Potential d8b user! Some Help Needed.

[Dimos]

Hi all. I am considering buying a d8b to be used only as a DAW controller for Cubase 12+. My question, or rather questions are the following:

Do i need the cpu to be working 100% to get the d8b working as a daw controller or just the PSU?
Do i have to use an external device (probox) or software to make it work or a simple usb to midi converter/interface would do?
Is there a specific card i should be looking for when i buy the d8b in order to make this DAW controller thing work?

Again, I only need it as a 24 channel+meterbridge+transport,pan etc controller. I do not care for the plugins or its routing capabilities.

Thanks in advance!

[Y-my-R]

Do i need the cpu to be working 100% to get the d8b working as a daw controller or just the PSU?

The rack unit doesn't need to be fully working for this purpose, but the power supply does need to be working. However, while I was under the impression that you could even "remove" the PC mainboard, someone else on this forum reported that this prevented the rack unit from starting up at all... so - seems like you'll need to have a "complete" rack unit, but if Mackie OS doesn't boot up or the mainboard has some other issue, like that the mouse or keyboard won't work, etc., won't matter for controller use.

Do i have to use an external device (probox) or software to make it work or a simple usb to midi converter/interface would do?

Yes. The ProBox IS the MIDI converter/interface and is required. There is no way to get the D8B rack unit to output or receive MIDI through it's own MIDI port, if Mackie OS isn't starting up.
I would NOT recommend to go with the D8Bridge software solution at this point, since development stopped years ago, and continued functionality is dependent on if future Windows versions "happen" to still work with it... it could break with any update. (There is no Mac version).

Is there a specific card i should be looking for when i buy the d8b in order to make this DAW controller thing work?

No. If using the D8B with the ProBox, you could technically pull ALL the cards out of the D8B and it would still work.

Again, I only need it as a 24 channel+meterbridge+transport,pan etc controller. I do not care for the plugins or its routing capabilities.

If it makes sense to "choose" the D8B as a controller, depends on if the LED meters are more important to you, than scribble strip displays for every channel.
Something like a Mackie Control Universal (with 2 extenders) would do the exact same thing as the D8B with the ProBox, but would give you scribble stip displays that identify what software channel each D8B channel is mapped to. On the D8B, it can be difficult to identify this, since there are no displays per channel.

What the Mackie Control Universal is worse at, is displaying Meters. It has that option, too, but the meters show on the LCD display on these units, and are pretty much useless (and sluggish).

IMO, it all depends on how cheap you can get that D8B for controller use, and how much you'd have to pay for a ProBox on top of it. If this exceeds the price of a more modern controller+extensions that give you control over 24 simultaneous tracks, then I wouldn't recommend the D8B at this point. It's prone to develop issues, the faders aren't that great compared to modern motorized faders, and the D8B pulls A LOT of power, even when used as a controller, since power is supplied to ALL of the D8B's components (i.e. the many internal boards) no matter if they're being used or not.

Long story short... if you can get a D8B incl. rack unit that fails to boot for dirt-cheap (or free... I got 2 of the units I have, that had Error 43 for free), and a ProBox on top without exceeding the price of a more modern/better controller, then it would make sense, IMO. If you'd end up dropping, say, $500+ on the system, then I'd rather look for a used MCU+Extenders combo, that could likely be had for less, at this point.