Hi,
I’m trying to get my trusty SAC-2.2 controller working with Cubase 12 Pro. Tried some things, so far so good - except for one thing.
Up until Cubase 10 the device was directly supported within the application. Back then moving the fader close to and around 0 dBfs would result in a resolution of 0.08 dBfs per control surface fader step. Those faders send 8 bit using pitchbend control messages. Some logarithmic scale was used in Cubase 10 to achieve a higher resolution the closer the fader was moved towards 0 dBfs and it was perfectly good.
Now, if I create a fader within a script it works fine and accepts the 8 bits and uses a logarithmic scale as well. But the resolution around 0 dBfs is not the same (and I suppose the overall spread from - inf. to 0 dBfs differs). For channel faders, the last value before reaching 0 dBfs is -0.24 dBfs. Next step is 0 dBfs, step after that is 0.42 dBfs.
So the resolution is coarsened in that area compared to Cubase 10. I’d love to have the same resolution as I had within Cubase 10, how can I achieve that ? Is there a way to tell Cubase 12 how to spread the incoming data across the internal fader values, i.e. by creating a custom logarithmic scale somehow ?
Hi,
I’m not at my DAW right know. But if I remember correctly, value 13000 (for the 14bit MIDI data like NRPN or Pitch Bend) sets the Audio folder to 0.0dB. In the Pitch Bend scale it means +4808. Is this the same value for you?
Now you are saying Pitch Bend +4807 would set the fader to -0.24?
Btw, how is the Volume Max. setup? Is it +6dB (Cubase default value) or +12dB (Nuendo default value)? You can change the settings in the Project Setup.
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Hey Martin,
thanks for your reply.
The maximal volume is set to + 6dB. The sent pitch bend values are correct, but the way they get interpreted within Cubase differs. In Cubase 10 the SAC 2.2 is supported as a remote control and the resolution there around the fader position at 0 dBfs is way more useful than the resolution I get via the MIDI remote API.
Hi,
do you really hear / feel a difference between 0dB and -0,24dB?
What i mean is the resolution you might gain around 0dB will be lost somewhere else on the fader course. Personnaly i prefer a few dB of improvment at -20dB rather than a few hundredth of a dB at 0dB which i feel won’t matter anyway.
But as a lot of thing goes, your mileage may vary.
Cheers,
Thomas
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Hi,
Which value do you get when using SAC as Mackie Control Device (and Mackie Control in Cubase)?
Hey Thomas,
the resolution at around -20 dBFS and lower is ok for me as it is, weird thing is that it (MIDI remote API using pitchbend with an 8 bit fader) uses about 0.08 dBFS increments during the last steps up to -0.24 dBFS, then moves directly to 0 dBFS and then up to + 0.42 dBFS. At that point, the resolution really is too coarse for my taste.
To me, the logic behind the logarithmic fader scale is that the resolution gets more detailed the closer you get to 0 dBFS so that one can do tinier corrections in that area.
BTW, what resolution do you get with your equipment ? You are using your own built controllers in MCU mode, right ? But I suppose you are using 9 or 10 Bit resolution faders, so the problem probably won’t show in your setup.
Hey Martin,
I tried that yesterday, IIRC the last step before 0 dBFS is -0.16 dBFS and the next up is somewhere around 0.21 dBFS.
The SAC-2.2 doesn’t work with the Mackie Control option provided with Cubase. One can control faders and pans but the SMPTE / BARS / BEATS transmission doesn’t work, the displays are not used in the way they are supposed to.
I began to develop my own script last year and stumbled across that fader ‘error’. During the last days I gave bjoluc’s X-Touch script a try and it works surprisingly well with the SAC but shows the same behaviour regarding fader resolution.
So it all comes down to the question with which I started this thread:
Is there a way to tell Cubase 12 how to spread the incoming data across the internal fader values via the MIDI remote API, i.e. by creating a custom logarithmic scale somehow ?
By scripting, yes. You can create a customProcessVariable and change its value inside the mOnProcessValueChange of the original fader. This can be very customisable obviously, you can have logarithmic calculation in there, or a more “linear” approximation for selected ranges.
If you like @bjoluc 's script, I think it’s a good idea to ask him to have a look at this case and perhaps make adjustments accordingly 
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Hi mchantzi,
thank you for your reply. I will try to find a solution with your idea of using a customProcessVariable. I didn’t want to contact bjoluc yet, my idea was to check out if I can change his script to make it more fitting for the SAC-2.2. I need some time for that and right now I don’t have it - apartment renovation ahead and some other stuff, so it will probably be fall until I can work it out.
Since I most likely will run in some issues while scripting, I’m gonna annoy him and you and everybody else with it again in a few months. 
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