Mackie control and Mackie Control XT

[Ianshawn Smith]

I have a Behringer X-touch and (2) X-touch extenders.  Because of how Cakewalk labels the (Mackie Control XT) extenders, I am only able to use one of them (the extenders).  Cubass, Reaper, and I believe Studio One labels their Mackie Controllers with more detail so that you can use more than one extender.  I have been using and loving Cakewalk for the better part of 20 years and I would love for this to be adjusted.  There are work-arounds, but that involves networking and additional 3rd party software that I don't really care to add to my computer.  Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

 

PS.  There is a software developer that goes by the name of Drivenbymoss who has created a plug-in for Reaper and Bitwiz that allows for the use of colors and 7 characters on the scribble strips.  This would be an added bonus request, but I would be okay for now if the relabeling of the Mackie Control could be addressed so that I/we can fully utilize our hardware with this amazing software.

[msmcleod]

I've just tried 2 x Mackie Control XT and a Mackie MCU without issues.

I'm not sure what you mean about how Cakewalk labels the extenders - there is no labelling, just the MIDI port name which Cakewalk gets from Windows.

You should be able to simply add the devices in order from left to right.

So in my case, I've got Mackie XT #1 : channels 1 - 8,  Mackie XT #2:  channels 9 - 16,  Mackie MCU:  channels 17 - 24.

I simply add them as follows in the Control Surface preferences dialog:



Obviously if the Behringer units use USB for MIDI, you'll need to take care to set the correct MIDI ports, but apart from that, Cakewalk will automatically assign the strip channels in order you've added them.

If you wanted the main unit to control channels 1-8, then extender #1: 9-16 / extender #2: 17-24, you'd add them as:

Mackie Control
Mackie Control XT
Mackie Control XT

 

[Ianshawn Smith]

I will give it a try as you have suggested.  I have been attempting and researching this topic for a couple of years now and the only workaround I have found is using a network option to use the second extender utilizing a ethernet switch.  In the past using usb I would get an error and not able to use the second extender because cakewalk thought it was the same devise.  Cakewalk reads them as X-touch and X-touch Ext.  so when trying to add the second extender I can't use the second one as a unique output.  I hope this makes sense.

 

[Ianshawn Smith]

As shown in the screen shots, Cakewalk will list both extenders in the input, but only show one in the output.  I don't have this issue with Reaper or Pro Tools.   And yes, Behringer uses USB for midi.

Edited November 5 by Ianshawn Smith

[msmcleod]

A few things to try:

1. Make sure your devices are plugged in / switched on before you start Sonar
2. Set your MIDI device mode to MME rather than UWP (note: you can only change device mode if no project is loaded)


 

[KWILD]

You can give a try to Azslow AZ controller, instead : https://www.azslow.com/

Also check this post, can be useful : 

 

Edited November 5 by KWILD

[msmcleod]

8 minutes ago, KWILD said:

You can give a try to Azslow AZ controller, instead : https://www.azslow.com/

Also check this post, can be useful : 

 

AZController won't help if the MIDI devices aren't showing up in the first place.

[KWILD]

Yes, but maybe using AZController he can configure the 2 controllers as a "big one" supposing that since they are using the same driver and both are receiving data. Just a suggestion, I'm not sure I understand the problem at hand. I only have an X-Touch and I use it with AZController  without any problems.

 

EDIT: sorry, I didn't read the word "extender" I now understand that it is an expansion compatible with the X-Touch!

I understood that it was 2 x-touch controllers! 😅

 

Edited November 5 by KWILD

[pwallie]

possibly useful parallel thread happening, azslow is online

 

[KWILD]

1 hour ago, lɐʍd said:

possibly useful parallel thread happening, azslow is online

 

Never tried this "extenders" but i suppose it can be treated as a bank switch of the same X-Touch device inside AZController.

[Ianshawn Smith]

My settings as you have mentioned and yet still only one X-touch extender shows up on the outputs.  I've attached screenshots of how Reaper is able to see and label the two extenders.

[msmcleod]

@Ianshawn Smith - have you tried:

1. Closing Sonar
2. Renaming TTSSEQ.ini to TTSSEQ.ini.old  ( in %APPDATA%\Cakewalk\Sonar )
3. Restarting Sonar

This should refresh the MIDI device list.

[msmcleod]

You may also want to take a look at this article:

https://medium.com/@stickgrinder/how-to-solve-the-infamous-windows-10-midi-device-renaming-issue-9aa793fa9f0a

TLDR:  Plugging lots of MIDI devices into different USB ports over time results in tonnes of MIDI device entries in the registry.  This article shows you how to clean them up, and some advice for preventing it in the future.

[Ianshawn Smith]

I have not.  I will give this a try and read the article as well.  fingers crossed and I'll keep you posted.

[Ianshawn Smith]

So... I renamed  the TTSSEQ.ini to TTSSEQ.ini.new and my second x-touch extender still did not show up as an output.  I used the USBDeview and I do not see multiple instances of the x-touch extension.  I supposed I can go and clean up other devises that are no longer connected, but this does not solve my current problem.  Even after cleaning up USB devices using USBDeview and restarting my computer, Cakewalk does not give me two outputs for the X-Touch Extensions.  USBDeview shows the two different devises connected.

Edited November 5 by Ianshawn Smith