Maybe another option : the K-Mix console for Keith McMillen.
It’s an audio interface, a digital audio mixer and and a control surface at once.
a digital audio mixer and control surface can be very usefull in a setup with and Octatrack and other gear. It may be a way to mix the other gear before it comes to Octatrack inputs or to mix Octa + other gear to send to a PA or to FOH mixer.
I have not precisely studied how it wan work as both an audio mixer and a control surface at the same time, but knowing a few about Keith McMillen products (I how a smart and powerfull QuNexus and had thought about buying a QuNeo), I don’t worry about that.
It may be an expensive solution : the K-Mix costs 600 $ and you have to add the 63$ MIDI expander to use it with Octatrack (no MIDI output on the KMix, only some USB), but it may be a choice if you also need an audio mixer and you have and audio interface as a bonus.
Great if you have a computer in you setup.
The 8 inputs and 6 outputs and on-board presets even may allow a kind of patchbay function allowing to send some gear to Octatrack inputs or direct to FOH depending on the tune you play, use Octa CUE outputs as separate outputs in studio mode as the KMix has it’s own cuing system, and so on.
So more than a controller, it may be a huge extension of dawless or hybrid setup. Worth to think about imho.
The huge cons I see is the lack of true knobs : as on every KMI controller, they are replaced by (silicon ?) sensitive round surface that allow much more controls than a simple pot, but give a different feeling. Not the most appropriated to control a filter cutoff or things like this, imho.
But the major cons is that everything is “tactile” so you have to watch what you do. You can’t old a knob for tweaking a parameter on the Kmix while you’re olding another one on another device.
Disclaimer : I don’t own one and have not dig the documentation, so all what I wrote is theory as long as you haven’t checked it yourself.
