Behringer X-Touch

My use case for the X-Touch is as a DAW controller for Cubase in a home studio. I use it for transport control, setting markers, volume and panning, and other DAW control (e.g. arming tracks, metronome toggle (custom shortcut), monitor toggle (custom shortcut))

I don't use the faders and knobs for plugin control etc., I use my master keyboard for those since that allows me to change the CC numbers more easily.

The positive:
- Since I started using this in Cubase, I can't work well without it anymore. It speeds up my mixing workflow so much compared to just using mouse+keyboard. It's also much easier to control the recording process with the X-Touch when I'm playing guitar or keyboard. Need to record DI + wet signal to separate tracks? Just press both 'rec/arm' buttons on the X-Touch at the same time.
- Build quality feels very solid, faders feel sturdy.
- Reliable, no issues in operation yet after 4 months of intensive use.
- The touch sensitive faders are useful for automatically selecting channels, no need to press a button first. However, that option does exist as well, if you want to select a channel without touching the fader and risking a volume change. It's great to have both options!
- Great integration with Cubase, the customizable shortcuts open up a world of possibility.
- Has 2 pass-through USB ports, which I use to connect some other music-related gear, allowing me to turn all of it on/off with a single switch - the X-Touch power button.
- Uses a standard power cord which is therefore easily replaceable.
- Motorized faders just look awesome in general.
- Much cheaper than an actual Mackie yet I don't really see a reason why that would be better. In fact, I prefer the X-Touch' separate track displays to the Mackie's combined track display. The X-Touch also shows the volume per channel during playback with a typical volume 'bar', which looks great in the total channel overview, while the Mackie just shows it using a single LED.

The negative (X-Touch specific):
- The track displays are not readable under an angle, but I solved that by tilting the whole X-Touch, which somehow feels more natural to control that way for me as well.
- Toggling between parameter names and parameter values in the track displays is a non-sticky option. I prefer to see the values, but the default is to show the parameter name. Every time I switch fader banks (or restart the device), I have to re-set that option if I want to see values instead.

The negative (Mackie-protocol limitations):
- The track display hardware supports different colors for the backlights, which would be an awesome feature to even more quickly correlate the channels to the ones in my DAW. However, this does not work with a DAW due to limitations in the Mackie protocol. This is NOT actually a limitation in the X-Touch itself; the much more expensive Mackie controllers have the same limitation. It only works over ethernet when connected to a Behringer X32 (have not been in a position to try that, so I cannot verify it)
- Buttons can have different functions in different DAWs and applications, so you may have to find and print a template to put on it for easier use. The standard names don't map well to Cubase, which I'm using.
- Faders sometimes do not appear to go very smoothly. This is not a hardware issue, but it is because some DAWs send Mackie updates with a relatively low frequency (so instead of a 'diagonal line' when increasing volume, the controller receives a 'staircase' from the DAW). Luckily there is a free tool floating around online that can intercept and interpolate these updates, which improves smoothness.

Useful note:
- The protocol is MIDI-based, which makes it universally compatible with many things. However, if you only plan to use the faders and knobs for volume/panning, like me, you may want to disable this device in your DAW's regular MIDI inputs to prevent unintentional changes to your virtual instruments when pushing buttons and moving faders/knobs :)

Impressive hardware considering the price asked.

I actually wanted the Mackie Control Universal Pro, but because it costs almost three times as much as the X-Touch I had to resign myself to the fact that I'm in the wrong income bracket presently.

It has a very sturdy build, built like a tank. Picking it up the first time and feeling its weight immediately communicated good quality. Good response in the buttons, soft ones and hard ones. Jog wheel is pleasant to operate. The motorized faders are very smooth and I can't hear any anomalies when they track my automation. I wipe the surfaces down at least once a day to keep things nice and tight.

I use it with Presonus Studio One 5 and setup was a breeze.

Full transparency, I don't use nearly all the functionality. I bought it because I want to adjust levels and pans and fast forward to any position in a tactile way, but you can do so much more than that. It's just that I'm way faster with my keyboard for most things. For example, I could adjust FX parameters, but reading the tiny channel displays and menu diving is far too complicated and whimsical.

If you want to create custom setups it is apparently possible to write scripts, but I couldn't be bothered. You can find videos on this topic on YouTube if that's your bag.

On a purely superficial note, it looks really cool on my desk and I take idiotic pleasure in watching the faders move in accordance with my music. No regrets after many months of use.

Bought this unit for controlling my X32Rack and ocasionally using it with DAW. It's possibility of controlling X32 is quite good - I didn't expect that it's even possible to configure FXes! You can't select them though… you can change already selected FXes.

There are multiple controlling modes in this (MCU, MIDI or Xctl - which is protocol strictly created for X32 remote control) and many DAWs and X32 uses buttons differently. At first I thought about buying or - at least - printing overlays for it. But after spending 30 minutes with unit I get used to "what is where" on buttons and I feel like I don't need overlay anymore. Everything is intiutive - altough scribble strips are strange cause looking at them at high angle makes them look like displaying colors inverted.

The only sad thing about X32 control is missing "GEQ on Faders" :(

Since I'm IT guy with some programming skills I was playing with MIDI/SysEx messages too, and all I can tell - you can do more with this unit than you think. If you do web search enough, you'll find how to change labels on scribble strips and colors manually from your computer and maybe write some custom implementation for it! Quite handy and nice. Just remember to use MIDI mode for that!

This has been very useful - I prefer to have hands on rather than trying to fiddle with a mouse pointer to change volume, pan, etc.

Transport controls are very useful and are probably the most used.

I have mounted my console at an approximate angle of 30-40 degrees which allows the viewing of the scribble strips with greater ease; the displays are not the best and only show a few characters, so you have to get creative naming your tracks.

Had issues with USB vs MIDI to control the unit - have needed up using old fashioned DIN MIDI cables to talk to the DAW. USB didn't seem to work.
Used the USB hub facility and that seemed to work ok.

Overall, I am glad I bought it and added it to my studio and I will continue to try to use the features that are as yet undiscovered.

Bought to control X Air Series mixers wirelessly.
A little tricky to set up. Required a firmware update and some IP addressing to get it to talk to the X Air. I used an old TP Link router in Client mode to make the X Touch "wireless".
Once I got it set up properly, it was cable free heaven....
Now the X Air is on stage with the band cabled into it. I am at the rear of the venue mixing FOH wirelessly. I have had no issues with drop out so far with a range of 50m. No more derigging multicore.
It's not a £100K+ Studer or Calrec in terms of motor quality, but very happy so far....