Having been a fan of Euphonix and their innovation with the large format consoles I was quite excited when I heard they were releasing a control surface aimed at project and home studios. Dubbed the “Artist Series”, it looked set to revolutionize the low cost control surface market which has been dominated by devices by Mackie, Tascam, Frontier Designs, and Yamaha. Euphonix also have a bit of a reputation with making attractive looking gear so finally the average Joe could afford a front seat position on the bridge of the Enterprise. Ooer..Scott me up beamy!
Before we start I'll point out that Mackie has really been the undefeated champion with their Mackie Control protocol enjoying wide-spread adoption by all of the main DAW players. If the hardware devices are not natively supported by the application then you can usually boot them into a Mackie Control emulation mode and use them with most of the functionality that the MCU protocol has to offer.
For the last few years I have owned a Mackie Control and while it was generally pretty reliable there have recently been some bugs with their latest firmware upgrades involving fader sensitivity with certain applications. Despite repeated attempts by users worldwide to have the issue resolved the requests seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Faced with the choice of wading through the multitude of other options out there or calling it quits, chalking this one up to a below-the-belt win for Mackie support, and then hastily checking myself into the nearest asylum the former won out - only just...
Enter the Euphonix Artist Series
The Artist series comes in two flavors - the MC Control and the MC Mix. The MC control has 4 touch sensitive faders, a touch sensitive screen, assignable touch sensitive knobs, and dedicated transport and shuttle facilities. The MC Mix has 8 touch sensitive faders, 8 touch sensitive knobs, and 8 OLED displays above each fader channel which provide feedback depending on what they’re set to display. You can chain up to 4 MC Mix units and 1 MC Control giving a total of 36 faders - nice!
Software wise the Artist series is built upon the EuCon protocol which has seen wide adaptation across most of the major DAWs. For those of you who haven’t heard of EuCon well then hold on to your seats because it is (and I quote) “a high speed Ethernet control protocol developed by Euphonix that allows the hardware to connect to any application. EuCon carries control information for faders, knobs, displays and more between the hardware and whatever application is in focus on your computer.”
Sounds good right? It sure does! This is a break away from the traditional MIDI based communication between computer and hardware and provides more than 250 times the speed and 8 times the resolution - all over a standard ethernet connection. Through the EuControl software on the host computer, the data is managed between application and control surface and in practice the EuControl software offers some functionality which other surfaces in this market will find hard to beat.
Why a control surface?
There are opinions out there that control surfaces are nothing more than just a glorified mouse. In my experience this has come from people who’ve never used one before. As with anything in life, once you've experienced the real deal it's pretty hard to go back. At its most basic level that control surface allows you to control multiple parameters simultaneously - something that just isn’t possible with a mouse like input device. This control can be in the form of multiple fader moves, multiple knob moves etc, all of which contribute to a more dynamic, exciting, and emotive mix.
I wouldn't be attempting to force your mouse into early retirement just yet though as even with a control surface it still has its uses. For example, I still find the trusty mouse quicker for adjusting plug-in parameters on the on-screen GUI rather than scrolling through banks of parameters on the surface. But for the nuts and bolts of a mix (balance, EQ, send levels etc) you just can't beat what a tactile control surface has to offer.
EuControl
In the larger Euphonix consoles they have a dedicated on board computer which controls the surface's functions. Euphonix have done something very clever and created EuControl which harnesses the power of your local host machine to provide the "brains" of the Artist Series units. The control surface connects to the computer via a standard Ethernet connection and a EuControl application runs in the background either on your DAW or on a secondary server machine. Because of this forward thinking approach it means that simply updating the EuControl software can provide more functionality, compatibility, and enhancements thereby extending the life of the units.
Using the Artist Series on a PC with Nuendo or Cubase
First off I’ll be honest here and say I can’t quite understand why a company like Euphonix who has PC implementation on their more expensive desks has neglected a large portion of their market for 10 months and counting. In seems like a rather short sighted decision but what are you going to do...
It’s not all doom and gloom for PC users anymore however because as of the October 2008 AES convention Euphonix have released a client driver for the PC which lets you use a Mac running the EuControl application as a server. This effectively lets you use the Artist Series devices on a PC workstation. Before you spontaneously combust from having waited 10 long months to finally use these things, the downside is you need to own or have access to a Mac which can operate as a host. I ended up swallowing my pride and purchased a cheap low-specced G4 iBook for running both EuControl and ensuring stray papers remain seated on my desk.
So, if you have a Mac and want to use the Artist series on a PC workstation with the Mac acting as the EuControl server then here’s how you do it:
Step 1: First you’ll need to download and install the latest version of EuControl on the Mac which is available from http://www.euphonix.com/artist/support/downloads.php Once installation is complete remember to reboot your computer.
Step 2: You will then need to install the PC client which is available from the Euphonix Professional section of the Euphonix website. You will need version 1.4.0 or greater. This is available from http://www.euphonix.com/pro/support/mc_support.php and once again, remember to re-boot your computer after installation.
Step 3: Depending on the DAW you are using you might need a license to run the Artist Series via the software. If you are using a Steinberg product (in my case I’m using Nuendo) then follow the instructions that came with the Artist Series which detail how to log into MySteinberg.net, enter your Artist Series serial number, and download a valid license to your Syncrosoft dongle. Having a valid license will enable to you add “EuCon” as a device in your device manager inside Nuendo/Cubase.
Step 4: On Nuendo on the PC go to "Devices -> Device Manager". Click the "+" arrow and add "EuCon" as a device. Be aware that you will need to be running Nuendo version 4.2.2 or greater or Cubase version 4.5.2 or greater for them to recognize the Artist Series units.
Step 5: With all the software installed and ready to go you’re ready to connect the Artist Series control surface(s) to the network. The Artist Series ships with an Ethernet crossover cable but as we are not able to use a direct connection to the computer (since we are using the Mac as a server) you will need to use standard Ethernet cables and a network hub/router.
Plug network cables from the PC to the hub, the Mac to the hub, and the Artist Series devices to the hub. It goes without saying that everything has to be on the same local network.
Step 6: If everything is correctly connected you should be able to power the Artist Series devices and within 30 seconds the EuControl menu bar icon at the top of your screen will turn green to indicate that a device is connected and ready. For more information on EuControl please see the setup guide that comes with the devices.
Step 7: Click the green EuControl indicator and choose "EuControl Settings". This will open up the Eu-Control software.
Click on the surfaces tab and make sure that the EuControl software recognizes the control surfaces. If they aren’t already claimed (in the "My Surfaces" column) then simply add them.
Click on the "Workstations" tab and you should see two columns - "All Workstations" and "My Workstations". The PC should be showing up under the "All Workstations" tab and the Mac should be in both columns with an "attached" check mark next to it in the "My Workstations" column.
Click on the Mac in the "My Workspaces" column and detach it, then add the PC from "All Workstations" to "My Workstations" and click "Attach".
Step 8: If everything has been set up correctly the Artist Series should come alive and any control from the PC client/DAW will now be reflected on the control surface and vice versa.
Troubleshooting
I had tried to get this scenario working at a local Mac based studio before I took the plunge and purchased a Mac to operate as the server, however repeated attempts were met with frustration. After a few emails to Euphonix support (who were very responsive and helpful) it was concluded that it was likely a network configuration error as I wasn’t able to get the PC to show up in the "All Workstations" list. Installation on this iBook however went off without a hitch and the whole process was very straight forward and simple.
If you are encountering errors then check that:
a) You have rebooted both computers after software installation.
b) The Artist Series is recognized by EuControl.
c) The PC is recognized by EuControl.
d) Your host application is EuCon enabled and is a valid version.
e) Your network is configured correctly.
f) Your PC Client and EuControl versions match. Using different versions of software across the workstations can cause potential conflicts.
The start up order is also crucial. Make sure you’ve launched the client on the PC workstation so that EuControl can see the device as discoverable.
EuControl in use
Track assignments and layouts
One of the very useful features of EuControl are layouts. In the "Assign" tab you can assign particular tracks to specific faders. These can either be set tracks currently in your session or you also have the possibility of assigning a track to attentioned or user defined.
An attentioned track means that when you select a track in your DAW, the surface will reflect this and show you the currently selected track. User defined leaves that track open so that you can nudge/bank between faders. The default track assignments for the MC Mix contains 8 user defined tracks.
Once you have set up your tracks as you like you can then store this as a "Layout". There is also the possibility of storing and recalling multiple layouts.
What does all this mean? Well, you could assign all your sub groups to the faders and store this as a layout, effects returns, vocals, drums etc. You can leave certain tracks locked (e.g. the master fader) and allow the others to be user defined. You could have 1 track as attentioned so that every time you select a new track in the DAW it is ready for control - all while leaving the others user defined. The possibilities are endless.
Each of these aforementioned scenarios can be stored as a different layout and then these can be recalled at the touch of a button. This makes for a very powerful and flexible system and when dealing with large track counts on mixes it can help enormously when you want to see a particular set of faders in front of you.
One point to note - all of these track layouts are stored with the project so opening a different project will recall that project’s layouts - very cool indeed!
Conclusion
In this price bracket I think it's fair to say that the Artist Series slays the competition. With EuCon widely implemented, future expandability via the host-based EuControl software, and a very well designed unit both in terms of appearance and usability, other manufacturers will have a very tough time beating this offering.
It would only be fair to mention that there were some quality control issues and problems when the surfaces were first released however the major problems have since been ironed out and Euphonix has proven to be very responsive with both software bug fixing as well as implementing new functionality based on user feedback.
For the times I have had to contact Euphonix support they have been very helpful, and it is a refreshing change to deal with people who know their product inside out and can provide the answers you need.
If I was to fault these devices it would be that there is still a lack of native PC support - so c'mon Euphonix, what do you say? We're still friends right?
I thoroughly recommend taking these units for a test drive, but be prepared to purchase your own as you're not getting mine...
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Jonathan
said:
 |
... As Euphonix are now owned by AVID hopefully they'll release the PC drivers. Check http://duc.digidesign.com/showthread.php?t=272493 |
pierre ndoumbe
said:
 |
... Hi i can find version 1.4.0 tanks for sharing this tutorial please help papy |
Jonathan
said:
|
... You just need a version after 1.4.0. The Euphonix website currently has versions 2.5.5 online. |
