Serious issues with new BCF2000 controller

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Hi,

I bought a new BCF 2000 off eBay, (in new condition), and am in need of some serious help.

The rotary knobs themselves have a fair bit of jumpiness or lag compared to the BCR I just hooked up. The BCR feels fantastic, with a nice resolution to the knobs. The BCF feels jumpy. I've tried everything I can think of and have researched on google. I've ran the unit in every emulation mode, I've tried straight midi mapping a knob to pan or a send, and also have tried using Learn. The Learn button on the BCF seems to not work for mapping most of the knobs.

I am using Win7 x64 and have the latest x64 drivers from the Behringer site installed. I've tried with every manner of "Mackie" or "BCF" control surface mode in Ableton, as well as tried disabling/enabling the different MIDI track options below. I've tried switching USB cables between the BCF and BCR, nothing seems to make a difference. The knobs in general are much looser on the BCF2000 than the BCR. They have a much worse resolution and laggy feel than the BCR. I have no idea what else to try. Oh, and yes I'm using the latest 1.10 firmware.

I am also having an issue where the "left preset" browse button only works half the time if in B-Control mode. The button is obviously dying, fresh out of box. Are these buttons fixable?

Thanks for any help.


Edit: Tried hooking up with MIDI directly into my audio interface also with no change

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I have the bcf win 7 and have it working with ableton in Mackie mode. Have not installed any drivers in order to get it to work. Could be a solution?

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jsrobinson wrote: The rotary knobs themselves have a fair bit of jumpiness or lag compared to the BCR I just hooked up. The BCR feels fantastic, with a nice resolution to the knobs. The BCF feels jumpy.
The knobs in general are much looser on the BCF2000 than the BCR. They have a much worse resolution and laggy feel than the BCR. I have no idea what else to try. Oh, and yes I'm using the latest 1.10 firmware.
Well, I also have the BCR + BCF and on both units the 'feel' of the rotaries is the same. But in my case, it's the BCR on which 2 or 3 rotaries are already a little worn out from the usage over the years. So when you rotate the knob it 's like there is some kind of 'contact issue', hence the knob isn't working properly. Not sure, but this might be same problem you have.

If it's really a hardware issue, it might help a little, if you slighty push the rotary towards north or south while rotating.

Otherwise did you check the config-values of the knobs (by pressing EDIT and the knob you want to edit) for things like start-value, end-value, absolute or relative mode, etc..

If you don't know it, also have a look at BCManager in general:
http://home.kpn.nl/f2hmjvandenberg281/bcman.html

Just guessing, but if you are using both BCR+BCF at the same time, have you set up different global ID's for each unit (so they don't interfere with each other)?
The Learn button on the BCF seems to not work for mapping most of the knobs.
I've tried with every manner of "Mackie" or "BCF" control surface mode in Ableton,
Don't know, because I never used the learn button for this.
I use the BCF in Mackie Mode and if I want to map addtional things with the BCF or BCR I open up Ableton Live's Midi Map Window and map it there.
I am also having an issue where the "left preset" browse button only works half the time if in B-Control mode. The button is obviously dying, fresh out of box. Are these buttons fixable?
Is it only the left button or both? Because if I remember correctly you can also disable the 'Preset-function' and use this two buttons as 'normal' midi-buttons
(this can be done via the BCManager).

Otherwise, if you are interested in opening the BCF, check out this link:
http://www.slaveksamal.com/files/BCF2000.pdf

Hope you got some useful hints.
jsrobinson wrote: I am using Win7 x64 and have the latest x64 drivers from the Behringer site installed.
Eausion wrote: I have the bcf win 7 and have it working with ableton in Mackie mode.
Have not installed any drivers in order to get it to work. Could be a solution?
Usually, under Windows, the drivers are only necessary,if you are using more than one BCR/BCF at the same time. So in jsrobinson's case this should be fine.

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solger wrote: Just guessing, but if you are using both BCR+BCF at the same time, have you set up different global ID's for each unit (so they don't interfere with each other)?
Hey, thanks for the info. Not sure how to check their global IDs

I have BCManager, but it's really confusing, been trying to figure out how to use it (the manual doesnt seem to cover the basics) over the last day. I'm not sure how to do very basic things like just load a blank template and edit a single knob. Say if I wanted to make encoder one control panning, how would I do that? I'm unsure of how to determine the midi value, or the appropriate value, for what I'm trying to control.

I've read that there's a knob resolution setting that can be edited with BCManager, but I'm again, not sure how to actually determine what the values I have are currently set to for each controller, let alone change them correctly.

Each unit seems to show up in BCManager, but under the Personality column they say "offline", not sure if that makes a difference. Each unit is connected by USB, and I can double click on one of them in the "B-Control" list to bring up a spreadsheet of the blank presets, what to do next has me scratching my head.

Edit: It's only the left preset button. I have to push it in just the right spot for it to register, if I press too far off to the side of the button it doesnt do anything. I've read I could try some DeOxit on the encoder button to see if it helps, but I don't want to open the unit up until I can see if the resolution issue is fixable or not. The knobs don't feel the same between each unit, and I'm wondering if their tightness is adjustable. The actual issue with the "lag" doesn't seem like a physical problem though, more an issue of resolution or delay with the screendraw. It's odd, as even though I've switched USB cables and have tried connecting directly with MIDI it persists, so I'm thinking if I can figure out how to adjust the resolution setting with BCManager it might be worth checking.

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jsrobinson wrote: Hey, thanks for the info. Not sure how to check their global IDs
...
...
You can either do this via the bcmanager or directly on the BCF. IN BC-Mode, for instance, press STORE+EDIT at the same time to get into the global settings menu. Then use the 5th rotary of the top row for setting the global ID (to a value between 1-16).
Then press EXIT to leave the global menu.

If you are using the BCF in Mackie Mode, to get into the global settings menu, it was something like holding the EDIT button while switching the BCF on.
But I can't remember all the steps exactly right now (I did this a long time ago and never changed it since), so I have to check this and will report back about settings and the BCManager tomorrow when I have my BCF/BCR in front of me.

In the meantime you should find some infos about global settings and knob-settings in the manuals/guides available on the Behringer BCF2000 product page.

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After fooling around with this thing most of the day, it seems some of the issue was related to a resolution setting. I copied the encoder knob groups resolution setup from the BCR, over to my BCF, in BCManager.

The resolution behaves a lot more consistently. The main issue I'm seeing is more just the physical turning of the looser knobs on the BCF. They're not terrible, but not quite as snug feeling as the BCR.

Since you mentioned you had some issues with your encoder knobs - before I go tearing this thing apart I thought I'd ask if you might know if it's possible to actually adjust them from inside? Any idea if they can be tightened up or is there not much control over that?

Thanks for your help. Hope the resolution fix helps someone in the future.

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jsrobinson wrote:Any idea if they can be tightened up or is there not much control over that?

Thanks for your help. Hope the resolution fix helps someone in the future.
Sorry. Don't know if it's possible to tighten or fix the knobs.
I opened the BCF myself only once, because a motor-belt of one fader jumped out. (this was about 2 years ago).

Never opened the BCR (the unit with some loose knobs), since there are enough knobs left for mapping stuff. :)

If you have a look at page 6 of the BCF2000-how-to-open link I posted above (http://www.slaveksamal.com/files/BCF2000.pdf), you can see the top-panel with the knobs lying on the right side next to the BCF.
If you remove a couple of extra screws you might be able to get a closer look on how the knobs are attached.

If you need any other infos, let me know and I'll see if I can help out.

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So I'm making some progress it seems. Mackie emulation mode isn't very suitable for my BCF2000 with Ableton, as the knob resolution doesn't seem right on that setting and there's no way to change it.

However I've downloaded the factory presets from the Behringer site, and preset "page 1" works beautifully across channels 1-8 on my BCF, likewise on my BCR.

I'm a bit confused on how to translate these settings over to the other preset pages, such that they map to channels 1-8 on pg1 (as it does now) channels 9-16 on pg2, 17-24 on pg3, and so on...

If I just copy preset 1 over to the other pages, how would I change the defined controlled channels in BCManager (so that Preset Page 2 controls channels 9-16, not 1-8, for example.) If anyone might have any input offhand it'd be greatly appreciated. :)

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jsrobinson wrote:So I'm making some progress it seems. Mackie emulation mode isn't very suitable for my BCF2000 with Ableton, as the knob resolution doesn't seem right on that setting and there's no way to change it.
When you use the BCF in Mackie Mode as Control Surface in Ableton Live,
in Live's midi-preferences, you can also enable the REMOTE-button for the BCF in/output under Midi-Ports.

Now, if you map a knob via Live's Midi Mapping Window, the (Live-)mapped function will overwrite the Mackie Mode-function of the knob.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you haven't already, you can try to play around with the resolution settings of the knobs in BCManager:

1) Select the preset and go to View -> Encoders
2) Double-click on the encoder you want to edit
3) In 'General'-tab: you can adjust the speed levels/resolution
4) In 'Standard-output'-tab: you can play around with the modes (absolut/relative)
jsrobinson wrote:However I've downloaded the factory presets from the Behringer site, and preset "page 1" works beautifully across channels 1-8 on my BCF, likewise on my BCR.

If I just copy preset 1 over to the other pages, how would I change the defined controlled channels in BCManager (so that Preset Page 2 controls channels 9-16, not 1-8, for example.) If anyone might have any input offhand it'd be greatly appreciated. :)
I guess, preset 'page 1' you are talking about is
bcf_only_controllers.syx (shown as 'all controls' in BCManager), right?

If that's the case and you are using the BCF in BC-mode (and controls are mapped manually in Ableton Live) then ...

... you can see in BCManager (View -> Layout) that each control (knob, button, fader) in the preset has a different midi-CC-value, but the same midi-channel (shown in the CH-column in the buttons, encoder or fader-list).

So let's say the faders on Preset-1 (P-1) have CC81-CC89 (midi-channel 1).
After you copy P-1 to P-2, the easiest way is probably to set a different midi-channel for each control of P-2:

P-1: BCF-faders CC81-CC89 (midi-channel 1) -> midi-mapped to channel 1-8
P-2: BCF-faders CC81-CC89 (midi-channel 2) -> midi-mapped to channel 9-16
P-3: BCF-faders CC81-CC89 (midi-channel 3) -> midi mapped to channel 17-24
and so on ...
jsrobinson wrote:I have BCManager, but it's really confusing ...
Some additional infos about BCManager which might be interesting and
can be used for both BCR and BCF:

Global setup values can be edited via View -> Global Setups in the B-Controls-Window.
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If you double-click on a preset in the list or you open a preset-layout via View-> Layout and then go to Edit -> Preset, in the Settings-tab you can edit:

(1) the number of encoder groups (from 1-4). So instead of switching between the encoder groups you get up to four additional buttons for mapping.

(2) the 'mode' of the function keys (F) (store, learn, edit, exit) and the preset-keys (P).
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(F) might be useful if you don't edit controller-parameters directly on the BCF/BCR and you need four additional buttons for mapping stuff (parameters can only be edited via the BCManager then).

(P) Might be interesting, if using only one preset is enough. This way, you get another two buttons for mapping. Downside is that you cannot switch between presets on the BCF/BCR (because there is literally 'only one preset' available).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope you can get some useful hints from this rather long post and keep in mind to make backups of your presets with BCManager :)

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solger wrote:
jsrobinson wrote:However I've downloaded the factory presets from the Behringer site, and preset "page 1" works beautifully across channels 1-8 on my BCF, likewise on my BCR.

If I just copy preset 1 over to the other pages, how would I change the defined controlled channels in BCManager (so that Preset Page 2 controls channels 9-16, not 1-8, for example.) If anyone might have any input offhand it'd be greatly appreciated. :)
I guess, preset 'page 1' you are talking about is
bcf_only_controllers.syx (shown as 'all controls' in BCManager), right?

If that's the case and you are using the BCF in BC-mode (and controls are mapped manually in Ableton Live) then ...

... you can see in BCManager (View -> Layout) that each control (knob, button, fader) in the preset has a different midi-CC-value, but the same midi-channel (shown in the CH-column in the buttons, encoder or fader-list).

So let's say the faders on Preset-1 (P-1) have CC81-CC89 (midi-channel 1).
After you copy P-1 to P-2, the easiest way is probably to set a different midi-channel for each control of P-2:

P-1: BCF-faders CC81-CC89 (midi-channel 1) -> midi-mapped to channel 1-8
P-2: BCF-faders CC81-CC89 (midi-channel 2) -> midi-mapped to channel 9-16
P-3: BCF-faders CC81-CC89 (midi-channel 3) -> midi mapped to channel 17-24
and so on ...
Correct, I'm using that preset, however it's worth noting I haven't had to map anything manually. Even though I'm not in Mackie mode, the faders automatically map, and are motorized, to the first 8 channels in my project. That's ideally what I'm trying to duplicate on preset pages 2, 3, and 4 so I can control 32 channels across the 4 pages. This auto-mapping only occurs on that first preset "Page 1" so far.

I've gone in and copied the desired preset over to "Page 2", and have changed the faders from midi-channel 1, to midi-channel 2, retaining the same CC values. I then did a global save to the BCR and loaded up Live. Preset "Page 1" still works as expected, but "Page 2" doesn't pick up the faders at all. You mentioned MIDI mapping those faders to the desired channels, is there a step I'm missing in this case from within BCManager? On "Page 1" I don't have to manually do anything.

If it'd help to see the template in question, I've uploaded it here:
http://www.filedropper.com/modifiedbcf2 ... oryableton

I've named the presets in BCManager to Live 1-8 and 9-6 (1-8 works, 9-16 doesn't.) This is basically just a modified version of the "BCF2000 Factory Presets" file available on the Behringer site. Their preset in that file was the one that caused fader automapping to work without having to operate in any emulation mode.

Not sure what step I might be missing. Thanks so much for your help, it's been invaluable at helping me get this sorted.

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jsrobinson wrote:Correct, I'm using that preset, however it's worth noting I haven't had to map anything manually. Even though I'm not in Mackie mode, the faders automatically map, and are motorized, to the first 8 channels in my project.
If it'd help to see the template in question, I've uploaded it here:
http://www.filedropper.com/modifiedbcf2 ... oryableton
Thanks for the preset-download.

Afer a quick test with it, I'm guessing that you have the BCF set up as Control Surface in Live: Control Surface: BCF 2000 | In/Output: BCF2000

If so, the BCF is automatically mapped to controls in Live (even in BC-mode), but I think it can only control 8 channels this way (and if I remember correctly this might have been the main reason why I use the BCF in Mackie Mode)

1) In Live go to Help -> Help View
2) Scroll all the way down and follow the Control Surface Reference-link
3) Choose the BCF2000 and you can see the automatic mapping (when in BC-Mode)

For comparison, you can see the mapping-overview for the BCF in Mackie Mode here: http://www.malcolmgroves.com/blog/?p=159. Although it says 'control mapping for live 5' in the picture, it's the same for Live 8.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to use the BCF as 'normal' MIDI-controller, you ..
1) disable it as Control Surface and
2) enable the [REMOTE]-buttons for the In/Output under Midi-Ports.

In this case you (have to) map the controls manually in Live's midi-mapping window, like in the example in my last post.
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As posted before, if you have the BCF enabled as both
1) Control Surface: BCF 2000 or MackieControl and
2) as [REMOTE] under Midi-Ports ..
.. usually if you manually map BCF-controls in Live's midi-mapping window, the Control Surface-function (for this control) will be overwritten.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

But to be sure, can you please post Live's midi-settings you are using for the BCF (Control Surface + Midi-Ports) so I can take a closer look at this.


[EDIT]
Just found this link again. Could be what you are looking for: http://jasongardner.info/blog/2012/5/5/ ... f2000.html

Otherwise you might have a closer look at writing your own Control Surface- Remote Script. You can find more infos about that, if you search for Ableton Live 'midi remote script' or 'user remote script'.

Here's a good how-to, which can be used for any midi-controller: http://createdigitalmusic.com/2009/07/a ... s-control/

[/EDIT]

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Apparently in Gardner's remote script you linked, the controls I'm after (his 'mixer' preset) are stored in pages 5-8. Those pages don't seem to even send midi data to and from Live when a fader is moved (as seen with the midi light indicator on the top right of the Ableton screen.) Screenshot of the MIDI i/o settings if that helps: http://i.imgur.com/9tvTytN.png - that script doesn't seem to sync to the faders successfully.

Does Gardner's script behave differently for you? What an odd series of roadblocks, I wish I could just use Mackie mode. From what you've seen is it possible to edit the resolution of knobs for the Mackie emulation mode?

Edit: Found a recent Ableton Forums post where it looks like touched on this subject a bit. Would changing CC values to get control over additional channels (instead of changing the MIDI channel) make a difference in achieving what I'm after?
(1) As example, let's say you use one preset (P-1) on your BCF, with which you can manually map its faders to 8 tracks.
(2) For controlling 16 tracks, you duplicate P-1 and save it into another Preset (P-2).
Now both (P-1, P-2) have identical CC-values for the encoders and buttons.

(3) Next, on Preset-2 change the CC-values for the faders, for instance, like this:
P-1: fader-CC-values 1-8 ---> mapped to track 1-8
P-2: fader-CC-values 9-16 ---> mapped to track 9-16
and so on...

This way, by switching through the presets on the BCF, you should be able to 'emulate' the Mackie-Control-behavior to switch through the track-banks 1-8, 9-16, ...

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jsrobinson wrote:Does Gardner's script behave differently for you? What an odd series of roadblocks,
Just did a quick test:

It looks like, if you are using the Selected Track Remote-Script found in Gardner's link, you need to have/make a preset with the following (note- and CC-) mapping: http://stc.wiffbi.com/midi-implementation-chart/ to make it work. Also using Relative Mode 1 (where it says 'rel2comp') seems to be working better for knobs.

Haven't tested all controls, but for instance if you map some knobs to the navigate, volume and pan controls, you can browse through the tracks and can change the volume/pan for the selected track.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Gardner's script itself isn't working on my side either (using Live 8.3.4)
Might be that you also have to do some mapping-adaptions somehow, but I have to check this out when I have more time.
Would changing CC values to get control over additional channels (instead of changing the MIDI channel) make a difference in achieving what I'm after?
Well, there are basically two ways in Live:

(1) Manual mapping:
Everything is mapped manually in Live (like in my example) and
- saved as Live-Set (so you don't lose the mapping and can load it when needed)
- and/or set as default template (which is loaded when starting Live or creating a new Live-set).

(2) Control surface:
Automatic mapping using a remote script (or make one yourself)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
About MIDI-values vs Midi-channels:

If you have enough MIDI-values (CC, note, ...) available for mapping stuff, one MIDI-channel-1 can be enough.
If you need to map more controls and don't have any MIDI-values left on MIDI-CH-1, you can go on with using other MIDI-Channels (2,3, ..) as well.

As example you have a preset-1 in which you already used all values CC0-CC127 (MIDI-CH1). Since there are no more CC-values left, you make a preset-2 with CC0-CC127 (MIDI-CH2). This way you have doubled the amount of CC-controls (using two MIDI-channels).
----------------------------------------------------------------
So in general there a the following things to consider:

o) How many MIDI-controls/MIDI-channels do I need for mapping stuff and
o) what's the (easier) way to do the mapping -> manually or as control surface

Hope this answers your question.
From what you've seen is it possible to edit the resolution of knobs for the Mackie emulation mode?
As far as I know, when in Mackie Mode, you can only edit global menu parameters, but no control element values: http://www.behringerdownload.de/BCF2000 ... _modes.pdf

Not sure, but I guess that the possibility to edit other parameters as well is more of a firmware-'issue'.

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solger wrote:So let's say the faders on Preset-1 (P-1) have CC81-CC89 (midi-channel 1).
After you copy P-1 to P-2, the easiest way is probably to set a different midi-channel for each control of P-2:

P-1: BCF-faders CC81-CC89 (midi-channel 1) -> midi-mapped to channel 1-8
P-2: BCF-faders CC81-CC89 (midi-channel 2) -> midi-mapped to channel 9-16
P-3: BCF-faders CC81-CC89 (midi-channel 3) -> midi mapped to channel 17-24
and so on ...
My understanding of MIDI message logic on the receiving end of things still isn't quite clear. I'm unsure of how to determine the value Live will expect for a given function. For example, will Live always expect the same CC message for the Pan knob on Track 9, always the same CC for Send knob A on Track 9, etc?

Even in looking at hacking together a remote script of my own in Python, I'm not sure how the standard remote script, or Mackie mode for that matter, dynamically determines these values to assign on the fly as a new track is created or gets moved.

Is it possible to edit the default BCF2000 remote script to create a modified version as opposed to starting from scratch? Most of the functions on the default script work for me but the layout just needs extended. I've read over http://createdigitalmusic.com/2009/07/a ... s-control/ and am still fairly confused on how to apply this to the BCF for the basic controls I'm after. From the article I'm not sure if his method actually extends beyond 8 track control or not.

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jsrobinson wrote:For example, will Live always expect the same CC message for the Pan knob on Track 9, always the same CC for Send knob A on Track 9, etc?
Basically yes.

So like in this videos, the midi-controller-button with CC117 is (always) mapped to the Live-playbutton (video part-2 at about 1:15 minutes):
http://mrtunes.ca/midi-remote-scripting ... ive-videos

Maybe other interesting resources:
http://www.macableton.com/hardware-midi ... ripts.html

https://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=164575
Is it possible to edit the default BCF2000 remote script to create a modified version as opposed to starting from scratch? Most of the functions on the default script work for me but the layout just needs extended.
If you look into the
"\Resources\MIDI Remote Scripts\BCF2000"-folder, you can see that it

(1) (only) contains the compiled python-files (.pyc).

So in theory, you would first need a python-decompiler, so you can try to decompile the .pyc-file to a source-file (.py), which you can edit.

(2) There is also the preset.syx (which looks like it's the same 'all controls-preset') in this folder. You can convert .syx-files with the BCManager to a txt.file (via File -> Convert). Then you can convert it back and import the preset.

(3) Otherwise you might find other presets or source-files for the BCR/BCF or other controllers on the web, from where you could start:
As example. the Selected Track Control-folder, includes both source (.py) and compiled (.pyc).
Even in looking at hacking together a remote script of my own in Python, I'm not sure how the standard remote script, or Mackie mode for that matter, dynamically determines these values to assign on the fly as a new track is created or gets moved.
Since (for now) using the Mackie Mode works for me, I really hadn't the impulse and the time to play much around with (advanced) Live remote-scripts myself.
So I would need to look into that in detail myself first.

But in general, for the Mackie Mode remote script, the same applies like for the BCF2000-script:

You can try to decompile the files in the "Remote Script/Mackie Control"-folder to have a look, if the dynamic mapping is done via different midi-channels (like in my example) or otherwise.

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