Mackie C4 Plugin Control

I've got a Mackie C4 that works great as a track/bus control strip, But I'm not having any luck at all using it as a plugin controller. Anyone have suggestions?

I've not had much success getting ACT to work with the unit at all. As I said, it works fine as a channel strip. I've looked at the MackieControl.ini, and it looks like it makes complete sense. No matter what I've done to edit it, though, the C4 always looks like a 4 band parametric EQ, and it doesn't seem to control anything.

I've tried various splits, with the same results. I know I'm jumping to conclusions, but it would seem like the ACT learn function would work. When I click on the cell and get the ACT learn prompt, the cell seems to learn the control motion, but sometimes works backwards or inconsistently, and certainly operates with wierd scaling.

I'd appreciate any help I can get on this. It seems like the C4 would be an ideal controller for the plugin with the focus. I just can't get it to run that way like one of the 'standard template' controllers. (BTW, I did hook up an old Fadermaster, and it works fine.)

Any plans to develop an ACT template for the C4? Anyone have knowledge of where I can get the info to write one? So far, tech support hasn't been able to offer any help outside what is in the helpfile and a couple of documents they emailed me (MackieC4.pdf and CW-ACT Setup.pdf) - neither of which seem to work in Producer 7. Even if I delete the MackieControl.ini file, it's like the definition never gets loaded/reloaded.

Anyone else having any success/difficulty in getting their C4 to control plugins? Thanks in advance.

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Upon additional investigation, it doesn't look like the C4 is able to control virtual instruments under Sonar. Please tell me I'm wrong!! That seems like a major hole!

That's exactly the kind of performance I'd expect. It's the way it works as a track controller, and it does a great job in that mode.

I've been looking into this for weeks now as well, and I keep coming up with the same responses. Cakewalk eludes that the C4 will do it, but can't give an example. Mackie says it will work as a virtual instrument controller, and that it works w/Sonar, but their tech support tells me they haven't tested the combination. I've spoken with tech support at both companies and haven't gotten an adequate response yet. Mackie says the implementation is up to Cakewalk (which makes sense to me.) Cakewalk hasn't given me anything yet that lets me believe it will actually work, aspecially with ACT.

What I've picked up in other forums basically eludes to the idea that the current implementation won't control virtual instruments in Sonar. I've yet to find any response from anyone that comes right out and says that it does, and THIS is how to make it work.

I've got an MCU, 4XTs and a C4 that I've been using since around S4 and they work flawlessly as track/bus controllers (although I must say, I've never found a way to set them up like a large format controller, where the MCU is assigned to the busses, while the XTs are SIMULTANEOUSLY assigned to tracks. That seems to be a logical split, to me, but that's another one I've not gotten an answer to yet.)

I'd use Sonar like I was a big studio, if I could control it like I would in a big studio. So far, it's close, but no cigar. I'm running CWSP 7, and haven't rolled back (and don't plan to) to see if it works with earlier versions. Like you, I've seen the question asked many times, but never answered.

Hope springs eternal, eh? If there is anyone out there on the forum that has actually gotten this to work, we'd love to hear from you. I don't mind looking like an idiot. It's a small price to pay for resolving this !

j_damusician,

My experience with Sonar 5 and the C4 was that the C4 in most cases would control plugins which are automatable. For details, you might want to take a look at the C4/Sonar document which I wrote about a year ago. The document is in the Files section at http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/cakewalkproaudio/ : "Mackie Control C4 and Sonar 5 - updated.pdf". Hopefully, this is relevant to the problem you are experiencing.

Also in the Files section you will find a program (SonarMCU.zip) which I wrote to edit the Mackie.ini file. Because some plugins have so many parameters (100's) it becomes difficult to manually edit Mackie.ini correctly. But some plugins are, for all practical purposes, unusable with the Mackie because the default is for the Mackie to map all of the parameters and to map them in the sequence defined by the plugin. SonarMCU lets you graphically drag-and-drop plugin parameter names to Mackie channels. So you define which parameters are mapped and in what sequence. Even if you are not interested in the program, the help file contains some useful info.

I'm still at Sonar 5, which is, of course, pre-ACT, so I have no experience with ACT. (I was searching the forums only because I'm considering upgrading to Sonar 7.)

One other thought: It's been awhile, but as I recall, the Mackie interface relies upon Sonar software as a go-between with the plugins. So if this go-between function has changed between Sonar 5 and Sonar 7, perhaps the Mackie interface is not receiving the list of automatable parameters. Bug?

Ed
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In re-reading the SonarMCU help file, I came across one point which may be particularly relevant: "Automatable audio effects are always placed into an FX bin and are, therefore, always accessible to the MCU/XT/C4. Synths, however, can be placed on a dedicated track, rather than in an FX bin. An automatable synth, however, is only accessible to the MCU/XT/C4 if the synth is placed in an FX bin. When the MCU/XT/C4 selects a track dedicated to a synth (i.e., the synth is not in the FX bin), the MCU/XT/C4 does not see the synth."

Thanks Ed. I'll check all this out. Afterwards, if I have anything I can add, I'll post it.

Just some info from my experience with the C4. I use Sonar 7PE and have yet to be able to control anything VST. The C4 is NOT ACT compatible. Now you'd think it would be seeing as it's selectable in the controller surfaces menu, but it isn't, you're not even given the option to enable ACT. Now the C4 does control Sonar extremely well, and I love it for that! But VSTs are a bust. It says right in the manual the compatibility of the C4 is totally dependent on the DAW implementation. So it can manipulate VSTs, just not in Sonar with it's current implementation.

For me though this is not a big deal. I have a keyboard controller I use for soft synths, and I primarily got the C4 just to control Sonar, which like I said, it does extremely well.

A bit later than the last post, but just my two cents, hope it helps!

L8r

I have the C4 and also have problems with it.  I will try the outlined help file again.  Does it autofill all control options, if so I am doing something wrong.  Only use it with plugins, just seems as though it does not auto define parameters.  Does anyone know if UAD plugs will autofill, that may be the problem, as these are the ones I use most.  Thanks in advance for any help.
G