New control surfaces from Asparion

Published 25/7/23

Supports MIDI, OSC, MQTT, MCU & HUI

Asparion have announced the upcoming launch of the Asparion D700, a new modular control surface system. The range comprises three devices, and allows users to configure a system with up to 64 motorised faders, along with LED push buttons, rotary encoders and an OLED display extension.

Modules

The main unit of the system, the D700FT, houses eight touch-sensitive motorised faders alongside a dedicated transport section. Each fader is joined by an rotary encoder with an LED ring display, and four buttons designed to offer access to a track's select, mute, solo and record arm functions. Pan, EQ, Send and FX buttons placed above the transport controls allow the rotary encoders to be mapped to the corresponding DAW functions for additional hands-on control, and it is also possible to get your feet involved, too, thanks to connectivity for a sustain or expression pedal.

The optional D700S adds a track display and meters to each channel.The D700F then offers the same functionality as the main unit, but without the transport controls or pedal inputs. A total of eight units can be used alongside each other, expanding the system’s total fader count to a maximum of 64.

Both of the fader units can be extended using the D700S, which uses an OLED display to provide up to three lines of text alongside a track number, a meter and a 12-character name for each of the unit’s channels. Adding the display only adds 27mm to the height of the controller, helping to ensure it keeps a low profile and doesn’t obscure the view of any nearby displays.

Connectivity & Protocols

The D700FT connects to a host computer via a USB-C port — additional units are connected to the main unit via supplied link cables — where the company’s Asparion Configurator software can be used to assign functions to each of it’s buttons, faders and encoders.

In addition to a MIDI CC mode, the system is also compatible with OSC (Open Sound Control) and MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport), as well as the MCU and HUI protocols, offering compatibility with a wide range of applications. Predefined templates are available for all of the major DAW packages, and the company also supply a dedicated manual for each supported DAW that explains the setup procedure in detail.