Question

I've just purchased a Nektar LX49+. I've had great success with mapping all my plug-ins, and the integration with Studio One 3 is wonderful.  Unfortunately, I'm having an issue with parameter jumping on everything that I try to make an adjustment to with the LX49's encoders.  I've researched the problem, and I've discovered that Studio One may not allow soft takeover for controllers without endless encoders.  However, the information I'm finding about that dates back about two years or more.  Has this issue been resolved, or is there a workaround?  I'm using the LX49+ with Studio One 3.3.1 - Windows 10.

Answer 1

I have the same problem with my Impact LX49+, Nektar's integration for Studio One is great, but the takeover problem is annoying.

I hope Presonus will fix this issue soon........

Better support in the MIDI Assignment window is also needed for:

soft takeover, distinction between endless or fixed knobes, finer control for resolutions, user defined resolution and min/max values for faders / knobes, better graphics for the hardware elements, better distinction between On-Off buttons ("Push button" and "State Button"), direction and start value for faders

Answer 2

Yes to soft-takeover! It turns a device like the Impact LX49+ into an astonishly powerful one-stop controller. For those new to the feature, soft-takeover keeps the Daw from 'parameter jumping' when the same knob or fader takes control of a new track or instrument. So for example, in mixer mode on the controller, the first fader by default controls the volume for track one. When you switch to intrument mode, that same fader now controls the attack envelope for the track's synth. If you set the attack to zero using the controller, without soft takeover, when you switch back to mixer mode, the fader starts at zero when moved, wiping out your volume setting. With soft takeover, moving the fader will not change the volume setting until it returns to the original setting for the track. On the LX49+, the keyboard's display also shows 'up' or 'dn' until you return to the proper value! It's incredibly useful, and is difficult to live without once you grow accustomed to it. ;)

Answer 3

Trying to revive this tread because I also want it fixed. I've spent countless hours trying to get my LX49 set up, and while it's still better than nothing, I would love for soft takeover to work again. It sometimes works for me in the mixer mode, but not in instrument mode or with any other presets.

Answer 4

Controller companies keep advertising their controllers as "ultimate mixing companions" but they don't tell you the reality, which is that not all DAWs have soft takeover, which is rather misleading. Most first-time controllers buyers see those fancy faders and knobs that look like the DAW UI and automatically believe there're going to be able to produce full tracks without ever touching the mouse. Lies, lies, lies. Even for controlling plugin parameters, without soft takeover non-motorized faders and knobs are practically useless. Even if soft takeover isn't perfect, it's an acceptable solution, and I would be very happy to see it added into Studio One, so +1 from me, not just for Nektar Impact but for any generic MIDI controller.

Answer 5

Not implementing soft-takeover in Studio One is an oximoron. One big reason why Studio One earned appretiation from new adopters was that the process of linking a hardware control to a software parameter was very quick an easy. Unfortunately, Presonus completely ignored the fact that the vast majority of MIDI controllers uses regular pots and non-motorized faders. Here is a list of controllers that use endless encoders:

• ********* BCR2000 (discontinued): Not perfect but still the best endless encoder controller ever made.
• ********* X-TOUCH MINI: Encoders require more than a full turn to go from 0 to 127. Encoders are detented (duh!).
• DJ Tech Tools MFT (development stopped): Not as fully feeatured as the BCR, looks pretty but still has some firmware bugs and it's not seen any updates foro years.
• Livid Code 2 (discontinued): Was the perfect MIDI controller—on paper—. In reality, encoder values would jump all over the place and not be able to follow fast encoder twisting. Returned mine after one day.
• Doepfer Pocket Dial (discontinued): and uses the Doepfer encoder protocol which is only supported by Doepfer and Studio One.
• Arturia Beatstep: Average encoders. Encoders are detented (duh!). Encoders don't have LED rings.
• Akai APC40 mk2: has 16 endless encoders, have not tried it personally so I can't comment. The only problem is that it has 9 regular faders which would also need soft-takeover.
• Mackie C4: Discontinued, encoders were too low-res, requiring too much turning to go from 0 to 127. Also, encoder caps were undersized.

Those are all the available options I can think of. As you can see, not so many, and most of them either inadequate or, worse, discontinued.

Also, there are too many endless encoder implementations, and there's never a guarantee that a given host can support a particular protocol e.g. Doepfer protocol.

Therefore: STUDIO ONE NEEDS SOFT TAKEOVER