Mackie HUI Universal DAW Controller

When Pro Tools 4.0 was still in alpha form, Digidesign and Mackie formed a joint project to combine Pro Tools' enhanced capabilities with Mackie's mixing console expertise. The HUI! (Human User Interface) is the result. Digidesign's 4.1 release of Pro Tools represents a quantum leap forward in workstation software. Among its many new features is the ability to bidirectionally interface with many more types of external hardware... such as HUI.

This complete hardware workstation console has the user-friendly features and ergonomics that Mackie is renowned for- including instantly touch-updatable 100mm motorized faders, transport controls, DAE Plug-Ins control, keyboard shortcuts, window buttons -- even built-in mic preamps! What used to take multiple mouse moves and clicks can now be done at the push of a single button. Instead of individually adjusting "faders" on screen, Pro Tools 4.1 users can now enjoy hands-on tracking and mixing with touch-updatable motorized faders. HUI top view

With full automation control and recall capabilities, HUI is anything but a conventional fader pack. For serious professionals who work day in and day out with Pro Tools, HUI can significantly boost productivity through direct hands-on control.

The Human User Interface is organized into 7 parts:
1. In the upper-left corner is an assign section where internal mix bus and physical hardware I/O assignments are made.
2. The main part of HUI is composed of eight assignable channel strips with big-console-grade,… read more 100mm motorized faders and Mackie's innovative new V-Pot rotary controls.
3. In the upper-right corner of the interface is a vacuum fluorescent alphanumeric display for controlling the parameters of DAE-compatible Plug-Ins.
4. Below the DSP section is a switch matrix for assigning channel status and/or global session attributes.
5. The lower right-hand section, with keypad and jog wheel, dedicated keys, and even extra cursor controls, is dedicated to transport/locate functions.
6. The lower left contains a keyboard shortcut section bank and selector buttons to switch between various Pro Tools screens .
7. And shoehorned in the middle of all this is a complete analog control room section with 3 sets of speaker/phones controls and built-in talkback mic. (Trim controls for the two integrated mic preamplifiers and talkback mic are on the back.)

But Mackie's obsessive engineers couldn't stop. If you had a couple of studio-grade microphone preamps, they reasoned, you'd have it all and probably wouldn't even need a cool Mackie analog mixer. So, being fanatic tech types instead of marketing mavens, they went ahead and added two of our renowned high-headroom low noise preamps with balanced XLR inputs. Beginning to see why HUI blows a mere fader pack into the weeds?

If you make your living using Pro Tools, our interface can dramatically add to your productivity. Once you've used it for a short time, you'll wonder how you ever got along with just a mouse.

Features:
Input/Output Assignment Section

100 mm Touch Sensitive Motorized Faders

8 Full Featured Channel Strips

Comprehensive Automation Control

V-Pot Control per Channel

Insert & Plug-in Control via VFD

Tape-style Transport with Jog/Shuttle Wheel

Software Navigational Controls

Parallel Keyboard Shortcut Buttons

Display Open/Close Shortcuts

Full Meter Bridge

Analog Control Room Monitoring

2 Mic Preamps with Line Output

Talkback Functionality

Serial Extension Jacks for Keyboard/Mouse

MIDI I/O Connectivity to Mac/PC read less