Hi all,
 
I have been in contact with SSL over the past few weeks regarding the Nucleus controllers support of Sonar X1.  Here is the response I got from Andy Jackson after he tested the two products together:
 
"I finally got around to having a look at Sonar X1 and Nucleus. It seems that currently Sonar haven’t implemented the MCU in accordance to how we would expect in X1. This is interesting  because I have also read of issues with other midi controllers in X1. I would like to send an email to Sonar to see what their position on MCU implementation is in X1.
We have known our controller implementation to work absolutely fine in previous versions of Sonar– we have a dedicated profile for the Duality and AWS consoles with Sonar. From previous experience, considering that Steinberg had some major problems with controllers when they moved from Nuendo 3 to 4, it is not unlikely that the relatively new X1 could have suffered in a similar manner, although it is not for me to say."
 
..and a day or so later...
 
"One of my colleagues has also spoken to Cakewalk/Sonar regarding control surface integration and apparently you have to download their SDK - see here : http://www.cakewalk.com/devXchange/article.aspx?aid=111
It seems that currently Roland's control surfaces are well supported (Cakewalk being owned by Roland), but 3rd party control surfaces it seems are not supported in quite the same way. From what my colleague understands you have to use a “Generic Control Surface” protocol within Sonar.  Then you have to program it yourself...
Hopefully, at some point in the not too distant future there may be more 3rd party support for us and other 3rd party product companies... :)
Kind Regards,
Andy
Andy Jackson
WPP Product Specialist
Solid State Logic"
 
So basically they will not play nicely with each other straight OOTB.  Someone could write an interface program with the Cakewalk SDK but personally I wouldn't want to spend 5K+ USD on buying the Nucleus just to enter a world of pain developing an interface that I may or may not get working.
I would be interested if someone else (esp. Cakewalk) feels differently.
Cheers,
Thomas

I can't wait to use a SSL controller with PC4k?

When is that interface program coming out?


best,
mike

My impression is that nobody is working on developing an interface currently.

You could always download the SDK and have a crack yourself though ;-)

I would be really interested to hear the Calkwalk side of the story here.

It's understandable Cakewalk wants to promote & sell their control surfaces but I'm starting to feel like Cakewalk is holding Sonar users hostage in regards to control surface compatibility (or at least my audio interests are feeling held hostage). Maybe Roland & Avid are more similar in business practice than I once thought. At least Avid with PT9 seems to of taken a small step in the right direction going native with PT9 though Cakewalk seems to be holding it's cards close (with regards to control surfaces). Not developing/massaging existing protocols that will work with other manufacturers, such as SSL, limits Sonar users options which leads to growing frustration with Cakewalk. I don't see why Cakewalk wouldn't want their software to integrate easily with other control surface manufacturers......if you never show up to the parties then people will forget to invite you to future parties.

Hi Thomas,

I'm not sure that SSL fully read the article you linked or the SDK documentation.  If they want a dedicated surface for SONAR then yes they would have to write a control surface plugin.  The SDK even includes example code using the CM Labs MotorMix.  Many third-parties do this that want surface support in SONAR for their device or if they want additional functionality.

Out of the box, SONAR ships with a Mackie Control Surface plugin, The Generic Control Surface and a handful others.  If the Nucleus supports Mackie Control it could be used with the Mackie Control surface plugin.  If it does not they can use the Generic Surface, this is what you can use with any MIDI device that you'd like to use to control strip parameters in SONAR.

It's impossible for us to provide full support a la the VS-700/VS-100 for every companies hardware - aside from just not being familiar with their hardware we can't control their release cycle, firmware updates or necessarily write code to interface with their unique hardware.  To that end, our free SDK enables them to have surface control in SONAR.

I hope that clarifies and again if they can't make a dedicated plugin for SONAR - Mackie Control, Ole' Fashioned MIDI Learn, ACT and the Generic Surface are all options.  We have a tech tip (written for the A&H ZED) that covers 3 of these types of setups you can check out here: http://www.cakewalk.com/support/kb/reader.aspx/2007013071

Hi,
 
I have an SSL Matrix that I have been using with Sonar X2 using the MCU profile.
 
I contacted SSL and they were very helpful and in fact have put together a basic Sonar template for the Matrix (that should I also work for the Nucleus I guess?). Thanks to Andy at SSL!
It's not perfect (i'm still struggling to get control for plug ins onto the Matrix controls)- but it is a lot better than nothing
 

tomlillie
Hi,
 
I have an SSL Matrix that I have been using with Sonar X2 using the MCU profile.
 
I contacted SSL and they were very helpful and in fact have put together a basic Sonar template for the Matrix (that should I also work for the Nucleus I guess?). Thanks to Andy at SSL!
It's not perfect (i'm still struggling to get control for plug ins onto the Matrix controls)- but it is a lot better than nothing
 

 
This is great news!!!!!!! Is the template posted online?

We are now up to X3 with X4 on the way, Roland no longer owns Cakewalk, and the V-Studio is not in production.
 
Given all that, where are we on SSL/Nucleus integration?  Of course, if Tascam wants to make a control surface and I/O for Sonar, I'm good with that.  I always liked Tascam and cut a bunch of stuff on my 388.
 
http://rockandrollreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/tascam388.jpg

konradh
We are now up to X3 with X4 on the way, Roland no longer owns Cakewalk, and the V-Studio is not in production.
 
Given all that, where are we on SSL/Nucleus integration?  Of course, if Tascam wants to make a control surface and I/O for Sonar, I'm good with that.  I alwasy liked Tascam and cut a bunch of stuff on my 388.
 
http://rockandrollreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/tascam388.jpg

 
SSL or any Dev could make a their own plug-in that will work with their hardware and SONAR. Everything Willy said above still applies. 

Our Control Surface SDK is open source and freely available: https://github.com/Cakewa...lk-Control-Surface-SDK

Thanks, Seth.  I am extremely happy with my VS-700, but someday I will need to replace it if future versions of Sonar don't integrate, or if it breaks.
 
I guess I thought using the Nucleus required some extensive programming by the user which I don't want to get into.
 
Appreciate the info.