Affordable motorised faders BESIDES behringer BCF2000??

[quincy]

Hey kids,

So i'm thinking of getting a dedicated surface for mixer control, the BCF2000 looks great but lets face it, 8 faders isn't very many although its still a fantastic piece of kit for the money.

So, are there any good alternatives that aren't going to cost me an arm and a leg? If not, is it possible to switch between multiple control "sets" or somesuch in order to control 16 or 24 channels with a single BCF2000? Do people do this? Does it work with Live and Reason?

It seems to me that i can do an awful lot with my Axiom 49 but having a dedicated motorized surface tied specifically to my master mixer in Reason and/or Live would be very helpful indeed and save a lot of time.

Thanks a bunch

[rhythmsickness]

Yeah I believe for Reason there's a switch to change the setting, so that when you press the switch instead of the faders controlling channels 1-8 it then controls channels 9-16.

There is info about this on the Props site, and also behringers.

Alternatives: well the next thing that really looks any good is the CME Bitstream X, but this is more of a full DAW automation system than just a bunch of faders.

Point to note is that unlike the mackie control it rips off, the bcf doesnt have touch sensitive faders.

[patou00]

The Tascam US-2400 is the least expensive control surface I know that has more than 9 faders. It has 25 motorized faders and it costs around 1000$. I know it is way more expensive than the behringer but I think it might interrest you. I think that it is compatible with every software that recognizes the mackie HUI protocol.

[thecontrolcentre]

... or you could buy a second BCF2000. They can be set up to work alongside each other.

[where02190]

My biggest concern would be it's a Behringer.

[thelizard]

I have one and it works perfectly with Reason

After you set it up, you right click on the device that you want it to control (most likely the mixer) and say "Lock BCF2000 to Mixer". All the controls automap both ways... the faders on the bcf move to the positions that they are on in the mixer... The mixer has 14 faders, while the behringer has 8. The behringer has a button that allows you to switch through faders 1-7 and 8-14... the 8th fader on the bcf always stays set as the master fader on the mixer. On top of that, the knobs at the top automap to the pan settings for controller group one. As you switch through the controller groups, you can also set them as sends one and two, and the fourth controller group acts as a signal indicator (the lights around the knobs turn into a low-tech VU).

Anyways, I completely recommend one. I hope that helps.

[quincy]

I have one and it works perfectly with Reason

After you set it up, you right click on the device that you want it to control (most likely the mixer) and say "Lock BCF2000 to Mixer". All the controls automap both ways... the faders on the bcf move to the positions that they are on in the mixer... The mixer has 14 faders, while the behringer has 8. The behringer has a button that allows you to switch through faders 1-7 and 8-14... the 8th fader on the bcf always stays set as the master fader on the mixer. On top of that, the knobs at the top automap to the pan settings for controller group one. As you switch through the controller groups, you can also set them as sends one and two, and the fourth controller group acts as a signal indicator (the lights around the knobs turn into a low-tech VU).

Anyways, I completely recommend one. I hope that helps.

Thanks a lot that sounds great actually. I wonder now if i could get it to work that effectively VIA Ableton Live into Reason, or purely with Live itself. I am currently playing with various combinations/workflows to see what works best.

However based on your recommendation it sounds brilliant, have to wait a month until next payday becasue i just bought Live 6 and threw a houseparty so my finances are a bit battered this month

@where02190 - I appreciate that behringer products can be a bit lightweight and the plastic build quality isn't world-beating, but to be honest they pretty much cover it with the 2 year no quibble replacement warranty. I appreciate your point and i have used some cheap-feeling behringer stuf before but the bottom line is that i don't have a huge budget to buy one of the top-end motorized surfaces, and this is a pretty good budget alternative.