Dear Gods of digital music wizardry,

Apologies for the length of this bad boy... I am sort of on last resorts with this one and so want to make sure I convey my agony, hopes and dreams to their fullest.

Early(ish) last year I regrettably strayed away from the Mackie control surface flock in favour a PC/SONAR V-Studio 700 set-up. Don't get me wrong, the Cakewalk offering is pretty awesome.

However, 2 months ago I decided I had grown sick of constant SONAR/Vista crashes and losing hours of work as a result of lost or corrupt projects. I do realise Windows 7 is being touted as the PC DAW users' prayers answered but, I had already had enough at this point and just couldn't face the risk of gambling another year of lost work on the promise that Microsoft may have finally sorted their act out.

So, in a pretty major shift in DAW policy and use/workflow, I recently purchased the Mackie Universal Pro bundle. I found someone willing to part with their Uni Pro, both XT units and the C4 Pro unit! In doing so I also made the move back to a Mac Pro/Cubase set-up... yes, back to a stable, reliable and usable system where you don't need a PhD in computer science just to keep it running long enough to do some work! <insert sigh of relief here>.

However, something I didn't realise was that the C4 Pro unit doesn't integrate with Cubase at all! Eh?! You mean I can buy the Uni Pro and it's XTs but not the C4 Pro if running Cubase... STILL?! How long has this been an issue?!?! Not that it matters, the Uni Pro kit was sold as a bundle and, due to the fact these things are hard to come by these days (like gold dust!), I would have bought it anyway and sold the C4.

I'm aware Steinberg haven't made it easy for third party vendors like Mackie to write drivers for devices such as the C4 Pro but, those days are over now, aren't they? Steinberg have released SDKs. Without wishing to re-open the age old 'which DAW is better' can of worms, Cubase is huge and has a massive, global customer base! Surely Mackie must feel some motivation to produce C4 Pro compatibility for Cubase? Unless, of course, they no longer make the C4 Pro(?)

Is there a real, useable work around/third-party solution to this i.e something that truly allows the C4 to work in harmony with Cubase? I've read articles advising various 'work arounds' but they all seem a little half baked and don't really pull off the job of true Cubase integration i.e. some will get the C4 Pro talking to Cubase but some functions won't work or, all functions will work but not how you'd expect, etc, etc.

I have Cubase 5 which (finally!) comes bundled with some very useful, high quality plug-ins (took yer sweet-@ssed time Steinberg!) meaning we Cubase users no longer get laughed at (quite so loudly) by smug Logic users who waist no time in telling me about the abundance of Logic plug-ins in almost obsessive detail. The thought of how useful this baby could be (almost) makes me foam at the mouth with excitement. The C4 Pro unit is well built, looks good and I've read some very good reviews about it... basically, it's a bit sexy and looks like something I want to spend quality time with and show real, loving commitment to. All I need is either the blessing of Mackie in the form of compatibility or, someone who knows some tricks to get the C4 and Cubase talking in a fully functioning manner.

I will be eternally grateful (and possibly even worship) anyone who can offer some real help and advice with this.

On the flip-side to the above comment, any 'advice' telling me "it's never going to work" and then immediately offering a price to buy it will be respectfully ignored... unless of course it really, absolutely won't work in Cubase, in which case I'll get back to you later!

Seriously though, if you have any tricks up your sleeve please don't be shy coming forward with any (none sarcastic "should have gone with Logic or Pro Tools") tips.

Thanks and, Moog bless everyone!

P.S. This post/pathetic cry for help is also on Gearslutz.... for those of you who feel they're experiencing Déjà vu.

The mackie controllers are basically dumb units - they are controlled by the host application.

If there are issue with using them in Cubase, then the issue is largely in Cubase.

> I'm aware Steinberg haven't made it easy for third party vendors like Mackie to write drivers for devices such as the C4 Pro

There is no "third-party driver" issue - the drivers simply make the devices connect to the host computer via USB - it is entirely up to the controlling application as to how they are used.

For example, Logic has full integration, because the whole setup was originally designed and developed for Logic. Final Cut Pro can use a Mackie Controller to control the mix and transport - but I doubt FCP has suport for the C4 because it largely doesn't make sense.

Ableton Live also has support for the Mackie Controllers (not sure about the C4, again).

The specs for the Mackie Controllers are out there, so it's purely up to Steinberg when and how they implement popular control surfaces into their application.

> Surely Mackie must feel some motivation to produce C4 Pro compatibility for Cubase?

No, Mackie make the controllers, it's up to software developers whether they want to integrate them into their apps. Your frustration is directed at Mackie but it's misplaced.

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with Cubase or it's control surface handling and implementation so can't really advise you on what to do in Cubase.

But it really does work like a dream in Logic
Love my Mackie Control...

You could think that because Mackie designed it's product specifically for Logic that Steinberg just didn't want to go down that route.
I use Cubase. I have known for a long time that Mackie gear had issues which is why I won't buy Mackie gear. In my opinion Mackie may have a million features I want but if it doesn't work with my chosen platform then it has, effectively, no features.
I gather from most complainees that writing drivers for these products is easy and that, as stated before, Mackie units are just dumb. If that's the case Steinberg must know something that we don't (contractual, copyright?) because they have not even attempted to do this job. The only grief I have with Steinberg is their bad communication on matters like this with the user base.
And, incidentally it's better to air complaints here because the Steinberg forum has been allowed to be hijacked by continual moaners who've clogged the airwaves. I think Steinberg like it that way because if one complains there the rest of the world will just not see it.
Have you contacted Steinberg support to see whether any improvements or advice is to be had on the matter? Apparently it's better than it used to be.

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Success is round the corner. It's also round the bend.

Edited by tex (24/01/10 02:02 PM)

Thanks for your comments and advice desmond and tex.

Looks like my frustration at Mackie not dealing with compatibility with this issue was misdirected... Steinberg are in fact the culprits with this (why am I not surprised by that?)

Also, heard back from Mackie and they have no plans to restart production of the C4 Pro. As such, I very much doubt Steinberg are about to get of their famously stubborn 'who cares about existing customers anyway?' @asses in order to release a patch for Cubase integration.

Oh well... it was worth a try!

Anybody want to buy a C4 Pro?

What exactly do you want to control with the C4? If you're having probs, it should be a simple enough matter to map the Mackie inputs using something like GlovePIE and/or GenMCE or Gen MCE XT. They're all free too.

Those things all look like PC software... the OP is on a Mac...

If Cubase supports the Mackie Control, but not the C4, you might have some luck by using LC XMu from Opus Locus.

I love LC XMu, and I'm not entirely sure it will do what you want regarding the C4 and Cubase (as I have neither of those), but download the demo and give it a try.