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Old 06-28-2009, 06:58 AM   #1
netnoggin
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Mobile, AL
Posts: 49
Default Digidesign Control 24 thoughts

All,
I have used Pro Tools for a few years, and am ready to jump to Reaper (past ready, really). One thing standing in my way is my studio has a Control 24 control surface ( http://digidesign.com/index.cfm?navi...00&itemid=4877 ) that I really don't want to abandon, even though Digi has. If you google for images of the Control 24, you see many studios that have this control surface, so I would imagine there are many out there in the same boat.

Bottom line is I would like to be able to use my Control 24 with Reaper, or at least partially (motorized faders, S, M, R, buttons, etc.). Now for those of you unfamiliar with it, the Control 24 does not use any known standard way of communicating with the DAW; instead it is proprietary and specific to Pro Tools. That said, some initial investigation into the way it communicates leads me to believe there is hope (more on this later).

I see two initial challenges here. One is technical and one is legal. On the technical side, I can tell you a couple of things:

1. The Control 24 is ethernet based. To use it with Pro Tools, you install a protocol driver under your NIC card's properties. In fact you can remove every other protocol if you wish. No IP stack is needed as it's layer 2, for instance.

2. Using the network sniffer program Wireshark, I captured some of the conversation between the computer and the Control 24. What I saw was very encouraging. While I haven't analyzed it all, there are some clear indications of how the protocol works. I can go into more detail if needed.

On the legal side - assuming one could indeed work out the technical, what are the legal ramifications of such a solution? Most likely Digi doesn't want people doing this, but to what extent do they have control over someone developing software that communicates with a piece of their hardware? There does seem to be a couple of different sub-angles as well. If I did this for my own enjoyment, I suppose there would be less concern than if support was built into a commercial product. Another possibility is if middleware was the answer (and that seems to me to be the best answer) - a Control 24 to HUI or MMC translator, if you will. That relieves the DAW maker from any risk, as they are only supporting a generally known protocol.

Back to the technical for a moment. I have done programming in a previous life (Borland C), but I do not consider myself a programmer now. It's been too long. But I do remember enough about it to know this is most likely doable, barring any crazed authentication routines in the Control 24 firmware that aren't readily apparent across the ethernet wire. But I have an opportunity here, as my studio is currently in a construction transition period, so I have no deadlines or other distractions except my normal daytime job (network and telecom manager). My equipment is available for any testing and data gathering it would require to get the job done.

Is anybody else intrigued by this possibility? Your thoughts are welcomed and anticipated. I am definitely interested, and am willing to commit to substantial support for the effort. Not only for myself, but also the hundreds (if not thousands) of Control 24 owners out there.

Brian
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