Hardware Controls

[BHFelix]

Maybe there is a feature that I don't know about but something I think would be really helpful in work flow is if there could be simple external hardware control embedded into track views.

My example would be this:

I mostly use direct monitoring in my interfaces and it's very cumbersome switching between applications to work with turning direct monitoring on and off as needed.  Sometimes I want to monitor through the DAW and sometimes through the direct monitoring.   The interfaces I am using (with more and more on the markets) can be controlled through MIDI, OSC Remote protocols and other protocols.   I have used studioware long time ago, although is was very awkward sometimes, but what would be really helpful is if there were an advanced programming feature to add simple buttons into track views that could control these hardware features.  In the simplest example I would like to add a button similar to the Input Echo to simply switch direct monitoring on and off in the interface.

In the simplest form I suppose I am asking if it's possible to have buttons in track view that can be clicked to execute a midi, OSC, or other command to gear related to that track.  Or a rotary type control to adjust a feature like input gain on programmable preamps?  Especially for recalling sessions.

Hopefully I have explained what I am thinking off clearly, or something exists already that I don't know about.  in a nutshell I want to make changes in on application/view rather than in two or three applications reducing time and margins for errors.

Thanks!

[David Baay]

Steinberg added a feature to the ASIO 2.0 spec called Hardware Direct Monitoring that allows DAW software to enable direct monitoring through interfaces that support it, but it was never implemented in SONAR/Cakewalk. As I recall, CTO, Noel Borthwick, concluded that the spec wasn't well-defined enough and/or it wasn't widely enough supported by hardware to make it worthwhile. I'm not sure how widely supported it is today.

You could probably set up remote control of direct monitoring via another piece of hardware (e.g. a  keyboard controller or control surface), but there's no mechanism to add a control to the UI in Cakewalk other than Studioware panels as you mentioned.