i recently bought a second hand BCF2000 which i have been using in cubase almost flawlessly. i am using it in mackie emulation mode and would like to use it in the same mode in ableton live.
it seems that any setup i try doesnt work!
there is a signal being sent because the little lights flash when i move the faders, but no gains are adjusted. the same goes the other way, when i move a fader in live, my BCF2000 stays at zero.

i have set up live so that my control surface is "mackiecontrol", input and output is "usb audio device(2)" (which is the correct in/out according to cubase), and under MIDI ports i have mackiecontrol set as track and remote is on and sync is off (tried sync as on but still doesnt seem to work)

what am i missing???

thanks in advance

Have you tried using the BCF2000 option for control surface in and out? That's how I have mine set up.

i just tried it and it still doesnt work

would you mind telling me your exact settings?

thanks for the reply

My settings are:

Control Surface = BCF2000 | Input = BCF2000(1) | Output = BCF2000(1)

Midi Ports:

>Input BCF2000 input(BCF2000(1)) Track = on | Sync = off | Remote = on

>Input BCF2000(1)-A Track = on | Sync = off | Remote = off

>Output BCF2000 Output (BCF2000(1)) Track = on | Sync = on | Remote = off

>Output BCF2000(1)-A Track = off | Sync = off | Remote = off

>Output BCF2000(1)-B Track = off | Sync = off | Remote = off


FYI I have my BCF2000 in USB Mode U-3 not Mackie Mode with these settings. Hope this helps.

i matched all those settings and even tried the mackiecontrol equivalent of those settings yet still it seems to not work.
i think i am missing something though because i thought mackie control emulation and USB-3 was two different things and i thought i was using both!
i thought that mackie emulation was changing the MIDI signal that the BCF sent and that USB-3 was changing the settings for the MIDI in/outs.

what am i missing here? i would like to use mackie emulation mode if i can because thats what works for me with cubase (my primary DAW). although my lack of knowledge would suggest i could use other modes too (maybe USB-3?).

thanks for your help

Which operating system are you using and is it 32 or 64 bit?

In the meantime, maybe this helps:

Normally when you're using the BCF in Mackie Mode, it's enough to set the Control Surface to: "Mackie Control" - Input "BCF 2000" - Output "BCF 2000".No Track, Sync or Remote under Midi-ports have to be enabled, unless you need the (additional) abbilities to, for instance, midi-map (free) buttons on the BCF or use the BCF as input controller to trigger virtual instruments.

Roughly said, the operating modes (U-1, U-2, ..., S-1, ... ) define, how the BCF is used: as USB-Controller only, as stand-alone MIDI-controller or as a combination of both:

When you power up the BCF, KEEP HOLDING the second button in the top row, until you see "EG" in the display (to get into global editing of the Mackie Mode).
Now with the first encoder (TYPE) you can change the operating modes. Press the "Exit" button to save. (It might be that you have to poweroff and start up the BCF again after that)

I guess you have the BCF connected via USB cable ("usb audio device(2)"), right? Then you should try one of the U-Modes (U-1, U-2, U-3, U-4).

You can also find some schematics of these operating modes in the manual.

i am using windows XP 32 bit

yes i have it hooked up via USB, and i am using mackie mode U-3 already. i have double checked this and it is definitely set up like that.

i havent tried unchecking all of track, sync and remote yet, i will try that later to see if it makes a difference.

thanks

One thing ... On my XP 32bit setup, the BCF must be switched on before starting Live, otherwise Live doesn't connect to it. I find this to be the case with all of my midi controllers. I'm now in the habit of switching everything else on before starting my PC.

well you guys are a lot farther than I am. I can't even get win7 64 to recognize the device AT ALL.

The same thing applies to Windows 7. The BCF and other midi controllers have to be switched on before you start Live to be recognized. This seems to be a Windows "problem".


Can you give more information?

Do you mean that Windows itself doesn't recognize the BCF or can't you use the BCF with certain programs or DAWs?
Is the BCF connected via USB? Then it should appear in the Windows device manager under "Sound, video and game controllers".

Did you already try to install the 64 USB-MIDI driver found on the Behringer webpage: http://www.behringer.com/EN/Support/B-Control-Downloads.aspx
and check that the BCF runs on the latest firmware (you should see "1.10" in the display while the BCF is powering up)

Did you get the BCF to run on other PCs or operating systems or do you only have this Win7 system?

Yes - the first thing I did was grab those drivers, but they won't initialize - win7 lists as "Unknown Device" Firmware is 1.1.
I've tried on count [3] win 7 64 systems now and get the same result. I've tried manually loading the drivers by indicating where they are located..

I actually have another bcf2000 coming tomorrow, so I can see if it's just the unit. My next move is to reload the stock firmware and then upgrade again (this is a used unit) Very frustrating so far... I've never had such an uncooperative USB device before.

edit: just remembered I have XP on a SD card in my desk - I'll give that a whirl too.

Yeah, it probably might be a faulty USB port on the BCF. I remember another post from someone, who bought a BCF second-hand and also had problems getting it working, because the USB port was broken (but the MIDI ports worked fine).

If you have two MIDI-cables lying around, you could try to hook up the BCF via MIDI-cables (or even daisy-chain the 2nd BCF to your "new" one).

i always turn all controllers on before starting my DAW so this is not the problem.

im so confused! ill just have to keep trying random things

one other thing. live is receiving MIDI from the BCF. i know this because when i move the fader the MIDI receive light on MIDI tracks flashes.
it just seems to not be recognising the message properly or something.

What exactly do you mean with the message isn't recognized properly?
Can you give an example.


Maybe here are some useful hints:

(1) Do you use other MIDI controllers at the same time which might interfere with the MIDI messages of the BCF?

(2) Keep in mind, that if you're NOT using the BCF in Mackie Mode, check your Midi-mapping of the BCF buttons and faders in Live first (Strg + M)

(3) I just checked the BCF with my old XP (32 bit) machine with Live 8.
Using the BCF in Mackie Mode ("NC C" is shown in the display) and connected via USB-cable:
Control Surface is set to "Mackie Control" and "USB Audio Device" for input and output. As mentioned before, no Track, Sync or Remote needs to be enabled (in contrast to (2)).

If you are not sure if it's the right "usb audio device" (because, for instance, you have more than one entry) you can also double-check this under Windows Device Manager by right-clicking on the "Usb audio device" entries and select "properties" -> there you should see (on the first tab - third line or something) written "BCF2000".

When using the BCF via USB, also make sure to always plug the BCF into the same USB port. Otherwise Windows gives the BCF another (USB)-ID and therefore installs the driver again for this other port. So it can be the case, for instance, that you have two entries "usb audio device" and "usb audio device(2)", which are the same BCF unit (but on different USB ports). Uninstalling (all of) the "usb audio devices" which represent the BCF and reinstall the drivers might help.