What do you think about the Novation Nocturn MIDI controller

[HUROLURA]

Just to know what you feel about a SCOPE + NOCTURN combination for synth or effect midi remote control ?

[astroman]

well, it's not that bad as a rendered object, but the USB plug discloses the fake

[Shroomz~>]

It looks like it would blow away on a windy day.

[Neutron]

if they made it so you can slide knobs up and down on sliders that would be cool. thats what i thought it was at first.

[dawman]

I would love to see that on a hardware synth or mixer.

Great idea..............Faders with endless knobs at the top.

[valis]

Looks to me like Novation remembered the "Phat boy" and decided to make it cheaper and plastic. The 'automap' software is really the crux of the whole thing there...but in this case it relies on onscreen display only or...?

[Warp69]

Im not impressed.

But there's no question regarding the new Euphonix controller - very impressive - already ordered the MCcontrol and MCmix.

http://euphon221.securesites.net/artist ... erview.php

Let us hope that Scope will support Eucon in the future.

[hifiboom]

true
http://www.planetz.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=24068

[Kymeia]

Actually I think it looks fantastic - been looking for a decent replacement for my failing Phatboy and this is just the right size plus with Automap 2 should be very useful.

[erminardi]

Im not impressed.

But there's no question regarding the new Euphonix controller - very impressive - already ordered the MCcontrol and MCmix.

http://euphon221.securesites.net/artist ... erview.php

Let us hope that Scope will support Eucon in the future.

only for mac!

[Warp69]

To begin with - yes.

PC support will follow.

Every major DAW maker have announced support for the Eucon protocol, including Apple (ofcourse), Steinberg, Cakewalk, Magix etc.

[Marc de Ruiter]

I bought one yesterday, second hand for really cheap. So I can give you my first impression:
For remote control I use an Alphatrack but as I felt I had to little parameters to handle simultaniously for plugins in C4.5, I looked for an additional controller.

Installing Nocturn next to Alphatrack
After installing Nocturn Alphatrack froze. By upgrading to the newest 1.07 driver of Alphatrack and the latest Novation Automap 3.0 I managed to get it back to work. I can't tell what functionality changed on the Alphatrack since there's no manual yet for that upgrade.

Then the operation of Nocturn:

It seem to wrap all the VST's you chose and makes a mappings. This works quite well, but.......When I tried the XTC plug-ins there was no sound at all. The midi light on the Synth images where blinking. FX didn't change anything to the audio. After taking the XTC plug-ins out of the automap selection the sound came back. I use a Pulsar II as a pure XTC card, no I/O.
The good news is, you can use Nocturn as a normal remote controller and make the control mapping in the C4 device setup.

If expirience anything strange with this line-up or manage to solve this automap issue with XTC I let you know.
Regards,
Marc

[nightscope]

I've been using one of these for a good few months now. Cost about £60. I was a bit wary when I got it as I expect things not to work. This is without a doubt my best buy of the year, product of the year. It works flawlessly. Just load a plug and it's instantly mapped and ready to go. Totally stable with my setup. It also give's the option to enter numerical values for plugs which don't display them or are tricky to manipulate or hard to read. Do away with the product GUI altogether if you fancy. I hate meeces with a vengeance so this is very tres cool chic. All the plugs that are loaded in a host project are remembered per session so you can flit between the various plugs from the Nocturn surface. Flimsy? What do some folks mix with, a sledgehammer? Excellent build and light enough to hide away somewhere and whip out when required. The endless speed dial allows very rapid whizzing through preset banks. If you use VSTi's or VST's in a host just get one. Mind you, I only know about it in conjunction with Samplitude.

ns

[valis]

Actually interesting to read my earlier reply above, as I own a Nocturn as well now. Given that it's plastic the build quality actually isn't half bad. I've probably had it 8-9 months and use it quite a bit, and the knobs have held up find. The crossfader does make it look a bit 'dj' oriented, but no DJ would ever want to use that for DJ'ing. I think they added it for the Ableton home crowd more than anything. I do occasionally find use for it, but the knobs & buttons are the real thing. I've got enough on hand elsewhere in here that I didn't *need* knobs & buttons, but in conjuction with automap (or even just assigned to send midi data to the 'automap midi output') this thing works a treat.

I wouldn't use it instead of the Euphonix controller, or a Mackie Control etc. But for $60 to have an extra bit of control on hand specifically for plugins, works fine as far as I'm concerned.

-------

It's true that their installer for the drivers is a bit daft...if you don't unplug other USB music devices you WILL get the problems Marc de Ruiter expressed above. I expect most of the companies are using the same USB bridge chips (or similar enough) and so that causes novation some problems. Once I figured that out it all installed & worked fine. The conflicting piece of hardware for me was an ancient Midisport 4x4 which I could just as soon dump anyway, it's an acceptable piece of hardware now subject to M-Audio's god-awful driver support. I was able to leave my MOTU midi interface and several other bits of midi gear connected to usb just fine (just not the Midisport).

Also, I don't use this on the Scope PC (nor do I use XTC at all, let alone with novation's wrapper). I have a BCF-2000 which was also very inexpensive and usable enough with Scope until I can find a decent second hand Peavey controller that doesn't have worn out sliders (most I've seen used drop data across their full range).

As for the Novation in operation, I specifically select the plugins I want wrapped and leave it at that. A few Vsti's, eq's and filters, some of Audio Damage's stuff (where it makes sense). Not everything benefits from tactile input but the ones that do make this a welcome tool.

[Mary Mungo]

It would still be good to have the Euphonix MC Mix. But it appears a year on there is still no PC product
Is there a similar controller to the Euphonix thats been made for the PC?

[nightscope]

It would still be good to have the Euphonix MC Mix. But it appears a year on there is still no PC product

Yeah, definitely. I will probably collar one of these if and when Samplitude &/or SC, etc, get on the case. Mackie do their desks, http://www.mackie.com/products/mcupro/index.html, but I will continue to use the trusty BCF2000 in the host till the PC devs catch up.

ns

[nightscope]