iCON QCON PRO DAW Controller

[countcobolt]

Hi Lip3k

any update on how this works?

Kind regards

Steve

[Mops]

Originally Posted by lip3k

Hi all...

I'll chime in here in a sec and let you guys know how it behaves... right now i'm literally swamped with work :/

Cheers
Chris

How does this unit work with reaper? I'm in the market for a new controller that not only works well with reaper but also control the plugins too.

[Chris Martins]

Maybe wait for the new Behringer X Touch.

[IconDigitalUSA]

Originally Posted by Mops

How does this unit work with reaper? I'm in the market for a new controller that not only works well with reaper but also control the plugins too.

Sorry, I thought I had already posted this here, but it appears to not have shown up.

My name is Rob, and I am the primary technical support contact for Icon Digital in the US. The QCon Pro and EX both absolutely support Reaper.

These devices, as of our new Firmware v1.08, now have a Reaper preset mode you can select when powering-on the consoles. This will provide all the mixer and transport controls, as well as a few functions specific to Reaper, without the need for mapping each control one at a time.

You can add these consoles to Reaper very easily in a few steps within the MIDI and Remote Control settings, as well as specifying start channels for each extension "EX" unit. Most Icon MIDI devices use Mackie Control protocol to keep setup as simple as possible.

If you have any problems with Icon gear, or any questions, feel free to contact me or update this thread.

Thanks,

Rob A.
Icon Digital USA

[daxliniere]

Hi Rob,
Thanks for your post here.

I'd really like to add a control surface to my rig but don't want to lose as much desk space as the Qcon Pro. I'd like to use the EX, but it would require a new mode which maps track and bank up/down to some keys (in my case, I'd prefer the first four record arm buttons).

Is this a mode you could add, please?

[IconDigitalUSA]

Originally Posted by daxliniere

Hi Rob,
Thanks for your post here.

I'd really like to add a control surface to my rig but don't want to lose as much desk space as the Qcon Pro. I'd like to use the EX, but it would require a new mode which maps track and bank up/down to some keys (in my case, I'd prefer the first four record arm buttons).

Is this a mode you could add, please?

Hi Dax,

I'm afraid that's not something I can add myself in very short order. I will have to pass that along to the software developers that make our firmware and mapping software (they still won't let me have the source code ).

I will certainly add that to our feature requests for our development teams, so they can try to work that into the future firmware releases if it's possible.

We have a mapping software in development that will allow custom mapping of all the buttons on the QCon Pro, but I will have to find out if it's something that will work(or can work with some tweaks) for the EX as well.

Thanks for the ideas and support,

Rob A.
Icon Digital
Technical Services

[daxliniere]

Hi Rob,
I understand, I hadn't expected you implement it yourself, I figured would have go through the dev team.

Please pass it on as a request. It is the only thing stopping me from buying one.

All the best,

[daxliniere]

Any news on the custom mapping software for Qcon EX, Paul?

[Amparitoo]

Hi my name is George. I am working with qcon pro, with the latest version of reaper and platform macosx 10.9. I have the qcon pro and a Former extension to the latest firmware version 1.0.9. the problem I encounter is that many of the functions of qcon are not active and that there is, some are in keys that do not correspond. I don't know if this is OK and I don't know if there's any specific labels template for reaper. Since this facilitari what options and arrow keys are mapping by reaper.By the way, I don't know also because it supports to reaper as in logic, and in Logic X all functions are operating like pro tools, cubase, samplitube, and instead on reaper does not.

to everyone going the same?

Thanks , Jordi

[paulheu]

I'd suggest you start reading at the top of the thread instead of just putting in a question. What you are looking for is in the thread and elsewhere on this site..

[Amparitoo]

Thanks paulheu, I've been reading all the forums and the presets of the developers who have given support for the mackie protocol, but I don't know if I have to insyalar these add-ons in order to have all the support possible when icon says that there is full compatibility between the table and reaper, and i find that it is not as well. On the other hand, in logic pro X all flowing perfectly, without any type of installation, out of which marks the same manual icon qcon pro.

[IconDigitalUSA]

Originally Posted by Amparitoo

icon says that there is full compatibility between the table and reaper, and i find that it is not as well

Hi Jordi,

I have followed up with you via our support system, on GearSlutz and here, as well as my European team actually working on your console in person. I'm sorry, but the problem you are seeing is related to software configuration and not a hardware issue. This is evident when you tell us that the console works perfectly with Logic or Ableton, but not with Reaper.

We tested the console with many standard DAWs, and it was working exactly as expected. It worked perfectly with Reaper as well. At this point the only thing I could suggest would be to disable any sort of anti-virus or blocking software, and then completely uninstall and reinstall Reaper from scratch. Perhaps the support folks here at Cockos could provide a better answer?

Best of luck,

Rob A

Edit: By the way, if anyone needs a printable overlay for the QCon which works with Reaper, our new overlays are available at http://www.icondigitalusa.com/suppor...onOverlays.pdf

[dixo]

I have written down my experiences with the QCon Pro in another thread, but it may be interesting for this one too: http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php...80&postcount=2

Summary: it works really well. Set it to Logic mode and install the Klinke MCU extension to get the most out of it (folder mode, plugin control and much more), no overlay required.

[dixo]

@Rob A:

It would be really awesome if Icon could come up with a Reaper mode that supports the Klinke MCU extension. This would essentially be like the Logic Pro mode with some unused button mapped to the "Global View" function (used by Klinke to leave a folder). This is essential for using the folder mode so I have it mapped to my keyboard at the moment. But it would be great to have it on the surface.
All other unused buttons could be mapped to the MCU's "Global Actions" buttons which Klinke passes through to Reaper so that they can be mapped.
Or even better: make it possible to change the button mappings in the firmware...

As a final question: can you explain what the 2 LEDs and the 2 digit display to the left of the main time display are for? I could not find any info on these in the manual.

And thanks for a great product, I really enjoy working with it.

[db9091]

Does anyone know if the X-Touch WOULD work with Reaper? I know next to nothing about the interface protocol, but it looks like it supports Mackie Controller's interface.

Will Klinke's extension allow the X-Touch to work with Reaper like a Mackie Controller Pro?

[Klinke]

I have not more knowledge about the X-Touch then the public available ones, so I do not know how exact the X-Touch will implement the Mackie Control protocol. But I can see one problem that is caused by the Hardware layout. My extension assumes, that the display has no gaps, so sometimes the text on the display will look a little bit strange on the X-Touch. And some features like the colors of the LED are not part of the Mackie Control protocol.

[db9091]

Thank you for answering, Kinke! I'm honored.

I see you provide the code. Is the "strangeness" just how the strings are written, or is there some programming beyond what's in parenthesis.

If it's just the text, I could easily see myself touching it up and recompiling it (I'd have to brush off my programming skills, it's been 10 years)

[Klinke]

I mean with strange that in some cases the text will have gaps, caused by the seperated displays per channel strip on the X-Touch. This happens when a single fader is touched, in this case I use in some Modes the complete display to show detailed information about what is controlled by the fader (e.g. the Parameter name using 17 chars, instead only 7).

[matthewfweiner]

would there be similar support for the smaller icontrols series? I can get it to work with audition straight away, but it just doesn't act right or consistently in reaper (preferred daw). I get "Midi inputs/outputs could not be opened" but if I hit enter to clear the error, play works. Stop behaves. Faders act crazy, don't really stay connected to their 1-8 assignments, and jump around like crazy. I have the settings proper as install docs and forum indicates.Anyone have any experience on this? Rob A from icon? Thx in advance.

Matthew

[L U N E]

Hey all, 1st post. Been using reaper almost exclusively maybe 4 years now, (for me the most intuitive DAW...)
until now i only look in here once in a while to figure out some of the 'deep stuff'...

anyone know (or have best guess) if the Klinke plugin will work for the older (non 'pro') Qcons?

cheers,
L U N E


____________________

'a neat office is the product of an empty mind.'

[dixo]

Originally Posted by L U N E

anyone know (or have best guess) if the Klinke plugin will work for the older (non 'pro') Qcons?

Hi Lune,

There is a post in the Gearslutz forum that describes the differences between the Qcon and the Qcon Pro:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/7650601-post37.html

It seems that most of the differences are extra hardware functionality (led vu meters, push function of the vpots, time display, led ring around the vpots) on the Pro.
I found that the Qcon Pro worked best with the Klinke plugin in Logic Pro mode, and the non-Pro Qcon seems to have that too. So I would expect it to work almost the same with the Klinke plugin.
The missing push function of the vpots could reduce the functionality, but Klinke provides Reaper actions for all controls so you could probably map these to your keyboard if necessary.

Disclaimer: All of this is just a guess, I have never actually used a Qcon, only the Qcon Pro.

Cheers, dixo

[L U N E]

seems a plausible guess! gives me a finer perspective on the matter [logic Pro mode...] and leads me to reason it would work similarly.

if i ever get to try out the combination, i'll post back here.

Thanks for your insight!

Originally Posted by dixo

Hi Lune,

Disclaimer: All of this is just a guess, I have never actually used a Qcon, only the Qcon Pro.

Cheers, dixo

____________________________________



"Prudence is a rich, ugly, old maid courted by incapacity."

-William Blake

[phonofranz]

I know this is an old thread, but I hope Rob A is still listening.

I've just got a QconPro + two EX. I upgraded them to 1.09 firmware and got them to work with Reaper.

I believe there's a bug (don't know if Qcon's or Reaper's side) with green lights on solo buttons: they turn off as soon as I scroll through channels or switch 8ch banks. Only green light gets the wrong update: Reaper's mixer state is unchanged.
This doesn't happens only if the same channel is also muted.

Also I want to ask if there's any plan to update the support to make led vu-meters and other functions work..

I would use Klinke's plugin but it does not support the extensions.

EDIT: just found that Klinke's older version (0.6.4) do support multiple extenders: at the moment it's the best option, except some small quirks with display and vu-meters flashing briefly when I touch the faders.

[Geoff Waddington]

Although not nearly as thorough as Klinke's, this one supports extensions (as well as custom plugin mapping if you have a C4), and it might be useful to try it, if just to check out if the Solo issue:

https://stash.reaper.fm/v/11712/WaddMCUC4.zip

[phonofranz]

Thanks Geoff:

Both Klinke's 0.6.4.1 and your plugins solve the solo issue and support the Qcon EXtenders (i have two of them)

Level meters work only with Klinke's.


By now I had time to test Klinke's 0.6.4.1 basic functions, as Dixo suggested with Qcon units set to Logic Pro mode. Pretty much everything works as the readme file states except few quirks:

- to make the extender's display work, I had to select "Mackie Control Universal" plugin for both extenders instead of "Mackie Control Extender" (this is true for Geoff's plugins also)

- fader db values doesn't move (won't get updated) in sync with channel scroll/bank switch. Sometimes they desappear when fader is released: maybe this is the intended behaviour?

- faders gets to max +19.1 db at top, instead of +24. If you get past 19.1 in Reaper with mouse, Qcon's fader jumps to the bottom and "cycle" moving up a little to show those 5 db left. (this is not happening with Reaper mode + standard MCU plugin). In other words: scale is a bit off.

- level meters are a bit slower (update freq?) than expected. I saw some Qcon pro video with Protools, where vumeters where definetly smoother. Also: they flashes full scale when I release fader (finger off).

- jog wheel: barely usable: if I move it quickly cursor doesn't move. (works great in Reaper mode + standard MCU plugin).


By now the jog wheel and fader's scale are the things that really bugs me.. is there anything I can do to fix it by myself (maybe editing some config file or such...?)

Paging Dixo: do you have the same behaviour winth Klinke's 0.8 ? EDIT: I tried myself, disabling the extenders: yes fader's scale and jog wheel are off in Klinke 0.8 and Geoff's too.

[dixo]

Hi, sorry for my slightly late response, I am moving my studio to a different room so everything is disconnected at the moment.
However, I can't really remember any issues with the faders using Klinke 0.8, I think I could control them full scale from fader to Reaper and vice-versa without any strange behaviour.

The jog wheel was not 100% reliable, I think it behaved badly when moving it too fast.
Sometimes it seemed that I had to start slowly and could then increase the speed once it 'caught up'.

When I have my QCon connected again I will try to verify this...

[phonofranz]

thanks Dixo,

- the issue with faders' scaling it's a non-issue until you move them via software at full (+24).

- both faders' scaling and jog wheel issues are not there with qcon in Reaper mode and standard MCU plugin. It has to be a different tuning in daw modes. If only we could get a sort of hybrid mode in a new firmware, based on Logic Pro, but with Reaper mode wheel's and faders' tuning, it would be perfect.

[phonofranz]

It seems I'm going solo with this thread, but I'd like to report another finding:

- Qcon Pro/EX set in Reaper mode in conjunction with Klinke's 0.6.4 is working better than the default MCU plugin. SOLO lights issue is gone. Some buttons are misplaced, but I'll try to remap..

[cfs81]

Well I read all the posts with understanding...

I bought Qcon Pro and did all my best to work in Reaper but no success...

Tried to load Klinke's upgrade (did all the instructions, restarted the computer several times) but I can't find that option in proper menu...

When trying to install iMap I get the message with some *.dll missing...

Really, I use a lot of stuff and it all works fine, except iCon unit.

What "the heck" should I do to make it work in Reaper environment?

[Klinke]

What do you mean with "trying to install iMap"? This sounds like something that is part of the Qcon Pro and I think that it's not necessary when you want to use my extension.

And do you mean with "I can't find that option in proper menu...", that in the Control Surface Settings Dialog you see only the normal MCU extension, but not mine? In the case that you are using the 64 bit version of Reaper, please make sure that you move the 64-bit version of the extension directly into the Reaper plugin folder, per default the 64-bit version of the extension is in a subdirectory.

[cfs81]

Thank you for your response Klinke.
By iMap I mean an original iCon software - it didn't install and reinstall properly, I'm unable to update qcons firmware on my studio PC. But I managed to do this on my friends laptop, didn't want to reinstall the whole system etc. It kept saying that some *.dll file is missing even when I put it where it should be, doesn't matter. Finally somehow your extension appeared in reaper Control Surface menu. It's all because my impatience, it works fine now. I got really pissed off when it didn't want to work that day when I wrote my message. No more messing from me since some real problem appears, cheerz.

[joselinno]

Hi everyone.
I'm using a Qcon Pro and 2 Qcon EXs, Reaper, OSX 10.9. I have installed last firmware 1.10.
QCon EXs displays dont show nothing but "Reaper mode selected", QCon Pro, on the other hand, shows track names, etc,..
Leds meters of 3 units dont work at all.
Is this normal? Any of you experienced this?
Thanks.

[Yureguy]

How are you?>

I too am using the QCon Pro and One EXT i just downloaded Firmware 1.10 I was very happy to see that they have a new one now.

I USE Studio One and just update to the new Studio One V3 and was hoping id see a change. I have similar troubles where my Ext works but nothing on the LED but a blue back ground. Also you might like to the know, the stranger thing is that I am not using Studio One's settings for that either, as Studio one's settings on the QCon Pro and ext doesn't work for Studio One. To get it to work, I discovered by trial that using the Cubase settings 9 Or setting the QCon to Cubase on Start up) my meters and most things work fine but its a pain to not be able to see the info showing up on the extender still.

I contacted ICON about this when I bought them and spent a number of weeks going back and forth between the vendor the support team here in London, Thomann in Germany and the support team at QCon, they promised an update. I will now install my 1.10 update and report back about my findings. Its very hard to get info on these products. I really like them but I'm a bit sorry I bought them now.

Try running your Reaper on any other settings and see what happens Try Cubase first.

Most of what I found out and discovered I told them, though I am not sure these guys doing any work on testing for themselves and updates are way to long it's been now over 9 months its a shame.


I'll be back, hope what I typed help in your quest my friend. All we want to do is make music not become console scientists lol.

[Yureguy]

Hi does any one here know how to use the QConPro Imap software? and able to give a few steps in bullet points in using it? I am a bit lost as that thing never came with any manual.

I have spoken to the support guys in Germany and believe it or not they just say use it to map buttons and i go how? and they cant say lol.

Anyone please help if you can much appreciated.

[TykSon]

Hi,

I know it's been some time since the last post in this thread, but I also have problems with the fader scaling when using Logic mode. Has anybody found a solution or a workaround for this yet?

[TykSon]

I finally got it working! I sent a request to the iCon support, and after quite some emails they could send me a firmware for the QCon Pro that has the default Logic button mapping in Reaper mode, thus the faders work perfect and the buttons work as well.
But during this time I also found another solution: Using MidiOx (http://www.midiox.com/) to remap the buttons. For that I have the QCon running into MidiOx, inside MidiOx I create and assign a MIDI patch map, from there I use a virtual MIDI port (http://www.tobias-erichsen.de/software/loopmidi.html) to get the patched signals to Reaper. The outcoming signals from Reaper are sent back to MidiOx via another virtual MIDI port and then repatched to the original MIDI notes, so that the right buttons light up. That way I can even assign buttons like 'Track' assign that are normally unused by the extension, to do something (the QCon doesn't have the GlobalView section). (And I can create a custom layout.)

(I don't know if the firmware will be available for download on iCon's website, but anyone interested in the firmware (if it won't be available, it's V1.15) or my MIDI maps please PM me.)

[djspiritcr]

I have 1 icon qcon pro and 3 icon qcon ex and it works perfectly, i plugged all the interfaces on 1 usb hub but i choosen a very good one and taked care about the usb cable i used for it
I'am on windows 8.1 as far no bug even on big sessions with more than 100 tracks
Ps:I use mcu klinke 0.8 and logic mode

[bobtom1]

Originally Posted by djspiritcr

I have 1 icon qcon pro and 3 icon qcon ex and it works perfectly, i plugged all the interfaces on 1 usb hub but i choosen a very good one and taked care about the usb cable i used for it
I'am on windows 8.1 as far no bug even on big sessions with more than 100 tracks
Ps:I use mcu klinke 0.8 and logic mode

WOW, your studio setup looks very cool. I've been looking at the QCON but there seems to be a lot of conflicting opinions on its stability.

How long did it take you to get it to run without any stability problems?

[djspiritcr]

Originally Posted by bobtom1

WOW, your studio setup looks very cool. I've been looking at the QCON but there seems to be a lot of conflicting opinions on its stability.

How long did it take you to get it to run without any stability problems?

Hi,
about 6 months...
As i told issues can come from a bad usb hub or bad setup or if you do it well
it will run without any problem
there is no more troubles on qcon than mackie control...

[satchmo]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum but have been playing around with Reaper on and off for about a year. After following all the good advice in this thread I purchased a Qcon Pro at the start of this week.

The machine came with an early firmware version, so I updated to the latest version shown on Icon's web site which was 1.13. I then contacted their support Wednesday mention the version v1.15 firmware that has been recommend in this thread and Icon sent me a link to the 1.14 version. When I downloaded the 64bit version, it included Klinke's 64 bit DLL and a template sheet for Reaper.

I've been experimenting the past day or so to find out which combination of driver and DAW mode works best... and without doubt it is still using the Qcon in Logic Pro mode with Klinke's DLL. So just to say thanks to Klinke for all his hardwork.. and Icon need to know they got a sale off the back of it. They really should be paying him a commission.