Frontier Design Group

AlphaTrack Quote

“Very nice design. It works as promised! I have been using Pro-Tools since 1994 for audio sweetening. It is so nice to have a fader again!”

Ward Bennett

Quick Facts

Optimized for fast, high-quality DAW mixing and editing in a small footprint
Intuitive, innovative, and powerful controls in an attractive package
100mm touch-sensitive, high-resolution (true 10-bit positions) motorized fader
Three touch-sensitive encoders ... context-specific feedback appears on the 32-character backlit display
Innovative touch-sensitive jog and shuttle strip for fast timeline control
22 buttons and 21 LED's for track-specific and global functions
Works with Pro Tools®, Sonar™(4+), Cubase®(3.02+), Reason™(3.01+), Digital Performer®(5+), Nuendo®(3.02+), Final Cut Pro™, Soundtrack Pro™, REAPER™, and other DAW software applications
Works on Windows XP/Vista and Mac OS X computers (Mac OS 10.3.9 or later), including Intel Macs
Footswitch input on back panel
No external power adapter required ... single USB connection and small size make it great for laptops!

AlphaTrack and Ableton Live

AlphaTrack driver v1.2 adds custom support for Ableton Live. The new control protocol, “Live (MCU),” is optimized for Live version 6, and works with any version of Live from v5.2.1 on. With this driver you can quickly access and control all your tracks, add loads of automatable controls, and run any device parameter from a knob or the high-resolution fader.

From AlphaTrack you get full control of Live’s transport functions, including navigating and adding locators, and scroll/shuttle operation from the touch strip. Buttons let you quickly enable loops, punch points, or switch views. You can quickly access any track, return, or the master with full two-way interaction between the surface and your computer screen. Use an AlphaTrack knob to quickly scroll to a different track, or use your mouse to select a track ... either way AlphaTrack stays in sync with your selection. Knob modes let you access a track’s pan, sends levels, I/O settings, or device parameters (all of them), and you can use the FLIP button to switch that knob to the high-resolution fader for detailed control and automation.

Setting up Live to work with AlphaTrack is easy. After installing the v1.2 AphaTrack drivers, select the “Live (MCU)” control protocol from the track (PC)/status (Mac) bar icon. Then open Live’s MIDI/Sync preferences panel. In the Control Surfaces section select MackieControl as shown below, and assign both Input and Output to AlphaTrack. Also turn Remote “On” for both the input and output MIDI Ports to enable the many user-programmable controls. That’s it ... you are ready to go.

On the Frontier Design Group website you will find a couple documents with information specifically for Live users. The first, Live and AlphaTrack contains detailed instructions for configuring AlphaTrack in Live. It is also a guide to using AlphaTrack with Live including information on how to use some of AlphaTrack’s custom programming features, as well as a quick reference chart listing all of AphaTrack’s controls.

The second file, Live Layout is a single page picture of AlphaTrack with overlaid text summarizing the Live feature set. It may be helpful to print this file and have it handy as a quick reference guide.

We encourage visitors to our user forums to post their comments and questions. Other users often have useful ideas and experiences to share, and we monitor the posts to provide additional input.

Below are other AlphaTrack related links that may be useful: