Still Looking for a Flexible DAW Controller

Nuendo
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Dear Forum Folks

For a longer time I’ve been looking for a flexible controller for multiple DAWs. I’ve looked at the PT Dock with iPad, I bought IC Pro, the CC121, I’ve briefly tested Faderport 8. Also, I’m often switching between DAWs (Logic, Nuendo, Reaper). None of the controllers were what I was looking for. They mostly work well with one special DAW and not well with others. I want a more generic solutions. And my biggest problem is: I’m extremely bad at remembering shortcuts across different DAWs. I came to the conclusion: What I’m really looking for is sort of a toolbar where I can put custom functions and configure the corresponding shortcut (CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-F8). Reaper has a built-in way of adding buttons to a custom toolbar, it’s really cool. But I haven’t seen this anywhere else. Also, I’d like this to be on a second device so I save screen space. Either on iPad, or on a hardware controller of some sorts.

Have a look at the Hotkey Matrix für PT. See Caller Name | Who Owns This Number
Unfortunately, this is only for Pro Tools. So it’s useless and only has one fixed layout.

I also found a keyboard that is programmable and has mini displays for keys so you can put any icon or text or image there.
https://www.artlebedev.com/optimus/popularis/

A keyboard with programmable buttons would be great. Some sort of MIDI controller where I could program: When I hit this button, it triggers CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-F8 on the computer. Or an iPad app that does exactly that.

I tried experimenting with TouchOSC. It’s pretty flexible, but it uses Java, that I will never install on my machine. And it needs other helper tools to translate OSC to MIDI and so on, which would infest my work machine with more and more software tools running in the background. One is OK, but when I have to install a dozen to talk to each other, I keep my fingers oof of it.

I know this is the Pro Nuendo forum and you guys have Avid S6, Nuage or similar controllers, but I’m sure you have a vast knowledge of what’s available on the market and may have come across such a thing.

Don’t you suffer from this problem too?
I rarely only mix, so motorized faders are nice, but I need other functions too.
MCU and HUI are mostly limited to the normal functions like sends, plugin windows, transport control, but I want to program arbitrary commands. Differend commands for each DAW, as I use them for different things. I need a flexible controller to remember the shortcuts I cannot remember anymore :wink:

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Hmmmm… Deja vu?

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Would these work?

Being wondering myself about getting one of these…

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From my own experience, I can say that the Euphonix MC Pro is a great combi of hardware control of parameters and keyboard-shortcuts for editing. All keyboard-shortcuts are freely assignable to LCD-softkeys and one can even create some kind of macro by programming multiple keyboard-shortcuts to one softkey.
It works on EuCon which is adopted by all the major DAWS and it connects up to 4 workstations simultaneously.
Although EuCon is not 100% stable (on my rigs at least) it works really great.
It’s an old machine though, and Avid doesn’t support it any more officially, but since the S6 is based on the same protocol their unofficial support is still there and they’ve updated the OS to v3.5 in the end of 2016 so it can deal with the modern demands.
While it’s an old machine which is no longer supported there are several machines for sale on the second-hand market.

For sure you can also take a look at Avid’s Artist Series, which has the same functionality as the MC Pro?!

Niek/ Amsterdam

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When I can’t remember my shortcuts how do you expect me to remember a thread from September? :slight_smile:
No seriously, I’ve forgotten about that thread.

I guess X-Keys looks very interesting and I found a software called ControllerMate ControllerMate that can program individual keys and macros of any keyboard or mouse, including X-Keys. And also does MIDI in and out.

I’ll also try Quadro. Seems like a software solution for iOS for what I’m looking for. Let’s see how practical it is to program a large amount of keys. https://www.quadro.me/ The nice thing is you can program profiles so when you change DAWs, the soft-keyboard on the screen changes automatically, too. One can program multiple profiles for different software packages, which makes it even more flexible if changing software frequently than a hardware keyboard that you have to layout in a way that is a common denominator for all programs one uses. Doesn’t do MIDI or has any sort of toggle / state, it’s really just a shortcut trigger. So it’s not a good DAW controller if you’re looking for solo, mute, arm types of things.

I’ll try them out and report back if anybody is interested.

Thanks everybody.

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For what it’s worth, I use a Logitech gaming mouse that has 15 + programmable buttons, customizable by application.

Depends on how mouse-heavy your style is, but I love it. And I have an MC Artist… use the mouse much more for basic tasks like switching tools, implementing macros, etc.

Chewy