MACKIE DESIGNS Mackie Control

Sep 1, 2003 12:00 PM, By Nick Peck

I love mixing with knobs and sliders. The interaction with a physical surface can infuse a mix with a gestural fluidity that isn't easy to accomplish with mouse-based mixing. Entering the MIDI-controller market at the low end of the price range, Mackie's new device, called simply the Mackie Control, offers an easy way to add knobs and faders to your favorite software DAW. The unit is a modestly priced mixing and control surface with a well-designed and rich feature set.

FIG. 1: The Mackie Control's top panel is packed with buttons, knobs, and sliders. The clear labels and optional Lexan overlays for most popular DAWs make it easy to find your way around.

You won't find a bit of wasted space on the Mackie Control's top panel: buttons, knobs, faders, and displays festoon all the available real estate (see Fig. 1). Nonetheless, the unit doesn't feel cluttered; there's plenty of room between the controls even for large hands. The modular layout and clean, simple, silk-screened labels make it relatively easy to learn your way around the unit's dozens of controls.

Like most Mackie products, the Control is dark gray with highlights in light gray, black, and white. It may not win any beauty contests, but it has a utilitarian, neutral look that should fit easily into most studio color schemes. Small LEDs are positioned in or near many of the buttons to indicate their status. At the top of the unit, a display area features a two-line blue LCD screen and dedicated LED numerals to indicate elapsed time or song position.

FIG. 2: The Mackie Control's spartan rear panel provides single MIDI In and Out ports along with two footswitch jacks and an External Control pedal jack.

The Mackie Control offers few connections on its rear panel (see Fig. 2). The single MIDI In and Out jacks must both be connected to your MIDI interface for proper communication. Two user-configurable footswitch jacks let you control various DAW functions, and an External Control jack accepts a control-voltage input that you can route to perform additional functions. Last, there's a power jack for the line-lump DC-adapter cord

FROM THE TOP

The Mackie Control features eight identical fader channel strips that are similar in design and layout to the strips on Mackie's HUI and Baby HUI. The volume sliders are touch-sensitive 100 mm Penny and Giles long-throw faders. Above each fader, a Select button assigns the primary focus to the associated track. Solo and Mute buttons are provided along with a Signal LED that lights up to indicate track activity. Above the LED, a Record/Ready button enables the corresponding track for recording. The knob at the top of each strip is used for a variety of context-specific tasks. It's ringed with LEDs to indicate the approximate setting of such parameters as pan position or send level. You can push down on a knob to select various context-related functions. Above each fader channel, the blue LCD area shows each track name, but it also shows various parameter values when in different modes.

The inclusion of a ninth fader track dedicated to master volume level is most welcome. That fader is missing from the HUI, the Baby HUI, and many other control surfaces and makes this unit feel more like a traditional mixing console.

Above the Master fader, the Fader Banks section provides buttons that let you change which DAW tracks are currently controlled by the Mackie Control's faders. You can shift the faders in banks of eight (1 through 8, 9 through 16, and so forth) or one channel at a time (1 through 8, 2 through 9, and so forth). An Edit button provides access to plug-in parameters, and a Flip button swaps control between the faders and the rotary knobs. It's a great feature that lets you quickly control pan, send level, various plug-in values, and other parameters by using the faders instead of the usual knobs. I often relied on this button to make the the mixing process more fluid.

Above the Fader Banks section, the Assignment section provides six buttons that determine which parameters the rotary knobs control. The I/O, Sends, and Plug-Ins buttons let you scroll through choices to select a current setting. Pan is self-explanatory, and EQ and Dynamics typically open an EQ or dynamics plug-in that is already assigned to the given track, although the behavior might change a bit depending on the DAW being controlled.

The transport section provides the five standard buttons (Rewind, Fast-Forward, Stop, Play, and Record, in that order). The buttons are big and friendly with LEDs above each one to indicate the status. Below the transport buttons, a large scrub/shuttle wheel makes it easy to pinpoint specific places in the music. The neighboring keys help with track navigation. When the Zoom button in the center is engaged, however, the arrow keys provide horizontal and vertical track zooming.

MACKIE DOES DAWS

The Mackie Control's Master Control section, in the upper right corner, is dedicated to 39 DAW-specific buttons. Because each manufacturer organizes and assigns its buttons to best suit its product's capabilities, Mackie supplies free Lexan stick-on overlays that provide button labels for each supported program. You can permanently attach an overlay to the top panel or swap it with others for compatibility with multiple products. (Additional overlays can be obtained from Mackie as needed.)

The typical controls that are assigned to this region include window controls (to display various program windows), mix automation controls, common menu selections (such as Save and Undo), recording and transport options, and so forth. I like Mackie's approach of standardizing the basic mixer and transport controls while providing a large area devoted to a range of DAW-specific functions.

Each software manufacturer creates its own implementation of the control surface. As of this writing, drivers are available for Cakewalk Sonar; Magix Samplitude and Sequoia; MOTU Digital Performer; RML Labs SawStudio; Steinberg Nuendo, Cubase SX, and Cubase SL; and Syntrillium Cool Edit Pro (but not Adobe Audition). New firmware, which implements a full-featured HUI mode of operation, provides complete control over Digidesign's Pro Tools and Emagic's Logic Audio and Logic Platinum. (If you already own a Mackie Control, you can purchase an upgrade kit directly from Mackie to install the firmware and use the HUI mode if you choose.)

If you have the desktop space and the budget to accommodate additional controls, Mackie offers the Mackie Control Extender ($1,099), which includes an additional eight fader strips and requires its own MIDI channel. You can connect multiple extenders to create a very large virtual mixing surface.

Mackie has also recently announced a new addition to the control surface product line: the Mackie Control C4 ($1,099). This expansion unit features 32 rotary knobs and no faders. The knobs are used to control complex plug-ins, virtual synths, and samplers that have an especially large number of parameters.

IN OPERATION

It's important to understand that in evaluating the Mackie Control with a particular program, you are essentially evaluating the program and its associated driver and the capabilities that they provide. That's because the software developers are responsible for assigning the specific features and functions to the Mackie Control's buttons, knobs, and sliders. I therefore chose to evaluate the Mackie Control's integration with two popular DAWs, one on the Mac and one on the PC, to provide a sample overview.

Nuendo (PC)

I took the Mackie Control for a test drive with a PC running Nuendo 1.61. After installing the appropriate version of Nuendo, I plugged in the MIDI cables and got down to work within minutes. I put the system through its paces with ease: I recorded audio, scrubbed it back and forth, zoomed in and out, panned, and executed all the other basic DAW commands without any problems. I especially liked the plug-in editing, which was intuitive and smooth.

I assigned EQ to a track, hit the track Select button and the EQ button, and the EQ plug-in window popped up onscreen. All the salient parameters were mapped to the rotary controls. Pressing the Flip button moved the EQ parameters to the eight faders, which made for a really musical processing experience. Overall, the coupling between Nuendo and the Mackie Control felt clean, natural, and responsive.

Digital Performer (Mac)

Next, I plugged the Mackie Control into an Apple G4 running Digital Performer 3.11. Just as with Nuendo on the PC, the basic operations, such as transport controls, fader levels, and pan positions, worked as advertised.

Many of Digital Performer's functions, such as bringing forward the three primary windows and toggling on and off options such as Overdub mode, Count-off, and Click worked fine. Others, such as vertical zoom, worked in some modes but not all. Some operations rely on various modifier buttons that change the functionality. For example, for the Cycle and Punch buttons, pressing the button with no modifiers sets the start point. Adding Shift sets the end point; adding Control toggles the mode on and off.

I also found that the EQ and Dynamics buttons didn't bring up dynamics or EQ plug-ins for editing the way they did in Nuendo; they had other functions unrelated to the names on the labels. I was able to edit EQ parameters (in the ParaEQ plug-in) by holding down the Edit button, selecting the appropriate plug-in for that track, and pressing the rotary knob. That process never brought the plug-in window up on the screen, though. (According to MOTU, that's because Digital Performer doesn't force you to use dedicated EQ and dynamics in every channel strip. The program lets you choose the desired plug-in on only the tracks where they're needed.) All in all, Steinberg's implementation of the Mackie Control provided a more intuitive experience than MOTU's.

BOOK LEARNIN'

The documentation for Mackie products is usually pretty good; in this case, however, Mackie has dropped the ball. The unit ships with a four-page “Quick-Start Guide” that offers three pages of legalese and return information and one page of instructions on how to wire the Control into your studio.

Mackie's idea is to have the DAW manufacturers write separate manuals covering the Control's interactions with their software. However, much of the basic functionality of the Control is the same across all systems, and that material should have been included in a user manual that accompanies the product, leaving the DAW manufacturers to write about their specific implementations.

The quality of the documentation from the different manufacturers was inconsistent. For example, Steinberg's manuals for Cubase and Nuendo were thorough and well written. MOTU's Digital Performer 3 documentation consisted of a brief six-page draft with many mistakes, although the documentation for Digital Performer 4 was much more extensive, with graphics and descriptions of general as well as specific controls. (The newer documentation is now available for Digital Performer 3 users on MOTU's Web site.)

UNDER CONTROL

The Mackie Control is a fine piece of hardware. Its design and functionality are first-rate, the faders feel great, and the feature set is impressive. The price is reasonable for a controller of this depth, and the availability of additional expander modules allows for a custom-built virtual mixing system of any size.

The potential weak point in this product is that Mackie must rely on each DAW manufacturer to create a robust interface for the Mackie Control. Nevertheless, if you're looking for an inexpensive and expandable control surface for your studio, I'd definitely take this product into consideration. I would, however, try it (as I would just about any other control surface that I've seen) before buying it. If possible, spend a few hours running a Mackie Control with your favorite DAW to see how you like it. If the operation feels smooth and intuitive, then feed your mouse to the cat and say hello to a much more enjoyable mixing experience.

---

Nick Peck creates sound for film and games and still lugs his Hammond and Leslie to jazz gigs. Send him an e-mail at nick@perceptivesound.com.

Mackie Control Specifications

Number of Channels	(8) track faders, (1) master fader
Faders	(9) 100 mm Penny and Giles long-throw touch-sensitive motorized faders
Displays	2-line LCD, 2-character LED Assignment display, 10-character LED elapsed-time/current-position display
MIDI I/O	(1) In, (1) Out
Other Connectors	(2) ¼" foot-switch, (1) ¼" external control
Power	100-240V at 50/60 Hz line-lump 12 VDC transformer
DAWs Currently Supported	Mac: Digidesign Pro Tools; Emagic Logic Audio and Logic Platinum; MOTU Digital Performer; Steinberg Nuendo, Cubase SX, and Cubase SL. Win: Cakewalk Sonar; Digidesign Pro Tools; Magix Samplitude and Sequoia; RML Labs SawStudio; Steinberg Nuendo, Cubase SX, and Cubase SL; Syntrillium Cool Edit Pro.
Dimensions	17.4" (W) × 3.8" (H) × 17.5" (D)
Weight	14.5 lb.

PRODUCT SUMMARY

Mackie Designs
Mackie Control
MIDI control surface
$1,299

FEATURES	4.0
EASE OF USE	3.0
DOCUMENTATION	2.0
VALUE	4.0
RATING PRODUCTS FROM 1 TO 5

PROS: Provides 100 mm motorized touch-sensitive faders. Robust and complete feature set with good implementation across multiple platforms. Expandable system to fit your needs and budget.

CONS: No numeric keypad. Some aspects of the user interface design may be a bit unintuitive.

Manufacturer

Mackie Designs Inc.
tel. (800) 898-3211
e-mail sales@mackie.com
Web www.mackie.com