Behringer X-Touch Mini - FIXED/Workaround for Transport Controls

[Useful Idiot]

This is one of the best budget "mini" controllers because it has true infinite-turn encoder knobs with visual feedback vs. normal analog knobs with no visual feedback. The "encoder" knobs send MIDI to the DAW like all controllers, but they are superior because it can then also RECEIVE midi information back in real-time from the DAW, shown in the little LED color wheel around each encoder. So the encoder wheels update visually with whatever knob it's reflecting in the DAW in real-time. Very handy and useful.

However as usual there's a lack of support for MIDI controllers, one of the last remaining major gripes about FL Studio (along with better optimizing the live audio tracking process, which seems to be getting addressed in FL20 via the "group recorded tracks together as takes" feature which sounds awesome).

Here's some random info and workarounds to get the conversation started, but this is very much an unfinished work in progress so if you have a better path then chime in.

- Step one: locate (good luck) and download the Behringer X-touch editor. It's the same program for the X-Touch and X-Touch Mini it looks like. At the time of this writing the latest Editor version is 1.21

- Key points about this editor: this is just a standard, bare-bones type utility app for "dumping" presets to your X-Touch Mini. There is no "real time" back and forth between the controller and this utility program. Remember the real-time back-and-forth encoder wheels? It's not like that, it's only one way at a time , either dumping presets to the controller or pulling it off the controller. This means it's NOT ENOUGH to simply change the software editor, you have to remember to "dump" it to the controller every single time, or else the controller won't be updating.

Here's the secret sauce:

- Select M-Audio Oxygen 25 from the dropdown menu of supported controllers. This is because this supported controller I guess used MIDI CC for transport controls, and somehow it works sending CC instead of MMC...

-Getting transport controls (play/pause/record/loop/ff/rew...) to work in CC/Standard mode was hard, when you select M-Audio Oxygen 25 as the controller template, these codes match up:

Loop CC: 113
Rew CC: 114
FF CC: 115
Stop CC: 116
Play CC: 117
Rec CC: 118

- In the Behringer X-Touch utility app, make it's recognizing the unit (see "troubleshooting" or just exit FL Studio and unplug/plug in the X-Touch Mini). Once it's recognized, make sure you're in Standard mode on the GLOBAL tab, then go to the BUTTONS tab,





And do this on Buttons BT3 and BT4 (switch to the "BT 1-8" tab on the bottom)



I'll write it out in case the image hosting disappears:

To make the transport controls work right, be sure you're on M-Audio Oxygen 25 as the template in Options > MIDI and do this:

-Be sure you're on the "BT 9-16" tab on the BOTTOM of the Editor window, basically make sure you're editing the bottom row of buttons that correspond to the Transport Controls.

- Troubleshooting the editor: It appears only one program at a time, either FL Studio or the Behringer Editor utility program, can "recognize" or control the controller at the same time. Meaning, you can't get it set up and running in FL Studio, and have the Editor utility program up working at the same time. The Editor utility won't recognized the X-Touch Mini. You can have it open, and it will make "off-line" changes but it won't work until it's free from the other program, in this case FL Studio.

On Windows 10, with and Audient ID22 and FL 12.5.1 I had to go to the "Options > MIDI" menu, select the X-Touch Mini, and unselect the "Engage" button. Then I unplugged the controller and waited 3-5 seconds, plugged it back in, and the Behringer Editor utility would be able to "recognize" it again. Then you can make your tweaks, dump it to the controller (REMEMBER TO DUMP), go back to FL Studio and select "Engage" and you may have to cycle the port to get it to wake up (just switch the port to something else and back again to get it to wake up. The Midi in and out should be on the SAME PORT, but it doesn't really matter which one but use 102 for in/out if you want to use "MC" mode vs. standard mode in the Editor).

-I was not really satisfied with using "MC" (Mackie Controller) mode in the Editor, but here's how: in the Editor select "MC" mode instead of "Standard," this means you can't edit presets or anything like that, "Engage" the controller in FL Studio in the "Options > MIDI" menu, from the dropdown list of supported controllers select "Mackie Control Universal," set the MIDI in and out ports on the X-Touch Mini to Port 102. Done. The transport controls should work, but the other stuff has weird effects in FL Studio, and you can't edit or change presets, so this mode is not useful.

Be sure to SAVE your finished product as a preset, and remember to DUMP to the controller any time you make a change in the software.

Again this is just me stumbling around in the dark in case it accidentally helped someone.

[YveZ]

So did the encoders have a bidrectional feedbac...