UC-33e and Reason 3 not working as they should. David?

[ReekHavok]

Hey I'm new to the forums but they look like a great place to get some info and help.

I just picked up a UC-33e and am trying to get it to work as it should in Reason 3.
I set it up in Reason as a controller and set the UC to the proper preset but it doesnt operate the mixer as it should.........

When it even does anything it controlls the wrong faders........

I figured David may be able to shed some light on this, He explained something in reason for me when he did the M-Powered tour at AMerican Guitar boutique in st.paul(I'm the guy who couldnt figure the Axiom).......

ANyway any help is very very apreciated.

-Rik

[phalaris]

I'm having the same problem.. :)
Mine hasn't been resolved yet, unfortunately..

I'm sure Mr. Muniz is pretty busy, so for now have a look here, and see if you can make some sense of it:

http://www.audioforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15181

Basically, the advice I can give you is this:

(1) Use preset 2 and ONLY preset 2 on your UC-33e.. it will automatically latch onto different instruments as you switch between them..

(2) Buttons 4 and 7 (on the UC-33e numpad) switch between different sequencer channels (4=up, 7=down) and buttons 6 and 9 switch patches (6=up, 9=down). If you got overlays, then any functions assigned to these 4 buttons are overwritten by these features (introduced to Reason 3.0, after the UC-33e's release).

(3) Don't bother using SysEx librarian or Enigma librarian. The midi CCs are completely messed up and you will only make things worse. Just take solace in the fact that the controls are already optimised as well, if not better, than any user customisation..

[ReekHavok]

Yep STill lost!:confused:
I'm already all set to give up here..........................:(

Preset 2 does nothing but make the faders act like drawbars..........

I can see why folks are dumping these......

Pisses me off that a hardware company and a software company cant get there crap together and work on unified pre-sets!:(

Lame

-Rik

[phalaris]

Try this:

Go into Reason > Preferences > midi control surfaces.
Delete the UC-33e, and scan for new midi hardware.

As soon as it detects your UC-33e it should give you a message saying "Preset 2 will be overwritten for Reason 3.0"..
Make sure you click 'ok'.
Then select preset 2 and do some simple tests in Reason (if you got overlays).
If not, then just try it with the mixer: sliders are channels 1-8. Top two rows of knobs are treble/bass. Bottom row is pan.

Maybe it didn't do the SysEx dump properly the first time, because by default preset 2 is for some "native instruments" program, that I've never even heard of... -.- sounds like it could still be mapped to those CCs.

...

Anyway, I bet I was a lot more pissed off than you are now! :rolleyes: I'm a real control freak, and when I pay 200 euro for a controller, I expect to be able to set it up to use aux sends on my mixer.. and I still can't.

BUT having said that, after doing a LOT of research, and having gotten used to the UC-33e, I can tell you that it's still the best damn controller you can get for Reason, especially with the overlays for Subtractor and NN-19. When you see all the parameters printed in front of you, it's like you're actually working with a synth or a sampler.. no other controller gives you that..
It's not perfect, and it's outdated, but I really don't think anything else is as well-suited for Reason as this.. I'm sure it will grow on you.. :D

Still hope Mr. Muniz gives us some more insight though..

[David Muniz]

Hi guys,

I sense a disturbance in the force....

A couple of things - when the UC33 is updated via USB, the presets are written, however, the previous preset is still in the "buffer." So, for example, if you have Preset 2 setup a particular way, then Reason "updates" the UC33, the old preset 2 will still be active. You must recall preset 2 by pressing the 2 button on the UC33 or by advancing to preset 3, then back to 2. By recalling 2 again, you are placing the newly written information in the buffer. This may be why it wasn't working for you the first time, Havok.

As for Aux sends -
From the COntrol Surfaces Details PDF that comes with Reason 3

Tip: If a control surface is said to use keyboard shortcut variations, this means you can switch variations from the computer keyboard and change which parameters are con-trolled by the knobs, sliders or buttons on the surface. To select a keyboard shortcut variation, press [Ctrl]-[Alt (Windows) or [Command]-[Option] (Mac) and one of the number keys on the main part of the computer keyboard. The number of variations available depends on the control surface and which Reason device has MIDI input. To select the default variation, press [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[1] or [Command]-[Option]-[1]. This is done automatically when you change MIDI input to another device.

UC-33e
Requirements/Setting up:
• You must connect the UC-33e via USB or two-way MIDI.
• Reason will automatically find the UC-33e if you click the Auto-detect button on the Control Surfaces and Keyboards page in the Preferences. If you add the UC-33e manually, you need to specify both MIDI Input and Output ports.
• When you add the UC-33e (manually or by using auto-detect), Reason will upload custom settings, overwriting preset 2. After this is done, you need to select preset 2 on the UC-33e.

About the default mapping:
The UC-33e has the same mapping as the UC-33 (original version).

The UC-33 features a number of overlays for different Reason devices (from previous Reason versions). In the default mapping of the UC-33 we have tried to keep the mapping according to the overlays, where possible. This means that you can still use e.g. the Subtractor overlay when you're controlling a Subtractor with the UC-33 (although you no longer have to switch to a Subtractor preset!). However, in some cases we had to rearrange the numpad buttons to make room for the patch selection, target track and transport functions - this is noted below.

The following buttons are used for global Reason functions:
Numpad buttons 4 and 7 are used for Target Previous/Next Track. For devices with patches, numpad buttons 6 and 9 are used for Select Previous/Next Patch.
The four transport buttons (stop, play, rewind and fast forward) are mapped to the corresponding transport functions in Reason. The numpad 0 button is mapped to Record.

Mixer 14:2
There are four keyboard shortcut variations. In variations 1 and 2 channels 1-8 are controlled, with the two upper rows of knobs controlling EQ and Aux Sends, respectively. In variations 3 and 4, channels 9-14 are controlled in the same way. The faders always control the levels, and the lowest row of knobs controls the pan. The master level is mapped to fader F9 in all variations.

Subtractor
This is mapped as on the Subtractor overlay, with the following exceptions:
Numpad 1 is mapped to Filter Env Invert (Osc 2 on/off is not mapped).

BV-512 Vocoder
The faders control the band levels. There are four keyboard shortcut variations, determining which vocoder bands should be controlled by the faders.

Matrix
On the numpad, button 1 controls the Pattern Enable switch, button 2 steps
through pattern 1-8 within the current bank and button 3 selects bank.

Malström
This is mapped as on the Malström overlay, but the numpad and transport button mapping is changed. The following parameters are controlled by the numpad buttons:
Numpad 1 : Filter B On/Off
Numpad 2 : Filter B Env
Numpad 3 : Filter A On/Off
Numpad 5 : Filter A Env
Numpad 8 : Modulator A On/Off

Redrum
There are two keyboard shortcut variations, controlling drum 1-8 and drum 9-10, respectively. The faders and knobs are mapped according to the Redrum overlay. On the numpad, button 1 controls the Pattern Enable switch, button 2 steps through pattern 1-8 within the current bank and button 3 selects bank.

[phalaris]

Tip: If a control surface is said to use keyboard shortcut variations, this means you can switch variations from the computer keyboard and change which parameters are con-trolled by the knobs, sliders or buttons on the surface. To select a keyboard shortcut variation, press [Ctrl]-[Alt (Windows) or [Command]-[Option] (Mac) and one of the number keys on the main part of the computer keyboard. The number of variations available depends on the control surface and which Reason device has MIDI input. To select the default variation, press [Ctrl]-[Alt]-[1] or [Command]-[Option]-[1]. This is done automatically when you change MIDI input to another device.



That's great! :D

I am now officially 100% happy with my purchase. UC-33e is great. I hope you eventually grow to like it as well, Havok.

Thanks for all the help, David.

[ReekHavok]

I know this realy isnt Davids fault but the company he works for.......
But I will not ever buy a M-Audio Product again!

I am smart enough to know that I needed to recall the preset, Its still not working!

But dont bother anymore I gave it to a kid I know who now is cursing me for doing so. It wont act as it should for him.
Worthless compleatly worthless!

Same crap happend with the Axiom I bought and then sold, "The trigger pads should be automaticly maped to Re-Drum".......... WRONG! And editing it in Enigma didnt work( I spent days at a time trying)...

I bought the Trigger finger and only get some things to work as they should, hell the patch for "Re-Drum" doesnt work RIGHT!!!

I'm sorry but since Avid consumed and Raped M-Audio there stuff is worthless!

I think that Korg Kontrol 49 is looking better all the time atleast I know it works like it should!

I'm sorry to rant but as soon as I can upgrade out of it my M-Audio stuff is going up for sale! The hell with it.

-ReekHavok

[David Muniz]

Reek,

I'm really sorry you feel this way and that you've had a lousy experience. I also appreciate you trying to direct your frustration around me and directly at M-Audio :)

Our products have won numerous awards and LOTS of people are using them successfully.

Since Propellerheads implemented REMOTE, many of the features in how Reason is controlled have become "easier" but others have been more difficult to access. We don't have any controller over how Propellerheass or other manufacturers implement certain features in their software.

For example, there is a bit of code critical to the functioning of Cubase that seems to reek havoc (no pun intended, well ok, a little intended) on the way the the Delta control panel works. There was no way for either manufacturer to make a change that would eliminate this. As a work around, M-Audio added an option that disables Cubase's control over the Delta control panel. THe downside here is some convenient monitoring controls via Cubase are no longer available. We've left the option available to the end user. This doesn't happen with other software like Logic and a Delta Card, and it doesn't happen with other sound cards, like Cubase and an Echo card.

I'm sorry you've had difficult experiences. I find the Axiom and Trigger Finger, in fact any controller supported by Enigma, some of the easiest to program BECAUSE of Enigma. It's as simple as Drag And drop. You can even drag MIDI notes and CC's from the library.

IF something isn't functioning, there is usually a simple explanation - a check box here, a click there. I know electronics repair men that have made easy money by walking into a place and plugging the "broken" device into the power outlet. The people that called him weren't stupid. They went through basic steps to troubleshoot, except it did not occur to them to check the power.

Some times, not often, there is a bug in the way the device is programmed. It happens. The permutations in systems configuration (hard drive, CPU, ram, video card) are daunting and it is impossible to test every scenario. Not just for M-Audio, but any manufacturer.

In any case, the best bet is to contact our tech support team. They can help find the simple explanation, or can help determine if it is indeed a bug. If it's a bug, they'll report it to our development team to address and fix. The only way they can fix problems is knowing about them. THey are available from 7am to 7pm pacific, Monday- Friday. Are there long hold times? Yes, sometimes you'll wait up to 15 minutes to talk to someone. Often, the wait is less than 5 minutes.

I think the problems you were experiencing were solvable with a phone call to tech support. I don't know if you did or didn't call them, but I'd be surprised if you called and they couldn't get it working.

I hope which ever products you decide to use in the future will work out for you. What is most important to me and all of us at M-Audio is that you are creating music and having fun.

Thanks
David

[ReekHavok]

No offense intended sorry if I come of pissed.
Just plain had it with buying things and finding more issues than I care to deal with.

Thats kind of why I switched up to making electronic music insted of being a guitarist in a band because it was excitment then a let down.

Same goes for the reason I bought Reason, I dont care to deal with hardware issues.

To be fair my Keystation 49e is working fine! HA!
But I still am not able to take full advantage of my trigger finger, not working as expected also.

Thanks for your help but after trying to justify staying with m-audio stuff -which I have realy liked for many years now- I cant realy say I'll buy more......

Thanks for trying.

-Reek