Presonus Faderport V2

I have purchased this one to use with Cubase 10, the product arrived in great shape and I received great service from thomaomann.de along the process.

When I tried to install the faderport , it made my DAW to freeze and crash, no matter what I did.

Today I know that the solution was very simple : this device has different modes for different DAWs and the mode it came with is: studio one. It should be change to Cubase mode.

back then I didn't know this fact and so I turned to presonus and asked for help. Pls pay attention they do not take calls, so I had to open a ticket.
Presonus, instead of letting me know this very tiny thing about the "Cubase mode" and how to set it, which was the only problem, decided they didn't want to support me because my system is out of support by HP. I had to bring In 2 extra computers and invested lots of time with installing my DAW and the controller on it, and they still didn't help!
Although I asked if this mode thing could be the problem! The second computer I brought they didn't want to support because it's out of date and they told me I have to update it.... and the last laptop I brought hey finally agreed to support after 10 days, but I already solved the issue by myself.

Overall, very bad experience with presonus. Their support manager emailed me afterwards and said he is sorry for the trouble, but I really do not understand why to make a client go through hell trying to get support. It should not be interesting what computers I use. Just give me the simple solution and that's all...

After I solved the issue, the device is great and works very good with Cubase 10 and I enjoy it a lot, but the service of presonus left a very bad taste.

A handy addition for your DAW.

I use it with Logic Pro X on MacOs Catalina. It's very responsive. Once you turn it on the slider synchronizes very quickly to reflect the selected channel strip in Logic and vice versa.

Although I know quite a few keyboard shortcuts for Logic, I often find myself reaching for the Faderport because it is easier to have a dedicated button for a function. (like solo/mute/automation modes...)

The things you don't like about it (for ex. the play/pause/stop behaviour) can be changed using "learn new keyboard assignment" in Logic.

It does need drivers. I installed it under MacOs Mojave, and it survived the upgrade to Catalina flawlessly. I see the manufacturer already made a driver for Big Sur available as well, so I feel quite confident I will be able to use it for a long time... (fingers crossed)

Thomann delivered this product very quickly as usual, no problems here.
I’m using it with pro tools in HUI mode, it works well even though the PT limitations in terms of plugin automation with control surface is a big let down. But it’s not this controller fault, it’s avid locking their system on purpose. All basic features of the faderport works well, that a great experience.

I’m using also it with studio one, integration is seamless, perfect combo. It couldn’t be better !

I’m using it on reaper too, now reaper supports it in native mode which is cool, but a lot of buttons just do nothing, I hope the reaper devs could add the other features on this interface, especially for controlling the plugins.

I didn’t try Logic but the overall feedback seem great.

I recommend it, because it’s much faster and precise to work on mixing the motorized fader and it looks sturdy.

I have nothing bad to add on this product, sturdy and besides from the quirk that before first use you need to read the manual to figure out why it's blinking - the documentation says it's preconfigured to run in Studio One mode, but that actually is not the case - you need to select that when it's started the first time. A little confusion and studying the details in the manual solved it really quickly, but I had expected Studio One to be default and run out of the box!

Besides from this tiny detail, it's a really nice controller. I consider getting the Faderport-8 though, to get more of the faders and knobs.

Saying that this is officially compatible with Nuendo/Cubase is a lie.

Fail nr.1:

It doesn't automatically sync with the selected track. This thing works in banks of 8 tracks, switching banks is done manually by pressing the "previous" and "next" buttons, or by rotating the knob, but here's the catch, it doesn't switch groups of 8 tracks, it switches singular tracks... and you can't hold the button so it goes faster... Good luck getting to track 200 of your project.

Funny detail: you can arm or activate writing on any track you click inside or outside of the banked tracks group.

Fail nr.2:

You can't use it for Plugin Parameters, yes, you can't use it for Plugin Parameters. You can use it to change the volume or the panning of one o the banked tracks.

Maybe this thing works great with Studio One, and the build quality is great, but someone needs to get sued over this.

Just got this thing today and already set it up for my workflow. There is one big problem though that I want to address before I say all the good things: this thing literally rocks. Do you see how the way it tapers down to the bottom part? It also tapers the same way from the bottom up so when I place the ball of my wrist on that seemingly "wrist wrest" area, the whole thing lifts up like how the Titanic would. Acts like some kind of see-saw. This issue is easily solved by NOT putting your wrist on top of the device. Also, by not putting your wrist on top of the device, your fingers now rest perfectly on to the transport controls: thumb on play/pause, index and middle finger on the other buttons.

Also, the shift key would be better placed on the left side rather than on the right side but maybe that's just on me because I use the device on my left side so I have my right hand free to use my mouse. Because of that, my finger does finger yoga all the time.

Anyway, those are the only things negative things that I could say on this device. It's built like a tank, fader feels really nice and smooth, encoder is metal, clicky and tactile. It does a thunk when you press it down which is not satisfying but better than nothing. Buttons all feel very nice too and well illuminated.

I also use Studio One so this thing is not a pain to set up at all. I just attached it to my computer and it's good to go. All the controls working instantly.