Nektar Impact & Cakewalk Trouble

[sjoens]

For some reason my LX88+ and Sonar aren't getting along too well. Connection is hit and miss. Sometimes the Control Bar Module displays Chinese characters in the middle screen instead of the track name it's controlling. Sometimes it doesn't work at all.

I run it thru a powered USB hub. No way around that.

[Larry Jones]

Wish I could help, but I've never seen this behavior. I do have a question for you, though: Do you use all the DAW control functions? I have the 61-key version of that keyboard, and I guess I'm just lazy, but I only use the transport controls. All the other hoo-ha is too confusing for me (I use it in studio only, not live).

For what it's worth I think your USB hub should be OK, since it's powered.

[chuckebaby]

Problem with USB hubs Powered/or not is that there are multiple messages being sent in to the same hub at once.

I once traced down a keyboard controller issue to a hub, it just couldn't handle a keyboard, mouse, controller all at once.

 

[Tezza]

You shouldn't be having any problem with the Nektar Impacts compatibility with Cakewalk. Just download the keyboard set up files from the Nektar website, the Sonar ones work with Cakewalk. Run the set up files and then all functions will work as they should. I have the GX impact and the LX one as well, they work perfectly with Cakewalk using the Sonar set up files. No manual set up required.

[sjoens]

For the most part. But...

1. I had to set MIDI out to 002 to keep things stable. Unless I missed it, nothing in the Sonar info said to do that but the Mixcraft info did. If I didn't have MC probably wouldn't know this. Thought it was supposed to figure out the connections on it's own but sometimes it just wouldn't do anything.

2. The CB Act module displays strange characters as described above.

3. The 'Patch>' button acts as a Play/Stop button while simultaneously expanding/closing the Browser Synth Rack. (???).

4. The manual was written for 61 keys so for LX88 all references to key #s are off by one octave. Also missing some steps which I had to figure out on my own.

(edit):

5. 'Inst' key only brings up 1 arbitrary softsynth GUI, not the one on the selected track as it should.

@Larry Jones Trying to use all the controls but it's a little confusing especially when controlling multiple DAWs that require different settings. Almost not worth the hassle. Nektar's info is all over the place and requires a bit of investigation and patience to make it all work. Not a lot of helpful videos either.

A small matter of inconvenience is not being able to change the controls. I'd like the track buttons to default to SOLO instead of MUTE and the Master/Track fader to control the... master track, not the "current" track. If this can be done, I can't find any info on how to do it.

Edited March 13, 2019 by sjoens

[Larry Jones]

7 hours ago, sjoens said:

Trying to use all the controls but it's a little confusing especially when controlling multiple DAWs that require different settings. Almost not worth the hassle. Nektar's info is all over the place and requires a bit of investigation and patience to make it all work. Not a lot of helpful videos either.

A small matter of inconvenience is not being able to change the controls. I'd like the track buttons to default to SOLO instead of MUTE and the Master/Track fader to control the... master track, not the "current" track. If this can be done, I can't find any info on how to do it.

Thanks for the reply! I only use it with one DAW (CbB) and it's still confusing. The implementation on different DAWs is not their fault, though. It has to do with what a DAW publisher exposes for third party programming. It is a disappointment that the controls on the Impact are not customizable. That would make it much more valuable.

[Johnbee58]

I have an LX61 and no trouble.  I do have the software installed but it only outlines the first 8 tracks for use.  I really only use the Keyboard part and not the controls because I can't seem to get my head around all of the details.  I guess I'm missing out on a lot of features, but I can't get my head around the details between the DAW and the keyboard software.  Life's too short.  I just work as best I can.

?John B

[sjoens]

The manual is good at telling you what it can do but not so much how to do it.

Using the 'Track>' key to scroll past 8 should bounce the controller to the next group of 8, and so on. With the 88 I can also use the 'Bank>' key while holding the 'Shift' button to bounce to the next group.

[Johnbee58]

1 hour ago, sjoens said:

The manual is good at telling you what it can do but not so much how to do it.

Using the 'Track>' key to scroll past 8 should bounce the controller to the next group of 8, and so on. With the 88 I can also use the 'Bank>' key while holding the 'Shift' button to bounce to the next group.

Thanks for that info.  I really appreciate it.  Now that I know there's someone here who's familiar with both the hardware & software I can get with you and set the rest of it up.

?JB

[Larry Jones]

14 hours ago, Johnbee58 said:

Now that I know there's someone here who's familiar with both the hardware & software I can get with you and set the rest of it up.

?JB

Hey, @Johnbee58 and @sjoens, please do that here in the forum so I can join in! I have an LX-61+ and I'd like to make better use of it. Thanks!

[sjoens]

Will try. I'm in contact with a Nektar service rep who's helping sort out these issues. So far they've been pretty quick to respond and agree some of these things shouldn't be happening. Possibly I may have a bad unit.

Edited March 13, 2019 by sjoens

[Tezza]

On 3/12/2019 at 9:16 AM, sjoens said:

For the most part. But...

1. I had to set MIDI out to 002 to keep things stable. Unless I missed it, nothing in the Sonar info said to do that but the Mixcraft info did. If I didn't have MC probably wouldn't know this. Thought it was supposed to figure out the connections on it's own but sometimes it just wouldn't do anything.

 

I didn't have to do this, neither did I have to choose the midi ins and outs in preferences, it set it up straight away. In Studio One, I had to set the midi ins and outs even when using the setup files. In any event it says in the instructions on the website what you have to do if the midi ins and outs are not set up correctly. Mixcraft required something different, manually installing a file in Mixcraft from memory.

 

On 3/12/2019 at 9:16 AM, sjoens said:

2. The CB Act module displays strange characters as described above.

I did not use CB ACT, the point of the setup files is that you don't use the DAW's midi control setup procedure. I don't know if it's possible to use both together. In Studio One I made a midi control file for the LX and didn't use the setup files to see how that went, it did work and I was able to customize things how I wanted but Studio One's compatibility with third party controllers isn't very good, CBd is much better. S1 wouldn't color the tracks when you switch to the next bank of 8 so you could never easily see what bank you were using, S1 also has no soft takeover and the rotary controls didn't match properly.

I would think if you want to use ACT to setup the keyboard then you wouldn't use the setup files.

On 3/12/2019 at 9:16 AM, sjoens said:

3. The 'Patch>' button acts as a Play/Stop button (???).

I cant recall how this worked.

On 3/12/2019 at 9:16 AM, sjoens said:

4. The manual was written for 61 keys so for LX88 all references to key #s are off by one octave. Also missing some steps which I had to figure out on my own.

(edit):

I am not sure when you say "the manual", what you are referring to.

The procedure I used was to register the keyboard (which was secondhand) which created my Nektar account. In my Nektar account, the setup files together with the functionality and instructions were available for all different DAW's. I downloaded and installed all the setup files for each DAW and followed the instructions, It worked ok for all the DAW's I tried it on, I think in Mixcraft, I did have to select the midi ins and outs after installing the file.

Something I think I remember, if you download the setup files from the Nektar website then there wasn't as much info available. You have to have an account and then there was additional information in your account that wasn't available just on the website.

 

On 3/12/2019 at 9:16 AM, sjoens said:

5. 'Inst' key only brings up 1 arbitrary softsynth GUI, not the one on the selected track as it should.

Not for me, the "inst" key bought up the instrument for any track that I had selected.

On 3/12/2019 at 9:16 AM, sjoens said:

@Larry Jones Trying to use all the controls but it's a little confusing especially when controlling multiple DAWs that require different settings. Almost not worth the hassle. Nektar's info is all over the place and requires a bit of investigation and patience to make it all work. Not a lot of helpful videos either.

You have to install all the setup files for each DAW on your system, then there is the issue if for some reason, the DAW does not select the correct in and out midi preferences so you have to do that yourself and the instructions for this are available as part of the instructions in your account.

On 3/12/2019 at 9:16 AM, sjoens said:

A small matter of inconvenience is not being able to change the controls. I'd like the track buttons to default to SOLO instead of MUTE and the Master/Track fader to control the... master track, not the "current" track. If this can be done, I can't find any info on how to do it.

I think if you want to setup this level of customization then you could use the ACT and not use the setup files, I've not used the Cakewalk ACT so cannot help you there.

 

[sjoens]

Paper manual comes with new units, also downloadable as PDF. I have all the files and instructions needed for each DAW, tho the Mixcraft files in my account were the wrong ones. I had to find those elswhere. I've actually had to go back and forth with the MIDI setup and reboot the thing several times so there may be something wrong with my unit.

Is yours the PLUS model?

[Tezza]

No it's the older LX standard. I am using the GX at the moment which I bought new. But the GX doesn't have all the controls, it's just the keyboard. I liked the LX keyboard but in my current setup I don't have room for it on my desk, thought I would get the GX which is much slimmer, except the keyboard is completely different, still getting used to it, LX more synth like, GX more piano like.

[sjoens]

I tested the LX88+ with Sonar X1, X2, Platinum & CbB.

It seems to work as expected in X1 but in X2 and newer it has a list of odd behaviors as mentioned above. X1 exhibited none of them.

So X2 must have introduced some internal changes causing it to behave differently with this controller.

I'm still in contact with their tech support and requested an update for the drivers/integration.

[Larry Jones]

I've been using the LX-61+ for a year and a half. It works out of the box as a MIDI controller, and there is a file you can download from the company for each of several DAWS. I got the ones for SONAR and Studio One. The SONAR one worked with all the DAW controls as near as I could tell, but it was not comfortable for me and I abandoned most of it after a couple of weeks. The S1 compatibility was extremely limited even with their download. I assumed that was because Presonus sells control surfaces, which they want to work better with Studio One than anyone else's control surface. There is much talk of Studio One's customization capabilities, but  Cakewalk by Bandlab became available and I went back to what I knew.

@sjoens I have the impression from your earlier posts that you did not at first use the Nektar download to set up your LX 88. Is that right? 

Edited March 16, 2019 by Larry Jones
clarity

[sjoens]

I followed the download & installation instructions. I should have mentioned that but for me it's a given.

According to Nektar support, it works with their testing of CbB and haven't heard from anyone else with issues.

I sent them some MIDIOX midi data reports and they say the data looks normal.

My X1 works fine with it. For some reason X2, X3, Splat, & CbB don't. There is clearly some data corruption going on there so I need to keep investigating.

FWIW, it works as expected in all my other DAWs.

Edited March 16, 2019 by sjoens

[Larry Jones]

@sjoens see my response to your other post about this. I'm having similar problems, just not as important to me because I don't use the control surface. But I can confirm some of your issues are not yours alone.

Edited March 16, 2019 by Larry Jones

[GaryW]

Apologies adding to an old thread, but I had a problem using a Nektar LX49+ as control surface, which I have managed to resolve, and thought what I found may be useful to others.

I have Sonar X1 Producer, Sonar X2 Producer, Sonar Platinum, and Cakewalk by Bandlab installed and all but one of failed to recognize anything other than basic CC and note messages - X2 was the only one that worked. I went through all the MIDI playback and record settings and only found one difference - in X2, System Exclusive was enabled but was not in the X1, Platinum or Cakewalk. Enabling this and restarting fixed the problem for me across the board.

Cheers,

Gary