User Guide

www.nektartech.com
www.nektartech.com Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide
Index

Page
Bitwig Studio Setup & Configuration 3
Bitwig Studio and Impact iX Working Together
Cubase/Nuendo Setup & Configuration 5
Cubase/Nuendo and Impact iX Working Together
Digital Performer Setup & Configuration 7
Digital Performer and Impact iX Working Together
GarageBand Setup & Configuration 9
GarageBand and Impact iX Working Together
Logic Setup & Configuration 11
Logic and Impact iX Working Together
Reaper Setup & Configuration 13
Reaper and Impact iX Working Together
Reason Setup & Configuration 15
Reason and Impact iX Working Together
Sonar Setup & Configuration 17
Sonar and Impact iX Working Together
Transport Control without Nektar DAW Integration 19
USB Port Setup & Factory Restore 20

2 Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide www.nektartech.com

Bitwig Studio Setup and Configuration

The Impact iX Bitwig Studio Integration has been verified to work with Windows Vista, 7 and 8 as well as OS X 10.6 or higher.
Neither Windows XP or Linux compatibility has been tested. If you are running Impact iX on a Windows XP or Linux system,
please contact Nektar support for manual installation instructions.

Setup

Here are the steps you need to go through to get Bitwig Studio up and running with your Impact iX:

 Make sure Bitwig Studio is already installed on your computer. If not,

please install Bitwig Studio first and open Bitwig Studio at least once,
before running the installer for Nektar DAW integration software.

 With Bitwig Studio installed, locate the “Impact_Bitwig_Support” file

in the folder that you downloaded from “My Downloads” on
www.nektartech.com after registering your product

 Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions. See note for
OSX.

 Plug-in your Impact iX and make sure it’s switched on (if you didn’t
do so already)

 Launch Bitwig Studio and go to Options/Preferences/Controllers

 Click “Detect available controllers”. Your Impact iX should now

appear in the list.
OSX Note:
 Click “Ok” and exit Device Setup.
If you get a message that the installer “can’t
be opened because it’s from an unindentified
That’s it, setup is now complete.
developer”, do the following:

Go to System Preferences/Security & Sys-

tems/General and switch “Allow apps down-
loaded from” to “Anywhere”.

www.nektartech.com Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide 3

Bitwig Studio and Impact iX49 Working Together

With installation complete, it’s time to take a look at how the Impact iX49 integrates with Bitwig Studio.

 Launch Bitwig Studio.

 Create a few audio tracks

 Move the fader all the way up and down. The Bitwig Studio mixer volume for the currently selected track is now
controlled by the fader on your Impact iX49. To avoid parameter jumping we also implemented soft-takeover. Read the
section at the bottom of this page for more information about how that works.

 Next, press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time. This assigns the 4 round buttons to
control transport functions in Bitwig Studio.

 Now press the [Octave Down] button. It activates Play. [Octave Up] activates Record and press
[play] again to stop. The two Transpose buttons are assigned to Rewind and Forward.

 Press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time to return to controlling
Octave and transpose with the buttons.

You can also assign the Transpose buttons to control track or patch change in your DAW.

Here’s how you assign the two buttons to change the track in Bitwig Studio:

 Press the [Setup] button. The LED above the button will blink and the color is orange to indicate setup is active.

 Press the key D#2 (labeled “Track”) on your iX keyboard to assign the Track Select function.

 Press Enter (C5). This will accept the change and exit Setup.

Pressing the Transpose up/down buttons will now allow you to step through tracks in your DAW.
The process for assigning the buttons to change the patch in your virtual instrument is the same, only press E2 instead of
D#2.

If you are not getting the results described, please check your installation one more time as well as the Nektar support tab on
our website www.nektartech.com

Soft Take-Over
When changing tracks and adjusting Bitwig Studio’s mixer volume with a control, you would normally experience parameter
jumping. This happens when a control’s physical position is not the same as the position of the parameter you are controlling.
When you move the control, the parameter therefore jumps to the value the control is sending out.
To avoid parameter jumping when using the fader, your Impact iX is equipped with Soft Take-Over. This means that if the
fader is not in sync with current channel volume, moving the fader will not cause a change, until it’s position matches the
value of the parameter.

Try changing tracks in Bitwig Studio and move the iX49 fader on each track to get a feel for how this works.

4 Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide www.nektartech.com

Cubase/Nuendo Installation and Setup
The Impact iX Cubase Integration is compatible with Cubase 6, 6.5 and 7, Elements, Artist, AI, LE as well as Nuendo 5 or
later. Earlier version may be compatible but check the Nektar support website for additional information:
www.nektartech.om/support
These instructions assumes you have a compatible Cubase or Nuendo program installed running on either Windows (Vista, 7,
8 or higher) or Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. Throughout we talk about Cubase but the same instructions apply to Nuendo.

Installation

 Locate the “Impact iX DAW Integration” folder on the included DVD Image 1
or download it from “My Downloads” on www.nektartech.com after
registering your product

 Run the “Impact_Steinberg_Support” installer and follow the

on-screen instructions
Image 2
 Plug-in your Impact iX and make sure it’s switched on (if you didn’t
do so already)

 Launch Cubase and go to Devices/Device Setup/MIDI Port Setup

Image 3
 Un-tick the second Impact iX port in the “In ‘All MIDI’” column. The
second port is named “MIDIIN2 (IMPACT iX)” (image 1) in Windows
and “Impact iX Port 2” in OS X (image 2)

 Next check that Impact iX appears in the Device Setup list (image 3)

 Click “Ok” and exit Device Setup.

That’s it, setup is now complete and you can move on to the fun part,
learning how it all works.

www.nektartech.com Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide 5

Cubase/Nuendo and Impact iX49 Working Together

With installation complete, it’s time to take a look at how the Impact iX49 integrates with Cubase and Nuendo. In the below,
we refer only to Cubase but Impact iX49 works the same way with Nuendo.

 Launch Cubase.

 Create a few audio tracks

 Move the fader all the way up and down. The Cubase mixer volume for the currently selected track is now controlled by
the fader on your Impact iX49. To avoid parameter jumping we also implemented soft-takeover. Read the section at the
bottom of this page for more information about how that works.

 Next, press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time. This assigns the 4 round buttons to
control transport functions in Cubase.

 Now press the [Octave Down] button. It activates Play. [Octave Up] activates Record and press
[play] again to stop. The two Transpose buttons are assigned to Rewind and Forward.

 Press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time to return to controlling
Octave and transpose with the buttons.

You can also assign the Transpose buttons to control track or patch change in your DAW.

Let’s assign the two buttons to change the track in Cubase:

 Press the [Setup] button. The LED above the button will blink and the color is orange to indicate setup is active.

 Press the key D#2 (labeled “Track”) on your iX keyboard to assign the Track Select function.

 Press Enter (C5). This will accept the change and exit Setup.

Pressing the Transpose up/down buttons will now allow you to step through tracks in your DAW.
The process for assigning the buttons to change the patch in your virtual instrument is the same, only press E2 instead of
D#2.

If you are not getting the results described, please check your installation one more time as well as the Nektar support tab on
our website www.nektartech.com

Soft Take-Over
When changing tracks and adjusting Cubase mixer volume with a control, you would normally experience parameter jumping.
This happens when a control’s physical position is not the same as the position of the parameter you are controlling. When
you move the control, the parameter therefore jumps to the value the control is sending out.
To avoid parameter jumping when using the fader, your Impact iX is equipped with Soft Take-Over. This means that if the
fader is not in sync with current channel volume, moving the fader will not cause a change, until it’s position matches the
value of the parameter.

Try changing tracks in Cubase and move the iX49 fader on each track to get a feel for how this works.
Notice that the setup button’s LED is used to indicate whether you should move the fader up or down to pick up the value of
the mixer channel volume. Orange means up and red means down. If the LED is green, it means the fader is in sync with the
Cubase channel volume.

6 Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide www.nektartech.com

Digital Performer Setup and Configuration
The Impact iX integration for MOTU's Digital Performer is compatible with Digital Performer 8. These instructions assume
Digital Performer 8 is installed running on either Windows (Vista, 7, 8 or higher) or Mac OS X 10.6 or higher.

Setup

Here are the steps you need to go through to get your Impact iX up and running with Digital Performer:

 Locate the “Impact iX DAW Integration” folder on the included DVD Windows
or download it from “My Downloads” on www.nektartech.com after
registering your product

 Run the “Impact_MOTU_Support” installer and follow the on-screen

instructions

 Plug-in your Impact iX and make sure it’s switched on (if you didn’t
do so already)

 Launch Digital Performer 8 and create a Project or open an existing one

 Go to Setup/Control Surface Setup...

 Click the '+'

OS X
 For 'Driver' select Nektar Impact iX

 For 'Unit' select Multi MIDI

 For 'MIDI Input', select MIDIIN2 (Impact iX) in Windows or Impact LX Port 2-16
in OS X

 For 'MIDI Output', select Impact iX49 in Windows or Impact iX49 Port 1 in OS
X

 Click 'OK' to close the Control Surface Setup window.

That’s it, Digital Performer is now configured to work with you Impact iX.

www.nektartech.com Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide 7

Digital Performer and Impact iX49 Working Together

With installation complete, it’s time to take a look at how the Impact iX49 integrates with Digital Performer.

 Launch Digital Performer.

 Create a few audio tracks.

 Move the fader. The currently selected mixer channel in Digital Performer is now controlled by the fader. Selecting a new
track will assign the fader to the corresponding mixer channel in Digital Performer.

 Next, press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time. This assigns the 4 round buttons to
control transport functions in Digital Performer.

 Now press the [Octave Down] button. It activates Play. [Octave Up] activates Record and press [play] again to stop. The
two Transpose buttons are assigned to Rewind and Forward.

 Press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time to return to controlling
Octave and transpose with the buttons.

You can also assign the Transpose buttons to control track or patch change in your DAW.

Let’s assign the two buttons to change the track in Digital Performer:

 Press the [Setup] button. The LED above the button will blink and the color is orange to indicate setup is active.

 Press the key D#2 (labeled “Track”) on your iX keyboard to assign the Track Select function.

 Press Enter (C5). This will accept the change and exit Setup.

Pressing the Transpose up/down buttons will now allow you to step through tracks in your DAW.
The process for assigning the buttons to change the patch in your virtual instrument is the same, only press E2 instead of
D#2.

If you are not getting the results described, please check your installation one more time as well as the Nektar support tab on
our website www.nektartech.com

8 Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide www.nektartech.com

GarageBand Setup and Configuration

The Impact iX GarageBand Integration has been verified with versions 9 and 10. The following instructions assumes you have
one of these programs installed running OS X 10.6 or higher.

Setup

Here are the steps you need to go through to get GarageBand up and running with your Impact iX:

 Locate the “Impact iX DAW Integration” folder on the included DVD or download it from “My Downloads” on
www.nektartech.com after registering your product

 Run the “Impact_Apple_Support” installer and follow the on-screen instructions

 Plug-in your Impact iX and make sure it’s switched on (if you didn’t do so already)

 Press the [Setup] button on your Impact LX and press the A2 key on the keyboard (from the E key with screen printing
“Patch” above, count 5 keys up).

 On the numerical keys on the keyboard, press “1”

 Press [Enter] (top C) to accept. This will set the USB ports for use with GarageBand *

 Launch GarageBand

 Create a new Project

 Create an Audio or Instrument track

That’s it, setup is now complete.

*You may have to complete this step again if you are using Nektar supported DAWs other than Logic with your Impact iX.

www.nektartech.com Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide 9

GarageBand and Impact iX49 Working Together

With installation complete, it’s time to take a look at how the Impact iX49 integrates with GarageBand.

 Launch GarageBand.

 Create a few audio tracks.

 Move the fader. The currently selected mixer channel in GarageBand is now controlled by the fader. Selecting a new
track will assign the fader to the corresponding mixer channel in GarageBand.

 Next, press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time. This assigns the 4 round buttons to
control transport functions in Digital Performer.

 Now press the [Octave Down] button. It activates Play. [Octave Up] activates Record and press [play] again to stop. The
two Transpose buttons are assigned to Rewind and Forward.

 Press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time to return to controlling
Octave and transpose with the buttons.

You can also assign the Transpose buttons to control track or patch change in your DAW.

Let’s assign the two buttons to change the track in GarageBand:

 Press the [Setup] button. The LED above the button will blink and the color is orange to indicate setup is active.

 Press the key D#2 (labeled “Track”) on your iX keyboard to assign the Track Select function.

 Press Enter (C5). This will accept the change and exit Setup.

Pressing the Transpose up/down buttons will now allow you to step through tracks in your DAW.
The process for assigning the buttons to change the patch in your virtual instrument is the same, only press E2 instead of
D#2.

If you are not getting the results described, please check your installation one more time as well as the Nektar support tab on
our website www.nektartech.com

10 Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide www.nektartech.com

Logic Setup and Configuration

The Impact LX Logic Integration has been verified with Logic 8, 9 and X. The following instructions assumes you have one of
these programs installed running OS X 10.6 or higher.

Setup

Here are the steps you need to go through to get Logic up and running with your Impact LX:

 Locate the “Impact iX DAW Integration” folder on the included DVD.

Alternatively, download the Apple zip file from “My Downloads” on
www.nektartech.com after registering your product

 Run the “Impact_Apple_Support” installer and follow the on-screen

instructions

 Plug-in your Impact iX and make sure it’s switched on (if you didn’t
do so already)

 Press the [Setup] button on your Impact LX and press the A2 key on
the keyboard (from the E key with screen printing “Patch” above,
count 5 keys up).

 On the numerical keys on the keyboard, press “1”

 Press [Enter] (top C) to accept. This will set the USB ports for use
with Logic*

 Launch Logic

 Create a new Project

 Create an Audio or Instrument track

 In Logic the Control Surface Setup window will appear to indicate

that Logic has detected a new control surface. You can close this
window

That’s it, setup is now complete.

*You may have to complete this step again if you are using Nektar
supported DAWs other than GarageBand with your Impact iX.

www.nektartech.com Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide 11

Logic and Impact iX49 Working Together

With installation complete, it’s time to take a look at how the Impact iX49 integrates with Apple Logic.

 Launch Launch Logic.

 Create a few audio tracks.

 Move the fader. The currently selected mixer channel in Logic is now controlled by the fader. Selecting a new track will
assign the fader to the corresponding mixer channel in Logic.

 Next, press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time. This assigns the 4 round buttons to
control transport functions in Digital Performer.

 Now press the [Octave Down] button. It activates Play. [Octave Up] activates Record and press [play] again to stop. The
two Transpose buttons are assigned to Rewind and Forward.

 Press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time to return to controlling
Octave and transpose with the buttons.

You can also assign the Transpose buttons to control track or patch change in your DAW.

Let’s assign the two buttons to change the track in Logic:

 Press the [Setup] button. The LED above the button will blink and the color is orange to indicate setup is active.

 Press the key D#2 (labeled “Track”) on your iX keyboard to assign the Track Select function.

 Press Enter (C5). This will accept the change and exit Setup.

Pressing the Transpose up/down buttons will now allow you to step through tracks in your DAW.
The process for assigning the buttons to change the patch in your virtual instrument is the same, only press E2 instead of
D#2.

If you are not getting the results described, please check your installation one more time as well as the Nektar support tab on
our website www.nektartech.com

12 Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide www.nektartech.com

Reaper Installation and Setup
The Impact iX Reaper Integration is compatible with Reaper 4.59 or later. We recommend that you upgrade to the latest
version if you have not already done so.
These instructions assumes you have a compatible Reaper program installed running on either Windows (Vista, 7, 8 or
higher) or Mac OS X 10.6 or higher.

Installation

 If you have just completed a fresh install of Reaper, make sure to Image 1 - Windows
first open Reaper once and quit again, before installing the Impact
Reaper support files.

 Locate the “Impact iX DAW Integration” folder on the included DVD.

Alternatively, download the Reaper zip file from “My Downloads” on
www.nektartech.com after registering your product

 Run the “Impact_Reaper_Support” installer and follow the on-screen

instructions

 Plug-in your Impact iX and make sure it’s switched on (if you didn’t
do so already)

 Launch Reaper and go to Options/Preferences/Control Surfaces

Image 2 - OS X
 Click “Add”, then in the pop-up window, select your Impact iX model
in the “Control surface mode” list. As long as your Impact iX is
connected and switched on, Reaper should automatically detect the
correct ports. (See Image 1 for Windows setup and Image 2 for OS
X). Click “Ok”

 Go to Preferences/Audio/MIDI Devices next and enable Port 1 for

your Impact iX. The mode should be “Enable+Control”. The other 2
Impact iX ports should remain disabled.

 Click “Apply” and OK

That’s it, setup is now complete and you can move on to the fun part,
learning how it all works.

www.nektartech.com Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide 13

Reaper and Impact iX49 Working Together

With installation complete, it’s time to take a look at how the Impact iX49 integrates with Reaper.

 Launch Reaper.

 Create a few audio tracks

 Move the fader all the way up and down. The Reaper mixer volume for the currently selected track is now controlled by
the fader on your Impact iX49. To avoid parameter jumping we also implemented soft-takeover. Read the section at the
bottom of this page for more information about how that works.

 Next, press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time. This assigns the 4 round buttons to
control transport functions in Reaper.

 Now press the [Octave Down] button. It activates Play. [Octave Up] activates Record and press
[play] again to stop. The two Transpose buttons are assigned to Rewind and Forward.

 Press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time to return to controlling
Octave and transpose with the buttons.

You can also assign the Transpose buttons to control track or patch change in your DAW.

Let’s assign the two buttons to change the track in Reaper:

 Press the [Setup] button. The LED above the button will blink and the color is orange to indicate setup is active.

 Press the key D#2 (labeled “Track”) on your iX keyboard to assign the Track Select function.

 Press Enter (C5). This will accept the change and exit Setup.

Pressing the Transpose up/down buttons will now allow you to step through tracks in your DAW.
The process for assigning the buttons to change the patch in your virtual instrument is the same, only press E2 instead of
D#2.

If you are not getting the results described, please check your installation one more time as well as the Nektar support tab on
our website www.nektartech.com

Soft Take-Over
When changing tracks and adjusting Reaper mixer volume with a control, you would normally experience parameter jumping.
This happens when a control’s physical position is not the same as the position of the parameter you are controlling. When
you move the control, the parameter therefore jumps to the value the control is sending out.
To avoid parameter jumping when using the fader, your Impact iX is equipped with Soft Take-Over. This means that if the
fader is not in sync with current channel volume, moving the fader will not cause a change, until it’s position matches the
value of the parameter.

Try changing tracks in Reaper and move the iX49 fader on each track to get a feel for how this works.
Notice that the setup button’s LED is used to indicate whether you should move the fader up or down to pick up the value of
the mixer channel volume. Orange means up and red means down. If the LED is green, it means the fader is in sync with the
Reaper channel volume.

14 Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide www.nektartech.com

Reason Setup and Configuration

The Impact iX Reason Integration is compatible with Reason 5, 6, 6.5 and 7 as well as Reason Essentials. These instructions
assume you have one of these programs installed running on either Windows (Vista, 7, 8 or higher) or Mac OS X 10.6 or
higher.

Installation

Here are the steps you need to go through to get Reason up and running with your Impact iX:

 Locate the “Impact iX DAW Integration” folder on the included DVD. Image 1
Alternatively, download the Reason zip file from “My Downloads” on
www.nektartech.com after registering your product

 Run the “Impact_Reason_Support” installer and follow the on-screen

instructions

 Plug-in your Impact iX and make sure it’s switched on (if you didn’t
do so already)

 Launch Reason and go to Edit/Preferences/Control Surfaces

 Click “Auto-detect surfaces”

 You should now see Impact iX appear as a control surface In Reason.

 Close the Reason Preferences window

That’s it, setup is now complete.

Adding the Impact iX ports manually

If the Impact iX control surfaces did not appear in Reason after auto-detection, you can add it manually.

 Click the 'Add' button (bottom left corner of image 1)

 Set up each of the two ports as per the below chart and click ok when done

Windows OS X

Manufacturer Nektar Nektar

Model Impact iX Impact iX

Controls In Port MIDIIN2 (IMPACT iX) Impact iX Port 2

Keyboard Port IMPACT iX Impact iX Port 1

Out Port IMPACT iX Impact iX Port 1

www.nektartech.com Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide 15

Reason and Impact iX49 Working Together

With installation complete, it’s time to take a look at how the Impact iX49 integrates with Reason.

 Launch Reason.

 Create a few instrument tracks.

 Move the fader all the way up and down. The Impact iX49 fader now controls the volume of the device associated with
the currently selected track. To avoid parameter jumping we also implemented soft-takeover. Read the section at the
bottom of this page for more information about how that works. Note: The fader does not control volume on audio
tracks.

 Next, press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time. This assigns the 4 round buttons to
control transport functions in Reason.

 Now press the [Octave Down] button. It activates Play. [Octave Up] activates Record and press
[play] again to stop. The two Transpose buttons are assigned to Rewind and Forward.

 Press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time to return to controlling
Octave and transpose with the buttons.

You can also assign the Transpose buttons to control track or patch change in your DAW.

Let’s assign the two buttons to change the track in Reason:

 Press the [Setup] button. The LED above the button will blink and the color is orange to indicate setup is active.

 Press the key D#2 (labeled “Track”) on your iX keyboard to assign the Track Select function.

 Press Enter (C5). This will accept the change and exit Setup.

Pressing the Transpose up/down buttons will now allow you to step through tracks in your DAW.
The process for assigning the buttons to change the patch in your virtual instrument is the same, only press E2 instead of
D#2.

If you are not getting the results described, please check your installation one more time as well as the Nektar support tab on
our website www.nektartech.com

Soft Take-Over
When changing tracks and adjusting device volume with a control, you would normally experience parameter jumping.

This happens when a control’s physical position is not the same as the position of the parameter you are controlling. When
you move the control, the parameter therefore jumps to the value the control is sending out.
To avoid parameter jumping when using the fader, your Impact iX is equipped with Soft Take-Over. This means that if the
fader is not in sync with current device volume, moving the fader will not cause a change, until it’s position matches the value
of the parameter.

Try changing instrument tracks in Reason and move the iX49 fader on each track to get a feel for how this works.
Notice that the setup button’s LED is used to indicate whether you should move the fader up or down to pick up the value of
the device volume. Orange means up and red means down. If the LED is green, it means the fader is in sync with the Reason
device volume.

16 Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide www.nektartech.com

Sonar Setup and Configuration

The Impact iX Cakewalk Integration has been verified with Sonar 8.5, X1, X2 and X3. The following instructions assumes you
have one of these programs installed running on either Windows Vista, 7, 8 or higher.

Setup

Here are the steps you need to go through to get Cakewalk Sonar up and running with your Impact iX:

 Locate the “Impact iX DAW Integration” folder on the included DVD. Image 1
Alternatively, download the Cakewalk Sonar zip file from “My Down-
loads” on www.nektartech.com after registering your product

 Run the “Impact_Cakewalk_Support” installer and follow the on-

screen instructions

 Plug-in your Impact iX and make sure it’s switched on (if you didn’t
do so already)

 Launch Sonar and go to Edit/Preferences/MIDI/Devices (Image 1)

 Make sure both Impact iX and MIDIIN2 (IMPACT iX) are ticked.
(Image 1)

 In Sonar Preferences, now go to MIDI/Control Surfaces Image 2

 Click on the yellow star icon. You can see what it looks like on image
3, top right corner

 The Controller/Surface Settings dialogue box now appears.

Make the following selections as per Image 2:
Controller/Surface: Impact iX
Input Port: MIDIIN2 (IMPACT iX)
Output Port: IMPACT iX

 Click OK Image 3

 Image 3 shows how the Control surface window should now look.
Click Apply and Close.

That’s it, setup is now complete.

www.nektartech.com Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide 17

Sonar and Impact iX49 Working Together

With installation complete, it’s time to take a look at how the Impact iX49 integrates with Sonar.

 Launch Sonar.

 Create a few audio tracks

 Move the fader all the way up and down. The Sonar mixer volume for the currently selected track is now controlled by
the fader on your Impact iX49. To avoid parameter jumping we also implemented soft-takeover. Read the section at the
bottom of this page for more information about how that works.

 Next, press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time. This assigns the 4 round buttons to
control transport functions in Sonar.

 Now press the [Octave Down] button. It activates Play. [Octave Up] activates Record and press
[play] again to stop. The two Transpose buttons are assigned to Rewind and Forward.

 Press the [Octave Down] + [Transpose Down] buttons at the same time to return to controlling
Octave and transpose with the buttons.

You can also assign the Transpose buttons to control track or patch change in your DAW.

Let’s assign the two buttons to change the track in Sonar:

 Press the [Setup] button. The LED above the button will blink and the color is orange to indicate setup is active.

 Press the key D#2 (labeled “Track”) on your iX keyboard to assign the Track Select function.

 Press Enter (C5). This will accept the change and exit Setup.

Pressing the Transpose up/down buttons will now allow you to step through tracks in your DAW.
The process for assigning the buttons to change the patch in your virtual instrument is the same, only press E2 instead of
D#2.

If you are not getting the results described, please check your installation one more time as well as the Nektar support tab on
our website www.nektartech.com

Soft Take-Over
When changing tracks and adjusting Sonar mixer volume with a control, you would normally experience parameter jumping.
This happens when a control’s physical position is not the same as the position of the parameter you are controlling. When
you move the control, the parameter therefore jumps to the value the control is sending out.
To avoid parameter jumping when using the fader, your Impact iX is equipped with Soft Take-Over. This means that if the
fader is not in sync with current channel volume, moving the fader will not cause a change, until it’s position matches the
value of the parameter.

Try changing tracks in Sonar and move the iX49 fader on each track to get a feel for how this works.
Notice that the setup button’s LED is used to indicate whether you should move the fader up or down to pick up the value of
the mixer channel volume. Orange means up and red means down. If the LED is green, it means the fader is in sync with the
Sonar channel volume.

18 Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide www.nektartech.com

Transport Control without Nektar DAW Integration

The Nektar DAW Integration files automatically map the Octave and Transpose buttons so they can be used to control
transport. If your DAW is not supported directly , you may still be able to control your DAWs transport controls using MIDI
Machine Control.

Here is how you set up the Impact iX keyboard to send MIDI Machine Control messages

 Press the [Setup] button. The LED above the button will blink and the color is orange to indicate setup is active.

 Press the A2 key on your iX keyboard.

 Press the numeric key to enter 3

 Press Enter (C5). This will accept the change and exit Setup.

Provided your DAW is set up to receive MMC, you can now control transport functions by first pressing [Octave Down]+
[Transpose Down] at the same time. The 4 buttons now are assigned to control the following:

Button Function
Octave Down Play

Octave Up Record

Transpose Down Rewind

Transpose Up Stop

To revert the 4 buttons to their main functions, press button combination [Octave Down]+[Transpose Down] again.

MMC is supported by DAWs such as Pro Tools, FL Studio and many more.

www.nektartech.com Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide 19

USB Port Setup & Factory Restore

USB Port Setup

Impact iX49 has one physical USB port however there are 2 virtual ports as you may have discovered during the MIDI setup
of your music software. The additional port is used by the Impact DAW software to handle communication with your DAW.
You only need to change the USB Port Setup setting if the Impact iX49 setup instructions for your DAW specifically advises
that this should be done.

Factory Restore
If you need to restore factory settings for example if you by mistake managed to change the assignments needed for DAW
integration files, here is how you do that.

 Make sure your Impact iX49 is switched off

 Press the [Octave up]+[Octave down] buttons and hold them

 Switch your Impact iX49 on

20 Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide www.nektartech.com

 Future Updates

We have strived to provide a feature complete experience with our DAW support and hope this is reflected in your experience
with Impact LX. Over time, there will be updates that may include new features, added support for new version of operating
systems and programs or bug fixes.

If you want to get automatic notifications of any updates and other news you can create a Nektar user account and
subsequently register your product with us. Here is the URL to get started

Http://www.nektartech.com/registration

2014 Nektar Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Functions and specifications may change at any time.
Cubase and Nuendo are trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
Reason is a trademark of Propellerhead Software AB
Logic and GarageBand are trademarks of Apple, Inc
Sonar is a trademark of Cakewalk
All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners

www.nektartech.com Nektar Impact iX49 & iX61 User Guide 21