HUI Protocol and MCC Support within Mixcraft

[Anorax]

Hi,

It's to my understanding that Mixcraft does not currently support the HUI protocol (which is apparently a separate protocol from MCU, which Mixcraft does support). Some devices, like the Novation Impulse keyboards, are HUI-compatible (see the Novation Impulse user guide, page 29 - apparently the Impulse automatically recognizes the HUI heartbeat from a DAW and enables/disables HUI mode depending on the existence of said heartbeat), but appear to not work with Mixcraft's Mackie control surface preset. Could future builds of Mixcraft support the HUI protocol?


On a separate note, the Impulse has transport control buttons that can either transmit MIDI Machine Control (MCC) or CC messages over MIDI, but Mixcraft only supports CC-in. Is it possible for Mixcraft to support MIDI Machine Control messages in the future?

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

HUI is closely related to Mackie control. What happens when you try Mackie control with the Impulse?

Greg

[Anorax]

The Impulse has a HUI communication light on its display screen, and it does not light up when using either Logic Control or Mackie Control in Mixcraft. It does light up when I open Ableton, although that may be due to a custom Ableton Live integration rather than HUI.

EDIT: It seems that the User Guide was updated last Autumn, to coincide with a HUI-related firmware update for the Impulse. I'll test that a bit before I comment further.

EDIT 2:Ok, so the firmware update adds two new virtual MIDI ports to the Impulse in order to handle HUI on the device itself. It seems that when you engage Mackie Control or Logic Control (using the new virtual ports as the in- and outputs), the Impulse recognizes some sort of connection for about 5 seconds, but then times out due to a lack of HUI heartbeat and reverts to standard MIDI operation (but if any sliders or knobs get moved during that time period, Mixcraft begins to act weird, might need to make a video but clearly Mackie Control doesn't like regular HUI input). MOTU's Digital Performer has a HUI control surface mode that is separate from its Mackie Control control surface mode, and when the Impulse is properly connected it maintains its HUI connection (I assume due to the heartbeat) and the Impulse can control the transport and mixer as expected.

[Swallowsongmusic]

Its been a few years but i got myself an impulse keyboard and im running into the same problems.
Have you been able to find a fix at some point?

[Acoustica Greg]

Its been a few years but i got myself an impulse keyboard and im running into the same problems.
Have you been able to find a fix at some point?

Hi,

Which Impulse keyboard do you have? Does it support Mackie Control?

Greg

[Swallowsongmusic]

The Novation Impulse 61.
It should work with mackie control but in mixcraft it loses connection after a few seconds.
They mention something about a "heartbeat" message that the daw is supposed to send?

Ive done a ton of research the last week or so (allthough it is far from my field of expertise). It seems that the problem lies in the difference between mackie and mackieHUI. So the keyboard works with daws that have a specific controller, OR a MackieHUI controller. ive installed a demo of studio one, and it has a distinction between mackie and mackieHUI. If i select mackie the keyboard has the same problem, but with MackieHUI it works fully.

I understand you are adding control surfaces as you come across them so i understand if there might never be a official impulse controller support. but is general MackieHUI something that could be added at some point?

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

We're adding new controller scripts as we get our hands on the hardware. Users with some technical knowledge of JavaScript can create and share their own scripts. Here's the info: The Mixcraft 10 Controller Script API.

In regard to Mackie Control, it seems odd that it disconnects. How is your Impulse 61 connected to your computer? Is it a direct connection from the keyboard to a USB port on the computer, or is there a USB hub or something else in between? If there is, try bypassing that. You can also try a different USB port. (Some computers have both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports).

If you don't choose Mackie Control and just use the MIDI Learn option in Mixcraft's toolbar, does that work? Do you lose connection with that?

Greg

[Swallowsongmusic]

So this is exclusively about control surface compatibillity, i can use the keyboard fine as a midi controller.
Its not a hardware issue. The keyboard works as it should as a midi controller.

Ive been deep diving but i have zero programming experience.
A few DAWs have either Mackie HUI / Generic HUI controllers. some have support for this specific keyboard (Ableton for example)
a few like bitwig and fl-studio happen to have a custom made script. I might contact the creators of those to see if there is someway to port that to mixcraft.

using normal Mackie controller scripts in other daws give the same problem. something to do with the "Heartbeat" message i mentioned.

In any case, its not the end of the world. It works as a midi controller. but its a shame to not capitalize on all the keyboard's features.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

It seems very odd that it would lose connection after a few seconds. Do you lose the keyboard, too? Or just the controls? When you select Mackie Control, make sure you also select the correct input and output in Control Surface preferences.

Did you install the latest driver from this page? https://downloads.novationmusic.com/nov ... impulse-61

Greg

[Swallowsongmusic]

Midi works fine, the control surface tries to connect. but like the novation manual says, if it doesnt detect a "heartbeat" signal from the daw it shuts back from hui to midi mode after 5 seconds. From what i gather Mackie and HUI are similar but not the same. this is confirmed by trying multiple daws. If the Daw has MackieHUI or a variation of HUI it works. Or a specific impulse script. if it only has mackie it does the same as it does in mixcraft.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

Gotcha. Thanks for your feedback!

Greg

[Swallowsongmusic]

Thanks for thinking along!