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R/E/P => R/E/P Archives => The Acid Test => Topic started by: Nick Sevilla on January 05, 2009, 04:50:51 PM

Title: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: Nick Sevilla on January 05, 2009, 04:50:51 PM
Hi,

I bought these two units about 10 days ago, to replace my older and now not-quite-functioning mixing controller.

I was surprised at the quality of the units, they feel very solid and professional.

Their response to the DAW (Pro tools HD) is fast, and I can now control plug ins more accurately than before, like by 1/10th of dBs, and such. My older controller did not have as much resolution.

The faders respond to the touch immediately, which is great because I do not like to put pressure on them, so they last longer.

I have not yet explored the programmability of the Control unit, but I am sure eventually i will find that having my favorite commands on the first page of the touch - sensitive screen will improve my speed whilst editing.

There has been one issue, which I did mention to Euphonix, and that is that when banking between channels, the units do not stop at the first or last channel, but instead keep going onto empty channels, thus making somewhat of an issue, when banking across a larger track count session. For me, it would be nice if the banking stopped when the surface reaches either end of the session, like other controllers out there. I'll follow up with Euphonix and see if they are considering addressing this issue.

Overall I love the units, I was able to work the first day I got them, with minimal setup (Ethernet setup does take a while) and got going on an album mix quickly.

Cheers
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: Barry Hufker on January 05, 2009, 05:19:53 PM
Nick,

Thanks for your report. I find it very helpful as I contemplate a Euphonix purchase.  Sound on Sound magazine thought both units to be good but had more troubles at the time than you seem to, so it could be those issues were fixed.

My problem is I'd have to buy the Euphonix gear and upgrade Nuendo.  Those two make for a fairly pricey purchase...

Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: Nick Sevilla on January 06, 2009, 12:19:23 PM
Hi Barry,

In my case it was not so much a purchase I wanted to do, but borne out of necessity. My old control surface developed three bad faders over the course of 10 days. I tried cleaning them, but to no avail. Since the old unit was almost 5 years old, I decided instead of repairing it, (it is no longer supported by the manufacturer) to replace it with something new.

I did test other equipment, and the Euphonix does the trick, especially for the price point. I compared it to other controllers many times it's price, and found the Euphonix held it's own against them, including the Digidesign Icon.

The only issue as far as setting it up, is installing the latest software for them first, then shutting down the computer, hooking up all the units, THEN turning on the internet router, then the controllers, then the computer. In my case I made the mistake of thinking they are plug n play, which for the first time setup, is not the case.

Once it is set up the first time, it seems to be able to go without a hitch. Today it works all the time very well, I can even turn the units off and on at any time, and the computer can keep track of this automatically. It even keeps working during a session if one unit gets turned off accidentally, which is great!!! Pro Tools did not freak out when my 2 1/2 yr old son turned one off while a song was in playback. He had a nice surprise when he turned the unit back on, as the faders snap to the bottom, and quickly too... it was fun to watch him react.

Cheers
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: audio2u on January 08, 2009, 05:19:04 PM
Nick Sevilla wrote on Tue, 06 January 2009 17:19


...Pro Tools did not freak out when my 2 1/2 yr old son turned one off while a song was in playback. He had a nice surprise when he turned the unit back on, as the faders snap to the bottom, and quickly too... it was fun to watch him react.



Nick,
Just a word of warning from those who have gone before...
When I got my Mackie Control Universal, my son (who was 7 at the time, and should have known better) thought it was really cool how the Mackie ran through a calibration test when you powered the MCU up, running all the faders to the top of their travel and then back down to minus infinty again.
So, he figured it would be fun to try and hold the faders and stop them from moving.
Yeah.
Nice.
Straight back to the service centre for a complete replacement of fader number 1.
I was not a happy camper.
Cost me $145 for the new fader and installation.
Hopefully, this is not in your future! Smile
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: Nick Sevilla on January 09, 2009, 12:36:59 PM
Thanks audio2u,

My son did not hold the faders while calibrating... thank heavens.

Cheers
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: thedoc on January 15, 2009, 05:02:31 PM
Hey Bruce...!  He probably did that because he kept hearing..."children, we're starting..."
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: Glenn Bucci on January 26, 2009, 12:37:42 PM
I checked out these controllers, but they are not very deep and the Mackie Controller Pro just looks more like an analog console to me. Not to mention the Mackie unit has 8 faders and with one extention unit you have 16. You have to spend more money on the Euphoix to get 16.
A review on line said the display on the Euphonix was hard to read on them unless you were at a certain angle. Do you find that to be true?
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: Nick Sevilla on January 26, 2009, 06:36:46 PM
Glenn Bucci wrote on Mon, 26 January 2009 09:37

I checked out these controllers, but they are not very deep and the Mackie Controller Pro just looks more like an analog console to me. Not to mention the Mackie unit has 8 faders and with one extention unit you have 16. You have to spend more money on the Euphoix to get 16.
A review on line said the display on the Euphonix was hard to read on them unless you were at a certain angle. Do you find that to be true?


Hi Glenn,

To me they feel a lot more solid than the MCU I replaced it with. I did check out the Mackie Pro's as wella sthe Digi Control24 (the new one) and neither felt as solid, professional.

I do not have a problem seeing the OLEDs or the monitor, and they do come with an intensity slider in their preference software.

I can't compare them price wise, as the Euphonix does come with more programability. I did find the response to my touch faster, as they are using different faders that the mackie ones.

Cheers
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: audio2u on January 28, 2009, 12:30:53 AM
thedoc wrote on Thu, 15 January 2009 22:02

Hey Bruce...!  He probably did that because he kept hearing..."children, we're starting..."


Haha!
Very "in" joke, Doc!
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: Nick Sevilla on June 16, 2010, 02:52:29 PM
Hi,

I have an update on the MC Control,as I have bought the new V2 version.

It does have a better touchscreen, so those people interested in the command sets that are available within the touchscreen should rejoice. the screen is also easier to read as well, with better resolution than the original version.

I did not find that the new encoder knobs were that much better than the original ones, but I may yet find a difference. but so far they seem to respond about the same.

Cheers
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: zakco on June 27, 2010, 04:20:47 PM
When I was shopping for a control surface, I demoed the MC stuff alongside a C24 and a D-Command. Unfortunately the D-Command ruined my impression of the other two...I might have been impressed with the Euphonix if I had not tried the others...

My impression of the MC:

1. I found the touchscreen difficult to read and not as inspiring or intuitive as I thought it would be.

2. This thing feels CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. My 4 year old has electronic toys that feel more substantial than the faders and rotary controllers on the MC.

3. The number of rotary controllers is limiting when it comes to things like plugin mapping.

IMO the perfect controller would be something with the build quality and layout of the D-Command with the open architecture/multi platfrom nature of the Euphonix. It should have 24 faders, no mic pres, and come in just under 10k.





Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: Nick Sevilla on July 08, 2010, 09:19:44 PM
zakco wrote on Sun, 27 June 2010 13:20

When I was shopping for a control surface, I demoed the MC stuff alongside a C24 and a D-Command. Unfortunately the D-Command ruined my impression of the other two...I might have been impressed with the Euphonix if I had not tried the others...

My impression of the MC:

1. I found the touchscreen difficult to read and not as inspiring or intuitive as I thought it would be.

2. This thing feels CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP. My 4 year old has electronic toys that feel more substantial than the faders and rotary controllers on the MC.

3. The number of rotary controllers is limiting when it comes to things like plugin mapping.

IMO the perfect controller would be something with the build quality and layout of the D-Command with the open architecture/multi platform nature of the Euphonix. It should have 24 faders, no mic pres, and come in just under 10k.


Hi Zack,

Maybe if you compared the MC Control to other controllers IN ITS PRICE RANGE, you might find it is superior to the other products out there. I do find it unfair to compare two products, no matter what they are, when their price points are that far apart, 1500US to almost 10kUS for the C|24 and over 16KUs for the base 8 fader D Command. That's 6.6 times and 10.6 times more expensive tan the MC Control. Maybe compare it to the Mackie Control Universal Pro, which it directly competes with?

I am waiting until I can afford an ICON. Until then I'm "stuck" with the Euphonix MC products, which for my current situation are perfect. And no, I do not go and compare these two products as they are very different.

Cheers
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: trock on July 09, 2010, 11:31:47 AM
i just got an MC control v2, an MC mix and a transport

i replaced my mixed logic M24, which replaced an MCU and 2 xt's

install was dead simple, and they work amazing in logic, the depth is incredible. i have recently switched from cubase to logic on my mac

i can jump from logic to cubase to PT LE with out issue

the HUI mode for PT LE is 512 and it actually covers a lot of ground with plugins etc

so far i really like them.



Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: DarinK on July 09, 2010, 12:50:34 PM
trock wrote on Fri, 09 July 2010 08:31

i just got an MC control v2, an MC mix and a transport

i replaced my mixed logic M24, which replaced an MCU and 2 xt's

install was dead simple, and they work amazing in logic, the depth is incredible. i have recently switched from cubase to logic on my mac

i can jump from logic to cubase to PT LE with out issue

the HUI mode for PT LE is 512 and it actually covers a lot of ground with plugins etc

so far i really like them.




I remember you wrote a very positive review of the mixed logic M24 on here a while back - what prompted the switch?
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: trock on July 09, 2010, 08:23:29 PM
these are smaller and much more in depth in terms of plug ins etc and being able to program them for your workflow, also ease of use between multiple DAW's

i work with a friend who is in logic, and on who is cubase etc

so i am keeping all of these so i can record parts in them and send out to them. in the M24 i had to switch via a few clicks and menu options, in the artist series its literally open the other DAW and they do all the work

i was also at gearfest not expecting to really buy anything but then i had a a hands on demo from the avid booth/euphonix guys and well, sometimes i am impulsive.

the M24 is still a great piece of kit and it still has 24 channels of control where i now have 12

so some of it is a trade off.

and of course i was assured avid would keep support for all the other DAW's, hmmmmm


Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: zakco on July 16, 2010, 03:53:15 PM
[quote title=Nick Sevilla wrote on Thu, 08 July 2010 18:19]
zakco wrote on Sun, 27 June 2010 13:20



Hi Zack,

Maybe if you compared the MC Control to other controllers IN ITS PRICE RANGE, you might find it is superior to the other products out there. I do find it unfair to compare two products, no matter what they are, when their price points are that far apart, 1500US to almost 10kUS for the C|24 and over 16KUs for the base 8 fader D Command. That's 6.6 times and 10.6 times more expensive tan the MC Control. Maybe compare it to the Mackie Control Universal Pro, which it directly competes with?

I am waiting until I can afford an ICON. Until then I'm "stuck" with the Euphonix MC products, which for my current situation are perfect. And no, I do not go and compare these two products as they are very different.

Cheers


Hard to argue with your points about comparing the two...

FAIR or NOT, the criticisms which I outlined in my earlier post were IMO, substantial enough that I didn't feel that the MC stuff would make a large enough difference to my workflow to warrant the $1500 price tag. I'd say it should be about half that price. Hell, in that regard, I'd say the D-Command is about double the price it should be too, which is why I found a demo-stock unit for well under $10k.

Anyways, I'm glad the MC works well for you, I just wasn't so impressed...

-Z-


Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: KB_S1 on July 17, 2010, 06:40:53 AM
Anyone heard anything regarding EuCon and Pro Tools.
Since the Avid buyout I expected this to be a priority but so far not a mumble.
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: zakco on July 17, 2010, 12:32:51 PM
KB_S1 wrote on Sat, 17 July 2010 03:40

Anyone heard anything regarding EuCon and Pro Tools.
Since the Avid buyout I expected this to be a priority but so far not a mumble.


Plenty of mumbles...

I spoke at length about this with an ICON field tech recently and without going into a lot of detail, he explained that all future console/controller development will be focused on the EuCon protocol. He also said that this will be extended backwards to currently available products by way of some sort of converter box/firmare update. This will mean that my Dcommand will **eventually** work as a controller for Logic etc...

This was also confirmed in this thread:

 http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread.php?t=271443&page=2

Given Avids current financial and personnel situation, I'm not holding my breath, but who knows...

Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: trock on July 17, 2010, 03:13:25 PM
at gearfest, sweetwater, avid and euphonix had a big presence and i talked to them at length about this

first i have to say the HUI is pretty damn good for PT, 512 etc

that being said i was more concerned they would drop other daw's but they "said" they would not, because these gave them market share into the world of other daw's

they told me full blown eucon was coming soon for PT??

who knows

i just bought another one of the MC MIX's because these babies are going way up in price soon

the new sweetwater catalog has the mc control at 1899. mc mix at 1399 and transport at 499

Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: pathfindervikramBana on July 27, 2010, 02:55:48 AM

There has been one issue, which I did mention to Euphonix, and that is that when banking between channels, the units do not stop at the first or last channel, but instead keep going onto empty channels, thus making somewhat of an issue, when banking across a larger track count session. For me, it would be nice if the banking stopped when the surface reaches either end of the session, like other controllers out there. I'll follow up with Euphonix and see if they are considering addressing this issue.

___________________
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Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: Lebre on October 15, 2010, 02:13:46 AM
Hi guys

I have this units in one of the studios I'm in charge. This units have been here for 2 years now.

Like it was referred, it looks cheap compared to D-command/control and C24, and honestly it has been giving us some nightmares!

Pros:
- They've been really fast doing support on it (sending it back receiving it in a couple of days).
- you dont have to use the mouse?
- surround panner on screen Smile

Cons:
- Since we rely heavily on network access, we had to set up a smaller network just for these two. still, they manage to loose IP and etc. Really frustrating to have to run to the studio and reboot the small ethernet "boxy" we use (I get told off by our IT guy as I always get router and switch confused :S)
- they are slow responding! The touch screen specially @Nick which firmware/drivers are you using? I'm also running PT HD here.
- We have loads of problems involved people reaching a fader and there is some abrupt automation and actually forcing the button (pretty much like audio2u son).

cheers
j
Title: Re: Euphonix MC Control and MC Mix Controllers
Post by: Nick Sevilla on October 15, 2010, 11:30:49 AM
Lebre wrote on Thu, 14 October 2010 23:13

Hi guys

I have this units in one of the studios I'm in charge. This units have been here for 2 years now.

Like it was referred, it looks cheap compared to D-command/control and C24, and honestly it has been giving us some nightmares!

Pros:
- They've been really fast doing support on it (sending it back receiving it in a couple of days).
- you dont have to use the mouse?
- surround panner on screen Smile

Cons:
- Since we rely heavily on network access, we had to set up a smaller network just for these two. still, they manage to loose IP and etc. Really frustrating to have to run to the studio and reboot the small ethernet "boxy" we use (I get told off by our IT guy as I always get router and switch confused :S)
- they are slow responding! The touch screen specially @Nick which firmware/drivers are you using? I'm also running PT HD here.
- We have loads of problems involved people reaching a fader and there is some abrupt automation and actually forcing the button (pretty much like audio2u son).

cheers
j


Hi J,

I am running Mac Os 10.6.4, EuCon 2.5.5, and Pro Tools HD 8.1.cs2, Mac 2.8GHz Dual Quad-Core Intel Xeon. 6GB RAM.

I have a dedicated 8 port Netgear 1GB SWITCH. Not a router, a SWITCH. This is very important. I have the switch set up to the defaults it comes with from the factory, no weird IT network setup.

The Netgear SWITCH is on ALL THE TIME.

As to your issues :

1.- I also have internet going into this box, and the switch feeds the following : 1 BluRay player, the Mac computer, the two Euphonix units, one MC Control and one MC Mix, one Samsung 3D TV, and one XBox360 game console.

So far this all works just fine.no crashes, no bugs, no resets. ALL devices take their IP addres automatically from this switch. NONE have STATIC IP ADDRESSES. This is crucial.

So my question is : Which Internet switch / router are you using? I had tried a Lynksys one before and it simply did  not work at all with the Euphonix consoles. Try using a 1GB SWITCH instead of what you have now.

2.- you mention an IT guy? KEEP HIM THE HELL AWAY FROM YOUR PRO TOOLS MACHINE, HE WILL KILL IT. MAKE YOUR LIFE A LIVING HELL.

I am not kidding about this here. Setting up ANY KIND of anti virus software, Firewalls, etc, will definitely screw up both the Pro Tools AND the Euphonix consoles.

3.- As to the Firmware, they are current as of the 2.5.5 software, which states they are on the latest version, whichever that is for each one.

4.- As to this last issue :
"- We have loads of problems involved people reaching a fader and there is some abrupt automation and actually forcing the button (pretty much like audio2u son)."

This, I'm afraid is user error. If you do not know what automation is coming up, and you reach for a fader or button or switch at the wrong time, of course it will jerk around or do the wrong thing.

In this case, practice and knowledge of the mix being done currently is the way to solve this "issue".

5.- When you say the following :
"- Since we rely heavily on network access, we had to set up a smaller network just for these two. still, they manage to loose IP and etc. Really frustrating to have to run to the studio and reboot the small ethernet "boxy" we use (I get told off by our IT guy as I always get router and switch confused :S)"

It seems to me that changing the switch would be the best first step to solving your issue. Also, perhaps buying a 1GB switch that is ONLY for the Mac and the Euphonix consoles might be the way to go. If you have a newer Mac, you can connect the internet to one of it's ports, and the switch to the Euphonix on the other port, so they do not mix.


Cheers