"Why do I get confusing parameter changes in C-Console when using Cubase?"

This occurs in some versions of Cubase (pre-3.7r1), Logic Audio Platinum and Cakewalk Pro Audio version 8.x, as well as some other applications that include built-in support for the DS2416.  Most audio publishers are aware that this is a problem and have addressed it with updates, so your best bet is to contact the publisher to find out whether an update will cure the problem.

You say you need an answer right now?   Okay, we'll try to oblige.  Whenever two applications fight for control over the DS2416 (or even elbow each other a little bit), it's likely that both applications will reset mixer parameters with their own parameter sets.  This will wipe out the parameters defined within C-Console if the Transmit|Auto menu item is checked.  If you have an app that does this, uncheck Auto and be sure to run C-Console before the other application.  After loading the other application, and loading any project data for the current session into that app, select Transmit|From if you want the other app to set DS parameters or Transmit|To if you want C-Console to reset the DS2416 with its current mixer snapshot.

(We know that many C-Console users like to use LUI as a "mini-controller" for managing the DS2416 for "mundane" PC audio such as games and mp3 playback. Those of you who do use LUI for this purpose will be glad to know that LUI has no elbows.)

"Can I automatically update C-Console's parameters when another application is controlling the DS2416?"

Yes, and it's very easy to do.   Simply select Auto from the Transmit menu and the DS2416 and C-Console will both be in lock-step whether you are working in C-Console or another application.

Be aware, though, that while C-Console will reflect DS2416 parameter changes made by the other application, the other application may not reflect parameter changes you make from C-Console.

"Why won't some of the C-Console controls work when using Cakewalk?"

Cakewalk acts as the master MIDI device when using C-Console, and takes control away from parts of the DS2416 under some circumstances. This was first reported as a failure of the Phase/Delay Editor controls to function when Cakewalk was open.

The solution to this problem is to enable any offending parameters in all Cakewalk templates (including AudioX pages) when using Cakewalk. This means insuring that all channel EQ bands, channel delays, aux sends, and other "non-functioning" areas of C-Console are enabled in your Cakewalk templates before working with C-Console.

"Can signals on a second card be sent to effects units on the first card?"

After swearing up and down that it couldn't be done, some of our early users proved to us that yes, you can do this, and here's how.

The secret is to route auxiliaries 3 and 4 from Card 2 into Card 1's effects, and from ...but there's a gotcha ya gotta watcha. If you have a newer system (300MHz or faster), Card 2 may not properly align itself with Card 1's wordclock setting when C-Console is loaded, so you may have to force it to align if the routing doesn't seem to work at first. Simply open the Preferences dialog from the View menu, press CARD 2, select 44.1 and then select Serial again. This will insure that Card 2 transmits and receives from its serial cable as it should.

"How do you route the output of one effector into the other?"

You can't do it in one pass, unfortunately. The easiest way is to record the output of one effector to disk at the highest compatible resolution your hard disk recorder can handle to prevent signal degradation, and feed that recorded signal into the second effector. Clumsy, but unfortunately Yamaha disabled aux sends 5 and 6 for channels 21 to 24 to prevent nasty feedback loops so there's really no simpler way of doing it. It's also possible to use fancy routing on your hard disk recorder by routing the effect return channel pair 21 and 22 into a different channel pair on the recorder's mixer and rerouting that signal into aux 6, but the ability to do this will depend on whether your recorder software will support it. You'll also need to be careful with feedback issues when using this type of routing.

"How do you set the pans on buses?"

"There is no need for pan-pots on the buses of version 1.1 and newer. Because every bus is routed hard left (odd buses) or hard right (even buses) every bus will access only one special (left or right) part of the WAVE IN driver.

"If you want to 'pan' a signal routed to a bus you can individually pan the signal on the input channel. If you do use one bus the signal will always end up on one track of your hard-disk recorder."

- Robby Gurdan, C-Mexx -

"How do you do 'triggered gating'?"

This is covered in the explanation of the dynamics editor dialog in the C-Console DS2416 helpfile. This helpfile is available as a separate download if you didn't get a copy of the final C-Console DS2416 helpfile with your version of C-Console.

"What's the trick for changing meter colors?"

Right-click over the meter with the Ctrl key held down and you'll see a single-item menu: Color.  This opens a Windows palette selector that you can use to select a new meter color.  (Overload will still be shown in pale red, so don't choose that color!)  You can select a different color for literally every meter on the main control surface, allowing you to color-code channel groups.

"Is there a way to fix crackling on channel 3 when using C Console?"

Bad news...while it might be related to some other problem, it is very likely that you can't fix it because it's a hardware defect.

This is a known bug with early production runs of the DSP Factory card, and you should return the card for replacement. Yamaha is aware of this defect and will generally replace the card completely rather than repair it.

"Why do all the meters occasionally 'spike' in C-Console?"

This is entirely harmless and it has a simple solution.  Whenever you see all the meters peaking at once even though there's nothing actually happening on your system, select Transmit|To from C-Console's top menu to reinitialize the DS2416 and restore normal functionality.  The meters should zero immediately.

"Why does C-Console lock up temporarily when I try to use the automation transport?"

This is a result of incorrect MIDI patching assignments.  Here's how to fix this problem.

1. Select Setup|MIDI Remote from the top menu bar to open the MIDI Remote Setup dialog.

2. Select the Connection Setup tab.

3. If you examine your MIDI connection selections under Available MIDI In Ports and Available MIDI Out Ports, you will probably notice that you have the same MIDI port selected for both devices.  This is creating a feedback loop which is causing C-Console to "lock up" until the MIDI message queue is flushed.

4. Select a different out port from your in port.  If you're working with a software hard disk recorder, you'll typically need to select a different MIDI loopback port as the out port from the one you selected for your in port.

5. Return to any programs connected to C-Console via MIDI and insure that the MIDI port selections are appropriate for the selections you've just made.  Insure that the MIDI out port on your software is the MIDI in port you selected for C-Console and vice-versa.  (E.g. if you are sending from Cakewalk to C-Console and using the LB1 port from Hubi's MIDI loopback device as the in port for C-Console, you'd need to insure that Cakewalk uses LB1 as its out port, since what goes out of Cakewalk needs to come into C-Console.

"Why do I sometimes have sync problems when using two DS2416s?"

"Sometimes the sync of two cards has a problem after startup. If this happens both cards act independently. There is no more Bus Stereo or Aux connection between the cards. In this case just, switch the sample rate setting of card #2 to Int 44.1 or 48, wait about 3 seconds until the new frequency has established on the card, then switch card #2 back to Serial. On our systems here this always made both cards work correctly."

- Robby Gurdan, C-Mexx -

"C-Console occasionally reports an exception when closed. How serious a problem is this?"

"If more then one application uses the DSP control, you will get a windows "exception message box" when the first of both applications is closed. Do not be alarmed by that. When two applications share a driver (in this case the DS2416 driver), and one closes down, this can happen under some circumstances. This will not harm your system in any way."

- Robby Gurdan, C-Mexx -

"Why do effects routings mysteriously disappear from channels 21-24 or suddenly go silent?"

We don't know. Honest, we really don't. What we do know is that there are a couple of really odd tricks which usually fix the problem and restore signal from the effectors.

The first thing to try is adjusting a totally unrelated control. Users report that pan dial adjustments often fix this problem, perhaps by clearing a bogus message from the internal signal chain in the card.

If that doesn't work, try opening and closing the patch.exe that comes with newer (1.1+) DS2416 driver software. This appears to reset the card and restore functionality (Make sure the Transmit|Auto menu item is unchecked when you do this, and also make sure to select Transmit|To after closing patch.exe to restore DS2416 parameters in your current mixer snapshot.

If you have two cards, you might want to try "forcing" a resync between the card. Go to View|Preferences Editor and change the offending card's WORDCLOCK SOURCE to 48, and immediately switch it back again to 44.1. Many users report that this clears up the problem.

These may only be temporary fixes. You can find out for sure if full routing functionality has been restored by making a slight adjustment to an effects parameter. If effects "disappear" again, you will likely need to save your current work and restart Windows to insure a complete reinitialization of the DS2416.

"Why do I hear clicking/glitching when selecting menu items or changing certain parameters?"

This sounds like a problem related to a video card. You may have a PCI video card, either in a one- or two-card setup, which insists on using the PCI bus without asking the DS2416 first. This kind of rudeness should not be tolerated. Reduce video acceleration by a notch or two from Start|Settings|Control Panel|Performance|Graphics and leave it down until the video card promises to stop misbehaving and play nice. A driver update may or may not solve the problem.

"Why do I hear static when moving the mouse when the DS2416 is in use?"

This is probably due to a CPU conditioner program you have installed, and it's unlikely that a different mouse, trackball or other hardware solution will solve the problem since it appears to be related to Windows graphics messages. (The mouse cursor is a graphics object in Windows.)

Applications that send HLT signals to the CPU to help reduce energy consumption or keep it cool will often produce this kind of noise when they are active. CPUIdle, Waterfall, Rain and similar types of programs can all cause this problem under some conditions, and the problem appears to be most common with abit motherboards using Intel C300a CPUs.

Disabling your CPU conditioner while the DS2416 is in use will stop the static, but at the expense of slightly hotter operation of the CPU. Don't let that worry you too much...two degrees or so shouldn't make that much of a difference in terms of CPU lifespan unless the CPU is already operating at very high temperatures.

"How do you add spaces to preset names?"

Since the space key is reserved in this particular control, you'll need to press Shift+Space to insert spaces in preset names. Naturally, Shift+Enter is used to start a new line.

"Why can't I record from the card inputs in any application unless C-Console is open and connected?"

Don't take it personally. It's probably the DS2416's WAV drivers, and they're at that awkward age where they just have to do things their way. You were that age once too, so try to be understanding.

Humor the WAV drivers by doing it their way. That means using DS2416 WAV Driver #3 if you're recording from the analog ins, or #4 if you're recording from the digital input.

"Why am I getting crashes after installing the latest C-Console update?"

This could be the result of DLLs left in memory from running C-Console before you installed the update.

The best way to handle any update to C-Console is to completely uninstall existing copies of C-Console and restart Windows before installing an update.  Uninstalling will not remove your profiles, libraries or preferences.  These will all be available to you after the update provided that you reinstall the software to the same directory as the previous version.  It will insure that all outdated files are completely and properly replaced.

"Why do I have latency when controlling DS2416 channel gain from another application?"

This is happening because you're not actually controlling the gain from within the DS2416.  What you're actually controlling is gain before the signal reaches the DSP Factory.  If you need real-time control over DS2416 faders or other controls, you need to control the card directly from its control surface or remotely via MIDI.  The MIDI configuration sample task in the helpfile shows how to do this. This helpfile is available as a separate download if you didn't get a copy of the final C-Console DS2416 helpfile with your version of C-Console.

"Does C-Mexx contract with CCS?"

If you mean the CCS that contracts "piracy control" services to audio software publishers, then no, we do not.   If you mean the CCS band from Britain that made brassy rock albums in the early 1970s, then...well...that's a no too; we're more Tower Of Power fans.

Seriously, we are aware of their services but feel that there are better ways of handling the issue of software piracy.   We do not feel that the employment of private agencies to police pirate software traffic is appropriate or productive.

We are aware of a movement in some circles to boycott companies which employ CCS' services, but we will not support or condone this boycott.

We want to make it clear that while we earn our living creating audio software, we do it first and foremost because we love the music.  As long as the thrill of finding a new trick or technique is greater than the thrill of making another sale, we couldn't act in good conscience in a way that is less about music than it is about money.

"Is there any way I can get C-Console for free?"

Well, yes there is, but you're not going to like the answer.  You can always get a free 30-day trial version of the software, or you can get a full free version by becoming a C-Mexx employee or distributor, or you can win a copy in a contest (assuming you can find such a contest), or you can masquerade as a rich capitalist willing to invest millions in development and distribution, or you can come to Germany and take us all out to dinner (but it would have to be a really nice dinner), or you can receive a copy as a gift, or you could do that "P-word" thing...you get the picture.

We don't give away C-Console for free.   We worked very hard to produce this software, and let's face it...the DS2416 is not exactly a cheap piece of hardware.  If you don't feel that a small fraction of the cost of your DSP Factory is a worthwhile expense for the additional flexibility and functionality that C-Console adds to it, that's your choice to make.

"Why can't I get MIDI sync to restart in the correct location and follow song pointers in my sequencer?"

C-Console is designed to be the master device when syncing to sequencers (software and hardware).  You should find life a lot easier if you let your sequencer be the slave device rather than the master.  You may be able to get it to perform as slave if you manually "rewind" the transport every time you restart your sequencer.

We expect to have this problem solved by version 1.4, which will include a completely overhauled synchronization and automation engine.

C-Console won't start and tells me that there's a bad DLL file...what file?

Likely it's a MIDI driver. Driver files are specialized DLLs.

This could occur if you're not using a 100% compatible MIDI MME device on your PC (e.g. an oddball MIDI driver on a notebook or supplied with a cheap audio card).  You can usually solve this problem by downloading and installing  Hubi's MIDI Loopback Device on the PC with the problem. This should solve the problem, but it may not solve hardware connection problems if the MIDI driver really is an oddball. You may have to use a different MIDI card if you can't pester the manufacturer into releasing a fully-compatible 32-bit MME MIDI driver...and if the card is especially old, you might not be able to find a 32-bit driver compatible with the hardware and your Windows version.