So in short, they don't work together and no one makes a worth wild control surface that would work with X1. That really sucks.

That is not true. The Mackie Control is the CS to beat. Right now more CSs have an MC mode to emulate it then any other type. It works extremely well with X1 and darn near all other DAWs and non DAWs as well. HUI is no longer even made. See this.

The SSL Nucleus uses HUI or MCU, so it's good to go in SONAR. As it is based off of their Matrix board/ surface I would assume that also uses HUI or MCU.

Plus, if there are rotaries or other controls you want to use with ACT in SONAR, you can do that with any control surface, keyboard, etc. form any manufacturer, as long as it sends MIDI CC data.

HTH

EDIT: To the best of my knowledge, the only reason why certain devices supprt HUI mode is so that they work with Pro Tools. Pro Tools does not support MCU, only HUI (unless this has changed in PT9). So manufacturers who want to support everyone will build in HUI support for PT and MCU for everyone else.

Seth Perlstein [Cakewalk
]

Pro Tools does not support MCU, only HUI (unless this has changed in PT9). So manufacturers who want to support everyone will build in HUI support for PT and MCU for everyone else.

This is indeed still the case even with PT9 from what I've read - HUI support only.

Check out the Alesis Mastercontrol, it works very well with sonar, you'd be very surprised..

Primetime


Check out the Alesis Mastercontrol, it works very well with sonar, you'd be very surprised..

It sure does.

I'd like to see an update from Alesis though so I could somehow control the Prochannel.

I'm using it as just a control surface and using my Delta 66 card as my audio interface because I get better latency from the Delta than firewire.  I just disabled the Mastercontrol as an audio device in Sonar and my other DAW software.

Another thing I figured out, is if I take the 1/2 outputs (my control room monitors), from the Delta, feed them into channels 1/2 on the Alesis and then under DIRECT MONITOR mode, pan and adjust the channel, when I switch back to control surface mode the settings stay put so I can use the Mastercontrol as my control room, monitor switcher as well!

I tried doing this running a cable (rated for digital) from the spidf out on the Delta to the spidf in on the Mastercontrol but I get only 2 tracks of mono with no apparent way to pan them?

Any idea?
 

Wish I could help out wormser, I'm using my Mastercontrol straight up as an audio device and surface...I spoke to alesis a few weeks ago, and from what I understand they are working on improvements fot the mastercontrol, didn't get any specifics though, lets see what happens...

In case anyone else was curious I found the answer to my X1 and SSL AWS 900 compatibility questioned. Yes they do play nice together. It sounds like there is some loss of functionality but it's minimal and no fault of Cakewalk although I'm curious as to how ACT with "fix" any loss of function. The AWS will basically appear as though it is a Makie Control surface with 2 expanders. Nothing less, nothing more. The info can be found in the manual for the console. I just had to open my eyes. 

Not to change the subject but are there any plans with Roland to develop a control surface that would be to Sonar what the C24 and Icon are to Pro Tools? Something that tells us that Roland is more serious about Cakewalk than the pint sized V Studio 700. It's cool I guess, and well targeted at serious hobbyists with some extra cash, but I'd like to see a product that could shake up Digidesign's and Avid's world. We've got to get away from that monster and it's never going to happen unless someone makes the commitment to compete head to head with them. DAW software is well covered, interfaces are well cover... there seems to be a huge hole with in-depth control surfaces.

Maybe there is a way to do this and I just haven't figured it out yet but I'd love to be able to do all of my audio editing without a mouse. I do a lot of manual gating because I don't like using plugins for that so I spend tons of time slicing, clip fades, crossfadding and making minor time alignment adjustments. In my mind it wouldn't take much. A simple X/Y pad for cursor placement in case it's absolutely needed, a jog wheel with the main function to control the now time and several buttons that would toggle the jog wheel function like front of clip fade, end of clip fade, fade curve button, move the selected clip (movement determined by the snap function of course), move clip start, move clip end, previous clip and next clip buttons. I have a Korg PadKontrol and attempted to make this happen with Sonar 5 but I wasn't able to get it to work. I'll try again when I'm done building my new PC for X1.

I say the VS-700 is the best controller for Sonar!!
I have even seen used ones on ebay for around $1800.
Go get one.
Sure the Nucleus looks cool but it is like $5000.
You could get two VS-700 for that and have one at home and at work. LOL

I'm not sure what Roland's plans are for future hardware development, but I wouldn't be opposed to them adding more control surfaces to the lineup.

As for using an X/Y pad as a mouse ... IIRC I've seen some standalone laptop touch pads for sale at Fry's before. You could easily hook on of those up if you want.

Personally, though, I never use the touch pads on my laptops and always prefer the pointing stick. I can't imagine using a touch pad over an actual mouse on my desktop, but that's just me.

As for a jog wheel I think that's what the Countour Shuttle Pro more or less is, a jog wheel with a few assignable buttons. I've never used one but I've talked to more than a few users who absolutely love theirs.

The PadKontrol already has all I would need technically I just couldn't seem to get functions assigned how I wish they would. I was assuming that it has more to do with a device and software being predesigned to do what I was wanting to do with it. Especially the trick with moving the clip start and end, fades, toggle through the fade types. The X/Y pad was for a "if I must" situation and to keep my hands focused in the same area vs jumping back and forth between a mouse and the editing controls. I'm sure I could train either my thumb or pinky finger to be very efficient for that purpose.

Perhaps after I get into X1 I will post a help me thread if I am still stuggling with this in case it is possible. This function alone would easlity save me 4 hours of tedious editing per song with the current project I'm working on. Talk about a red-eyed session.

I agree Lane,
The Nucleus is a nice looking piece of gear. Especially if it were sitting next to the VS. i wouldn't say the VS is the ugliest thing I've seen but it would certainly benifit from a cosmetic makeover.

I hope that if Roland does put out another control surface that they leave it at that and don't try to bundle preamps or anything like that in there. They aren't known for quality preamps. Probably never will be unless they kidnap Rupert Neve and force him to design for them.