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Control Surface advice

longofest

longofest

Editor emeritus
Original poster
Jul 10, 2003
2,943
1,740
Falls Church, VA
Looking to buy a control surface with my audio workstation upgrade. I'm eying the Behringer BCF2000. Anyone have experience with it?

If not, anyone have experience with another somewhat low cost fader control?

I use Digital Performer 5.
 
longofest said:
Looking to buy a control surface with my audio workstation upgrade. I'm eying the Behringer BCF2000. Anyone have experience with it?

If not, anyone have experience with another somewhat low cost fader control?

I use Digital Performer 5.
Click to expand...

If you're already looking at a Behringer product, I'd say there's absolutely no way you're going to find a good controller in that price range.
If you really want great quality at a low price point (relatively speaking in the pro audio world), I'd recommend either the euphonix mc control ($1500) or MC Mix ($999). Once DP start to fully support Eucon, and they will, you'll have all the freedom in the world with these products when it comes to automating and tweaking plugins. Being a PTHD user, I sadly have to pass on those things of beauty.
 
MC Mix looks pretty nice. It's a bit higher than I was hoping, but it looks like it is much more integrated. I'd rather keep the price at or below $600 so my total expendatures (including the interface) is around $1k.
 
longofest said:
MC Mix looks pretty nice. It's a bit higher than I was hoping, but it looks like it is much more integrated. I'd rather keep the price at or below $600 so my total expendatures (including the interface) is around $1k.
Click to expand...

Mackie Controls are being sold second hand on ebay for around that price or less. I'd say they were a far better bet than the Behringer.
Have a look around ebay.
 
After spending some time at Guitar Center last night, I did in fact go with the Behringer control surface, mainly because someone there actually recommended it and they owned it. For the price I figured why not.

I also decided to spring for the FireStudio Project since it has a SWEET rebate offer currently (a totally free mobile 96k interface). Also, the fact that it has 2 sends and returns and is $50 cheaper than the 8pre all kind of won me over, even though I'm a total fan of MOTU.
 
Just as a follow-up. I'm very happy with my BCF-2000. It took a while to figure out how to get it into Baby-HUI mode, but after that was done, it works like a charm for what I need it to do.

Very good bang for the buck.
 
I was about to recommend the Frontier Alphatrack. Its great for a compact inexpensive box of tricks. Still, im glad the Behringer worked out for you :) I considered that one also.
 
Luap said:
I was about to recommend the Frontier Alphatrack. Its great for a compact inexpensive box of tricks. Still, im glad the Behringer worked out for you :) I considered that one also.
Click to expand...

Obviously, there are a lot of good control surfaces out there. I seriously considered the euphonix system that was recommended here, but when i got to guitar center and someone recommended the Behringer system, I decided to go with the cheaper system. It suits my needs. But thanks to all for the advice!
 
Yes, the other ones are generally more expensive. The Frontier one I mentioned however, is a similar price to the Behringer I believe. Looks very different mind, but it works very well indeed.
 
I used to have the BCF2000 and I really liked it but I ended up selling it for the older version of the Mackie Control Universal. (Which I got new at Guitar Center for $750 somehow...) Anyways, enjoy your purchase! It will do you well.
 
I picked up a demo BCF2000 for $65 at the local Guitar Center. It works fine in both ProTools 7.4 and Tracktion for the type of work I do (100% audio, no MIDI). Could it be better? Sure, Smoother faders, real scribble strips (the mapping is a bit arcane), but at 1/10 the price or so, it's a pretty good tool, and if you decide you like working with a control surface (or even if you don't) and want something better, at that price, you can practically throw it away if you can't unload it on eBay.

Bill Bain
Atlanta
 
Check out the Novation SL ZERO. The thing gets top marks from Future Music. I just picked up the SL Compact 49 and the Automapping is a god send. Fully compatible with DP and MAS plug ins.
 
EuControl 1.2.2

We are pleased to announce the release of EuControl 1.2.2

What's New

MOTU Digital Performer 6 (v6.01 or later) now directly supports EuCon, giving you added in-depth control of DP from MC Control and MC Mix. You no longer need to configure DP to use Mackie Control. Detailed setup instructions are found in the EuCon Application Setup Guide (PDF), included with this installer.

EuControl now remembers which surfaces are in the My Surfaces list. This helps in facilities where other EuControl users are on your same network, as only surfaces that belong to you are added when EuControl starts. If this applies to you, go to the Surfaces tab and change the new Automatically add: pop-up button to My Surfaces only.
The default setting is All Surfaces, which is used when you are the only person running EuControl in your home or studio. It provides a no hassle, plug and play experience, automatically adding your surface(s) so you never have to manually edit the My Surfaces list.

MC Control users can speedily scroll through Pro Tools tracks using the jog wheel. When controlling Pro Tools, go to the Soft Key tab and assign the EuCon command Left Edit > Nudge to a soft key. Toggle this soft key on. Turn to jog wheel to nudge forward and backward through all tracks.

Bug Fixes

Improvements in knob sensitivity when controlling certain Pro Tools plug-ins. If using Waves plug-ins with Pro Tools, be sure to select the HUI control surfaces support (low res) checkbox in the Waves Preferences dialog box that comes up when launching Pro Tools. You can hold the shift key during Pro Tools launch to show this dialog.

In the Insert Special pop-up button found in the the Soft Key Command Editor's Add... Key command, the \, Keypad Enter, Return, and Spacebar keys now work correctly.

General stability fixes.
 
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