• Hardware
  • Allen Heath SQ as controller for CbB?
2018/11/01 14:02:09
pgw
Hi! 
I have a AH SQ-5 that I want to use as control surface in CbB/Sonar/Mixbus, but can´t get it to work at all.
 
Allen Heath´s DAW Control says the SQ-5 is connected and set to Mackie Control protocol.
CbB/Sonar can see all 4 of the SQ-5´s midi-channels.
I set up 2 controls/surfaces in CbB/Sonar as suggested by AH´s "DAW Control Setup Notes"-pdf.
 
CbB/Sonar´s ACT Module says it´s connecting, but nothing happens.
Being a total newbie when it comes to connecting control surfaces I wonder if it´s a user error (most probably) or something wrong with DAW Control + CbB/Sonar?
 
Is there anything I need to do on the SQ-5 apart from turning it on?
(Like I wrote: TOTAL newbie)

Marc/mjvidify on the SQ-forum wrote that he had it working using CM Labs Motormix protocol, which I can´t find on the HD - is it perhaps available on an earlier version DVD of Sonar? (I have versions XL to Platinum, except Sonar 4 - I guess I´ll have to dig them out from my cellar)
2018/11/01 14:24:15
msmcleod
According to the A&H documentation, DAW Control MIDI 1 controls ch 1-8, and DAW Control MIDI 2 controls ch 9-16.
 
So, within CbB/Sonar, you want to add a "Mackie Control" control surface set to "DAW Control MIDI 1" for both MIDI IN and MIDI OUT.
 
You then want to add a "Mackie Control XT" control surface set to "DAW Control MIDI 2" for both MIDI IN and MIDI OUT.
 
You should then open the "Mackie Control 1" menu item from the utilities menu to open up the Mackie Control Dialog.

Press "Configure Layout", and turn rotary pot 8 clockwise 1 click, then click the "Press again when done" button.
 
Then save your configuration.
 
That should be all you need to do.
2018/11/01 14:37:49
pgw
Thanks Mark!
I had no clue about adding a "Mackie Control XT" too and "Configure Layout" - I´ll try this tonight and see what happens.
2018/11/02 22:08:08
pgw
Maybe this can be useful for other SQ-owners until there´s a good setup guide from A&H available.
It seems like CbB/Sonar and SQ-series do not like each other very much at this point in time.
 
I was in contact with A&H´s Support (Alex) who gave this answer:
"Unfortunately, I am not familiar with that DAW and I do not have access to it on my system, however, I can make sure the mixer is set up correctly.

In the DAW Control Driver, MIDI ports should be selected with SQ MIDI In and Out.

To add MIDI channels to a layer on SQ, go to Setup > Surface > Strip Assign and then select DCA/MIDI on the top right and the layer you would like them assign them to. You can then drag and drop up to 32 MIDI channel strips over 2 layers.
"
I saved this as a scene "DAW" in the SQ-5 for quick switching between DAW/Live.
 
After trying a couple of configurations I got them to kind of work together.
A&H´s DAW Control is set to HUI and Midi ports.
I used Azslow3´s AZ Controller and in Options>Tweak Current Configuration set it to QU16/24/32 and let AZ Controller add a QU16 preset.
This allows me to control Channel, Mute and Solo buttons + Volume fader for each channel.
 
I´m not 100% sure, but I think I read somewhere that the Preamp/Eq-rotaries aren´t available for Midi-use, it would be great if I could use them to control PC-Eq & Gain.
Who knows maybe it´s user ignorance and I´ll figure it out later on - or a firmware update will make it possible.
I think the Soft Buttons should be available for midi though - my quest continues ...
 
 
2018/11/06 21:24:01
azslow3
Qu had clear MIDI documentation. But I do not see it for SQ.
 
Someone recently has asked to control EQ/Comp from DM. And I remember there was some success. For which DM, in which thread... I can not remember and I can not find
 
2018/11/06 22:14:59
msmcleod
azslow3
Qu had clear MIDI documentation. But I do not see it for SQ.
 
Someone recently has asked to control EQ/Comp from DM. And I remember there was some success. For which DM, in which thread... I can not remember and I can not find



It looks like the A&H DAW Controller help is common to all: https://www.allen-heath.com/media/DAW-Control-Help-V1.6.pdf
 
I found this by going to https://www.allen-heath.com/resources/ and picking SQ from the products dropdown.
 
I see pgw got it working in HUI mode using the CM MotorMix surface control DLL (which is based on HUI).
 
The docs suggest using HUI mode for ProTools, but Mackie mode for Cubase/Logic (which is why I suggested the setup as I did in my earlier post).
 
Assuming the Mackie mode on the SQ is comprehensive enough (and it's set to Mackie mode!) the EQ/Comp control should work using either azslow's EQ modded MackieControl.dll, or mine (which has azslow's changes merged in).
 
 
2018/11/08 20:51:30
pgw
azslow3
Qu had clear MIDI documentation. But I do not see it for SQ.
 
Someone recently has asked to control EQ/Comp from DM. And I remember there was some success. For which DM, in which thread... I can not remember and I can not find

MIDI documentation for SQ is so-so, the available info is on p. 77 of the 1.30 reference guide.
If I understand the reference guide the SQ-series should have a standard Midi setup preprogrammed for DAW, however, I couldn´t get it to work until I added AZ-controller and followed A-H´s Alex´s advice about adding Midi-channels to a layer.
Also in the ref-guide 1.30 they added a paragraph 14:4 stating that the soft rotaries and softkeys can be used for midi, according to ref-guide 1.20 only softkeys, faders and MMC-controls should work with DAW-control - I guess they´re adding stuff as they go along.

I think I should start over with a "blank" SQ-5 Midi-setup and new setup in AZ-controller - I´m a newbie when it comes to setting up controllers, so there is quite possibly user error involved.

I missed a bunch of controller-.dll:s in the Shared Surfaces folder, but found them @ https://www.cakewalk.com/...rol-Surface-Installers
maybe it´s useful, I find it a bit odd that they´re not included when installing CbB.

Thanks for chiming in guys, I´ll update the thread about my "progress".
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