> 1) In the Matrix some controls cannot be accessed when the window size is too small.

Seems you did not discover the small triangles to minimize Snapshot and Layout lists. In case you made the window too small by dragging - don't do it.

> 2) Combine "Preferences" and "Settings" into a single window (e.g. add an extra tab?). Having "Settings" and "Preferences" is very confusing, even for RME staff, for example, the manual for the Fireface UCX says "Preferences" but it's actually "Settings":

That is a left-over from the old TM text, not a 'confused' entry.

Thanks for your comments. Cleaning up these errors or word mixings will take some time as they are found in numerous manuals.

BTW, your driver and with it TM FX is outdated. Yet again

> I don't see the point in making the global Mute a different color if it is not engaged, it's very confusing.

This indicates there is no Mute active somewhere on a channel that you currently can not see (scrolled outside the window).

Trust me, you will get used to the new colors. And after some months you will realize how ugly pink looks...

> "MIDI control" refers to a knob or a fader,

Google quickly shows me that the Mackie Control is called just that. Not the Mackie controller. Seems you are wrong.

Not true. The word 'control' is used in different context, it does not mean knob or fader. I agree that the menus could use the word 'controller', but don't see that 'Control' is really wrong. I leave this to our native speaking friends to discuss.

"Mackie Control" is what they call it.  The fact that the term has capital letters makes this ok.  If one discusses the nouns "control" and "controller" without capital letters, "control" refers to a knob, and "controller" is the box.  I dont see any ambiguity about this.  The "Mackie Control" box is a MIDI controller.

David

There's no point in getting drawn into a debate over a little word. MC is right that "control" and "controller" overlap semantically, so theoretically, and grammatically both are correct. However, most (if not all) people use the word "controller" to refer to the whole device, and "control" to refer to a single knob/fader/button on a device. You could of course say "a MIDI control unit" instead of "a MIDI controller", but that's not what everybody calls it.

From the Cambridge online dictionary:

From the Oxford dictionary:

As you can see, the word "control" means a single switch within a larger machine. The word "controller" traditionally refers to "the person or thing operating that operates the controls or exerts control". Classic example: Microcontroller (not microcontrol). Likewise, a MIDI controller is a device that controls DAW software.

The word "control" is just a convenient way to refer, with a single word, to any type all of the following devices: knob, encoder, fader, switch, button, selector, X-Y pad, joystick, touch strip, pedal, accelerometer, infra-red sensor, etc. Rather than listing out all the possible devices (or even just the usual knob/fader/button), one can just say "control" and cover the whole range from A to Z.

To prevent ambiguity, many manufacturers simply use the terms "MIDI device" (instead of MIDI controller) and "control" (again, instead of controller, and note: it's not "MIDI control" here). The term "MIDI device" is more appropriate in the context of computer software (e.g. "Select MIDI device") because the software has no knowledge of the intended role of the connected MIDI hardware, that is, it may be a MIDI controller but it may also be a drum machine or lighting equipment.

So basically you either didn't read the above posts carefully or made a typing error... In your post, see how you use the word "controller" to refer to the entire device "Mackie CONTROL" device? That's exactly the opposite of what MC is saying. Yes, the protocol is called "Mackie Control" as in "to be in control" (uncountable noun). When "control" is a countable noun it refers to switches, knobs and faders. I am not making this stuff up, it's from reputable dictionaries.

Refer to the screenshots I included in the first post, the menu says "MIDI control". I wasn't even talking about Mackie Control, it was MC that mentioned it. Whether the mixer app supports the MCU protocol is irrelevant. If you read the posts carefully you'd know that wasn't the focus of this discussion.

But, anyhow, as I suggested earlier, why not just go with "MIDI device" to refer to the device that's used to control the mixer? This way we don't need to use either "control" or "controller", thus solving the problem.

There are quite a few cases (d. h. eine Menge Fälle) in the manuals where the English version is quite confusing, not to say misleading, to native English speakers.  This being the case, it seem to me that it would be valuable and worthwhile to accept the advice of native speakers concerning intelligibility, rather than to argue that the translation is correct.

David

It's been a while since the last post here, got a Babyface Pro and a UFX now, I notice some of the things herein discussed haven't changed much, so I'm just giving this topic a bit of a friendly bump.

Thanks MC, really looking forward to that update

Its already known by many of us that certain plugins or combinations of plugins cause
crashes of DAW and / or high CPU load.

Implementing this would most likely "sacrifice" stability of TotalMix only for a "cool feature".
Not convinced that this is the way to go.

What do you tell the users if it doesn't work ... "use this feature on your own risk ?!"

RME has a name in the industrie to produce rock solid drivers and software.
Can they guarantee this still with a VST layer and VSTs, that are not under their
control in terms of good programming and stability ? Surely not.

Based on this I assume that this is neiher in the interest of RME nor of us users expecting stable operation of TotalMix.