NEW Icon Qcon Controller any good?

[ceedjay]

Hi !

Yes, the buttons do not all react the same, but no sticky one here.

For support, if you tried to contact someone in Hong Kong, you won't have any answer. You have to contact the distributor in the country you bought it in.

First time I contacted them, I must have had some luck because I got an answer and since then have been in constant contact with them. But that was three years ago !

Cheers.
Jay

[Piano1888]

I have contacted the company I bought it from. Thankfully they got back to me very quickly and are going to arrange a repair or replacement. I can handle not all the buttons feeling exactly the same but when they stick its really annoying. Besides, if the unit is defective I am entitled to ask for a replacement. It still cost me £425 at the end of the day.

Sent from my GT-S5830i using Gearslutz App

[dalachriser]

I finally got an Icon Pro and 1 extender. The rubber buttons does NOT stick whatsoever on my unit. These are the "latest batch" from Icon (if that makes any difference).
So far, I am extremely happy about this purchase. They seem to have cut the corners in the right places to keep costs down. For example, the aluminium housing is a tiny bit warped, so aligning the Pro + extender needed some folded paper pieces underneath them to become flushmounted.
Other than that, they perform perfectly.
I´ll be ordering another extender for a complete (for me) 24 fader controller without the need to press bank-buttons.

David

[djpolo]

Originally Posted by Piano1888

I have contacted the company I bought it from. Thankfully they got back to me very quickly and are going to arrange a repair or replacement. I can handle not all the buttons feeling exactly the same but when they stick its really annoying. Besides, if the unit is defective I am entitled to ask for a replacement. It still cost me £425 at the end of the day.

Sent from my GT-S5830i using Gearslutz App

Some of mine stick aswell. I think they may get better with time so I may just stick with it... ha ha

Polo

[benherron.rrr]

Hi,

Is anyone here using the Qcon Pro with Pro Tools, I have found a few bugs that I think really need to be looked at.

1. The select button and fader touch does not actually select the specific track, as in the track is not selected/highlighted on the computer screen.
2. The jog wheel does not function, I cannot use it to navigate through projects.
3. On the Pro Tools overlay the automation buttons are mapped in the "functions" section, but none of the buttons work, I cannot select a track I want to do a ride for and press write so that I can write the automation.

It would be really great if I could get all the functions working correctly

[barisj]

Hi, just got the Qcon Pro and set it up yesterday, simply just plugged it in and ready to go. When I got started everything was very intuitive and everything worked just fine. To add to previous posts regarding sticking buttons... I do have one sticky button (PLAY) but it does not remain lit/active when I press STOP so it's not an issue to me, also it sticks only when I push it sort of sideways so it's just a matter of pressing it in the right way imo. Very happy overall so far.

I do however have a few questions I would like to find the answer for... I currently use it with Ableton Live on my iMac.

1. When controlling a track insert 31 band EQ with the 8 encoders I only seem to be able to control the first 8 bands... there's no possibility to skip to the next 8 and so on...Or is there?

2. How do i go about to assign some of the "empty" (not by default assigned) assignment/functions buttons, e.g. F5-F8. Or is it even possible?

Any feedback is highly appreciated. Cheers

[ceedjay]

Hi !

I've never used Live, but, usually when you edit plugins, you can scroll pages of parameters up and down.

Once you have the first eight parameters on the LCD scribble strip, try pushing buttons that are not labelled on the overlay. Start with the two buttons on the right of the assignment section.

Here is the overlay for the original MCU and Live. As you can see, there are page "up" or "down" buttons, so they must be here on the QCon Pro.

http://www.mackie.com/Products/McuPr...bletonLive.pdf

Cheers.
Jay

[RiF]

I am looking into the QCon Pro or the QCon Lite. Is there any chance that I can control plugin parameters or aux sends with the rotary knobs in PRO TOOLS? If so, how are the parameters assigned to the plugins?

[barisj]

Thanks for your input ceedjay. Skipping through parameters, e.g. EQ bands, work just fine in Logic using Qcon Pro, but none of the non labelled (on the overlay) buttons do anything. Live does not recognize them as a valid midimessage. I also tried checking this with this program called Midi Monitor, and when I press any of the non labelled buttons the Midi Monitor do recognize an incoming midi message but says message is invalid. I'm not sure what all this means but overall I'm not too happy with the Qcon Pro integration with Live when almost half of the buttons don't have any functionality.

With Logic however I'm very happy, e.g. controlling EQ... though there are a few settings that imo needs to be adjusted in the preference section in Logic in order for Qcon pro to operate really satisfying, e.g. jog wheel settings and setting up what's displayed on the Qcon LCD. But when this was done it works excellent.

[ceedjay]

Hi Ben,

Originally Posted by benherron.rrr

Hi,

Is anyone here using the Qcon Pro with Pro Tools, I have found a few bugs that I think really need to be looked at.

1. The select button and fader touch does not actually select the specific track, as in the track is not selected/highlighted on the computer screen.
2. The jog wheel does not function, I cannot use it to navigate through projects.
3. On the Pro Tools overlay the automation buttons are mapped in the "functions" section, but none of the buttons work, I cannot select a track I want to do a ride for and press write so that I can write the automation.

It would be really great if I could get all the functions working correctly

For the jog wheel, I remember that there is an "off" mode when using an MCU with PT in HUI mode. If you press the "scrub" button, see what happens. If I remember well, according to the scrub button presses, it changes the jog behaviour. The default mode might be the "off" mode.

Also, for the function buttons, you have to hold a button while pressing the V-pot (encoder) corresponding to the track you want to automate.

I found an old documentation on Mackie site that might be useful to you.
See here http://www.mackie.com/pdf/mackiecontrol_pt.pdf and indeed, this is how it behaves ! I don't know how iCON implemented all this, but there seems to be quite a lot of functions available.

Cheers.
Jay

[pirateman]

Hi Jay

Firstly, thanks for all of your postings re iCon products - I'd never heard of them before I read your reviews so thanks for enlightening me!

I thought I'd PM'd you...but I don't think it worked....

I have a few questions that I would be grateful if could answer, if you get a sec...

Re. qCon Pro and expanders:

Do the units (qCon Pro and Ext) actually fasten together or do they just sit flush with each other?
Also, does each controller have to have its own usb cable (going to a hub) or do they interlink (ie. Ext to Ext to Pro)?

I have just bought an iCon IControls Pro to test it out before I take the plunge with the larger units. I did discover a few mackie emulation bugs (with Logic) that I have tried to email to iCon - but I was interested to know whether the same applied to the qCon Pro?

Bug 1:
There is an option in Logic (preferences/Audio/Control Surfaces) to disable the "touching faders select track" - this means that when you are editing parameters on your control surface using faders/pots etc Logic does keep changing tracks every time you touch a fader. However, the IControls always sends a 'track select' in addition to the fader data (this doesn't happen with a Mackie Control) so effectively disabling "touching faders select track" makes no difference. This bug makes it impossible to use the IControls to edit plugins (and if used along side the Mackie Control, you can no longer use that either, as the parameters use the faders spread out on both control surfaces!)

Is this the same in qCon Pro?

The second bug is that the "select" buttons for each track use a different option to the Mackie Control - in doing so, they also open the Logic EQ on each track if pressed more than once. Does this also happen on the qCon Pro?

I'd be really interested to know.

Many thanks

Danny

PS If you are still in touch with your contact at iCon, please would you kindly send on the bug report! Thanks!

[barisj]

Hi Pirateman, I can answer those questions for you. I use Qcon Pro with Logic 9.1.7.

None of the issues/bugs you refer to are applying to Qcon Pro on Logic Pro.

Cheers
Johan

[ceedjay]

Hi !

And to answer your two other questions : nope, they aren't fastened together. And yes, each unit has its own USB cable, so you'll need a hub.

Cheers.
Jay

[pirateman]

Thanks Johan and Jay - really helpful!

I'm still awaiting a response from iCon over my IControls Pro bugs. I think this may be a good test of company support - hopefully will hear back soon!

I'm guessing you guys are very happy with your qCon Pros and Ext - how do they compare to the Mackie Universal Pro in so far as their usage? Do all the features work as you would expect or are there some issues needing a fix...

I'm very, very tempted - I'm about to upgrade an older but fully functioning MCU for 24 or 32 channel controller and I'm pretty limited in choice: SSL Nucleus (very expensive), Avid Artist Mix (also very expensive for 24 channels but it does use Eucon rather than Mackie emulation which is meant to be better), MCU and EXT or iCon Pro and EXT....

Can't make up my mind...

Danny

[ceedjay]

Hi !

If you tried to contact them directly in Hong Kong, you won't have any answer. You must contact the distributor for your country.

Function-wise, the QCon Pro is like an MCU (read my review). The build quality seems very good too (not much insight to know for sure but my QCon "1" is still like new after two years). Only the buttons have - it seems - been changed and on some units stick down a bit.

I have had a first generation MCU and the QCon Pro is a good as it. I liked the Euphonix MC Mix for the features but definitely not the object : it is so small and light that it feels like a toy. And the Eucon protocol - very fast, though - is mostly dependent on your computer's LAN interface. Don't be mistaken by the interface and the protocol used. MC Mix also uses Mackie Emulation with DAWs that are not Eucon Compatible. So you depend on the DAW program's implementation of the protocol.

To be honest, for a hobbyist, no need to get more than a QCon Pro. For professionals, it is also a good product, but as iCON is not as "settled" as other brands, it might be a problem.

I am a hobbyist (enlightened, it's true) and my choice is made. Here in France, an MCU Pro is 1200 euros. A QCon Pro is 600.....

What is sure is that when you open an MCU and a QCon Pro and have a look inside, it's as neat in both units.

Cheers.
Jay

[ceedjay]

Hi again !

On iCOn's website, firmware v1.04 is online (at last, they put the right one online). F2/F3 bug in Cubase is officially fixed.

Cheers.
Jay

[barisj]

Originally Posted by pirateman

I'm guessing you guys are very happy with your qCon Pros and Ext - how do they compare to the Mackie Universal Pro in so far as their usage? Do all the features work as you would expect or are there some issues needing a fix...

I'm very happy so far (only about 1 week of usage though ). From the start I had one button that got stuck when pressing it a bit sideways, but after a couple days this was not the case anymore, all buttons work just fine. Of course I'm not in a position to judge the build quality in terms of endurance. But it seems solid and I really like the feel of everything; encoders, faders, buttons and jog wheel. And the tiltable LCD is awesome in every aspect both to work with and look at .

With Logic the features work as expected I would say, at least I'm very happy with it.... I should however mention that I'm as new to Logic as I'm new to the Qcon Pro. I Bought Logic Pro due to Qcon Pro not really working with Presonus Studio One, which I new from the start it was not supposed to.

[George Necola]

my qcon pro controller arrived today. I was visiting the website for downlaods and firmware upgrades..

IIS 7.5 error page is showing.. ohmy.. I wanna play with the new toy and they don't let me!

[George Necola]

oh yeah.. could someone send me the 1.4 firmware? I already hit delete firmware on the qcon firmware upgrader.. I guess right now it's a useless piece of metal..

oh happy day.

[George Necola]

got the fw, thanx!

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9300 mit Tapatalk

[pirateman]

Originally Posted by George Necola

got the fw, thanx!

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9300 mit Tapatalk

What are your thoughts?

[George Necola]

Originally Posted by pirateman

What are your thoughts?

I got sick yesterday evening. nothing to worry about, but I was not able to test it.

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9300 mit Tapatalk

[pirateman]

Wish you better!

[George Necola]

it's fukkin amazing for the price. installed in less then 5 minutes, brainizized (knowing and using 80% of all the buttons) took me 15 minutes, first track volume automation another 20minutes with corrections to the track.

faders are responsive, motors might be too noisy for classical music guys (when they start driving from their initial position they make a zirp sound) and the resolution is not euphonix. but I can work with it and it made my workflow 3 times faster after using it for 5 hours.

great product. buy it.

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9300 mit Tapatalk

[ceedjay]

Hi !

Yes, faders are 8-bit hardware, so when receiving data from the DAW, fader parking accuracy may not be as good as an MCU, for when controlling the DAW, it makes no difference at all as the program interpolates.

Anyway, the main advantage of motorized faders is not mainly to follow automations but rather for updating when switching banks. You'll soon get the habit of the deactivating the motors when tracking and then reactivating them for mixing.

I actually don't find them noisier than those of an MCU, be it 10-bit or whatnot.

Cheers.
Jay

PS : did the modded 1.04 firmware work ? Do you use it with Cubase or another DAW program ?

[kcearl]

I dont see this on sale on this side of the pond, but basically a 32 fader set up would be under £1400???


that is very very tempting...

[George Necola]

Originally Posted by kcearl

I dont see this on sale on this side of the pond, but basically a 32 fader set up would be under £1400???


that is very very tempting...

yes.. I have no clue if the icon still works in a month but according to ceejay he is a user since icon 1 and it seems to work.

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9300 mit Tapatalk

[George Necola]

Originally Posted by ceedjay

Hi !

Yes, faders are 8-bit hardware, so when receiving data from the DAW, fader parking accuracy may not be as good as an MCU, for when controlling the DAW, it makes no difference at all as the program interpolates.

Anyway, the main advantage of motorized faders is not mainly to follow automations but rather for updating when switching banks. You'll soon get the habit of the deactivating the motors when tracking and then reactivating them for mixing.

I actually don't find them noisier than those of an MCU, be it 10-bit or whatnot.

Cheers.
Jay

PS : did the modded 1.04 firmware work ? Do you use it with Cubase or another DAW program ?

actually I havent used the customized buttons yet. I used it cubase but the next session is a samplitude one.

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9300 mit Tapatalk

[pirateman]

Well I did try an iControls Pro just to check out their hardware before the big commitment. Took a while to get the firmware uploaded (credit to iCon - they were forthcoming with support to get the new firmware to upload). However, I'm afraid it is going back as an LED failed within two weeks!

So I think I will now sit tight for a while to see how you guys get on! It is sooooo tempting though - 24 faders....less than £1000 !

Danny

[ceedjay]

Hi !

Pertaining the "sticky" buttons, iCON have identified the problem. They have reduced the buttons' press-down travel distance by 0.5 mm and it solves the problem.

I guess the next batches of units should be OK, then.

I had a message saying that a set of buttons will be sent at no charge for users who will have the problem with some buttons. I don't know who users will have to contact, though, to have some buttons sent to them.

It seems the problem is not so important and only a few users experience it, so it should be OK. But if you experience it, PM me and I'll see who you have to ask for a set of "new" buttons.

Cheers.
Jay