Radikal Technologies and controllers

A place to talk about whatever Scope music/gear related stuff you want.

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pkole
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Radikal Technologies and controllers

Post by pkole »

Does anyone use Radikal Technologies SAC 2.2 to control scope mixers?
Is it customisable?
I would like to know any useful experiences.
I would also appreciate any other controllers that support flowless control of scope.
Thanks in advance.
Panagiotis.
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pollux
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Re: Radikal Technologies and controllers

Post by pollux »

Hi,

I use a Mackie Control "splitted in two", fadesr and channel strips for the Scope mixer, and the jog wheel and buttons for the DAW transport and other useful functions.
I also use a Behringer BCR2000 (rotary encoders) and a BCF2000 (faders) for controlling plugins and synths.
pkole
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Re: Radikal Technologies and controllers

Post by pkole »

Thanks for the reply.
I thought mcu could not control scope mixers.
Can you please explain how do you program your midi setup (mcu and behronger stuff).
What midi interface do you use?
Fluxpod
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Re: Radikal Technologies and controllers

Post by Fluxpod »

I use the sac 2.2.Was a pain to set up with cubase....and scope on a second pc but it was totally worth it.Honestly i forgot what steps are necassary... :D But its nice for mixing.
pkole
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Re: Radikal Technologies and controllers

Post by pkole »

pollux wrote:Hi,

I use a Mackie Control "splitted in two", fadesr and channel strips for the Scope mixer, and the jog wheel and buttons for the DAW transport and other useful functions.
I also use a Behringer BCR2000 (rotary encoders) and a BCF2000 (faders) for controlling plugins and synths.
Does anyone else control scope mixers with mcu?
If so, what's the way to program it?
I'm not a midi expert, i must admit.
So any help or link with info would be nice.
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Tau
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Re: Radikal Technologies and controllers

Post by Tau »

Hi! I'm using a radkal SAC2K to control Live, Cubase and Scope. I use it in Mackie mode, as it is much easier to configure in Cubase than the "proper" SAC2K configuration, plus it's a breeze to work in Live.

But for Scope, if I need Mackie functionality, I use Wolf's mixer, and a small program by Radikal called SAC Route, that allows multiple apps to access the driver, and you can switch between them on the SAC front panel.

Wolf's mixer is preconfigured for the Mackie Control, and the most important part of that, is that each mixer channel receives data on its own MIDI channel and that "volume" is controlled by pitchbend, instead of the usual CC, in order to have greater resolution.

Most of the time, I'm working with SpaceF's FP mixers, and those aren't mackie compatible. You have to choose a single MIDI channel for the mixer, with the possibility of a different one for the inserts if you like, but that means that you cannot use the same controller no. for different channels. What I do then, is use a normal MIDI controller (Bitstream 3X) and control the Scope mixer's faders with regular CCs. Much less resolution, but it does the job.

Now, the SAC seems to be able to do a lot of tricks, and I believe that there is a lot of tweaking power in that thing. Unfortunately, the manual is very short and doesn't describe in depth the possibilities of the machine. Furthermore, it seems to be discontinued?? Anyway, I'm betting that, by changing the System mode (logic, mackie, slave, etc.) you can set it up to control the sequencer in Mackie mode and, when necessary, switch to CC mode for Scope. Unfortunately I am unable to provide you with a step by step program to do this. But I would be very much interested in sharing some knowledge about the SAC with other users, as there seems to be a lot of potencial in this thing.

Cheers, and good luck,

T
Fluxpod
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Re: Radikal Technologies and controllers

Post by Fluxpod »

Great response tau! Much appreachiated i never tried wolf mixers or the mcu mode i used the midi mode with the 24/48 but i think i need to dig more into this.
Btw there is a sac 2.0 for a super cheap price here.
Here is what the seller wrote..dunno if its stll up but worth a shot.The price is incredible.

Got to let this go. Radikal Technologies SAC -2K

$175 +$20 shipping and insured to your door. I'll pay paypal fees.

Total: $195

-Jon
Its on page 3 now in the gearslutz classifieds.
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pollux
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Re: Radikal Technologies and controllers

Post by pollux »

pkole wrote:Thanks for the reply.
I thought mcu could not control scope mixers.
Can you please explain how do you program your midi setup (mcu and behronger stuff).
What midi interface do you use?
I use Wolf's mixer which can work either with a MCU or a plain midi controller
pkole
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Re: Radikal Technologies and controllers

Post by pkole »

That makes sense.
By the way, i found a topic which was very helpful to me.
http://www.planetz.com/forums/viewtopic ... &hilit=bcf
I think it clears everything about sac.
Thanks for the help.
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Tau
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Re: Radikal Technologies and controllers

Post by Tau »

Fluxpod wrote: Got to let this go. Radikal Technologies SAC -2K

$175 +$20 shipping and insured to your door. I'll pay paypal fees.

Total: $195
.
Wow, that's a great price! But there's one issue you should try to clear up: the original SAC2K had a sort of a bug that caused erratic fader movement and other quirks. This was fixed with a firmware review, and the SAC 2.2 came out corrected. Trouble is I read the older 2K units needed a trip back to the factory to have some parts replaced.

I bought mine used for about 400 EUR three years ago, and the seller told me it had actually been serviced, and the older parts replaced by Raditec themselves. But to be 100% honest, sometimes the faders can be a bit lazy, and not initialize properly. All in all, it's workable, and very useful, but I did try and contact raditec several times to have it fixed, and never got a reply...

Anyway, ask the seller some qustions about it. If it is working, it's a great buy!
Fluxpod
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Re: Radikal Technologies and controllers

Post by Fluxpod »

Tau wrote:
Fluxpod wrote: Got to let this go. Radikal Technologies SAC -2K

$175 +$20 shipping and insured to your door. I'll pay paypal fees.

Total: $195
.
Wow, that's a great price! But there's one issue you should try to clear up: the original SAC2K had a sort of a bug that caused erratic fader movement and other quirks. This was fixed with a firmware review, and the SAC 2.2 came out corrected. Trouble is I read the older 2K units needed a trip back to the factory to have some parts replaced.

I bought mine used for about 400 EUR three years ago, and the seller told me it had actually been serviced, and the older parts replaced by Raditec themselves. But to be 100% honest, sometimes the faders can be a bit lazy, and not initialize properly. All in all, it's workable, and very useful, but I did try and contact raditec several times to have it fixed, and never got a reply...

Anyway, ask the seller some qustions about it. If it is working, it's a great buy!
Yeah i thought hell for that price..I dont have any trouble with my 2.2.
You need to phone Radical,if they still exist.They never answer e-mails.
le_tigre
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Re: Radikal Technologies and controllers

Post by le_tigre »

Skip the 2.0 and wait until a proper 2.2 comes along for a cheap price. It's not uncommon to see them for 500 USD or a little less.

The 2.2 is the best DAW controller I've used, by and large, but it's a bit long in the tooth. The Mackie emulation's not that great, but older programs with dedicated SAC 2.2k support work terrifically.
Yours,
Niall.
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