buttons, a resource that the Nucleus is not particularly rich in
(compared with some other Mackie Control devices).
</p>
-
-
+<p>
+ We have prepared a profile in which as many buttons as possible send
+ Mackie Control messages, which makes the device maximally useful
+ with Ardour (and Mixbus). You can
+ download <a href="https://community.ardour.org/files/ArdourNucleusProfile.zip">profile</a>
+ and load it to your Nucleus using the <code>Edit Profiles</code>
+ button in SSL's Nucleus Remote application. Be sure to select it for
+ the active DAW layer in order to make Ardour work as well as
+ possible. <em>Note: unfortunately, the Nucleus Remote application
+ only runs on OS X or Windows, so Linux users will need access to
+ another system to load the profile. We will provide notes on the
+ profile settings at a future time.</em>
+</p>
<h2>Connecting the Nucleus</h2>
other ipMIDI software on the computer.
</p>
+<h3>Connecting via 3rd party ipMIDI support</h3>
+
+<p class="alert alert-info">
+ This is usable only on computers with 3rd party ipMIDI
+ driver software installed and configured for (at least) 2 ports.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ Open <code>Preferences > Control Surfaces</code>. Ensure that the
+ Mackie protocol is enabled, then double-click on it to open the
+ Mackie Control setup dialog.
+</p>
+<p>
+ Ensure that the device selected is "SSL Nucleus (via platform MIDI)". The dialog should
+ show four combo/dropdown selectors, labelled (respectively):
+</p>
+ <ul>
+ <li><code>Main Surface receives via</code></li>
+ <li><code>Main Surface sends via</code></li>
+ <li><code>1st extender receives via</code></li>
+ <li><code>1st extender sends via</code></li>
+ </ul>
+<p>
+ You should choose "ipMIDI port 1", "ipMIDI port 1", "ipMIDI port 2"
+ and "ipMIDI port 2" for each of the 4 combo/dropdown selectors.
+</p>
+<p>
+ Communication should be automatically established with the Nucleus.
+</p>
+<p>
+ If this does not work, then make sure your network cables are
+ properly connected, and that you are running the approprate ipMIDI
+ driver and have configured it for 2 (or more) ports.
+</p>
+
<h2><a name="design">Nucleus Design Discussion</a></h2>
<p>
<h3>Cons</h3>
<dl>
<dt>No Master Faster</dt>
- <dd></dd>
+ <dd>It is not possible to control the level of the Master bus or
+ Monitor section. Really don't know what SSL was thinking here.</dd>
<dt>No dedicated rec-enable buttons</dt>
<dd>You have to press the "Rec" button and convert the per-strip
"Select" buttons into rec-enables</dd>
<dd>No need for multiple MIDI cables to get 16 faders</dd>
<dt>Broadcast connectivity</dt>
<dd>Connecting to multiple computers does not require recabling</dd>
- <dt>15 faders from a single box</dt>
+ <dt>16 faders from a single box</dt>
<dd>No need to figure out how to keep extenders together</dd>
<dt>Meters separated from displays</dt>
<dd>Contrast with the Mackie Control Universal Pro, where meters
buttons, but this is only necessary because of the relatively few
global buttons on the surface.
</dd>
+ <dt>Builtin analog signal path</dt>
+ <dd>SSL clearly expects users to route audio back from their
+ computer via the Nucleus' own 2 channel output path, and maybe even
+ use the input path as well. They take up a significant amount of
+ surface space with the controls for this signal path, space that
+ could have been used for a master fader or more Mackie Control
+ buttons. The USB audio device requires a proprietary driver, so
+ Linux users can't use this, and OS X/Windows users will have to
+ install a device driver (very odd for a USB audio device these
+ days). The analog path also no doubt adds notable cost to the
+ Nucleus. There's nothing wrong with this feature for users that
+ don't already have a working analog/digital signal path for their
+ computers. But who is going to spend $5000 on a Nucleus that
+ doesn't have this already?</dd>
</dl>
projects / ardour-manual-diverged / blobdiff