Here's my new letter. I basiclly added the SI-24 forum post URLs at the end let elet them know about all of our various conversations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Cakewalk Control Surface Team,
I have been a Cakewalk software user for 10 years now. I think your flagship product Sonar has come a long way in the battle for audio production software. Its MIDI production is great. The audio recording features are superb. All in all it is a great production tool. Let me congratulate everyone at Twelve Tone for phenomenal accomplishments.
My concern is about MIXING.
While a keyboard and a mouse are very useful for some tasks, control surface allow people accustomed to traditional hardware consoles to retain productivity. There is nothing like turning a knob or pushing a fader. This brings me to the point of this letter (finally). The control surface plugins should be updated for every release of software that comes out. I know this seams like a monumental task but I think it would add equity to you product and bring Sonar closer to the all around audio powerhouse that it is not far away from currently. I have purchased the upgrade to version 4 Producer. This marks one of the most significant upgrades since the addition of audio recording.
While I think all the surface plugins should be revised; I am interested in two specific plugins:
Tascam US-428: I would like to see the US-428 plugin be updated so that the EQ controls actually control the per-channel EQ of Sonar 3/4 and not just the FxEQ plugin. I own a US-428 and quite frankly had I of known the EQ wasn't updated for Sonar 3's per channel EQ I would have been more hesitant to upgrade Sonar 2.2. Don't get me wrong, there are features in Sonar 3 that I find very useful (enhanced busses, VST, vSampler, etc). But the value of the upgrade was not a justified productivity necessity. In fact if I want to control EQ with the 428, I must disable the per-channel EQ and manually insert FxEQ plugins. This is DECREASED productivity in my opinion, unless there is a way to retain the "EQ on every channel" option found in Sonar 2.
Roland SI-24: This is the most likely candidate for my next control surface. For a incredible price I would have 12 channels at a time with motorized faders, a pan knob, EQ/send functions, plugin functions, channel select and a mute/solo/arm/automate function button. If I'm not mistaken the SI-24 also includes locate memories, transport controls, jog wheel, audio interface and joystick panner. I'm very excited about getting this sub-$1000 marvel. It would increase the value of my system with a few adjustments. This control surface combined with Sonar 4 would be outstanding with a few adjustments:
- Utilize the joystick panner for surround panning.
You have introduced surround mixing with S4 so why not promote and encourage surround mixing. This is one of a few surfaces I can think of with a joystick panner (Tascam US-2400). Certainly the SI-24 is the only one under $1,000. Of course I don't know what you have planned for the future of your control surfaces. I would love to know what surround panning surfaces you plan to implement.
- Change the "EQ/Send" and "Plugin" function buttons.
As i see the "EQ/Send" and "Plugin" buttons engage the 12 knobs normally assigned to panning. It would seem more functional if you:
1. Changed the send knobs to EQ "Q" adjustment.
Currently the "EQ/Send" function assign knobs 1-8 to EQ gain and frequency for 4 bands and knobs 9-12 for send levels for Auxs 1 to 4. This setup leaves no controller for "Q" adjustment, forcing the use of a mouse to make such an adjustment. Reassigning knobs 9-12 for "Q" adjustment of EQ bands 1 to 4 would remedy this. This would leave no remove control of send levels for Aux 1 to 4. The next suggestion remedies that.
2. Use the "Plugin" functions for plugin and aux send functions.
It appears that there are 12 knobs assigned to the "Plugin" button if I'm not mistaken. Of course within Sonar there are only 4 controllable, assignable parameters per selected plugin per selected channel at one time. This would only require 4 knobs, which can be assign the already-labeled aux 1-4 knobs of 9-12. I f you were to assign knobs 1-8, currently label for EQ functions, to control send level and panning of Aux 1 to 4 that would increase functionality. In addition if the four buttons assigned to EQ on/off under the "EQ/Send" functions button work under the "Plugin" functions button, those could either be used for send on/off or send pre/post. Possibly configurable in the plugin similar to how commands can be assigned to the US-428's "F1/F2/F3" keys.
Whew!
I know this is a lot to digest. Reading lengthy messages from the thousands of people like me out there leave you little time for actually development. That's why I believe in getting involved. I have background in programming and a programmer's mind (ASP/PHP/HTML/Javascript/Perl/SQL). While I have no experience with COM I feel that when it comes to programming languages and syntax are easier that logic and concept. I have download control surface SDK. If it is at all possible I would love to get the files the development team has been working with. If maybe just some minor tweaking is needed that would be easy for someone like me. What else beside the SDK is needed: Visual C++, Delphi, Visual Basic? Maybe you guys could open a [DEVELOPER] forum dedicated to control surfaces and a devxchange area for file sharing.
You may be intersted in the many SI-24 User posts in the Sonar Forum:
http://www.cakewalk.com/forum/fb.asp?m=304101 http://www.cakewalk.com/forum/fb.asp?m=295805 http://www.cakewalk.com/forum/fb.asp?m=271795 http://www.cakewalk.com/forum/fb.asp?m=313337 http://www.cakewalk.com/forum/fb.asp?m=295805 http://www.cakewalk.com/forum/fb.asp?m=303700 http://www.cakewalk.com/forum/fb.asp?m=319691 http://www.cakewalk.com/forum/fb.asp?m=329324 http://www.cakewalk.com/forum/tm.asp?m=343056