D8Bridge with version 3 or 5.1???

[BrianJ]

Hey guys! I've just purchased a D8B and plan to use it with my DAW's (reaper and cubase)...my question is, it currently has version 3 on it, so should I update it to version 5.1? Or isn't that necessary with the D8Bridge, since the bridge takes over most functions anyway?

Also, if I read the version D8Bridge version 2 thread right, the newer version that Marc is working on would take complete control and render mackies OS not usable anyway...so also with that in mind, do I really need to spend the $170+ to upgrade to 5.1? Thanks!

Brian

[Lemontiger]

Hey Brian, D8Bridge bypasses the Mackie OS completely so it makes no difference. I'm intrigued to read about the plans to develop audio handling within future releases of D8Bridge, but I imagine this might take some time to implement. Did your D8B come with ADAT cards (DIO8/OPT8) or Apogee wordclock...? (Not necessary for the current version of D8Bridge, but handy if you presently need to interface it with a computer for audio handling.)

[BrianJ]

Hey Brian, D8Bridge bypasses the Mackie OS completely so it makes no difference. I'm intrigued to read about the plans to develop audio handling within future releases of D8Bridge, but I imagine this might take some time to implement. Did your D8B come with ADAT cards (DIO8/OPT8) or Apogee wordclock...? (Not necessary for the current version of D8Bridge, but handy if you presently need to interface it with a computer for audio handling.)

Thanks for your reply! Yes, I did get the Apogee Word clock and 3 OPT-8 cards. My hope was to use the D8B as an interface to reaper, cubase, etc. etc. to bring audio in, and then to use it as a control surface as well. I understand that the current version of D8Bridge doesn't support the audio, so, I guess I'm a little out of luck on that. Or am I ?

What exactly would be needed to be done to switch from audio to control surface mode? Do I have to completely shut down the unit and change the data cable and everything in order to switch between the two modes?

[Casey_Pittman]

Do I have to completely shut down the unit and change the data cable and everything in order to switch between the two modes?

Yes.

-Casey

[BrianJ]

Ahh...yeah, that sucks...

Hey Casey, what DAW software do you use the bridge with? Any experience with reaper and the bridge? Just wondered how it worked there...?

[Casey_Pittman]

I'm not a user of "the bridge" right now. Once V2 comes out with all the features that Marc is adding then I will be purchasing, but right now as it stands it's not very convenient for my workflow. But that doesn't mean I can't be totally supportive of the effort and all the hard work that has gone into it.

I'm a Cubase guy, I've never used reaper so i can't comment.

-Casey

[BrianJ]

I'm not a user of "the bridge" right now. Once V2 comes out with all the features that Marc is adding then I will be purchasing, but right now as it stands it's not very convenient for my workflow. But that doesn't mean I can't be totally supportive of the effort and all the hard work that has gone into it.

I'm a Cubase guy, I've never used reaper so i can't comment.

-Casey

Casey,
How does the D8B work with Cubase? From my understanding it was tested on Cubase during it's development...Do you use it as a control surface for Cubase? What all can/do you do with it there? I may use Cubase as well if it works well...

Does it just hook up with the midi to db9 connector?

Brian

[Casey_Pittman]

You can midi map some functions of the d8b to the daw(faders, v-pots, buttons) but if you do some searching on the forum you will find out that Mackie's midi resolution isn't that great and certain things don't match up. If you want to know what buttons are mappable go to the midi mapping window in the d8band look through the options.

But, all i use it for is transport control, location markers and automation. All of which need MTC which is done through the midi port on the back of the CPU. Connect that with your daw and set up your sync settings and these functions will work great. Although I think i may map the aux select buttons to some features in the future, who knows.

I have messed around with mapping the FX bank faders to the DAW faders but quite honestly I still prefer the mixes i do on the d8b to the ones I've done ITB, and hell I'm still running 3.0 with V1.2 eproms in my adat cards. I know that sounds horrible, but oh well. My clients don't complain and Mackie doesn't have any plans to make any more V2 eproms, I've asked.

-Casey

EDIT Think of your DAW as a glorified tape machine ala an HDR just with plugins.EDIT

[BrianJ]

Casey,
Thanks for that info!

How do I check the EPROM version? Is it written on the chip? Reason I ask is that I have an EPROM burner and I might be able to supply v2 chips if mine are v2.

I did this with some older EQ's I had...TC Electronics 1128's. Some had old firmware an I copied and burned the new firmware into new chips, worked perfectly...don't see why the same wouldnt work here...

[Casey_Pittman]

Casey,
Thanks for that info!

How do I check the EPROM version? Is it written on the chip? Reason I ask is that I have an EPROM burner and I might be able to supply v2 chips if mine are v2.

I did this with some older EQ's I had...TC Electronics 1128's. Some had old firmware an I copied and burned the new firmware into new chips, worked perfectly...don't see why the same wouldnt work here...

The eproms are on the apogee adat cards and yes there should be a sticker with version number on it. If you can burn eproms I'm sure folks like myself would def pay.

-Casey