The new mixwindows seem to be a log-overdue acknowledgement by SB that many users may want something more than emulations of mixing desk hardware, with all its limitations.
SB does not seem to do surveys, so I thought I would start one to see where users are at with the hardware they use with Cubase.
I included an option to indicate whether you want better touchscreen GUIs.
Just check the last option only if you don’t use anything besides a mouse and keyboard.
I wasn’t weaned on mixing desks, so there is no advantage to me of emulating one. And control surfaces just seem rooted in the same paradigm, with an added tedious setup regimen.
I now have three touchscreens, and the new mixwindows are much easier to use on them compared to their inflexible ancestors. However, there are still a lot of undersized controls and the whole configuration of them is rather piecemeal and could benefit from some drag-and-drop functionality.
Now before a whole lot chime in with the ‘touch is no good, the world is going to end’ routine, touch should be catered for by being an option for a control set, such as for the transport controls or jog/scrub (which is even fiddly with a mouse). Assume as a given that touch will NOT replace a mouse and keyboard on a desktop, but can be a valid interaction method along WITH them.
Hmm… I use everything in one way or another. I could give a crap about overall touch screen. After using tablet apps for awhile, I’m totally opposed to doing editing like that. They are ok for general control surface use, but I wouldn’t want it vertical like a monitor.
Agree100%. iPad is ok for basic transport remote and macro commands etc and the odd synth/app as a sound source but not for fine detail editing. Would be great if Yamaha came out with a mini Nuage for general consumer use but would that be outdated at the end of any Cubase life cycle?. The shadows of Houston comes back and haunts them.The current Steinberg “Six Packs” seem to be struggling as do the other “mainstream” remotes, especially with the hidden tracks/folders in the new mix cobsole.
SSL Nucleus goes in the right direction but still out of reach to many people and lacks any soft synth control section, Avid looks good but starts to get very expensive and the Mackie Control seems a bit long in the tooth these days.
Hopefully Yamaha will produce a new dedicated remote, there’s certainly a gap in market wide open for one, it’s difficult to see why they haven’t yet got they’re fingers in the pie before Presonus beats them to it, or have they…?
I’ve had a Steinberg Houston which I have been using for years for mixing duties.
For automating synth or plugin parameters, I usually use my Korg MicroKontrol.
An iPod touch with the Cubase iC app is used for when I record myself playing in another room, so for basic play&record remote control.
And I use my mouse and keyboard aswell when editting.
I have a Houston hanging on in C7. I still prefer is physical faders for automation. Also working within a project window with a mouse is still the fastest way for me.
I really believe mixing is kind of like playing an instrument.
As you gain experience and knowledge your hands just kind of move around the board . . . like a good guitar player. It becomes automatic. And fast.
The problem with touch screen stuff is you have to be looking at it to find the control. And you generally have to keep looking at it to make sure you stay on the control.
With hardware a sidelong glance and you get it and can be moving elsewhere with your other hand.
That tactile thing.
I was talking with a guy - actually a Steinberg Rep - the other day about this and he called me “old school”.
Perhaps.
But I also think it depends on the kind of mixing you’re doing.
A lot of what I do is miced acoustic instrument (Drums, Strings, Guitars, Vocals, etc) - quite dynamic - and the mixes are very active.
If you’re doing more - for lack of a better word - “club” type stuff then it’s usually a lot more preprocessed (compressed, EQed, etc) stuff that basically sits nice once you get levels set. Drastic changes are only occasional. That’s easier to do with a mouse.
As in my sig I use 3 Mackie Control Universals.
The design may be old but I can’t think of any way to improve them without upping the cost or making them too Cubase specific (thus losing the “Universal” part). Together with Steinbergs new “Control Editor” they are amazing.
I went on about them a bit Here:
Considered the Avid Artist and Mix stuff - but no where near the bang for the buck and I’m concerned about Avids desire to make the SDK for EUCON fully available to competitors like Steinberg/Yamaha.
I concede that, but only if you are doing enough fast-paced mixing to become so fast that not looking at controls most of the time is feasible.
And remember that once engaged, drifting off a control (with mouse or finger, but not lifting off) does not relinquish control over it, so part of your argument is moot.
The control set that would really help me is finger-friendly job/scrub. I find the current controls too fiddly even with a mouse. I should think that a touch version could be just as fast as a full hardware version.
Of course, so neither do I. My touch screens are all Dell S2340Ts that are fully adjustable, unlike A-frame ones. They work best at between 30 to 45 degrees to the horizontal. However, I would like all my monitors to be touch as well, just for those times when it would be quicker to reach my hand and just scroll the track list or toggle a folder track, when I don’t have the mouse in hand.
I think comparing desktop touch use to the almost exclusively touch use of devices like iPads is FUD.
Given the decades old use of mouse and keyboard on desktops, no-one is really going to abandon them, but I defy anyone who has had a touch phone or tablet for awhile to deny that they have had to clean off some inadvertent fingerprints on their screens arising from a momentary lapse in context consciousness!
I put mouse and KBD although I do have and use a touch fader for the odd thing, but otherwise I couldn’t give a dam about more controls, just get in the way and clutter the work surface
I only use the controls built in both my Studiologic keyboard and Akai MPD pad controller.
Largely enough, for actual work. Even with this rather basic setup, I often found myself forgetting which control acts on what parameter and, as a workaround, had to develop something in VBScript to get a quick reminder. So, no more control surface for me…
