Hi all,

Can the "Master" fader on a Mackie Control Universal be re-assigned to a bus of my choosing?

The Master fader on my Mackie Control appears to be hard-wired to Sonar's Main Outs 1&2, which has the effect of adjusting the volume of one set of monitor speakers (while leaving other attached monitors and headphones unaffected). This is unusual. Furthermore, Main Outs do not support automation, undermining a primary function of the Master fader: recording master volume fades.

I would like to re-assign the Mackie Control's Master fader to my "Master" bus, where the appropriate volume settings are stored and automated.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hey Dave,

Click on the button on right hand side of the Control Surfaces toolbar (you may have to make it visible by choosing View->Toolbars-> Control Surfaces). It will bring up a configuration window for the Mackie Control. At the bottom of this configuration window, you'll be able to assign the master fader to any bus or output you want.

Nick

NickB,

How's the Mackie Control working for you on Sonar 4? I tried the MC from a friend when I was in version 3.0 and it didn't work properly. Never got the automation to record and sometimes it just didn't want to lock up and work - the shuttle function and the record/playback was really cool to have.

I'm thinking of getting one!

Let me know -


Jorge Silvestrini

Bam! Right on the money, Nick.

Thank you!

How's the Mackie Control working for you on Sonar 4? I tried the MC from a friend when I was in version 3.0 and it didn't work properly. Never got the automation to record and sometimes it just didn't want to lock up and work - the shuttle function and the record/playback was really cool to have.

I'm thinking of getting one!

Hi Jorge,

The Mackie Control is working well for me in Sonar 4. The biggest beef I have with using a control surface with Sonar is that the control surface displays all tracks - even the hidden ones. This really clutters things up and can make it cumbersome to work with. Note that this isn't just a problem with the Mackie Control, but with all control surfaces - due to Sonar not letting the control surface software know what is hidden and what isn't. Hopefully, that will change with the next update.

Nick

I use a Mackie Control and 2 extenders for 24 tracks on the desk.

Perfect automation... no issues at all.

I also use a <Presonus Central Station> as the interface between the DAC and three sets of monitors for easy switching between A, B, & C speakers. Also provides a handy foot-switch controlled talkback feature with a built-in condenser mic.

Since I control my speaker volume in the analog world with Central Station, that leaves the Master Fader on the Mackie Control Surface for something more useful... like the audio metronome in S4! I simply have the Mackie Control master bus assigned to bus 1 and that bus is identified in the S4 audio metronome properties tab as the output for the analog metronome signal. Works beautifully. I simply leave the click enabled on record and playback all the time for gapless click track control. When I want to hear it, change it's volume, or nix it altogether, it's always right there next to my right hand on the transport.

I just love it when stuff works!

SteveD, thats BRILLIANT :)

As I too have a MCU and a Central Station, and the click can be oh so annoying at times!

I just ordered a Mackie Control Universal and I'm still waiting for it to arrive but I have a question. Can I assign the channel faders to any of the busses if I want to automate effects and volume changes.
Thanks,
Jason

Configure Mackie Control as surface in Sonar (set "None" as Input/Output till you have the device), open it's UI (from Utilities menu) and press "F1" (on computer keyboard). Otherwise find MackieControl.chm help file on you dist. I recommend to read throw to understand how all that works.
 
Sort answer on your question: yes.