Wifi remote controller for the Ultradrive

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   Hello!

It seems to be my first post here in 5 years. Real life catched up...

I have been recently prototyping a wifi remote controller for the Behringer Ultradrive DCX2496. The original PC software is only available for Windows and requires a RS232 serial port. Serial ports are not found in most new laptops. The parts for this project cost around the same as you would pay for a cheap usb to serial port adapter. Any device with a wifi and a browser can be used as the controller.

The project is built on top of a cheap microcontroller (ESP32). The device communicates with DCX2496 using the RS232 port and acts as wifi access point and a web server. It can be also made available in an existing wifi network but currently there is no access control other than the wifi access point password. The only external requirement is the 5V power source.

The user interface is a browser based html application. You can try out a demo of the control panel here: http://duinodcx.herokuapp.com/. The page is not connected to a real device so feel free to play around. The settings will no be persisted or synced. To edit the settings you need to unlock the controls first.

When connected to a real device the changes are synced both ways. That means changes made directly to the Ultradrive are also synced back to the browser app. You can also keep multiple browser sessions open and updates will appear in all of them.

The whole project is released under the MIT licence so you can do pretty much whatever you want with it. All ideas, feature requests and code contributions are welcome.

Please understand that it’s an early prototype and a hobby project and there is no official support. I have not actually used it in a live situation and in total it has been so far tested with 3 devices that all have the v1.17 firmware. It has not been tested with the latest revision of the DCX2496. It’s also really easy change the settings a lot by accident. One misclick and your system is done.

The source code for the project and some additional info can be found here: https://github.com/lasselukkari/DuinoDCX. The repository also includes the latest build that you can upload using the Arduino IDE.
Thanks to fellow forum member Ilkka Huhtakallio for contributing the code for the transfer functions. Without him there would not be any data for the graphs.

Edited by Lasse Lukkari - 22 January 2018 at 9:56pm

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Lasse Lukkari Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 09 March 2004 Location: Finland Status: Offline Points: 615	Post Options Post Reply Quote Lasse Lukkari Report Post Thanks(4) Quote Reply Topic: Wifi remote controller for the Ultradrive Posted: 22 January 2018 at 7:02pm
	Hello! It seems to be my first post here in 5 years. Real life catched up... I have been recently prototyping a wifi remote controller for the Behringer Ultradrive DCX2496. The original PC software is only available for Windows and requires a RS232 serial port. Serial ports are not found in most new laptops. The parts for this project cost around the same as you would pay for a cheap usb to serial port adapter. Any device with a wifi and a browser can be used as the controller. The project is built on top of a cheap microcontroller (ESP32). The device communicates with DCX2496 using the RS232 port and acts as wifi access point and a web server. It can be also made available in an existing wifi network but currently there is no access control other than the wifi access point password. The only external requirement is the 5V power source. The user interface is a browser based html application. You can try out a demo of the control panel here: http://duinodcx.herokuapp.com/. The page is not connected to a real device so feel free to play around. The settings will no be persisted or synced. To edit the settings you need to unlock the controls first. When connected to a real device the changes are synced both ways. That means changes made directly to the Ultradrive are also synced back to the browser app. You can also keep multiple browser sessions open and updates will appear in all of them. The whole project is released under the MIT licence so you can do pretty much whatever you want with it. All ideas, feature requests and code contributions are welcome. Please understand that it’s an early prototype and a hobby project and there is no official support. I have not actually used it in a live situation and in total it has been so far tested with 3 devices that all have the v1.17 firmware. It has not been tested with the latest revision of the DCX2496. It’s also really easy change the settings a lot by accident. One misclick and your system is done. The source code for the project and some additional info can be found here: https://github.com/lasselukkari/DuinoDCX. The repository also includes the latest build that you can upload using the Arduino IDE. Thanks to fellow forum member Ilkka Huhtakallio for contributing the code for the transfer functions. Without him there would not be any data for the graphs. Edited by Lasse Lukkari - 22 January 2018 at 9:56pm

fatfreddiescat Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 15 October 2010 Location: N.E.Wales Status: Offline Points: 1057	Post Options Post Reply Quote fatfreddiescat Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 22 January 2018 at 7:22pm
	WOW, nice work, very nice interface too.

djeddie Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 26 April 2004 Location: Bristol Status: Offline Points: 4119	Post Options Post Reply Quote djeddie Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 22 January 2018 at 9:16pm
	Nice work!
	Chas n Dave : it's like Drum and Bass but with beards. E=mc² ±3dB

nuclearbass Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 06 May 2010 Location: Rotherham Status: Offline Points: 9050	Post Options Post Reply Quote nuclearbass Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 23 January 2018 at 8:48am
	Really nice
	one life - have fun! Force fusion pro audio

concept-10 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 17 May 2016 Status: Offline Points: 1275	Post Options Post Reply Quote concept-10 Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 23 January 2018 at 9:57am
	Very nice

studio45 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 16 October 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 3855	Post Options Post Reply Quote studio45 Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 23 January 2018 at 3:45pm
	Excellent work! But absolutely astonishing, really, that Behringer themselves haven't yet made this update to the DCX. LMS units with ethernet/Wifi control have been on the market for years now even in the budget arena.
	Studio45 - Box Builder Commotion Soundsystem -Mobile PA

JonB67 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 22 April 2016 Location: UK Status: Offline Points: 1372	Post Options Post Reply Quote JonB67 Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 23 January 2018 at 7:23pm
	Im just about to get my first dsp and to be honest it's one of the things that's putting me off the dcx and onto the other more up to date options. They must be developing either a new unit or at least a usb and software upgrade now????

Risc_Terilia Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 15 December 2007 Status: Offline Points: 689	Post Options Post Reply Quote Risc_Terilia Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 23 January 2018 at 7:46pm
	This really breathes new life into an aging beast

djeddie Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 26 April 2004 Location: Bristol Status: Offline Points: 4119	Post Options Post Reply Quote djeddie Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 January 2018 at 9:12pm
	But why would Berry invest time and money into the, already donkeys years old, DCX when it stills sells shed loads each year? My guess is they'll come out with a new version when sales drop off because of the lack of Ethernet/USB etc etc.
	Chas n Dave : it's like Drum and Bass but with beards. E=mc² ±3dB

aziz Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered User Joined: 12 January 2011 Location: ireland Status: Offline Points: 132	Post Options Post Reply Quote aziz Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 January 2018 at 10:16pm
	I've been threatening to buy a dcx for the last year but I've been holding of because I know the second I get one,berry will release the new super duper version for half the cost and the old one will instantly be obsolete. You looking at Betamax man here😃

sgarfa Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Registered User Joined: 10 December 2013 Status: Offline Points: 99	Post Options Post Reply Quote sgarfa Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 24 January 2018 at 8:26am
	really impressive, it would be nice to use this beautiful interface with other processors ..
	Ramirez_amd TECHNO

dylan-penguinmedia Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 14 April 2011 Location: Brighton Status: Offline Points: 4576	Post Options Post Reply Quote dylan-penguinmedia Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Posted: 24 January 2018 at 9:09am
	Great work. We have about 40 Arduinos in the unit doing nothing, so we’ll have a bash at this one I think... Was just contemplating selling on our DCX, too!