BCR2000 vs. Novation ZeroSL for controlling an Oberheim Matrix?

[TubularCorporation]

So after a lot of hemming and hawing I binned the idea of getting a Deepmind 12 or an Odyssey Module and picked up an Oberheim Matrix 1000 today.  I can burn my own EPROM so updating it to one of the modern firmwares that make it a properly tweakable synth is no problem and even with that and an editor it was barely over half the Deepmind price in a much smaller box with full modular architecture, but I'm going to want to pick up an affordable controller for tweaking it live.

 

The BCR2000 seems like the most obvious choice because it has a huge user community and a lot of the work has already been done,but for a few dollars more the Novation Zero MkII is pretty compelling, mainly because I REALLY prefer faders to rotary encoders.  I've never used either one, so any opinions in general and ESPECIALLY opinions about using them with a Matrix 6/1000 would be great!

 

I'm open to other controllers too, I just don't know of any that are in that price range and have DIN midi. Also must be able to send NRPN data reliably of course, but that should be a given on any modern controller.

 

Thanks!

[Silent Member]

I had a novation zero 25mkii briefly, it was a piece of plastic shit and the automap software gave me a lot of trouble. I never got it to work properly, it made ableton crash, it made VSTs crash. The automap program wouldn't even start or let me configure anything manually, but it did duplicate almost all of my vst library upon first boot. Fucking nightmare. I gave the cursed thing away in the end.

[nicklimegrove]

Get the BCR. Extremely well-built, thought-out, and wide-spread and well-documented (lots of people have been using it with their Matrix).

 

Then get one of those Matrix 1000 software editors. Connect the BCR to your comp's MIDI out and it'll ›learn‹ all the relevant SysEx from the editor. No reason to do any actual programming yourself. You can even try:

 

Matrix Editor ---> virtual MIDI connection ---> BCR editor

(so neither an actual Matrix nor BCR is needed)

 

There also seems to be a Matrix 1000 template for the BCR somewhere in the BCR Yahoo group.

 

Re: firmware, note that there's the 1.16 and 1.20. The latter doesn't supersede the former, but is an independent project that, without offering any substantial benefits over the 1.16, has some strange idiosyncracies which some people seem to be finding annoying (such as an ever-blinking display that changes with every parameter change). I have the 1.16 and it works perfectly.

[kausto]

I have ZeroSL MKII. It is fine. Making sysex/nrpn/cc templates is relatively easy with its template editor software. I made bunch of controller templates which i use a lot: my own TX81z template (сame out super useful) , Mopho, AlphaJuno2, Blofeld, Octatrack etc.

 

If you want to succeed with zero sl mkII you should spent some time on planning of your control surface. 

TX81z template: 

 

I never used its automap stuff and so on. I also don't find it to be plastic shit at all it is built pretty well.

 

Edit: It is also more compact than BCR (i had it too)

[Silent Member]

Well, good for you. As I said, I was never able to run the editor, it straight up didn't work. Tried a ton if different versions, drivers, firmware et all, no luck.

 

Oh and a couple of ligts and one rotary encoder stopped working completely. The touch (on top of the encoders) function would bug out and start flickering back and forth through stuff on its own.

 

I use an UC33e that I set up a bunch of templates for my most used software on now. Never had any issues with it. Also cheap plastic, but at least it doesn't break my shit. Looks like this guy had a similar experience to mine. https://creativeblog.mattbrock.co.uk/my-experiences-with-a-novation-sl-mk-ii-midi-controller-keyboard-and-automap/ I'm sure it's great if you're lucky enough to get it working though.

[kausto]

By template editor i mean this little thingy

http://beta.novationmusic.com/releases/sl_mkii/

not automap one

[Silent Member]

I can't fucking believe I missed that editor during my struggles.  :facepalm: 

[TubularCorporation]

My plan for programming is to put the old TC1100 XP tablet on top of my master keyboard running OB6000, so I can audition changes by playing the keyboard with one hand while I tweak the editor and whatever hardware controller I settle on with the other.  Got two blank EPROMS on the way o I can burn 1.16 and 1.20 and try them both, and I'm even going to grab a few spare voice chips since you can still get them NOS for around $6 each easily.

 

Most of what I've seen elsewhere seems to point toward the BCR2000, my main issue is that I'd love to have something with faders and with the controls grouped into easily differentiated zones, rather than just a grid of identical encoders, because it makes it easier to find stuff by touch, but it's not important enough to sacrifice reliability or performance.  Also the BCR2000 won't sit above the keyboard as comfortably because of its size and shape. One thing about the BCR2000 that I haven't checked for on the Novation (but I assume it also has) is that it doubles as a MIDI interface, which is nice sone the other interfaces I have are more or less permanently hooked up to my main workstation and my synth rack (using an old MOTU Midixpress XT as a standalone router)

 

I remember when the Zero MkII came out there was some talk about the first generation being better (I was considering it as an option for a cheap hardware controller for Reaper's mixer) but I think that was mostly because it had two displays instead of one, and that wouldn't apply here.  Anyone know if there's anything else about the original that would make it worth trying?  I get most of my stuff secondhand anyway so I'm K with that if the risk of it wearing out sooner is offset by better performance or design or build quality.

 

 

That UC-33e looks interesting and is probably right in my price range used.  I'll read up on them, too.

[sweepstakes]

I have a Zero SL mkI I don't use. It's fine, I just haven't been able to fit it into my workflow. Please PM me if you're interested in buying it.