I use and love Mixbus as a mixer. But, in all honesty, it's VERY far from being a player in the DAW market. Too many missing features compared to the major players.

The said they were considering making one as one of many ideas, but that many times those ideas don't seem viable and they abandon them. That seems to be the case with their controller:

Dedicated Mixbus Controller?

I would not count on it...

The thing is that making a good harware will easy in their territory .... And since mackie control is working already great .... The gap bewteen doability and reality isn t that big .....

I'm sure you're right! I should have prefaced my comments with the fact I'm old school and treat DAW's like a recorder and mixer. I really am not using midi and certainly am no audio editor! Fairly basic user. Reacting more to the fact that 2.5 was a crapshoot for crashes and smooth functionality, this version is sooo much better!

Regarding the control surface:

We developed a first prototype and shared it with several of our users. The goal was to dramatically reduce the cost of a controller, while still providing a "knob per function" feel. By using the same cheap parts as consumer-level controllers, we were able to reduce the price somewhat. But the result was a device that has the same feel as consumer devices, and at a higher price ( because we don't manufacture overseas in huge quantities ). We considered a Kickstarter or other means to get it into production. But after lots of discussion we realized that this isn't really what our users are looking for.

There are already tons of great, inexpensive controllers available: The Mackie MCU Pro, the Behringer XTouch, generic MIDI controllers, and the Presonus Faderport ( and coming soon...the Faderport8 ) plus lots of multitouch tablet solutions.

Tablet control software can be had for as little as $5 (plus an old android tablet), but for those users who would like an even cheaper solution, we developed the FREE CP-1 Control Pad.

Mixbus and 32C are intended to be "Harrison" consoles, which implies a much higher quality than typical consumer stuff. And the original prototype just didn't meet our expectations.

Instead, we have developed a second prototype. This one uses our high-end parts and construction, and it is made here in Nashville. The prototype uses our high-end software, ultra-smart touch detection, and heavy-duty fader drivers, so it has a true Harrison feel. It will be more expensive, but it is going to be really good.

We aren't ready to publish the details yet, and there's no guarantee that this new prototype will make the cut either; but this new prototype looks really promising.

We will keep you updated with our progress!

-Ben at Harrison

Can you at least provide us a price range estimation of the second one ? Let s say versus a nucleus ....

They are about to make a dedicated controller, it's coming!

I really hope so cause it holding me back for using it all the way

Well, look at the new SSL Nucleus 2 --- even more expensive than the first.

If Harrison introduces a good quality DAW controller, that aligns with the Mixbus32C software, then I can imagine MANY people will be swayed toward Harrison.

I wonder what the protocol will be called for the Mixbus DAW controller.... Harricon?

;-)

I for sure would! But Pro Tools has been my trusted DAW for so many years and is what many of my clients are using. So I guess I'll have to pass, even though I find the hole concept very appealing...

Why not just go multi touch? You got 1:1 control for everything and no need to create some wierd hardware either! Just saying..

That's the future, without a doubt. Clinging to old-fashioned ideas, trying to force software-based workstations to mimic old hardware is a waste of time, effort and money. Not to mention that a single controller can't possibly work will all the variables provided by different DAWs and plugins.

It's a matter of time before both users and DAW/plugin developers begin to design/use GUI created with touchscreens in mind. That's the future, in my opinion.

I agree touchscreen's is the future... So is hardware controllers and vintage audio gear.

Multitouch capability would definitely be a massive step in the right direction. I hope Harrison can make this happen.

I personanly think that a fusion f touch and real HW is the future ....

I enquired with Harrison about multitouch a few months ago and they said the main issue was lack of standard for the mac platform.
Since OS X doesn't natively support multitouch and there are no Macs with multitouch, they are reluctant to go into it just yet.
It is definitely something they're interested in doing, but they obviously feel the time isn't quite right.
I told them there are many people with Raven and DTouch systems on Mac and that there are DAWs that offer multitouch on the mac platform.

On multitouch vs. hardware:

I think multitouch is the future, just like ProTools was the future.
For most people, multitouch will be enough.
If you want hardware and are willing to pay the extra cash, you can marry hardware controllers to multitouch, but it will be pricy (luxury item) and just like the last twenty years, there will be varying succes with hardware controllers. (some functions work great, some are decidedly cumbersome).
Of course, the same can be said for multitouch, but the bang per buck ratio of touch screens are already so ridiculously good compared to hardware controllers, that it can only get better. It's pretty much a non issue.
To be honest, hardware controllers didn't get that much better over the last 20 years, nor did they get much cheaper.
They are a luxury item, a must for some workflows but I would say they are must for a minute minority. I think that whether YOU agree with that does not necessarily have much relation with whether it's true. We like to fool ourselves and/or keep doing what we're used to doing. Telling ourselves this is the way we NEED to work, doesn't ALWAYS mean that's true.
I'm not saying there's no engineers who NEED faders, I'm saying at least a portion of the engineers who say they need them, don't.

It's going to better from here on out.
We've waited for about two decades for hardware controllers to become what we want and it just didn't happen.
A modular world where you control everything with touch but can add hardware modules (like faders and pots) for the things you really prefer on hardware will be cool.
Personally I'm not sure I'll go back to more than one physical fader (if at all) but I can see people with a bank of 32 physical faders, maybe a single strip of rotaries and bunch of touchscreens behind it.

Harrison could be cool in this world, although I need a lot of flexibility with bussing, consecutive buses etc.
A simple 8bus tracking console is fine for most music folks, but not for me or a lot post guys I'd assume.
Exiting times though.

Me too...

Harrison had a mix of touchscreen and hardware in the late 80's:



A combination of touch and "real" faders is definitely desirable.

One question I've always had: if touch faders are so great, why don't more people use a tablet controller? They are multi-touch, and they sit directly on your desk (which is good ergonomics).

One of my favorite features of a control surface is the ability to control the transport, even when I'm not looking at the DAW ( *cough* checking Facebook *cough* ). Tablets do that, and they even let you carry them across the room if needed.

And they are cheap ... you can get a big, used Android tablet for $50, and maybe $10 for the software. That's hard to beat!

People seem quite happy with an 8-fader physical controller for $800. So a $60 tablet with 8 touch-faders should be a no-brainer.

-Ben

Touch faders are not so great because they often lag behind the input (there is a noticeable delay between action and response). You can see it in most cheap digital live consoles offering wireless control with an IPad, Android tablet or phone.


For studio work, a good mouse, a 27-32" monitor (much bigger than that is not good for ergonomic reasons) and familiarity with keyboard shortcuts is all most people need. Efficient use of markers and transport, pre-roll recording and keyboard navigation (all programmable with most DAWs) make recording, editing and mixing totally painless, in my experience.

Well a combination of touch and real faders CAN be desirable.
It depends on your workflow and how important real faders are to it.
I love real faders as much as the next guy.
BUT having a bank of them between me and the touch screen.... that's not desirable to me, because that's where my computer keyboard, trackpad and trackball live (yes).
In the current situation, I prefer the computer keyboard and trackpad (which I use for navigation gestures) and the trackball (has custom keys, but is obviously getting used less and less) to a fader bank, which pretty much only does one thing, something the touch screen is already taking care of.
Actually, if I could replace the physical keyboard, trackpad and trackball with a multi purpose slab (say 25cm x 70cm) of touch screen, which would take over the role of faderbank, keyboard and transport/navigation, well then I'd definitely prefer that to a physical faderbank.

So a combination of touch and real faders is definitely desirable to SOME.
I think we'll all have to come to terms with the fact that physical faders will be more and more a luxury item.
Some professionals like myself, will chose to replace them with other things if that suits their (ergonomic) needs better.
Doesn't mean we don't like faders, it means WE don't need them. As always, YMMV.

There's been pro engineers mixing without physical faders for decades now.
The touch screen is bridging the gap between us.

P.S. a tablet for 50 bucks is a no brainer indeed. But for the price of a new iPad, you can get a 27" touch screen.
Then the latter is the no brainer for me, which is what I got. I'm quite content with it. Quite content indeed.

Well if you can make some of your software Multitouch friendly for both Mac and PC, we can then decide what size touchscreen to use the software on.

Are you a happy camper with D-Touch or is it Raven?

i'm a happy camper on DTouch.

Nice!

Ahhh this take soo long when you wait for something!

I think the best thing is real faders, real knob and the rest on a display/touch.

The following thing is very nice, no hardware meters/name/whatever even buttons are 100% customisable on the touch screen, just some physical faders and encoders for something to grab. You can even use some free space as a display.

It's the Touchstone Controller by Klotz. Looks like it's made for broadcast. Can't find any infos on it and it must cost a fortune or two but if you ask me, THAT'S the future!

http://www.klotzcommunications.com/touchstone.htm

Any updates?