly see $350 in the expensive side of things.
Can you point me to Alps for $5 please, even in bulk, that would be really good thanks
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Old 11-16-2011, 01:41 AM   #45
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I do agree that Midibox has a ton of this all figured out. Cost of those kits is awesome. Modular is great and their designs work really well. BUT, I do not believe that this would be a good fit for "our" controller. Midibox would simply be making a Mackie control universal, so why not just buy that.

We need something more than what a Midibox LC platform can offer. If cost is the primary factor in what to design, I think you are better off on a Mackie control universal, or midibox mackie control emulation.
MIDIbox LC is just one design, I am guessing you don't follow MIDIbox much
1 You can have whatever you want (Doesn't have t be HUI or MCU or whatever)
2 A new very low cost motor fader system has just become available
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Old 11-16-2011, 01:58 AM   #46
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In terms of modules, these are what i came up with that could allow people to grow at their own pace and budget

Fader pad
8 motor faders 8 encoders and buttons (This would cover vol/pan/rec/solo/mute/sends, the sends would work like so, when you press say 1 of the 4 send buttons the motor fader would jump into send level position of that send, you adjust and when you release the send button the motor fader jumps back to vol level)

Action pad
16 buttons for actions/Transport buttons/joystick/1 Motor fader (This would essentially be the master section)

EQ pad
13 encoders/4 buttons (This layout was chosen after discussion with others, the 4 band usage seems to be the most common)

Universal pad
17 encoders 8 buttons 1 LCD (4 rows of 4 encoders plus one data encoder next to the LCD, this would be used for universal control of plugins)


Keep in mind with these layouts that the idea at the time was more about hands on mixing and not editing, in discussions most people i chatted to about this wanted to stick with mouse and keys for editing but moving the control of mixing outside the box and onto hard controls was wanted.
With these layouts the user gets to add fader pads as they can afford
The downside of a layout like this was always the cost of ALPs Ks
If Nick can get them at $5 though i am in for 32 at least
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Old 11-16-2011, 02:46 AM   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Morris
Who cares about price. I want smart LCD switches that display the name of the function
I thought about doing a hardware controller about a year ago, and while I agree with your basic point, I think there is a better way.

If you look at any reasonably modern large format console, there are a tremendous number of visual cues to keep everything ergonomic.

One standout is the color coding on the top of the rotaries.

I was thinking about a way to accomplish this on a surface while retaining flexibility and came up with the following -- Assignable Rotaries with an OLED insert on the top, it could be set to a pure color, could have text embedded, etc.

Same for scribble strips, etc., OLEDs give you a lot more bang for the buck and the small ones are very inexpensive.

The trick is to find a reasonable way to provide screen driver hardware that interfaces easily with both the OLEDs and the software.

Edit: In the end I went with an MCU, Extender, and a C4 (they were blowing them out at $400 last year) and coded the software to that combo.
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Old 11-17-2011, 12:17 PM   #48
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I thought about doing a hardware controller about a year ago, and while I agree with your basic point, I think there is a better way.

If you look at any reasonably modern large format console, there are a tremendous number of visual cues to keep everything ergonomic.

One standout is the color coding on the top of the rotaries.

I was thinking about a way to accomplish this on a surface while retaining flexibility and came up with the following -- Assignable Rotaries with an OLED insert on the top, it could be set to a pure color, could have text embedded, etc.

Same for scribble strips, etc., OLEDs give you a lot more bang for the buck and the small ones are very inexpensive.

The trick is to find a reasonable way to provide screen driver hardware that interfaces easily with both the OLEDs and the software.

Edit: In the end I went with an MCU, Extender, and a C4 (they were blowing them out at $400 last year) and coded the software to that combo.
I have been looking into the OLED idea and it accomplishes what I would want, great suggestion.
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Old 11-17-2011, 12:24 PM   #49
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Has anyone an idea on the price area they are comfortable with. I would like it to be as feature packed as can be, but with more features comes the larger price tags. This would need to be ironed out before more ideas are presented.

My idea currently in a modular approach: main unit 8ch + master = $500-$1000
: additional 8ch banks = $250-$500

If this can be somewhat agreed upon, we could collectively start looking at what can now "fit" in the given budgets.
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Old 11-17-2011, 12:28 PM   #50
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I like the modular idea. I think we're all on the same page with the 8 touch sensitive motorised faders, potential for +1 master.

In terms for the price, BCF2000 costs $200, and MCU costs $1000. So, for up to $500 it has to exceed the functionality of the BCF (eg LCD, Touch Sensitive Faders), and approaching $1000 it has to exceed the MCU in some way.
No doubt, this is exactly the plan. Could have swore the behringer was not touch sensitive...
In any case, the idea is to create a controller better than any available options, for far less than them.
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Old 11-17-2011, 02:25 PM   #51
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The downfall here is the motor faders
Point me to some for $5 and i will get on with the pcb layouts hehe
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Old 11-17-2011, 02:42 PM   #52
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I think the modular idea is great. I wasn't going to comment on this thread at all, but I thought my perspective might be needed since I think there are a lot of people out there like me using Reaper who are interested but can't spend $1500 on a control unit. So I think there is a question of whether you can make people like me happy with this project as well as people who use Reaper professionally and who have used control surfaces before and have certain expectations. I think obviously those needs should come first, and it should be great and functional, but I would hate to see something come out of the Reaper community that isn't for "everybody." Does that make sense?

Besides the nine faders on the main unit, and OLEDs and such for usability, what all could go in it for $500? I don't consider that expensive for a control surface, but when you could buy a synthesizer on ebay or something, it seems like a lot.

I would really like a fader that controls whatever the last clicked item was. So if I was adjusting a plugin, or something, I could do it without dragging my mouse. Besides the eight channels, I can't think of much I would "need" that would make mixing / editing easier and more intuitive (for me).

Whatever you guys come up with, I hope it works out. I'm really interested in how this thing turns out.
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Old 11-17-2011, 04:24 PM   #53
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The downfall here is the motor faders
Point me to some for $5 and i will get on with the pcb layouts hehe
I am a reseller of alps elec. and would be willing(for this project only) to sell the faders at cost+shipping. The order comes in boxes of 84 faders at a time. $420 plus shipping.
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Old 11-18-2011, 12:29 AM   #54
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No doubt, this is exactly the plan. Could have swore the behringer was not touch sensitive...
In any case, the idea is to create a controller better than any available options, for far less than them.
Yep, you're exactly right, the Behringer units are not touch sensitive. My point was to say that there's no point in building a $500 control surface that doesn't exceed the functionality of a $200 BCF.

I'm excited about this thread, it seems to be going in the direction I hoped for!
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Old 11-19-2011, 10:09 AM   #55
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MIDIbox LC is just one design, I am guessing you don't follow MIDIbox much
1 You can have whatever you want (Doesn't have t be HUI or MCU or whatever)
2 A new very low cost motor fader system has just become available
I do not follow the MIDIbox platform very much.

These are good points. The new motorised fader module looks great.
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Old 11-19-2011, 02:41 PM   #56
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So...

I think MIDI over ethernet would be ideal. I hate the idea of USB and firewire. Mac OSX already has support for MIDI over ethernet, and rtpMIDI works perfectly for windows 32bit and 64bit, while being constantly kept up to date with companies like Harmon Studer using it in their consoles commercially.

This would simplify things greatly, and enhance latency figures for MIDI.

No one else has had any real suggestion on price point, so I am guessing it is fine and moving on.

First up are the essential pieces that make the controller. We need to contribute to make a proper list and figure what can "fit" in the proposed price bracket and what will not.

starting small with obvious needs for the main module with a price bracket of $500-$1000 include"

Post exactly what you would like for these sections, like for example a bank button to bank between banks of 8 channels, or a function that brings the channel clicked by the mouse to the control surface as the first fader. Make suggestions so we can start figuring out what hardware is needed.

1. Touch sensitive motorised moving faders (I think this is covered -8ch+master on main module)*now 1 fader on main unit*

2. Touch sensitive encoders (How many, for what use, and how you would like feedback displayed)

3. Graphical representation of parameters/navigation (whatever will be best... LCD, LED, OLED, Touch Screen, etc. Any tips on which is the best route and why?)

4. Full transport section (including jog wheel and marker selection, etc.- List what you want here)

5. Dedicated section for automation (List which functions you would like to see for this area)

6. section featuring user defined soft keys (How many, What would you use them for?)

Remember, we could always use the same hardware to complete many different functions. For example, a jog wheel could be used to do the obvious and scrub, used to zoom in and out, used as a selection tool to scroll through different options, move the focus of the mixer or timeline, etc.
-A touch screen could be used for track parameter adjustment, menu navigation, action selection, surround panning, channel selection, etc.
I think you get the idea.

Ok, go!

Last edited by Nick Morris; 11-20-2011 at 03:42 PM. Reason: changed basic design idea to 1 fader master unit
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Old 11-19-2011, 02:48 PM   #57
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1. Touch sensitive motorised moving faders (I think this is covered -8ch+master on main module)
is a master really needed? as far i'm concerned, the master fader could just as well be glued to the 0db position. it would cost less without
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Old 11-19-2011, 02:52 PM   #58
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also, would people want a built in monitor section? personally, i'd like that. analog, for sure.
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Old 11-19-2011, 03:11 PM   #59
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also, would people want a built in monitor section? personally, i'd like that. analog, for sure.
I would not want any audio in these. A monitor section would be useful for some but not all. I think there are plenty of these available commercially that you could get working with Reaper. This project is only to cover the gaping canyon of the lack of a professional control surface.

Plus analog audio is expensive and I wouldn't want to use one unless it was stellar.
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Old 11-19-2011, 03:16 PM   #60
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is a master really needed? as far i'm concerned, the master fader could just as well be glued to the 0db position. it would cost less without
If you do not use your master fader, this would make sense. I use mine for fades. Adds probably under ten dollars to the overall cost and you may find you could use this fader and assign it to a different parameter like the sends of the selected track or something. Plenty of uses for an "extra fader". Think about it.
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Old 11-20-2011, 09:28 AM   #61
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Default Meter bridge?

I think this would be needed. I don't know, What do you think?
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Old 11-20-2011, 12:32 PM   #62
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Default Main module and optional fader bank design: first ideas

To recap, the main module as stands would now only include one fader (thanks gpunk_w) with all the other control features already listed below.

The fader packs will be 8ch fader packs and have the features listed below under fader packs.

first up the Main module:

assignable features. This area should be as small as possible but powerful.

I am thinking the main module should use 16 rotary encoders. These encoders would be a "page" that the user can bank through by pressing a page > or < button. Each page will hold available parameters assigned to the encoders. This could cover a "pan page", an "aux send page", "plugin parameters page", etc..

16 assignable soft keys with a page < or > just like the encoders. This would be used to make pages for the functions you want assigned to the keys. Example. "Edit page" - your simple commands and macros or actions assigned to eight keys would be available once you bank to the edit page. Next you could have a "navigation or marker page" with the buttons setup as locate points. You get the idea.

How many pages for these guys... Thinking 8 should cover it, that would give you 128 actions or commands at your fingertips by these eight buttons.

Always available control.

Transport section.
This should have dedicated buttons to each of the functions on the Reaper transport. go to start, play, pause, go to end, record, loop toggle. timecode display (could also be in the meter bridge area)

Jog Wheel which can be assigned to any parameter along with the usual jog features.
Jog Wheel modifier buttons: These four buttons are press on/ press off style and would change the function of the jog wheel.

-Jog Wheel Zoom button that allows the jog wheel to zoom in and out
-Jog Wheel Project Scroll button that allows the jog wheel to scroll through the project using the scroll bar.
-Jog Wheel Mixer Scroll button allows the jog wheel to scroll through the mixer using the mixer scroll bar.
-Jog Wheel Track Scroll button allows the jog wheel to scroll through the tracks in the timeline using the tracks scroll bar.

Bank selection section.
bank up and down buttons(these would be defined by the number of fader packs included).
Channel up and down.

Global section.
Save button, undo button, enter button, cancel button.

Automation section. (*edit: most used action/command keys section)
I am thinking this area now should actually just be 6 soft keys and user defined. they would default to Trim, Read, Touch, Latch, Write, and bypass all envelopes though. This way those who do not automate as much can have the option to assign the controller to maybe some edit commands or useful commands used while tracking. Maybe use different templates for what part of the recording process you are in. Tracking, editing, mixing. Could be cool.

Meter bridge (multi channel master metering)

LCD,LED,OLED Track Display showing track names, parameters, etc.

Now the fader pack.

These should mirror the mixer in Reaper.

fader, record arm, phase, solo, mute, trim, read, touch, latch, write, insert, fx bypass, and I/O buttons, with pan rotary encoder and send rotary encoder/ with push button, flip button to change fader functions with the encoders and back. channel attention or select button.

The encoders could change function when the send encoder is pressed. Pressing the send encoder will pull up the routing window and open add new send dialog box. Here you could scroll through with the send encoder choosing the send you want and press again to select.. pressing the I/O button brings up the routing window, currently the encoders control the original track, press the send encoder and it will control now the first send gain fader, and the pan pot will control that sends pan.

Could add more user defined rotary and soft keys here if people feel this would help functionality. maybe an extra pair of each per channel. could add further immediate hands on control rather than pressing buttons to get to certain features.

Each individual fader bank will have the ability to control a single plugins parameters through its rotary encoders, displaying its parameters across the track display.
I will add more to this section as time allows.

One large LCD,LED,OLED track display for track names and parameters just like the main module.

Meter Bridge

Color coding of the encoders, switches and buttons will help with the speed and intuitiveness of all controls.

Now, how would you improve this? What would you change/add/remove?

Last edited by Nick Morris; 11-20-2011 at 03:52 PM. Reason: changed basic design idea 1 motor fader on main unit
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Old 11-20-2011, 12:56 PM   #63
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Meter bridge
Bad idea. A properly-designed meter would drive the cost of this project up by at least a hundred dollars by my guess.
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Old 11-20-2011, 01:21 PM   #64
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Bad idea. A properly-designed meter would drive the cost of this project up by at least a hundred dollars by my guess.
Looks like we need to figure out the cost of a properly designed meter bridge. Anyone know for sure what this costs?
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Old 11-20-2011, 02:29 PM   #65
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Personally I'm still of the mind that a master section with 1 fader should be a seperated unit
Then we only need to design one 8 fader board, instead of 8 fader+master and a board for 8 fader add on banks
The master unit could have built in transport too and a bunch of buttons for navigation and so on
Not liking the idea of it all being combined myself (Even if it will be combined in one box)

The latest MIDIbox uses ethernet, so another point in favour of Ucapps maybe
Your fader offer is a massively generous one Nick
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Old 11-20-2011, 02:30 PM   #66
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Looks like we need to figure out the cost of a properly designed meter bridge. Anyone know for sure what this costs?
If we use Ucapps its near enough just the cost of the LEDs
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Old 11-20-2011, 03:32 PM   #67
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Ok, I have been researching the MIDIbox format quite a bit for the last couple days. It seems everything that is needed is available. I have been leaning that way in my research too now.

gpunk_w: I have been doing some heavy thinking about the one fader master module approach and I think it is a brilliant idea.

This could bring down the cost to get into the controller dramatically. I will edit my earlier ideas accordingly.
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Old 11-21-2011, 05:53 AM   #68
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This is my idea for the 8 Fader board
I have looked into the 1x6 displays before and 8 can be had for around 20 UKGBP
I didn't add in LED VUs simply because i would have this as an entirely seperate module again so its a users choice if they want it or not (The option to use the 1x6 LCD as a simple VU is obviously built in)
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Old 11-21-2011, 06:21 AM   #69
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Would it not be more cost effective to use one large display for all the 8 ch? Would 8 seperate LCD displays call for more cores?
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Old 11-21-2011, 06:23 AM   #70
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This is my idea for the 8 Fader board
I have looked into the 1x6 displays before and 8 can be had for around 20 UKGBP
I didn't add in LED VUs simply because i would have this as an entirely seperate module again so its a users choice if they want it or not (The option to use the 1x6 LCD as a simple VU is obviously built in)
I like it!
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Old 11-21-2011, 07:08 AM   #71
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Would it not be more cost effective to use one large display for all the 8 ch? Would 8 seperate LCD displays call for more cores?
Nah even the core 8 can handle 8 LCDs
The new LPC 17 core can handle 256 i think

Problem with one LCD is it wont cover each fader, so you end up with two like an MCU, and in reality that may well cost just as much as the 8 small ones
It is a bit more soldering obviously but i think in terms of ease of use i think it may be an idea to mull over a bit before we move forward
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Old 11-21-2011, 07:40 AM   #72
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Looking at that design again its flawed
You only need one shift button really, and a few more global buttons would be needed too
I will redesign it in a bit
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Old 11-21-2011, 09:23 AM   #73
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This would be closer to what I would need on each channel strip.

I suck at drawing. How do you make that sketch?
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Old 11-22-2011, 01:29 AM   #74
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I think we might need to make the fader channel a modular design itself then
I wouldn't need or want 4 encoders and 4 LCDs per channel
Should just be a case of adding extra solder points for the extra stuff though
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Old 11-22-2011, 02:51 AM   #75
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Obviously just another voice from the peanut gallery, but in designing the 8 Fader module, I think you want:

1) At least 2 rotary encoders for stereo pan,and other duties.

2) OLED tops to indicate which mode the encoders are currently in.

3) Dedicated OLED display for each rotary for value readout, current function assignment, etc.

4) Don't need 2 send buttons -- do push top rotaries like the MCU and cycle through sends.

5) What does the insert button do?

4) What does the shift button do?

5) Overall, I still like OLED's a lot more than LCD displays, don't know how costly they are to implement though.

6) I never use Flip, whenever I think of Flip, I really mean, assign this value to the fader for a sec for some fine adjustmnet, then go back to normal.

7) Phase switch, IMHO is unecessary and just adds clutter -- most mic pres have a phase (polarity) switch, and if you are doing something fancy like MS, just use the mouse to flip the polarity of the channel of interset.

8) Wondering if automation should be controlled from a central location and act on the selected channels, as oppposed to having dedicated controls for each chanmnel.

9) This brings up an interesting ergonomic point - control surface busyness (lots of widgets) which provides extremely quick operation and visualization of state versus more modal control -- lower cost, less busy, but tends to deteriorate into the one parameter at a time mouse model.

10) I think there are some lessons to be learned from the big boys like the Smart AV stuff, like combining multi-touch screens with hardware faders, etc.

Great discussion, keep it coming.
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Old 11-22-2011, 03:40 AM   #76
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Got to say a software solution and touch screen technology appears a lot more do-able from the sidelines.

Plus with a touch screen end users aren't locked solely into one solution/use for the interface as they would with a hardware unit, even with generic programability.

Heck if the price was affordable, I'd be interested.
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Old 11-22-2011, 03:44 AM   #77
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1) Not sure two encoders are needed to be perfectly truthful, encoders are dirt cheap (I luckily have a box of 90 brand new awaiting this project hehe) but unless you really need to move width while moving pan (I actually cant answer this as i am still working out how to bring width into my mixes)

2) Not sure about the cost on OLED, wouldn't a tricolor LED work just as well ?

3 Dedicated OLED for each encoder, well other than the fact they are way more expensive than LCD, we have to consider the workhorse factor here, LCD last way way longer

4) My idea with the send buttons was that when you press one, the motor fader itself would slide into the send position, another reason why my design only needed one encoder, let go of the send button and the fader goes back to vol position

5) Insert button would select down through the channels inserts (FX) this in combination with a universal encoder and the EQ encoder pad i mentioned earlier in teh thread would give you all the control you would need over a channels inserts/fx/instruments

4 again ? hehe ) Shift would shift the pan encoder to width, also would shift the send buttons to send 3 and 4, like i say though it needs redesigning because a shift button per channel is overkill

5) OLEDs are way more costly, more restrictive in availability and dont last as long

6) No comment on that, I have never used it and have no idea what it is unless i call it something else ?

7) Phase is not something i would use often enough to include in hardware

8) I agree i would put automation controls globally rather than per channel, maybe even on the master section pad

9) For me as long as i have fader per channel and a few buttons (Pan is a nice added bonus) i am happy for mixing, I am very much not a "Remove the mouse entirely" person, i think doing so negates ease of use more than anything else

10) While multi touch screens are useful the big problem they bring in DIY is the fact that you have to write drivers, the other option is to include an intergrated computer, either being a MINI ITX or some kind of cheap Android pad and use Reaper WWW plugin

I know that may have come across as dissing your ideas but it wasn't, i was just explaining your points in realtion to my v1 design there (Which is wrong hehe)
The points you bring up do show that a lot more thought is going to have to go into this to make everybody happy with their compromise, we are never going to get a one size fits all controller (Mackie couldn't do it, Behringer couldn't, Euphonix couldn't, what chance do we have hahaha)

I'll take on any ideas we decide on as i do these mock ups
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Old 11-22-2011, 05:17 AM   #78
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These are just mock ups to generate more discussion on possible layouts
Top is 8 fader board
Middle is the EQ board
Bottom is the Master board
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Old 11-22-2011, 05:22 AM   #79
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gpunk_w
I know that may have come across as dissing your ideas but it wasn't
Didn't come across that way to me, just sounded like good interchange of ideas.

Quote:
Not sure two encoders are needed to be perfectly truthful, encoders are dirt cheap (I luckily have a box of 90 brand new awaiting this project hehe) but unless you really need to move width while moving pan (I actually cant answer this as i am still working out how to bring width into my mixes)
Not so much about moving them at once, but rather seeing the values (state) at a glance -- to me one of the great positives re: large format consoles is the workflow, and that is in large part due to ergonomic considerations, knob coloring, layout, silk screening to bound areas, etc.

Quote:
4) My idea with the send buttons was that when you press one, the motor fader itself would slide into the send position, another reason why my design only needed one encoder, let go of the send button and the fader goes back to vol position
I'll be honest -- I'm not a fan of this, it requires two fingers and seems awkward, I think the switch should latch and indicate its latched state.

Quote:
2) Not sure about the cost on OLED, wouldn't a tricolor LED work just as well ?
Not talkin' AN OLED, but rather small OLED screens, they are available at sub $10 for 1.5" x 1.5" these days, and as I understand it the longevity is much improved.

Quote:
10) While multi touch screens are useful the big problem they bring in DIY is the fact that you have to write drivers, the other option is to include an intergrated computer, either being a MINI ITX or some kind of cheap Android pad and use Reaper WWW plugin
Yes, I'm suggesting we sidestep that completetly, the Multi Touch is not part of the DIY per se, but is just another monitor, dedicated to this purpose only by its physical placement in the environment -- it's easy to drive multiple displays these days, just add more cheap video cards -- not so good for laptop users though.
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Old 11-22-2011, 05:30 AM   #80
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Quote:
Middle is the EQ board
Trouble with this is, it assumes a layout, it may work well with some EQ's, but with something like a UAD Masssive Passive, you're SOL.

Quote:
Bottom is the Master board
REW and FF are not so useful with HD recording, I'd like to add the option that those buttons traverse marker points -- indeed that's exactly how I coded the DLL I did for the MCU for Reaper.
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