Roland MCR8 Midi Mixer Real-time control Software Synth eg Rebirth or DAW Sequencereg eg Cubase : Castleton : £90

This thing is awesome for anyone wanting Real-time control when using a Software Synth like Rebirth or DAW Sequencer like Cubase etc on their PC or Macintosh computer, its been sitting unesd in corner of dry spare for over 8 years, still a great piece of kit for controling Volume/Pan/Mute/Solo of 16 channels of your DAW Sequencer Software for which i used it, has illuminated A/B buttons when choosing which of the 8 channel sliders are selected, Boxed Manual & ill thrown in a Roland PSA-240 Boxed Power Supply

Quick Sale/Bargain Buy £90

Specs/Info

Hardware controller seeks to take the strain out of parameter access synth or software editing, by offering you real-time manipulation of any MIDI values from its front panel sliders and knobs.

A MATTER OF MODE: THE FOUR FACES OF THE MCR8
The key to using the MCR8 is in understanding its four application modes. Roland supply a number of plastic overlays to give the correct legending for the controls in each mode.

* MODE 1
This is the GS Control Mode. Here, the MCR8's various knobs and buttons send MIDI control change and SysEx messages primarily dedicated to the taming of GS-compatible synths, such as Roland's Sound Canvas series. Each MIDI channel can be sent bank and program select messages, and can have its volume, pan and effects send level altered. Those sound parameters defined by Roland's GS standard (such as filter cut-off, resonance and envelope values) can be accessed directly from the faders. You can also send System messages, including master level, pan, key shift and effects parameters. In addition, sequencer control buttons give access to Start, Stop, Continue and Song Select.

• MODE 2
This turns the MCR8 into a multi-purpose MIDI mixer, where level, pan and program number can be controlled in much the same way as in Mode 1, but the knob and fader banks can be defined to send any of the control change messages between zero and 95. The sequencer controls are carried over from mode 1.

• MODE 3
This is the PC Software Control Mode. In addition to providing a serial PC/Mac interface, the MCR8 also merges its own control change data with the messages arriving at its MIDI input, and sends these to the host PC. The result is a neat, self-contained MIDI interface, which integrates the concept of MIDI mixing in much the same way as the mixer pages of Steinberg's Cubase or Emagic's Notator -- but here we are provided with a panel full of real controls to tweak. Since no PC software is yet available to take advantage of this mode, I was unable to test its efficacy, but I have a feeling that it won't be long in coming. The lack of an on-board display should prove to be far less of a pain here, providing that the recipient software gives a reasonable amount of visual feedback.

• MODE 4
The last mode emulates the J L Cooper CS10, a widely-used assignable MIDI controller which has also become the standard hardware controller for Digidesign's Sound Tools and Pro Tools. This will undoubtedly endear the MCR8 to many Mac owners, and can only serve to consolidate a single control standard -- which is no bad thing, in my opinion. Roland make references here to compatibility with 'yet-to-be specified' Roland and Boss products. Given Roland's track record of establishing standards, I believe that we will be seeing a healthy range of MCR8-compatible synths and effects modules in the near future.


. Roland MCR8 Midi Mixer Real-time control Software Synth eg Rebirth or DAW Sequencereg eg Cubase : Castleton : £90