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Mackie d8b used for a controller in Cakerwalk


chuckebaby

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I just got one of these 24 channel Mackie d8b boards for free.

jlf2tdgwo2riic8xapqd.jpg.

 

I want to use it as a DAW controller. Ive done some research but I cant really figure it out.

The board has a midi ext slot. can I just plug in this midi and run MCU through it ? Or do I need the ProBox serial/usb box ?

Thank you for any help. I know this isn't a direct Cakewalk only question. but I am trying to interface to it.

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If you want to use it a a controller to control Fader and bus and send levels, you should get a motorized one. One made for as a controller.  Otherwise, it doesn't remember any of the Fader, Bus, Send and any other settings the project was previously set to and you'll be starting over every time you open and close a project.

Kinda counter-intuitive, yes?

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3 minutes ago, CJ Jacobson said:

If you want to use it a a controller to control Fader and bus and send levels, you should get a motorized one. One made for as a controller.  Otherwise, it doesn't remember any of the Fader, Bus, Send and any other settings the project was previously set to and you'll be starting over every time you open and close a project.

Kinda counter-intuitive, yes?

So true CJ

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2 hours ago, CJ Jacobson said:

If you want to use it a a controller to control Fader and bus and send levels, you should get a motorized one.

It has 24 motorized faders, a motorized master fader, Jog wheel, M/S/R buttons, Play/Stop/Rec buttons.

2 hours ago, CJ Jacobson said:

Kinda counter-intuitive, yes?

I have no idea what your talking about here. ^^

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1 hour ago, msmcleod said:

I think this is what you're looking for...

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/d8bridge-by-bluaudio

.[Edit] - it looks like this has been discontinued and replaced by ProBox.

You can read about both projects here: http://www.d8bforum.com/phpBB3/index.php

That's exactly what I was looking for Thanks.

Im hoping I can avoid that ProBox and just use the Midi card (that's in a slot on the main board) for MCU. Any idea what that Midi port sends ?

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1 hour ago, Chuck E Baby said:

That's exactly what I was looking for Thanks.

Im hoping I can avoid that ProBox and just use the Midi card (that's in a slot on the main board) for MCU. Any idea what that Midi port sends ?

The MIDI card won't give MCU emulation, but it looks like it does something similar. I suspect you'll have to go down the AzController route for this one.

The manual has some info on it (a bit vague though): https://c3.zzounds.com/media/D8B3.0_OM-6bcdb34a9f0362313e1d9f6ab0304b6d.pdf

It seems to be mainly aimed at MTC / transport control, but it does mention faders.

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As far as I can tell, the Pro Box supports MCU for all 24 channels. It's a combination of hardware / software. The hardware part connects to the 25 pin D socket on the back, which AFAIK is the only way to get control of all 24 channels.

You might be able to construct one yourself using something like a raspberry pi or an arduino (though I suspect an arduino might be too slow for this).

 

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6 hours ago, msmcleod said:

You might be able to construct one yourself using something like a raspberry pi or an arduino

That's what I was thinking. I cant even find the Pro Box company anymore. Im not sure how much work it would be to make my own but it would be worth it for 24 channels.

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You might want to take a look at this:

http://d8b.adamdbradley.com/

His source code is here:

https://github.com/docbradley/d8b-controller

It might give you some insight into how to interface to the D8B via the serial ports.

 

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