Choosing a DAW controller for Cubase - any suggestions

[uselessoldman]

AS an inexpensive control surface the x-touch is hard to beat and its expandable including the x-air series of snakes/rack mountable interfaces so a no brainer and I think unrivalled by anything anyone else can offer. Its just a shame they do not do one with more faders as standard that would be an absolute killer, like the x32 full for studios

[The Elf]

I don't know. Once you're having to scroll back and forth to make a lesser number of faders meet a greater number of tracks, then whether a control surface has 8/16/32 faders doesn't really matter so much, at least that's how my mind takes it. For any typical mix even 32 isn't going to allow me to avoid scrolling. How long does anyone spend working on the fader levels of a mix as opposed to all the other minutiae?

And given that, no matter how much anyone squirms, the mouse and keyboard are going to be far quicker to do the majority of detailed work in any sophisticated DAW, it's probably better kept to a smaller size than a typical mixer.

For those who need them, extenders are an option, but I dread to think of having to find space for one here, and I bet I'm not alone.

[Drew Stephenson]

I find 8 is a good compromise between space and use. It's generally enough to pull together any submixes*, and I generally run things into 8 busses for the master so that works for me as well.

*drums might run but over actually I find if I'm using that many channels I've probably ballsed things up earlier in the recording process.

[OneWorld]

I don't know. Once you're having to scroll back and forth to make a lesser number of faders meet a greater number of tracks, then whether a control surface has 8/16/32 faders doesn't really matter so much, at least that's how my mind takes it. For any typical mix even 32 isn't going to allow me to avoid scrolling. How long does anyone spend working on the fader levels of a mix as opposed to all the other minutiae?

And given that, no matter how much anyone squirms, the mouse and keyboard are going to be far quicker to do the majority of detailed work in any sophisticated DAW, it's probably better kept to a smaller size than a typical mixer.

For those who need them, extenders are an option, but I dread to think of having to find space for one here, and I bet I'm not alone.

I have the same thoughts about extenders and have stuck with an 8 + master fader control surface setup but I added a notation launchpad which has an 8*8 matrix of pads from which I can access any of 64 tracks at random. A which a single fader ‘follows’ the Launchpad track selected. The Launchpad also has another number of ‘buttons’ which I have configured to activate commonly used commands and macros. Best thing about it is that it takes up little space, is usb powered and the pads light up to give instant feedback. Would be so good if notation made an equally compact gizmo something like the BCR2000

[Scouser]

I've never got on with mice and computer keyboards very well, they just seem to dump me out of creative mode. I may become less happy when proper mix time arrives, but I guess I have some time to figure that out still.

I really like the buttons as well, I hated the harsh click on the Alphatrack, maybe silly but it did put me off using

Another ex Alphatrack user here, also thinking of going the x touch route, for similar reasons. Probably go for the one channel version.

Would be really interested to know what the Cubase integration is like with these units, as I have heard mixed reports. Better than Alphatrack ? Is it straightforward to control plug-ins?

The CC121, seems like a better option, for one channel, but very expensive in comparison.

[OneWorld]

I've never got on with mice and computer keyboards very well, they just seem to dump me out of creative mode. I may become less happy when proper mix time arrives, but I guess I have some time to figure that out still.

I really like the buttons as well, I hated the harsh click on the Alphatrack, maybe silly but it did put me off using

Another ex Alphatrack user here, also thinking of going the x touch route, for similar reasons. Probably go for the one channel version.

Would be really interested to know what the Cubase integration is like with these units, as I have heard mixed reports. Better than Alphatrack ? Is it straightforward to control plug-ins?

The CC121, seems like a better option, for one channel, but very expensive in comparison.

As far as I know, the advantage the cc121 has over other single fader controllers is that the fader follows channel selection. I have had a couple of single channel faders and they us3d the mcu protocol. But when for example I was at channel 1 and went to channel 10, then I had to bank select then channel select. I got a real bargain of a single fader icon but didn’t use mcu protocol and configured it so the fader followed channel, however it doesn’t remember fader position and I can’t figure out how to make it remember fader position.

[The Elf]

I've never used the X-Touch One, but the X-Touch proper integrates perfectly well with Cubase. All of the buttons do what they're supposed to do (you'll need to label them, though).

I wouldn't (and don't) muck around trying to control plug-ins with it, though. It's far quicker and easier to use the mouse and keyboard - and I doubt this would improve with any other controller.