DAW control surfaces

Chewie5150

Chewie5150

Fractal Fanatic
I have an Akai MPD232 and 3 different Steinberg CMC modules which is pretty decent but I've always longed for motorized faders. 8-16 would be nice. I use Cubase as my DAW. Curious as to what control surfaces you're all using and why you like them?
 
GlennO said:
Avid Artist Mix, 2 of them, for 16 motorized faders and OLED channel displays. Eucon support in Cubase is pretty good. The new SSL UF8 is nice.
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funny you mention the artist mix. On my twitter feed a UA post featuring Eucon /Avid mix came up and got me thinking about this again
 
Gonna try and squeeze a comment in this busy thread. I've been looking at the Faderport16, SSL UF8 and Icon Qcon Pro X and favouring the Icon overall. Been doing loads of research on these units. I'm a cubase user and have heard rumours that in 2022 there may very well be an integrated controller coming out. Steinberg/Yamaha has been developing some kind of midi remote API protocol which has people suspecting something else coming around the corner.

What i like about the following units:
Presonus Faderport 16: 16 faders. straightforward solid controller with Transport functions though no dedicated knobs per channel for panning is lacking. This is the least expensive of the three
SSL UF8: I think is really cool looking and nice big displays per channel. lacking in transport controls and the overall layout isn't superb. This is the most expensive of the three
Icon Qcon Pro X: metal housing. solid looking. looks more like the old analogue style boards. Good layout. And apparently very good integration with Cubase. Has good faders along with full trasnport controls and meterbridge per channel and is modular. Very cool unit.
 
I had the behringer x touch and extender. Cant beat the bang for the buck.

That said, I switched to a soundcraft mtk22, so I can route every channel through the faders and have real eq chsnnel strips etc.

Don’t get the fun automation and recall, but it just made more sense to me having a real mixer in front of me instead of the same money and space taken up by a controller for faders and of course things like eq are still a pain to access, so why not just go hardware instead of controller I figured.

Still can go on a draw an automation if need be too, plus the analog summing through the board tends to sound nicer to me too

I still do like the x-touch, and use it with my xr18 as a front end controller, but I found daw controllers just didn’t quite do what I wanted even though there are some nice options on the market
 
GlennO said:
I'd recommend the Avid S1. If you don't want the large iPad display, then try to find a used Artist Mix.
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I gotta look into the Avid a bit more but how does the ipad/tablet integrate? is it showing some native Avid meter bridge display or is it going to mirror my mix console from Cubase?
edit: nvm i just watched a few vids. Interesting system. actually quite slick. Can use my existing ipad with this

After doing a lot more reading on the Icon I'm steering away from it. As much as I want to like it there is more negative reviews on it than good. pages on pages of issues and subpar company support. I'd sooner move towards SSL or Avid who seem pretty solid or just hope in the new year there will be newer control surfaces. IDeally i'd love one designed by Yamaha/steinberg that is a dedicated DAW for cubase but more affordable than the nuage stuff.
 
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Little update on my decision making process. I'm 99% decided on the Softube ecosystem. I may get the fader and console units. My research has shown that Softube has tightest integration with Cubase which is a driving point for me. As a bonus, the console has excellent integration with UAD plugins. It's not as 'pretty' looking as other controllers but functionality wins here.
 
Strictly speaking, unlike HUI and Eucon, it's not integrated with Cubase at all :). Instead, it's integrated with Softube's own software, which you must load into your DAW channels. It's a bit intrusive, but it can work nearly as well as HUI or Eucon if you happen to be using Cubase, and has some advantages if you want Softube's channel strip features, and it does work great with UA console and plugins.
 
GlennO said:
Strictly speaking, unlike HUI and Eucon, it's not integrated with Cubase at all :). Instead, it's integrated with Softube's own software, which you must load into your DAW channels. It's a bit intrusive, but it can work nearly as well as HUI or Eucon if you happen to be using Cubase, and has some advantages if you want Softube's channel strip features, and it does work great with UA console and plugins.
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Yeah I see what you mean about the word 'integrated'. The Software is what makes it work well within Cubase. I have to do more research though on the console (not fader) and see if there's any advantage there. I see it works with Apollo central on input stage more ...unison inserts etc but what about inside the box of Cubase...wondering if it gives me good control of the UA plugins I insert into my tracks after they've been recorded...
 
Tried Softube, SSL but got back to Avid Artist MIX, Transport plus an Android tablet with the Eucon app. Great integration with latest Cubase (11) on Win 10.
 
I really want 8 motorized faders minimum. From what i've read with a lot of the controllers out there that use Mackie, HUI etc protocols is a problem with bidirectional info...having to chase your track when selected on the Hardware or the DAW. What i mean is when you bank 8 tracks to whatever direction having both the controller and DAW be in sync always. Unless i'm. missing something or perhaps newer FW upgrades to these controllers that I'm not aware of this seems to be a limitation with many of them
 
Yes they follow track in Cubase and from latest update they "hide" also the tracks hidden in Cubase mixer screen (before you still saw the track on the surface even if they were hidden in the Cubase Mixer)
 
Okay sounds like there have been some updates then. I read somewhere too that Eucon is working much better in Cubase now so may need to weigh all controller options again. Getting choice paralysis as I find myself circling back to other considerations. What attracts me with the Console 1 is ability to turn bunch of knobs on plugins. From what i've read a lot of the plugins are mapped already pretty well within Cubase and even the UAD plugins which i have a load of.
Dom Sigalas has a good youtube vid of the softube fader workin in Cubase
 
Eucon has always worked great with Cubase. The only recent change was addition of track hiding according to the Cubase console. That's nice, but you could already hide tracks by type. Plugin control generally works better with Eucon than Softube.
 
I'll admit the Avid S1 is sexy and other than Eucon advantages what would you say I'd gain with Avid SI say vs Softube console Fader which is $500 less? I'm almost hoping someone can convince me to go the avid route ha
 
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