Is anyone ble to map all ther parameters of the Pro Channel to a control surface?
 
What CS?
How smooth and reliable is it?
 
Roland should make a little CS that is dedicated to the PC.  A little table-top replica of the UI that works via usb.  While I'm dreaming I'd also like a pony.

I had the same thought last week. A small Alphatrack like product that has all the knobs and buttons mapped to the ProChannel. Then I thought about the Alphatrack which has only 3 EQ knobs and 1 slider. That product goes for around $200. So basically 4 times that product in terms of knobs and maybe another row of assignable buttons. You could maybe remap the buttons and knobs on the fly for the track and midi views. At least 2 sliders for side by side view of the upstream and downstream track views. What would such a device cost?

My product marketing crystal ball would say List of $900-1000. Street price about $750 -$800. The question is, would I want to pay that much for it?Or even $500 to $700? At that price I can think of a lot of other things my home studio needs that are more critical to better sound. Maybe a really nice mic, preamp, compressor, high end converters, maybe Lynx. So I think whoever makes it, will be competing at a dollar price point that might relegate the product to lower than expected sales. On the other hand if they can bring in a basic controller in the $400 price range, it would be a must for the average Sonar user. Just thinking out loud here.

BlixYZ


Is anyone ble to map all ther parameters of the Pro Channel to a control surface?
 
What CS?
How smooth and reliable is it?
 
Roland should make a little CS that is dedicated to the PC.  A little table-top replica of the UI that works via usb.  While I'm dreaming I'd also like a pony.

I have a BCR2000 and I can map the bottom two rows of rotaries to all the PC knobs. I have to click on an section in the PC to bring into focus as well as click any of the the buttons (I didn’t map any buttons yet). Even though the mapping layout is a bit awkward, I find this solution works OK for my workflow (much nicer using a rotary verses a mouse). It has been pretty solid switching from channel to channel and area to area in the PC. I can map the limiters, EQ, and tube sat areas and all the knobs (and slope rotary switches) map and are available.
 
By the way, with AJs plugin, I can also switch control to the other plugins on any channel I just need to switch the BCR from preset 1 to preset 2 where AJ surface is stored.
 
Can’t beat the BCR for cost either
 
g  

gibsongs,
thanks for the reply.  i used to own a bcr.    cant even remember why i sold it.

are there any parts of the prochannel that you cant control?

i want to be able to use the PC without touching it.  

does the bcr control whichever PC is in the track currently selected?  or do u have to switch channels from the bcr....  how does it work in ur setup?

i would be totally willing to get another bcr.  

Middleman, the product as I envision it would be cheap (under 300) because it wouldn't have any lcd screens.  just knobs and buttons that mirror the PC.
The only visual feedback would come from your monitor. 

Why aren't there more control surfaces on the market?  This has puzzled me for years.

If I can turn a BCR into a dedicated PC controller, it might do the trick.
I already have the Mackie C4 for controlling all my vsts.

Why aren't there more control surfaces on the market?  This has puzzled me for years.

There used to be quite a few and possibly there still are. I haven't really kept up on it. But I do know one major problem is the software constantly changes with every release. It must be a long process for companies to keep the control surfaces working when the software gets updated because they don't seem to do it. At least with Cakewalk the responsibility seems to fall into a black hole between the hardware company and the software company. For instance I have a CM Labs Motormix which worked perfectly with Sonar 4. The next version of Sonar I got was 7 and there is a communication problem between Sonar and the Motormix where in order for it to work correctly I have to mute/unmute any channel to get the unit to stay in sync every time I switch modes such as controlling tracks vs buses etc. Very annoying. I've submitted a problem report to Cakewalk who confirmed the issue but it has yet to be resolved and probably never will be considering Cakewalk has moved on to 4 new versions of Sonar. So even though I have a perfectly functioning control surface physically, it really doesn't work with Sonar anymore. Over the years I've seen this happen/happening on a regular basis with control surfaces. It looks like even control surfaces that try to follow a standard such as MCU have problems every time software is updated.

Hi Blix XY,
 
I still have to click the area of the PC I want to control on a particular channel as of now. I’ll be looking into using some of the BCR switches in the near future to be able to switch from the limiter section to the EQ to the tub sat. I was waiting for X1b before I really started to experiment. For now, I am satisfied using the mouse to click the area I want to control, but clicking a button would be nice as well. Actually, I have a trackball, not a mouse and that makes more efficient use of my desk surface as well – probably why I don’t mind clicking a bit.
 
On your question of selecting things - I also have two BCF surfaces I use to control the channel faders and can use the select switch on these to select a channel I want to adjust. When that channel is in selected, I just need to click the within the PC function I want to control  (limiter, EQ, tube sat) and then I can adjust the settings using the BCR. If I have any other FXs in the FX bin, I can use the ACT default act mappings for them, however, I find AJs surface plugin a lot easier to follow (with the graphic representing the BCR) verses the Sonar Act mapping (Control properties interface). I think there is a escape key combination that will allow me to jump between FXs in the bin, just have not looked that up - so now I use my trackball.  Also, I just need to switch to the P2 preset for AJs surface, or P1 for Act control on the BCR. One note, AJs surface does not see (or control) the PC unfortunately, but you can control the internal channel EQ easily with it.
 
Hope that is not too confusing, but it works….it just takes some time to figure where you need to go to control what, but it is working for me.
 
By the way, I also have an Alphatrack and I still need to try it with X1b, but I am not expecting it to see the PC.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, I am still on XP Pro SP3 and may eventually go to Win 7, but everything works for now and I am not in any rush 

OK.  cool.
Here's my new thought.
I want to add a third monitor that is touch screen- place it next to my Mackie MCU and C4, and use it for the prochannel and other plugins that aren't practicalto use with the other CSs.

WDI had a great point about product support "moving on".
I think the future of control surfaces might be touch screen.
They are pretty cheap when compared to CSs.

Anybody doing what I'm talking about?

I wonder if one of the Korg Nano Controllers would work.  Can anyone look into these and let us know? 
http://www.korg.com/product.aspx?&pd=415
 
 
 
http://www.korg.com/product.aspx?pd=596#feat

BlixYZ


OK.  cool.
Here's my new thought.
I want to add a third monitor that is touch screen- place it next to my Mackie MCU and C4, and use it for the prochannel and other plugins that aren't practicalto use with the other CSs.

WDI had a great point about product support "moving on".
I think the future of control surfaces might be touch screen.
They are pretty cheap when compared to CSs.

Anybody doing what I'm talking about?

I think I remember someone mentioning on this forum that there was an iPod plug (programmable) that was available. Looks like Frontier Design (Alphatrac) is also going in this direction. Not cheap if you don't have an iPod, however.

g