Adding a Mackie Control Universal to my setup has caused problems.

[Dave Maffris]

Someone gave me a free Mackie Control Universal, it's the old model without a usb port, just MIDI in/out. I connected it to my current version of Cbb and for the first time tried to use an external control surface. I put the Mackie unit into Mackie Control mode. The faders responded automatically, as do the arming of tracks, etc. But I cannot use it, because when opening any virtual instrument I cannot get either of my attached controller keyboards to communicate with Cakewalk.  That is, press a keyboard key and no sound and the instrument's virtual keyboard doesn't respond. It's as if it's not on the right channel, but I typically set my tracks for "all inputs/midi omni" which always works, but not now. I have connected the Mackie unit not to a keyboard, but to my Presonus Quantum Midi in/out and everything looks good in settings, etc. If I disconnect the Mackie unit and reboot my computer, Cakewalk resumes functioning normally in all ways. If someone has any advice for me, so I can actually use this Mackie Universal Control unit, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!  UPDATE: I am now able to send and receive Midi while the Mackie control surface is connected, and it seems to work, however in order to hear any sound  I had to change the output on each track from Master to my Presonus main outs. Then I noticed my Master fader on the Mackie was at zero! I do t know why it snapped to zero, is there a setting I can find that will open at the unity level or whatever it is set for in my projects when they load? Still experimenting with this, progress, but still not quite there. 

Edited December 24, 2023 by Dave Maffris
Update

[Craig Anderton]

If you're using an older operating system, perhaps you're run into the Windows MIDI port limit issue?

[Dave Maffris]

Not sure I understand,  Craig, I’ll follow the article and see.  But I have  Windows 10 Pro installed. Like I’m say, the Mackie device seems to be reading faders, tracks, etc, but I can’t get my keyboards to respond and input any data. Normally if that happens it’s because my input on the track isn’t set up to read all Midi Channels. I’ve never hooked up my Quantum Midi connections before, and  again the Mackie is connected and responding.  I’m frustrated at this point, don’t know what else to try. Could it be I need to uncheck “disable handshake” in the controller properties page? 

[David Baay]

Are the keyboards using independent USB MIDI connections and the Mackie is plugged into a seprate interface port so nothing is daisy-chained? Then did you set up theMackie as a control surface in ACT, and were the other ports possibly included inadvertently.

[Dave Maffris]

Each keyboard has its own usb port. Mackie is older and only has Midi Din connectors, so I put that into my Presonus Quantum’s Midi in and out ports.  I added the control  surface using Mackie control profile. The faders respond, I can arm a track, solo, mute, etc. But my keyboards are no longer responding to midi messages, it’s like it’s short circuited. NOT  about your ACT question, please elaborate if you can, step by step, and much appreciated. 

[David Baay]

I haven't set up or used a control surface for a long time so I'm not the one to give detailed guidance; I just wanted to check that the basics were right which sounds like they are. All I know is that when a keyboard stops working as a basic MIDI performance controller, it's often because ACT has taken over the port as a control surface.

Edited December 24, 2023 by David Baay

[Dave Maffris]

Latest update, it’s working for a lot of things now. Still can’t get a track to be set for write automation, though. I have the Lexar template for Sonar, I can disable read automation globally, can’t set read or write per track and there is no button for global write automation, only read. Would be nice to be able to arm the automation from the Mackie control surface, perhaps I can map it manually,  I do t have a manual, but have looked online a bit.

[John]

Dave I am unclear how you have connected the MC pro to the computer. In my set I use a MIDI interface that gives me 6 MIDI ports and is connected by USB . With that I connect a MIDI sound module a MIDI keyboard an Mackie Control  (MIDI only) and a second MIDI sound module. There is no crosstalk or interference.

I suspect you have somehow installed your MIDI inputs and outputs where nothing is separate.  You say you connected it to CBB but how, and do you have a MIDI port that is unused? 

[Dave Maffris]

I got it working when I connected to my Audio interface

s MIDI in and out ports. Although there are still something's not working, so perhaps you can send me screen shot of your settings for the Mackie unit. I want to make sure I have the proper items checked and unchecked. I find that the faders are not always consistent in their behavior, and at start up my Master fader is at zero and sometimes has a mind of it's own, even though the project tempate loading has the master fader at the unity position. THanks.

[John]

I hope this helps 

 

Under ACT you can access the properties page for the Mackie Control.  Here you can setup how you want the MC to work with Cakewalk.

 

[msmcleod]

On 12/25/2023 at 5:49 PM, Dave Maffris said:

Latest update, it’s working for a lot of things now. Still can’t get a track to be set for write automation, though. I have the Lexar template for Sonar, I can disable read automation globally, can’t set read or write per track and there is no button for global write automation, only read. Would be nice to be able to arm the automation from the Mackie control surface, perhaps I can map it manually,  I do t have a manual, but have looked online a bit.

Are you following the instructions in the Mackie Control Surface help?  You can get to it by pressing F1 from the dialog in the previous post.

The "Automating the Mackie Control" chapter covers all those scenarios, apart from global write automation enable - AFAIK the only way to do this is CTRL + A, then CTRL + click the enable write automation on one of the tracks, i.e. quick group the write enable.  You should be able to assign "Clear All Automation Write Enables" to one of the Mackie function keys.

[Dave Maffris]

Thanks, I haven't had time to look at any instructions much, but I'll check out that link, I definitely could use a few tips I will keep looking into it, because I'm in the middle of a massive new paid recording project and trying to use this is a mix of helpful and not helpful, because the faders seem to always snap to zero (I mean inaudible, bottom of the board) when I open a project, instead of reading where the faders are set in the project, so I have to adjust them and sometimes they "stick" and I can't adjust them until or unless I remove the automation lane from thet rack temporarily. A work in progress for me.

 

[OutrageProductions]

Try it with and without the "Disable Handshake" setting ticked in the Mackie Control preferences page (as posted above).

[msmcleod]

14 hours ago, OutrageProductions said:

Try it with and without the "Disable Handshake" setting ticked in the Mackie Control preferences page (as posted above).

This shouldn't make a difference with a genuine Mackie Control, as it correctly implements the handshake.  Older versions of the Mackie firmware actually require the handshake, as it was part of the spec at the time.

For the original MCU (the one with MIDI din connectors), v2.1.2 is the latest firmware.  This works with handshake on or off.  It is possible to upgrade to v3.0.0, but you also need to upgrade the two PWM fader IC's.

15 hours ago, Dave Maffris said:

Thanks, I haven't had time to look at any instructions much, but I'll check out that link, I definitely could use a few tips I will keep looking into it, because I'm in the middle of a massive new paid recording project and trying to use this is a mix of helpful and not helpful, because the faders seem to always snap to zero (I mean inaudible, bottom of the board) when I open a project, instead of reading where the faders are set in the project, so I have to adjust them and sometimes they "stick" and I can't adjust them until or unless I remove the automation lane from thet rack temporarily. A work in progress for me.

 

This sounds suspiciously like missing MIDI messages.  There are a few potential causes of this:

1. Some MIDI messages are "unchecked" within Preferences -> MIDI -> Playback and Recording.  Pitch Wheel is definitely required for the faders, and I think Channel Aftertouch is also required for normal MCU operation.  System Exclusive is required if the handshake is enabled.

2. Wrong MIDI ports defined.  The MCU requires two way communication.  If the MCU's receiving port is wrong, it'll force the fader to its last known value.  This could also be caused by a MIDI merge feature on some more advanced interfaces - make sure any merge/thru feature is turned off for those ports.

3. A MIDI buffer overflow in the interface. 

The MCU generates a lot of MIDI traffic, and some MIDI interfaces just can't keep up with the load.   This is especially true for those USB to MIDI "cables".

Essentially what is happening is, the MIDI interface receives data from Cakewalk at USB speeds then has to send it out at 31.25Khz (orders of magnitude slower).  This requires the interface have a buffer large enough to hold the incoming MIDI messages while it sends them out at a slower speed.

Unfortunately if this is the cause, there's not a lot you can do except replace your MIDI interface.  I'm using a MIDITech MIDIFACE 8x8 with my MCU/XT/C4 ( and also two controller keyboards).  This interface has been rock solid for me.

[sjoens]

@msmcleod I've read Midiface doesn't handle older synths so well or at all in some cases.  And doesn't appear to be sold in the USA.  Otherwise I might be interested, especially if it includes the added software listed on their site.

[Dave Maffris]

Update--everything's going pretty well, other than the fact that when starting it up, it calibrates the faders, but I get an error saying that Fader 6 will not calibrate, and that I need to contact Mackie Support. This is a legacy unit, so I'm not sure they would support me on this issue--so the fader (6) doesn't seem to be working properly, if at all, so for the time being I'm avoiding this track in my Daw, which is kind of lousy, but it's at least a workaround for now. Anyone know if there's an easy fix for this calibration issue? Other than that I find the unit is working well. Thanks.

[msmcleod]

2 hours ago, Dave Maffris said:

Update--everything's going pretty well, other than the fact that when starting it up, it calibrates the faders, but I get an error saying that Fader 6 will not calibrate, and that I need to contact Mackie Support. This is a legacy unit, so I'm not sure they would support me on this issue--so the fader (6) doesn't seem to be working properly, if at all, so for the time being I'm avoiding this track in my Daw, which is kind of lousy, but it's at least a workaround for now. Anyone know if there's an easy fix for this calibration issue? Other than that I find the unit is working well. Thanks.

The faders themselves are essentially a tiny fishing reel, with the fader knob attached to the line, and an optical wheel / sensor at the end of the reel. The motor pulls the line up and down and counts the number of turns of the wheel.  The calibration phase pulls the fader up and down, so it knows how many turns there are between the top and bottom positions.  If there's a mismatch in the count for top to bottom vs bottom to top, or the fader appears stiff, then calibration fails.

There's a possibility that the sensor has some dust on it, but in my experience the most common issue is a twist or tangle in the line.  The mechanism is so delicate, it's almost impossible to repair. 

The only real fix for the calibration issue is to replace the fader.  They are normally pretty hard to find, but eBay has 3 available right now:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/134804999753?hash=item1f63010e49:g:XmoAAOSwQT9lT~Hh

Replacing the fader is a pretty simple job - just unscrew / unplug the old one, and plug/screw in the new one.

Most faders don't come with the knob, so make sure you keep hold of the old one.

[Dave Maffris]

18 hours ago, msmcleod said:

The faders themselves are essentially a tiny fishing reel, with the fader knob attached to the line, and an optical wheel / sensor at the end of the reel. The motor pulls the line up and down and counts the number of turns of the wheel.  The calibration phase pulls the fader up and down, so it knows how many turns there are between the top and bottom positions.  If there's a mismatch in the count for top to bottom vs bottom to top, or the fader appears stiff, then calibration fails.

There's a possibility that the sensor has some dust on it, but in my experience the most common issue is a twist or tangle in the line.  The mechanism is so delicate, it's almost impossible to repair. 

The only real fix for the calibration issue is to replace the fader.  They are normally pretty hard to find, but eBay has 3 available right now:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/134804999753?hash=item1f63010e49:g:XmoAAOSwQT9lT~Hh

Replacing the fader is a pretty simple job - just unscrew / unplug the old one, and plug/screw in the new one.

Most faders don't come with the knob, so make sure you keep hold of the old one.

Thanks for the link and the information. I was hoping for something a bit easier, but at least there is a fix. I got this unit for free, so perhaps a small expense and time to fix will be worth it, although I am not at all mechanically inclined. At least I know people that are, lol. Thanks.