JL Cooper Cuepoint

JL Cooper's new remote controller could become the nerve centre of your studio, driving all your MMC‑compatible studio equipment from its front panel. Control freak John Harris checks it out.

These days, anybody interested in recording, either professionally or in their spare time, has to contend with a multitude of differing recording machines and standards, in the form of digital and analogue tape, CD and hard disk‑based systems, and even video recorders. As a result of differing manufacturing standards, the job of sync'ing equipment together can be a complex one — and so can finding a master controller to bring the whole system under central control. Individual manufacturers often provide their own remote controllers or synchronisers, such as Alesis' BRC, but what if you don't need the complexity of a BRC, or are working in a mixed‑machine environment? Provided that your machines are equipped to respond to MIDI Machine Control (MMC), JL Cooper has a solution, in the form of the CuePoint Universal Autolocator.

What It Is & How It Works

CuePoint is a remote control/autolocator which provides track arming, auto‑punch‑in/out, and (if you're using it with ADATs) digital routing. A SMPTE reader/generator is built‑in, but it must be stressed that the CuePoint is not a SMPTE synchroniser. What it can do, however, is take SMPTE from, for example, an analogue tape machine, convert it to MIDI Time Code (MTC), then output this code to other MTC‑compatible devices. This enables CuePoint to control multiple‑machine recording systems, and to provide additional facilities not found in a conventional autolocator.

CuePoint works by maintaining two‑way communication between itself and your equipment; it reads timecode from the machines in your setup, so it can tell when they're running and where they are, and also sends back MMC messages to control your equipment's transport and record functions. In effect, there is one master machine, and all the rest are slaved to it using CuePoint as the central autolocator (it must be stressed that CuePoint can't be used to slave an ADAT to an analogue machine).

CuePoint is aimed primarily at the users of Alesis, Tascam and Fostex digital machines, and in practice (remembering CuePoint's two‑way communication system), the connection of CuePoint to something like a Fostex RD8 system is straightforward, requiring just two MIDI leads — Out and In! The need for extra expense arises when machines need an interface to understand CuePoint's MMC messages. For example, in the case of the Tascam DA88, the optional Tascam SY88 sync card performs this function, and in the case of the Alesis ADAT, a JL Cooper DataCard is needed. This slots into the CuePoint case — the review model came with a DataCard, which I fitted with no problems (see the box on this elsewhere in this article for more information). It's important to note that CuePoint will not work with the Alesis ADAT unless a DataCard is fitted. Once these interfaces are in place, up to 32 digital tracks can be controlled directly from CuePoint (analogue tracks have to be armed on the machines themselves). To date, CuePoint is the only affordable way of providing master control for a system which incorporates both ADATs and DA88s.

If your system comprises multiple ADATs (up to a maximum of four), connection is simple, as the 9‑pin Sync Out from the CuePoint (provided you've installed the DataCard) connects with the first ADAT in line, and the last ADAT connects to the CuePoint Sync In. The machines in between must, of course, be connected via their Sync Outs and Ins. Whatever the system, once you're hooked up (whether via MIDI, 9‑pin connectors or a combination of both), CuePoint needs you to define which machines it is dealing with using the keypad and display. This information is then stored, and you need only alter it when you change a unit in your system.

Using Cuepoint

All the requirements of a good autolocator are met by CuePoint, which reflects the universal transport functions of the target machines. This includes more esoteric functions like loop and auto record punch in/out with rehearsal (although I must confess to never using these, as they always take too long to set up), and excludes only very machine‑specific functions like the Format button on the Alesis ADAT. In addition, there is an All Safe button, Safe Segment and Pre‑ and Post‑Roll functions. The 99 locate points and the ability to store locations on the fly should be enough for any self‑respecting engineer.

It's worth dwelling on the Safe Segment function for a while, as this canny inclusion can be a life saver! Once this function is initiated, by means of the keypad switches to the right of the main panel, CuePoint starts keeping a second‑by‑second log of recording activity on all 32 tracks. Attempts to record in any area set to 'Safe' will result in the machines coming to a halt — which is rather better than inadvertently wiping something you meant to keep! If you wish to record over something, you can just switch CuePoint out of Safe Segment mode while you do it. Even the BRC can't do this.

I can see this function being used by those who cram a lot onto an 8‑ or 16‑track system, where an error in the heat of the moment could mean the loss of an irreplaceable take. A segment log program is also planned for Macs and Windows PCs that will allow the display, modification and printing of the safe segment log.

Not everyone will feel they need to use the Safe function, but it's a nice one to have, especially when you're working on a project that was started somewhere else. In most respects, CuePoint offers ADAT users a kind of stripped‑down BRC functionality, but in this area, CuePoint actually offers more functionality than the BRC (see the 'CuePoint vs the BRC' box for more CuePoint/BRC comparison).

The control panel includes three display areas, one of which shows the SMPTE time, or bars, beats, sub‑beats and tempo (if you want to use the tempo mapping facility for sequencer control). Another, smaller box displays the locate number and various other functions, such as stripe, for SMPTE generation. To the left, above the transport function buttons, is the remote record track arm display.

Up to four multitracks can be controlled at once, and this display is arranged in four banks of eight numbered 1‑32 — further proof that CuePoint is aimed primarily at the digital 8‑track market. A nice touch is the addition of three memories for group track arming — this is very useful when recording a band over a long session, when a lot of signals are routed to tape in one hit.

With a nod in the direction of hard disk recording systems and the Tascam DA88, JL Cooper have included the shuttle wheel from their CS10; the action of this wheel is dependent on the capabilities of the machine being controlled. For example, with an Alesis ADAT or Fostex RD8, moving the wheel will initiate a 'shuttle search' mode, giving the same result as holding Fast Forward or Rewind at the same time as Play. With a Tascam DA88, the wheel behaves like the DA88's own variable‑speed shuttle wheel, and for Digidesign and Spectral Synthesis hard disk recorders, the wheel will send MIDI controllers which can scrub through sound files. For this last application, the CuePoint has to be in CS10 emulation mode, so that only MIDI control messages are sent. However, you can still run four multitracks alongside your hard disk system, as CS10 emulation is the fifth machine option on CuePoint.

Multiple Multitracks And Cuepoint

I must admit that the idea of CuePoint's machine offset and digital bounce functions appealed to me greatly for compiling composite tracks and dropping in repetitive sections, so I decided to give it some rigorous testing using two ADATs. It's important to remember that you can only digitally bounce between two different machines — you can't bounce tracks within one multitrack. Furthermore, it's only the slave machines in the setup which can be time‑offset, so your choice of track allocation will be restricted. For instance, with two ADATs, you have to make sure that a chorus vocal you wish to record once then repeat will be on the slave, so that it can be offset and digitally bounced to the master for all the other choruses. When working with sequencers, it's a shame that offsets cannot be established in bars and beats, as this would make the whole process more intuitive. You can't toggle between the SMPTE and bar beat display either, unless the tape is stopped, but I suppose you could always stop it at the correct bar and beat, then switch to the SMPTE display to establish the correct offset time for the slave multitrack.

Setting up the digital bounce is done via the Route section on CuePoint, which defines source and destination tracks using the digital bus cable. Up to eight tracks on one machine only can be enabled, and as the Alesis ADAT sets itself up to respond to an external clock derived from the digital signal on the optical cables, any ADAT acting as master must be set to internal clock. You can then use the digital path for simple backing‑up of tapes, dropping in choruses, or more complex manoeuvres like assembling a good drum track from several takes, although this is quite a fiddly process, and a click track is useful! The track offset (maximum 170ms) is also fun for creating effects, for instance with a copied lead vocal, or indeed, when someone plays consistently ahead of the beat and needs some delay to bring them into time!

Everyone who has used a multiple Alesis ADAT system will want to know if the CuePoint improves the reliability of lock‑up, or the time it takes to lock up. Well, I timed it with my trusty stopwatch, and there was no noticeable difference when using CuePoint — and of course there shouldn't be, as CuePoint merely controls the first ADAT in your system, with all the others slaving to the first one. My ADATs still misbehaved occasionally (I really must get my ADAT software updated to version 4!) and there was still a short delay before lock‑up, but again, that's no reflection on CuePoint.

One thing that you can do on the ADAT LRC which is not possible on the CuePoint is hit a locate while the machine is in play. Strangely, the locate button doesn't work until the machines have been stopped, although you can still store locate memories on the fly — an invaluable function. You can also use the locate memory while in bars and beats mode — for musicians, this is very useful.

Summing Up

A good autolocator needs to be reliable, and for the most part the CuePoint behaved well. In fact, one of the most helpful things about the unit is the small display telling you which mode you're currently working in — whether digital routing, machine offset, SMPTE or one of the many others. The layout is also clear and the manual helpful. On the downside, I would have liked to see MIDI Clock included, to support those with older sequencers and other devices which don't work with MTC, and I can't see that this would have been too difficult to implement. Also, I have to mention that I narrowly avoided a major accident when I used a dodgy mains socket to power CuePoint, and it went into all sorts of random functions (including dropping itself into record on tracks of its choice!) before I pulled the plug. Of course, this was not the fault of CuePoint itself, but it would be easy to knock the flimsy mains connection to the external power supply on the back panel, and cause an instant panic attack! The moral is to plug it into a reliable socket where it isn't going to be disturbed.

Ultimately, CuePoint is a nicely‑engineered solution for those needing a central control panel for multiple MMC‑compatible systems, while for ADAT users, CuePoint represents a cheaper alternative to the BRC, without sacrificing any of the essential functions.