Alesis Studio Interface MasterControl manual

REFERENCE MANUAL[...]

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TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 2 FIRST THINGS FIRST: DRIVER INSTALLATION ......................................................................... 3 WINDOWS ..............................................................[...]

2 INTRODUCTION Congratulations on your purchase of the Alesis Maste rControl! The MasterControl is Alesis’s most advanced computer recording product to date and designed to be the centerpiece of y our studio. Just consider this list o f features: y 24-bit, 192kHz audio interface with analog preampl i fiers and line inputs, plus ADAT and S/PDIF di[...]

3 FIRST THINGS FIRST : DRIVER INSTALLA TION If your computer has Internet access, go to http://ww w.alesis. com/mastercontrol . It’s possible tha t updated drivers have been posted there since the time the software DVD included with your MasterControl was printed. WINDOWS If you are using the drivers from the DVD, click to begin the MasterControl[...]

4 REAR PANEL FEATURES 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 9 9 10 10 10 11 11 12 13 1. MIC / LINE INPUTS – These two inputs can accept micr ophones (using an XLR cable) or an instrument or line-level device (using a 1/4” cable) such as a guitar, bass, sampler, or other audio device. These are balanced, low- impedance inpu ts. For[...]

5 8. FOOTSWITCH – You may connect a remote footswitch to this jack. This can operate eithe r as a control option surface or as a toggle switch to tur n the Ma sterControl’s talkback function on an d off. Pleas e refer to the GLOBAL M ENU S section to configure your footswitch. 9. MIDI IN / OUT – You can use MIDI c ables to connect an external[...]

6 TOP PANEL FEATU RES This section breaks down the cont rol surface into its functional areas . The area being discussed is shaded in the accompanying diag rams. A F F F F D E G B C (A) Analog Input Signal Indicators (B) DAW Control: Channels (C) DAW Control: Multi-Function Knobs (D) DAW Control: Transport (E) DAW Control: Assignable Button Banks ([...]

7 (B) DAW CONTROL: CHANNELS 5 6 1 2 4 3 3 3 3 1. CHANNEL FADER – Use this 100mm, touch-sens itive fader to adjust the volume levels of each channel. The exact level will be shown in the DISPLAY . 2. MASTER FADER – This fader controls the DA W’s master fader. Note th at diffe rent DAWs control this fader differ ently. Some DAWs, such as Pr o T[...]

8 (C) DAW CONTROL: MULTI-FUNCTION KNOBS 3 1 2 1. TEMPLATE OVERLAY – Place the long plasticized overlay (included) that matches your currently selected DAW preset h ere. Remove the plastic protective covering from the te mplate overlay before placing it in the slot. Insert one end first, then bend the over lay slightly upwards in order to slide th[...]

9 (E) DAW CONTROL: ASSIGNABLE BUTTON BANKS 1. TEMPLATE OVERLAY - Place the short plasticized overlay (incl uded) that matches your currently selected DAW preset here. 2. ASSIGNABLE BUTTONS – These buttons perform functions in your DAW such as SAVE, LOOP, etc. For most pr esets, you can re-assign the buttons to various f unctions by pressing EDIT [...]

10 2. DIRECT MON LEVEL – This knob raises or lowers your entire direct monitor mix. This allows you to blend your direct monito r signals with the audio b eing played fr om your computer. 3. OUTPUT 1-2 LEVEL – This knob controls the volume sent out of the analog o utputs for any of the analog output pairs that are set to listen to DAW outp uts [...]

11 4. EDIT – In Edit Mode, you can chang e the assignments for the A and B banks of the ASSIGN ABLE buttons – a total of 16 assignable functions. Upon entering Edit Mode, the DISPLAY will look like the image on the right a nd the ASSIGNABLE BUTTONS will ligh t up orange. First, press the b utton whose function you want to assign (the other butt[...]

12 CONFIGURING YOU R DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTA TION SOFTWARE FOR USE WITH THE MASTERCONTROL Once your MasterControl is connecte d to your compute r, there are thr ee steps to per form to establish audio and control surface communica tion with your Digita l Audio Workstation (D AW): 1) On the MasterControl, select the proper MasterControl preset for you[...]

13 CUBASE AND NUENDO SETUP: SELECTING THE AUDIO DRIVER (WINDOWS ONLY) This discussion addresses Cubase. Nuendo setup is similar. 1. From the menu bar , go to Dev ices f Device Setup… 2. Click on “VST Audio System” in the left-h and pane . Then, in the right-han d pane, select “ASIO Alesis Firewire” for the ASIO driver.[...]

14 CUBASE AND NUENDO SETUP: CONTROL SURFACE (MAC AND WINDOWS) 1. Again from the menu bar, g o to Devices f Device Setup… 2. Click the “+” button on the upper-left corner o f the window and select “Mackie C ontrol” from the list.[...]

15 3. Under Remote Devices f Mackie Control , select “Ales is FireWire” from the MIDI Input and MIDI Output drop-down menus. 4. Press “OK” to accept this setti ng. 5. Once the MasterControl is selected as the audio devi ce, individual channels must be acti vated for use. From the “Devices” menu, select “VST Connections.” Some versio[...]

16 6. In this first tab labe led “Inpu ts,” you can decide which of t he MasterControl’s channels will be routed to the Cubase’s inputs. Click the entries under “Device Port” to select an available channel from a drop-down menu. (This number and kind of available channels will vary depending on the sampling rate.) If necessary, you can [...]

17 8. If you want, you can rename channels by clicking on the entry under “B us Name.” This is useful for keeping track of which instrument is on each stereo ch annel. 9. Close the window. You are now ready to b egin recording with the MasterControl. 10. See the Cubase/Nuendo notes later in this manual for details on MasterC ontrol operation wi[...]

18 2. Click the MIDI/Sync t ab. Sele ct “MackieControl” from the C ontrol Surface drop-down menu, and select “Alesis FireWire” for the corresponding Input and Outpu t. 3. Click the Audio tab . Select “ASIO” fro m the Driver Type drop-down me nu. (The MasterControl will still work if another option like MME/DirectX is se lected, but we r[...]

19 4. Click “Input Config.” In the window tha t appears, select the inputs from the MasterContr ol that you want to be sent to the DAW, then click “OK.” 5. Click “Output Config.” In the window that appears, se lect the outpu ts on the MasterControl to which the DAW will send its audio. We reco mmend the selecting the top two boxes, whic[...]

20 6. Close the Preferences window. 7. From the menu bar , go to Insert f Audio Track. 8. Be sure the circular button on the ri ght-hand side of the screen labeled “I-O ” is on. Underneath each track, you s hould see the headings “Audio From,” “Monitor,” and “Audio To.” (MIDI tracks will read “MIDI” instead of “Audio.”) 9. I[...]

21 11. Underneath “Monitor,” select the monitoring conf iguration you want. “A uto” will monitor the channel when it is “record-armed” or recording. “In” will m onitor the channel continuo usly, whether it is being recorded or not. “Off” will disable monitoring for that track. 12. The box underneath “Audi o To” should read ?[...]

22 CAKEWALK SONAR SETUP 1. From the menu bar , go to Options f Controllers/Surfaces . 2. Click the button with th e “star” icon to add a new device. 3. Select “Mackie Control” from the Controller/Surf ace drop-down menu, and select “Alesis FireWi re” for the Input Port and Output P ort. Click “OK,” then close the Controller/Surfaces[...]

23 4. From the menu bar , go to Options f Audio…” 5. Click the “Advanced” tab. Selec t “ASIO” as t he “Driver Mode.” Most users will find that this provides better performance than WDM/KS mode. If you change this setting, you will need to exit and then restart Sonar.[...]

24 6. On the “General” tab, select a ny available MasterControl channels as the “Playback Timing Master.” We recommend “ASIO Alesis FireWire MasterControl DAW1,” which corresponds to the physical MON / LINE OUTPUTS 1 and 2 on the MasterCo ntrol. 7. Select any available analog MasterControl channel as the “Playback Record Master.” Th[...]

25 8. Move to the “Drivers” tab. C lick on each input pair an d also on the output pair to make them available to Sonar. The available input c hannels (corresponding to the MasterControl’s input channels) will depend on the sampling rate , which you can set in the “Ge neral” tab. There will always be three available output channels, which[...]

26 LOGIC PRO SETUP 1. From the menu bar , go to Logic Pro f Preferences f Control Surfaces f Setup . 2. Click on “New” and select “Ins tall” from the drop-down menu.[...]

27 3. Select “Mackie Designs > Mackie Control > Logic Control” from t he list, and click “Add” at the bottom-right. Close the window . 4. Select “Alesis FireWire” for the Out Port and Inpu t. 5. See the Logic no tes later in th is manual for de tails on MasterControl op eration with Log ic.[...]

28 SAMPLITUDE SETUP 1. From the menu bar , go to MIDI f MIDI Options f System O ptions f Hard ware Con troller . 2. Click the “Add New” bu tton and select “Mackie Control” fr om the list. 3. Select “Alesis FireWire” for the “MIDI Inpu t” and “M IDI Output,” and be sure “Activate Controller” is checked. DIGITAL PERFORMER SETU[...]

29 AUDIO INPUTS AND OUTPUTS  Channels Sent from the MasterControl to the Computer The FireWire port sends every available individual Ma sterControl channel to the computer. This means that, from the MasterControl, you can send a maximum of 26 channels: eight analog channels, 16 digital channels over the ADAT connections, and two digi tal channel[...]

30 WINDOWS AUDIO CONFIGUR ATION CHOOSING THE MASTERCONTROL AS YOUR DEFAULT AUDIO DEVICE To use your MasterControl as your default Windows sound device, fo llow these steps: 1. From the Windows Start menu, choose Control Panel . 2. Choose Sounds and Audio Devices (XP) or Sounds (Vista). 3. Click the “Audio” tab. Change the default devices for bo[...]

31 DISABLING WINDOWS SYSTEM SOUNDS Windows System Sounds – the sounds that Windows plays to signal starting up, shutting do wn, alerts and so forth – can interfere with your audio record ing. We strongly suggest disabling these sounds. 1. Click the “Sounds” tab o f Sounds and Audio Devices (XP) or Sounds (Vista). Under the “Sound Scheme?[...]

32 ALESIS FIREWIRE CONTROL PANEL (WINDOWS) Open the Alesis Firewire Contro l Panel from the shortcu t on your Desktop, the Programs menu , or from within your a udio application. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1. Selecting the Alesi s MasterControl: Be sure that your MasterCont ro l is shown here. If it is not shown, then your c omput er does not “see” it. [...]

33 4. Adjusting the sample rate: You can change the sample rate that the MasterControl uses in this area. Some audio programs require that you change the sample rate under their Project Setup or similar menus. For instance, Cubase w ill take control of this parameter. 5. Adjusting latency by changing the buffer size: “Latency” refers to the amo[...]

34 MAC AUDIO CONFIGURATION AUDIO MIDI SETUP On Mac, after you install the dr ivers, open the Audio MIDI Setup utility. Choose “Alesis Firewire” for your “Default Input” and “De fault Output” devices under Mac’s Audio MIDI Setup utility. Also, choose your clock source, an d set your sample rate here. Audio MIDI Setup is available from [...]

35 ALESIS FIREWIRE CONTROL PANEL (MAC) On Mac, buffer sizes are controlled b y individual applications, and clocking and sample ra tes are set in Audio MIDI Setup. Therefore , the Alesis Firewire Control p anel—available either by pressing “Configure Device” from within Audio MID I setup or by choos ing Preferences from your Apple ( top left)[...]

36 GLOBAL MENUS Press the GLOBAL button to edit the MasterControl’s configuration, including where you want to rou te which channels, talkback and foots witch sett ings, and other fe atures. Use the PAGE buttons beneath the DISPLAY to scroll through the settings. For each page, you can scroll through your options with the VALUE / ENTER knob at to[...]

37  Direct Monitoring When the MasterControl’s Direc t Monitoring function is enabled, the signal you are hearing is taken directly from the MasterControl rather than from your DAW. Th is allows you and your musicians to monitor the audi o with no perceptible delay (la tency). Here, you can choose whether or not the Direct Monitoring si gnal w[...]

38  Factory Reset Activating a Factory Reset will resto re all default settings and Preset configurations. If you wan t to reset, select “Reset all.” You will be asked, “You sure?” If you wa nt to continue, select “Yes.” The DISPLAY will read “Resetting” with two asterisks moving across the screen to indicate its progre ss. When [...]

39 MONITORING & CONTROL RO OM FEATURES  Speakers / Out puts Controls The SPEAKERS / OUTPUTS buttons allo w you to monitor the MasterControl’s MON / LINE OUTPUTS as follows: y The “A” SPEAKERS / OUTPUTS bu tton monito rs the “A” outputs (Channels 1 and 2) y The “B” SPEAKERS / OUTPUTS bu tton monito rs the “B” outputs (Channe[...]

40 DIRECT MONITORING The MasterControl contains a hardw are-based, DSP mixer which enables you to route the inputs to the outputs directly, bypassing any lat enci es associated with sending the audio to and fr om the computer. This hardware-based routing provides the minimum possible latency – only the time required for audio to be converted betw[...]

41 CREATING A CUBASE LE PROJECT FO R RECORDING Once you have set up Cubase to work with the Mast erControl, you’re ready to create an audio pr oject. 1. Choose File f New Project. 2. You can begin with a template or an empty fi le. For now, begin wi th an empty file . 3. Cubase needs to know where to place audio. Cho ose a directory here. An exce[...]

42 4. Now, you have a blank project. Add an audio track for recording by choosing Project f Add Track f Audio . 5. Be sure that the “i nspector” – a strip on the le ft-hand side of Cubase that shows all sorts of in formation about the selected track – is active. If your view is similar to tha t shown below, the Inspector is active. If you d[...]

43 6. Choose an input for your track by selecting it from the drop-down menu of available inputs. By default, the input wi ll be the first ster eo bus in the “VST Connections” window. 7. You will do most of your monitoring through the mi xer. However, if you want to monitor with Cubase’s effects, or if you just want to hear what the computer [...]

44 IMPORTANT POINTS FOR USERS OF VARIOUS DAWS When using the MasterControl with various Digital A udio Workstations (DAWs), you will find the contro l surface interacts slightly differently with some of them. This is normal! This section lists the kinds of control surface behavior that are uniqu e to certain DAWs, using their current versions at th[...]

45 LOGIC PRO y Ensure that you choose a “Mackie Control” contro l surface. The “Logic Co ntrol” control surface uses a different set of M IDI messages and is n ot compatible wi th the Alesis MasterContr ol. y Rows 2 and 3 on th e MasterControl correspond to different modes in Logic: Row 2 is Send Mode . Four “Send Parameter” op tions ar[...]

46 DIGITAL PERFORMER y Row 2 of the MasterControl is not mapped. y Vertical Zoom is not possibl e from the Ma sterControl. y MasterControl’s ZOOM button cycles through th ree stages (as opposed to t wo on most other DAWs): unlit, lit, and flashing. It will be lit when it is on and unlit when it is o ff. When the button is flashing, no zoom func t[...]

47 PRO TOOLS y JOG is unavailable in Pro Tools. This is a limitation of the HUI protocol used by Pro Tools. Pressing the SCRUB bu tton puts the JOG WHEEL into Scrub Mode . y When scrubbing, if you want your cursor to remain at the last scrub point i n the timeline, go to Setup>Preferences>Operation>Transport and check "Edi t Insertion[...]

48 PLUG-IN 1, 2 y These presets are designed to cont rol virtual instrumen ts and effects plugins. If you a re using a virtual instrument within a DAW, you will need to disconnect the Alesis Firewire MIDI ports from control surface operation (Mackie Co ntrol or HUI) so that you can use the MasterControl a s a generic MIDI controller. In these prese[...]

49 SIGNAL FLOW DIAGRAM[...]

50 SPECIFICATIONS  Microphone preamplifier Gain range: +9.1dB to +59.2dB Impedance: 3.67K @ min gain; 3.33K @ max gain  Line preamplifier Gain range: -7dB to +43.1dB  Maximum input signal levels before clipping Mic In to Line Out: At min gain: 9.6 dBu in, 18.7dBu ou t (gain = 9 .1dB) At max gain: -4 0.5dBu in, +18.7dB u out (gain = 59.2dB)[...]

51 TRADEMARKS All trademarks are the prop erty of their respective owners. Specifically : “MasterControl” is a tr ademark of Ales is, LLC. “Soundtrack,” Soundtrack Pro,” “Logic,” Logic Pro ,” “C oreAudio,” “CoreM IDI,” “M ac” and “Mac O S” are trademarks of Apple, Inc. “Windows,” “Windows XP,” and “W indows[...]

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