Compatible Surface Controllers for MixCraft 8

[TonyRapa]

Hi Guys!

I'm very new to MixCraft, and apart from one issue which seems to be kind of resolved now, I'm loving MixCraft 8.

My question is fairly straightforward: which of the below control surfaces is compatible with MixCraft 8?

Korg Nano Kontrol Studio (cheapest)
PreSonus Faderport 8
Behringer X-Touch Surface
ICON QCon Pro G2
Mackie Mcu Pro (very expensive)
Any other suggested control surface is welcome

I'm not interested in knowing if any of these control surfaces is any good (there are plenty of reviews about that). I just want to purchase one that can work well with MixCraft 8 without too much hassle.

UPDATE
I just saw this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOxWGmoo3vY) and it looks like he's using a Mackie MCU pro... presumably then, that should be pretty compatible?

UPDATE 2
I just found this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iev_GHYDzNo)... which would indicate that pretty much any surface controller that supports Mackie protocol should be compatible.

PS - I'm not looking for a keyboard controller, as I already have one.

Many thanks in advance.

Tony

[Rolling Estonian]

I have a Korg Nanokontrol and love it! Very basic but good enough for me, I'm just a hobbyist. You do have to do manual setup but it's pretty easy. Also, Mackie control won't assign everything right off the bat, most times you'll have to some tweaking but again, midi learn makes it easy.

M

[TonyRapa]

Thanks Rolling Estonian! The only thing that is putting me off buying a nanoKontrol is that it doesn't have motorised faders. I have a keyboard controller with faders, and it kind of pees me off that when I move from bank to bank the faders don't remember where they should be. Then as soon as you move one you're completely in the wrong place. Otherwise, I think I would have bought one already. But it's good to hear that it plays well with MC 8 because it is by far the cheapest option.

Thanks again.

[GovernmentMule]

I've had the Mackie MCU Pro for about 4 years now. I bought it before the X-Touch or the Faderport came out. It works good in Mixcraft. All the basic functions work like transport, faders, solo, mute and arm buttons etc work. Not all the available buttons work though. They do not all work in any other Daw's either! It is up to the programmers of the Daw to implement into the programming. For instance, there are 8 VPot (rotary encoders) that have an assign button for them for panning, plugins, etc. In Mixcraft these will only control the pan of each track. The only Daw I have tried that I could control the plugins with these was Studio One. I have not tried any others Daw's in awhile though, so that could have changed. But overall it has been a good decent contoller for Mixcraft. It was a little expensive and the X-Touch and Faderport are about half the price, so if I was to buy again I would probably go for one of those. Just do not expect every button to do something in any Daw.

[TonyRapa]

Thanks GovernmentMule. That's very reassuring to hear.

You say that some buttons don't do anything, but can't they be assigned with MIDI learn?

[GovernmentMule]

Thanks GovernmentMule. That's very reassuring to hear.

You say that some buttons don't do anything, but can't they be assigned with MIDI learn?

Unfortunately no, it is a different protocol. From what little I know it uses midi messages and sysex messages both.

[TonyRapa]

Thanks GovernmentMule. Well as long as the bread and butter tasks are handled then anything else is a happy bonus.

[MiltonRob]

I'm using a Faderport 8... works decently with MC8....

[jlouvar]

I'm thinking about getting a Akai MPK249 Professional keyboard controller... Does anyone have one, your thoughts?

[GovernmentMule]

I'm thinking about getting a Akai MPK249 Professional keyboard controller... Does anyone have one, your thoughts?

I have no experience with it but I thought I would share this video for people who have not seen it yet.

He's not using a MK249 but a MK49. It shows how easy it is to set up in Mixcraft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFVTJKVTwvA

[jlouvar]

I'm thinking about getting a Akai MPK249 Professional keyboard controller... Does anyone have one, your thoughts?

I have no experience with it but I thought I would share this video for people who have not seen it yet.

He's not using a MK249 but a MK49. It shows how easy it is to set up in Mixcraft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFVTJKVTwvA

Thanks, I’ve seen that video.

[Drafter]

Tony,

I am running the Behringer X-Touch control surfaces. I have 2 of the X-Touch main units, and 3 of the X-Touch Extenders for physical control over 40 tracks without having to bank shift. In my opinion, they are far nicer than the Mackie MCU / MCU Pro units and are WAY cheaper. And yes, I owned the Mackie MCU units, so I am not making statements out of my a**. The faders on the Mackie units are very problematic, and need to be replaced very often because they are prone to frequent failures. The faders on the X-Touch's are rock solid. Never had a problem with a single one of them.

The build quality on the X-Touch's is awesome and they work flawlessly. Now, as some of the other posters said, all the buttons don't work in Mixcraft. This is not the fault of the X-Touch. It is because Acoustica has not implemented all of the available functions in the Mackie Control Protocol. However, all of the pertinent functions DO work, such as:

Fader automation and sync with on screen faders
Channel mute / solo / arm / select buttons on each track
All transport controls
Jog wheel
View & Zoom buttons
Pan pots
Time / Beat display button
Loop / Cycle button

As far as being able to program the remaining buttons to work, Mixcraft doesn't have the ability to re-map buttons within the Mackie Control Protocol. Some other programs do, like Samplitude Pro X3 / X4. I run this also, and you can literally map any button to perform any function in the program. I suggested this ability to Acoustica for the next version of Mixcraft. We'll see if they're able to do something like that.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the level meter on each X-Touch channel do not work in Mixcraft either. They do work in Samplitude, so I know that they do actually work.

[TonyRapa]

I'm using a Faderport 8... works decently with MC8....

That's cool, thanks MiltonRob. It looks as if there shouldn't be too many issues using any of those mentioned above. As I said, I have a midi keyboard controller which works well with MC8 straight out the box. Now, I just have to make my mind up which surface controller I want to get...

[TonyRapa]

Tony,

I am running the Behringer X-Touch control surfaces. I have 2 of the X-Touch main units, and 3 of the X-Touch Extenders for physical control over 40 tracks without having to bank shift. In my opinion, they are far nicer than the Mackie MCU / MCU Pro units and are WAY cheaper. And yes, I owned the Mackie MCU units, so I am not making statements out of my a**. The faders on the Mackie units are very problematic, and need to be replaced very often because they are prone to frequent failures. The faders on the X-Touch's are rock solid. Never had a problem with a single one of them.

The build quality on the X-Touch's is awesome and they work flawlessly. Now, as some of the other posters said, all the buttons don't work in Mixcraft. This is not the fault of the X-Touch. It is because Acoustica has not implemented all of the available functions in the Mackie Control Protocol. However, all of the pertinent functions DO work, such as:

Fader automation and sync with on screen faders
Channel mute / solo / arm / select buttons on each track
All transport controls
Jog wheel
View & Zoom buttons
Pan pots
Time / Beat display button
Loop / Cycle button

As far as being able to program the remaining buttons to work, Mixcraft doesn't have the ability to re-map buttons within the Mackie Control Protocol. Some other programs do, like Samplitude Pro X3 / X4. I run this also, and you can literally map any button to perform any function in the program. I suggested this ability to Acoustica for the next version of Mixcraft. We'll see if they're able to do something like that.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the level meter on each X-Touch channel do not work in Mixcraft either. They do work in Samplitude, so I know that they do actually work.

Thanks Drafter. I feel confident now. It's just a matter of which control surface to get now. In terms of buttons and full mackie implementation, then I agaree: I hope Acoustica flesh out the remaining functions.

[TonyRapa]

I'm thinking about getting a Akai MPK249 Professional keyboard controller... Does anyone have one, your thoughts?

I have a M-Audio CTRL49... it'll be very similar to Akai under the hood since they're related. After setting up the CTRL49 in the settings (which is very easy to do - lots of very helpful videos from MC University), it went straight to work with no problems. So I would imagine that the Akai MPK249 will play fine too.