APC40 What's the verdict?

[space monkey]

Most of the threads I found did not have much in the way of definitive answers as to whether or not it plays well with TP. What's important for me ATM is that the LEDs work properly and are configurable (as in colors).
Anyone in here using one for TP and what is your opinion of its operability. I'm looking at getting Live eventually so certainly go to go there but in the meantime...

Appreciate any feedback and or heads up to obstacles or pitfalls using the APC40 with TP

Cheers,

Danny

[space monkey]

WooT!
Love finding answers:

From Ableton Forums:

this is what I found on another forum:



The APC40's LEDs can be controlled super-easy by Traktor. Its just a matter of outputting either value 1,2,3,4,5,6 to change the LEDs from green/blinking green/amber/blinking amber/red/blinking red (I don't know if that is the respective order at the moment).

I've almost finished setting mine up completely, but I'm using it in conjuction with a VCI-100. Pretty much, each deck is given two columns of the APC. On the button matrix, one column selects hotcues 1,2,3,4 and then toggles Play/Pause. The second column selects hotcues 5,6,7,8 and then toggles Loop Active. The first two columns are always lit green, the second two are always lit red, the third two always green, and the fourth two always red to help me distinguish which deck I'm messing with (and when staring at all the buttons at once, it could get pretty disorienting without some sort of distinction). I also set up the Play/Pause and Loop Active buttons to blink when I'm reaching the end of a song so that I can quickly be alerted to activate looping and select hotcue 8 (which I always have mapped out as a quality loop near the end of a song) in case I needed more time.

Haven't done much with the Clip Stop row for now. I always leave the Scene Select row on Master to keep the rotaries and buttons on the same channel, but I may need to alter that once TPro 1.2 comes out and I need more control over fx banks.

The small buttons are used to activate fx slots for each deck (I'm placeholding 4 for when TPro 1.2 comes out), which leaves you with two buttons left for something like key lock and sync.

One of the faders is used for panning (really nice to have access to) and I haven't assigned the other one yet, but I'm thinking of using it for the key knob on the GUI.

The Scene Launch column hasn't been taken advantage of much. I use the LEDs to show master output level and clipping making for a fun visual VU. The Cue Level and Master fader are used to change BPM and Tempo Mode respectively.

Knobs and buttons on right side of controller are basically used for fx control and some MOD commands.

Maybe that gives you some ideas for your mapping.
Last edited by misa : 07-17-2009 at 12:14 PM.

[Zac Kyoti]

I use it with Traktor. Love it. Getting the leds to behave in Traktor is tricky, but once you learn the tricks, it's a great piece of kit to custom program. Get Bome's too and nothing gets in your way. For reference I use it in conjunction with the VCI, but the mapping is stand alone as well. For someone for whom led feedback is critical, the APC is really nice, with all the colors and surfaces...

[space monkey]

Hey thanks for replying.
I just purchased and it should ship next week. I have a pending sale of my Xone:4D and will use this in conjunction with a Xone:92 so this should free up the faders.
What kind of "tricks" do you mean for getting the LEDs working? Also do you use the free version of Bomes? Since this is my only midi device do I even need Bomes?

thanks

Danny

EDIT:
Must have misread....there is no free version of Bome's

[Zac Kyoti]

Hmm, there is a free runtime version, as far as I know, but since you can't save it's not much use for the APC. Hit me back when you start mapping the APC, you'll run into some issues with leds staying on when you hit buttons, but programming Traktor's "send modifier state" and a few other helpful commands right can set things straight. It's best if you get everything functional set how and where you want it first, then we can deal with the leds.

+ If you ever get into running Ableton in conjunction with Traktor, you can do a ton of killer things with the audio from Traktor. I can offer some tips with that too. I use it for further processing and fx, firing clips, etc. Sounds great.

[space monkey]

"+ If you ever get into running Ableton in conjunction with Traktor, you can do a ton of killer things with the audio from Traktor. I can offer some tips with that too. I use it for further processing and fx, firing clips, etc. Sounds great"

Exactly what I want to do. Is the version of Live that comes with the APC robust enough to run FX and clips or should I start thinking about upgrading to the full version?

cheers,

Danny

[Zac Kyoti]

The Live version with the APC is capable, but it does have limitations on # of tracks, # of vst's you can use etc. It also limits your audio ins and outs, so running individual channels from Traktor thru a virtual routing app is a no-go. I think you can still get a midi clock sync though... I buckled and bought the full version, but it's sooo worth it. Maybe use the APC version for a while to get the hang of things, then think about the full. Also a personal observation - I know tradition of syncing midi clocks is to adjust the midi input latency while listening to both applications' ticks (metronome). I've actually found I get a tighter sync by listening to Traktor's tick against a drum loop in Live. Just a thought.

[charo]

Hey thanks for replying.
I just purchased and it should ship next week. I have a pending sale of my Xone:4D and will use this in conjunction with a Xone:92 so this should free up the faders.
What kind of "tricks" do you mean for getting the LEDs working? Also do you use the free version of Bomes? Since this is my only midi device do I even need Bomes?

thanks

Danny

EDIT:
Must have misread....there is no free version of Bome's

there is a free version of bomes, it's just limited in what it can do compared to bomes pro

[space monkey]

Hey thanks to all you offering to help me along! Here is my progress:

I've been tooling around on the 40 for a few days and have it pretty much set up. My only issue is finding a way to keep certain LEDs lit all the time--hot cue LEDs that is. Play and Loop LEDs are easy but it's the hot cues i'm having trouble with. Also is there a way to get the unit's LEDs to initialize once TP launches? I'm staring at a blank bank of buttons that don't light up until I either load a track or press them. Otherwise happy happy!
Oh yeah, I must say the rotaries on this thing are smooth as silk! Hmm, maybe a little too smooth as I should tweak the acceleration on my FX D/W. I came from using a 4D and sometimes the pots just felt a little gritty in certain spots.

Cheers and Merry Christmas!

Danny

[Zac Kyoti]

Hey man, gonna cut and paste something I wrote in a PM to another dj with the same problem. Adapt it to your taste:

This is very simplified, I'm not sure how complex your mapping is, so this can affect different things but a little trial and error can sort it all out. With the most basic setup being one button that toggles play/pause, the way to get the led to remain in the state you want is this: Make a play/pause output command that has the midi range as min=1 and max=2, same note # as the button, then click invert. Make sure these are set to the deck that's using them. Add a "send monitor state" input command (under "Global") also with the same note # and invert that as well. (The inversion means that the controller will update the led as you release the button rather than when you push it - the reason why it doesn't stay on normally is because the button is momentary, and it sends a note off message when released. The send monitor state command gets the led info from the software, rather than the controller). That should work. The tricky thing about using this command is that it is global, so any led that has an output assigned to it will change to reflect what state the software thinks it's in. You can refine the led behavior further by using modifiers, if you want. A little known trick, but VERY handy.

Now, another killer thing I want to share is this: You might want other leds to stay on all the time, regardless of whether you pushed a button or not. This way you can color-code functions and always have a visual indicator of where on the matrix things are (no more accidental fucking up in a dark environment). Use the "monitor deck PFL left/right" output command (under "Output"), and set it to the deck that uses that button. Set the note # of that button/led. What happens here is that there's ALWAYS info coming from PFL (pre-fader listen), and so the led will be on no matter what you do. This command can also be tweaked using modifiers or variations on what midi range you set it to.

These two commands should sort things nicely for you. Word of warning - the led rings are trickier. I don't use any output commands on these because there is a conflict about where the APC thinks they are versus where Traktor thinks they are. Instead, I use the banks (Track Selection 1-8 and Master) for led rings that change a lot, coupled with "send monitor state" inverted on a global shift button. This works smooth because the APC has it's own banks that it remembers. If you find yourself wanting to mess around with this stuff, drop me a line and I'll toss some ideas your way. I can't live without good led feedback