• SONAR
  • Anyone using the Avid Artist Control with Sonar X2? (p.2)
2013/07/24 15:52:11
Ryan Munnis [Cakewalk]
Okay, here's what I got.
 
Euphonix MC Control sitting on my lap right now (basically the precursor to the Avid versions as I understand it). The 3.0 driver details listed it would be backwards compatible with all DAWs that support Eucon control (indicating SONAR) so my expectations are that it would work as it did previously. The details basically indicated that the update was for Pro Tools 11 as well as improved performance across the board. Anyhow, I've installed 3.0 drivers on Windows 8 x64 along with the Eucontrol plug-in we posted here: http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/kb/reader.aspx/2007013271
 
Things are working pretty well in SONAR X2a Producer so far. I forgot how cool this thing is. A few things you'll need to note about it though:
 
1) The jog wheel does work, but there is a shift modifier key on the surface that is necessary for it to function. The same wheel can be used to Shuttle, Jog or Zoom Vertically or Horizontally depending on what you have active. Once you make a selection, it appears to become "alive". It's working beautifully for me now after I'll admit, a moment of head scratching. So nothing wrong here, but pay attention to what you're doing or you might think it's broken.
 
2) There is an option in the EuControl Settings on the "General" tab for "auto-bank to selected track". It's enabled by default. Get comfortable with how it works otherwise it might confuse you a bit (it feels like things might jump from under you). Overall I like the setting, but if you're not expecting it to bank for you it can throw you for a loop when you select things on the touch screen.
 
3) Bus selection is not possible from the surface. This isn't new. When we worked with Avid to update EuControl support bus selection was not possible in SONAR. We didn't implement that until after the fact, so this isn't working. It's probably more so a limitation of the control surface plug-in versus the hardware or the drivers. Getting this updated would require communication between both Avid and Cakewalk to work towards another updated surface. I'll have to follow up with our product managers, who would need to follow up with theirs, etc. (those things can take time obviously).
 
4) Snap to grid toggle doesn't appear to work anymore, most likely from the major overhaul to Snap in X2. I haven't tested every single command but this one popped out to me. I just use N on my computer keyboard personally. Can't imagine I'd be editing with this surface on my end. Regardless, that appears broken.
 
5) Surround Panner from the surface doesn't appear to be working. I'm not sure if this is user error on my part yet, but it seems like it should be intuitive. Right now I'm not seeing any indication of it communicating though.
 
Other than that, the thing behaves nicely from what I can see with SONAR X2a Producer. All of the soft keys control what you would expect (switching tools, opening views, navigation, markers, edit functions, looping and setting loop points, switching screensets, etc.). Some of these controls are pretty unique to this thing so they're nice to have at your fingertips.
 
I'll keep playing with it this week, but wanted to let you know what I found. I'll document my findings internally as well.
 
 
2013/07/24 16:10:39
Ryan Munnis [Cakewalk]
WDI
Ryan Munnis [Cakewalk]
If you can hold this thought until tomorrow I can let you know what my luck is. We have a Euphonix MC Control in the office. A user contacted us this week saying he's having trouble getting the jog wheel to work, but my sus-picion (blocked by my own forum filters doh!!!) is that it's related to the latest driver update versus SONAR X2 since this issue just popped up (they're version 3.0 drivers are only a few weeks old). Anyhow, I'll give it a test tomorrow when I have access and let you know what I find.   Edit: to deal with forum filter blocking out my English


If you guys are working on control surface support any chance you guys might get issues I reported at the release of Sonar 7 and confirmed with cakewalk concerning CM Labs motormix fixed? One of the reasons I've been reluctant to upgrade.

Oh man, I dug up the CWBRN and noted that you were working with Willy Jones quite some time ago. To be honest I'm not sure at the moment. Some of these third-party control surface plug-ins require cooperation from the third parties themselves, using our control surface SDK. Most likely what would need to happen is we publish an updated control surface SDK for modern SONAR and go from there. I'm not sure what type of participation we'd get from CM Labs, but I clearly can't speak for others.
 
Anyhow, a bit outside of my territory to say yes or no. I'll bump the report since it's in line with other similar requests.
2013/07/24 16:37:52
rodreb
While on the subject of control surfaces..... I'm still using my trusty old Tascam US 2400. Basically it is working fine (Win 7, i5 processor, 8 gigs RAM, SonarX2a) but, it frequently loses contact with USB and I have to re-start X2 to get it working again. Any ideas on this? Is it an X2 thing, or ???? (It was always rock solid with Sonar 8.3.2).
2013/07/24 16:39:01
GuyPicks
Hey Ryan,
This is great news. I can work around some of this.
I'm a little concerned about the surround though.
Let us know what else you find.
 
Thanks
2013/07/25 12:28:05
CJaysMusic
I use the MC/Artist control with no issues in Sonar X2. Even the jog wheel works
2013/07/25 20:03:05
GuyPicks
Well got my Artist Control and loaded the drivers but Sonar X2 only sees the Eucon, so I load that in the controllers and It won't work.
Can't figure out why.
Are the drivers loaded in a certain order?
2013/07/25 20:33:48
backwoods
I bought a used Euphonix MC and the bastards at AVID won't let me download the drivers for it. 
2013/07/26 10:21:32
Ryan Munnis [Cakewalk]
GuyPicks
Well got my Artist Control and loaded the drivers but Sonar X2 only sees the Eucon, so I load that in the controllers and It won't work.
Can't figure out why.
Are the drivers loaded in a certain order?

Silly question, but did you completely reboot your computer? Do you have a EuControl Settings icon on the task bar? If you click it, I'm wondering if it indicates it's connecting with the hardware.
 
Every time I set this up on a new PC I typically have to reboot to get connectivity working before approaching SONAR. I'm wondering if the driver is communicating yet. Just to make certain, you did install the Eucon CSP from here correct? http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/kb/reader.aspx/2007013271
2013/07/27 09:53:56
GuyPicks
Ryan Munnis [Cakewalk]
GuyPicks
Well got my Artist Control and loaded the drivers but Sonar X2 only sees the Eucon, so I load that in the controllers and It won't work.
Can't figure out why.
Are the drivers loaded in a certain order?

Silly question, but did you completely reboot your computer? Do you have a EuControl Settings icon on the task bar? If you click it, I'm wondering if it indicates it's connecting with the hardware. Every time I set this up on a new PC I typically have to reboot to get connectivity working before approaching SONAR. I'm wondering if the driver is communicating yet. Just to make certain, you did install the Eucon CSP from here correct? http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/kb/reader.aspx/2007013271


Thanks Ryan,
I'll check this Monday when I get in.
I'll post.
2013/07/28 11:37:45
GuyPicks
Hey Ryan,
What version of avid eucon are you using, version 3?
I got ver. 2.62 working but not 3.
 
My system is win 7 64bit and i used that but no go in ver. 3
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