Hi there
 
Having bought an MCU Pro today and experimenting for many hours, I was wondering if someone could tell me how on earth you get it to see/interact with vst instruments in Sonar X1?
 
Thanks very much!
Steven

Steve, I got nothin for you so sorry - but did you know there are now 3 feline synth avatars. Wow.

And Fast Biker Boy has an MCU control maybe he can help?

I think, you have to out it into plugin, mode. However it will only control some plugins. As Larry said FBB is your man. I have a MCU emulation called AC7 core on my iPAD. If I put it into plugin mode it will allow me to control the pro channel EQ, but not compressor, via the rotary knobs. HTH ...a little?

Ps..... If you open the control surface options menu, then hit f1 it will bring up the Mackie control help in the manual. It's not available any other way I have found..... Is rather hidden!!!!! It's how I learned to use the AC7 and also BCF 2000. HTH

now i know this isnt what u want to hear but, the mcu by itself isnt that useful as a plugin controller.
i use mine in conjunction with the C4 which is designed for controlling vst and vsti.
 with the mcu you can control four bands of eq, pan, input, output, send levels, pre, post, phase, etc.
it has great transport controls and lots of useful buttons with the sonar overlay.
if u want to control your plugins and soft synths, the C4 is THE BEST because the display shows the current parameters and values.  it automatically maps all vsts.

i love it.  if the prochannel could be controlled with it, i would achieve ZEN.

hope this helps, even if its not great news.
also, i hope someone smarter chimes in and proves me wrong!

Ok well thanks for all your replies. Looks liken the C4 is the way to go! It will definitely control vst instruments? With X1 under Win7 x64?

STinGA, I love the idea of using MCU emultion on an iPad! I have an iPhone so will be paying a visit to the app store later today!

Humblenoise, will be checking out those new avatars. Watch this space!

As pointed out you can use the MCU for plugins but the C4 is better.

To get into plugin mode press the 'plugin' button. Once puts you in multichannel mode. In that mode you are seeing the V-Pots control one parameter from 8 different tracks. Of course if there are no plugins on a channel you won't see anything.

Having said that the Prochannel EQ is always plugin number 1 so you'll see that on all audio channels at least, whether it's switched on or not.

Press the plugin button a second time and you are in 'single channel mode'. The P# displayed in the mode window on the MCU will show a period to reflect that you are in single channel mode. (That's true for all modes EQ, Dynamics, etc. etc.)

Once in that mode each of the V-Pots controls a different parameter of a plugin on one track only. A more useful mode IMHO.

To switch through the plugins make sure the 'Edit' light is lit and then press M1 & the channel change button. That will step you through the plugins on that track P1(=EQ). P2 P3 etc..... although of course unless you have a plugin on the track you won't see anything.

The parameters are displayed in the order that they are exposed to ACT (even though it's technically not using ACT) and if you want to change that order you can change the mackiecontrol.ini file see my post here for more details

There are several MCU users here so there's always plenty of help available, just ask.

EDITED: mistake on description of how to step through plugins. M1 key is needed not just channel button.

Thanks very much FastBikerBoy. I spent two whole days learning everything the MCU can do and am loving it. Already planning to order an XT, and maybe a C4 if  my savings allow it! I saw your other post to which you referred before seeing this one. That was spectacular! You worked really hard on that one. It will be great when/if Cake expose the compressor and tube saturation parameters. (X1b please!)

Based on your post, I had one small bit of inspiration which I'll try to resolve tonight. I've noticed the MCU's default volume setting is 100, whereas Sonar's default is 101. Small and trivial I know, but would make more sense if the two would match. It must me stored in the ini file somewhere...

I have a feeling the C4 is discontinued.... can't find it anywhere...

I would not recommend a C4 for controlling VST/VSTis. I would look for a good MIDI keyboard with a lot of buttons and pots and sliders for ACT. CW has a few and so does M-Audio. I have a MC and an M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

Here is a link for the CW A-800