Converting a D8B to a full fledged DAW Controller (w/o MIDI)

[eaygee]

Greetings good news about the the controller.... Is there a pre order sign up?

[fiverec]

Hi guys!!

is very very nice Peter I'm waiting for send the first oder now!!

what is the time for buy?
in december?

greetings

[Petersueco]

I'm helping Marc to set up a mini-web-site for this. It will take some time though. Marc is very busy testing and fine tuning the software and needs some time to write the text for the site.

As Marc has already pointed out December may be it. Please don't hold your breath about this date because, as usual, if something shows up, it could be delayed a little more. Obviously Christmas time would be the perfect release moment to increase the sales.

About a Mac version, I don't know the specifics, but Marc have always been very confident that it would be right around the corner. The main issue, I think, (and please take this with a grain of salt because I'm not a programmer) would be to find a program that creates 6 MIDI virtual ports on the Mac. The code is pretty much the same as for Windows. Have in mind that there is several Windows and Mac operating systems (32 and 64 bits) out there and all (or at least most) of them have to be tested, and documented.

Peter Holmquist.

[Marc Girard]

Hello again,

Just wanted to let you know that I'm checking for a Mac port these days! I've been at it for a week or so, it doesn't look too good I must say. Being from the Commodore 64 era, I learnt to code tightly, efficiently and mostly, fast and optimized routines. D8Bridge mostly deals with low-end stuff (Serial ports and MIDI ports). Those are implemented differently in each OSes. My code is portable in theory, but it's the special hardware calls that are not... And since D8Bridge is about 85% that, it'll be hard to simply port the software.

Having a Mac version of D8Bridge implies a complete rewrite of the software (again!). And I'm not even talking about the learning curve of learning Apple's XCode and all the new DLL Calls. There's also the fact that I'm the sole developer of this software, I'm not assisted at all, so I've got limited resources.

BUT! There's hope. For those who REALLY want to have D8Bridge and still use a Mac DAW right now, it might be possible to find some sort of a solution. There's a free MIDI Looper called rtpMIDI and it's compatible with Mac's Network MIDI. So, we might be able to preload rtpMIDI and D8Bridge in a small PC and use it as a new "brain" for the D8B. The PC would read the D8B's info, translate it with D8Bridge and send the MCU MIDI commands to rtpMIDI. I know it's a bit far fetched but it would work I guess. We'd have to test it. We could even provide some sort of a turnkey solution, a preloaded box with all software ready to go. I'm thinking out loud.

Marc

[FrankH]

Marc:

Here's an interesting thought...

Mackie sold a little over 7500 D8Bs.

Conservatively, imagine 5% of that number your market. That's around 375 potential sales at $350 per. Works out to $131,350 US.

Again, conservatively projecting 15% of those potential sales to be Mac owners, you should ask yourself this question: is approx $40,000 in lost sales worth figuring out how to make this work without the clusterf**k described below?

I mention this because most people who buy Macs, do so for the simple elegance of the platform. I can almost promise you that something like the idea you describe will not play out as a very attractive feature to the Mac userbase. I could be wrong...but I don't think so.

There's a free MIDI Looper called rtpMIDI and it's compatible with Mac's Network MIDI. So, we might be able to preload rtpMIDI and D8Bridge in a small PC and use it as a new "brain" for the D8B. The PC would read the D8B's info, translate it with D8Bridge and send the MCU MIDI commands to rtpMIDI.

[Petersueco]

Hello again,

Just wanted to let you know that I'm checking for a Mac port these days! I've been at it for a week or so, it doesn't look too good I must say. Being from the Commodore 64 era, I learnt to code tightly, efficiently and mostly, fast and optimized routines. D8Bridge mostly deals with low-end stuff (Serial ports and MIDI ports). Those are implemented differently in each OSes. My code is portable in theory, but it's the special hardware calls that are not... And since D8Bridge is about 85% that, it'll be hard to simply port the software.

Having a Mac version of D8Bridge implies a complete rewrite of the software (again!). And I'm not even talking about the learning curve of learning Apple's XCode and all the new DLL Calls. There's also the fact that I'm the sole developer of this software, I'm not assisted at all, so I've got limited resources.

I clearly stand corrected here. My bad. Sorry! I always had the impression that the Mac version would be easier to do.

We'd have to test it. We could even provide some sort of a turnkey solution, a preloaded box with all software ready to go. I'm thinking out loud.

Marc

Apple's new iD8B

[MOSHWITZ]

Sup?

Yes Yes Yes Yes,,,,,Hot Damn,,,Very cool and exiting ,,I'm so stoked and can't wait to be able to use this. Great Job and I'll say it again,,,, you freaking rock Got my card ready too as soon the buy page is up and running,,I'm in

[NigelC]

Its a shame there was no way to reverse engineer the software driver for a US2400. Although it has 24 faders it is recognised as 3 Mackie Control units and has 6 virtual MIDI ports available via its USB connection.

I know this might seem stupid but why couldn't the new OS be loaded on to a replacement hard drive inside the D8B PSU and there be some way of connecting or networking the PSU to whatever PC/Mac you have thereby negating the need for different versions.

I know originally thats the plan you had (I think).

There is a piece of software called LCXMU by Opus Lcus http://www.opuslocus.com/ that can bridge between a Mac and a hardware device again using virtual MIDI ports.

I think the biggest shame in all this is that the HUI layer built into the D8B works really well, if only there had been a way to extend this across the other faders by creating some kind of extra MIDI ports.

Its even more of a shame Mackie themselves did not see the potential in all this to wrench more cash out of their user base!

[NigelC]

Me again. Found this don't know if its of any use to Mark: http://spikenzielabs.com/SpikenzieLabs/Serial_MIDI.html

[luigui.rb]

Hi guys! Im new here! I'm using Mac in my small studio, and i'm probably a child to you guys, but i may as well give my opinion (not big enough to call my 2 cents). Marc's raw solution to the Mac users are as he stated for people who "REALLY" want to use the d8bridge. As for me I would gladly make my peace with the d8b---PC+rtpMIDI+D8Bridge---MAC setup to have a $1200 (or so) 24 faders DAW controller as fancy as the D8B. Because lets face it: Tascam US2400..? Are you serious? And a Mackie Control Universal with two extenders (although with the LCD's) still is not as fashionable, if i may use that word, as the d8b. And i keep highlighting the fancy properties of a d8b because for a small studio like mine, years away from SSL console, and aiming for the low budget market I'm projected to, 60% is functionality and 40% is the client's impression, so YES I will be listening carefully to Marc's suggestions. If I was so spoiled to reject a setup like that i would probably have the capabilities of having a C|24 and 12 rack spaces filled with Avalon preamps, and I DO NOT. I dont even have a dusty d8b sitting alone in a corner waiting for a miracle (Marc's in this case) to happen, like most of you guys probably do. I dont know if its worth it yet, but might even leave behind Pro Tools 8 (yes, not even 9 or 10 yet) and switch to a MCU supported DAW as my main one

Hope to hear some good news soon! I might even add Marc to my praying list..

Have a good day you all, letting you guys know that you have reached my Costa Rican's ears!