Presonus Faderport
Contents
1. No cursor wheel Physically the Faderport is about the size of a small paperback book and its needs their controller to be housing comprises a folded metal facia over a plastic sub chassis It has a jack portable Simple though it is on the rear for connecting a footswitch which is useful for hands free the Faderport makes operating punching in if your DAW allows it The top surface has a single long throw a DAW far more pleasurable than working by mouse and motorised fader a rotary encoder for pan adjustment and 24 illuminated keyboard alone buttons five of which are transport keys The unit connects via USB from Photos Mark Ewing which it can also draw its power although you ll need to connect the included information PSU to use the fader in motorised mode 159 including VAT Source Distribution 44 The Faderport is compatible with all the commonly available DAWs for Mac OS X and Windows XP It should be a ir oa noted though that functionality is limited in some cases depending on how the sequencer s own external control Ld 0 system works Faderport supports Cubase Nuendo Digital Performer and Sonar 6 directly wnereas Logic Pro p ae saan Tools and other HUl compatible DAWs work via the existing HUI protocol J www presonus com tested the Faderport using Logic Pro which is currently probably the least well supported of all the common DAWs though the imminent at the time of writing Logic driv2. switching to a different USB hub Not to be deterred then tried to install the Faderport on my new ish Rock laptop On this system the installation went without a hitch and within five minutes had the Faderport working perfectly with Cubase 4 While didn t carry out any extensive tests all the key functions worked as advertised As with any control surface it does take some time to adjust your working habits in particular taming the urge to reach for the mouse but could easily see how the Faderport would speed up all sorts of basic mixing processes In particular thought that the hardware transport controls and the ability to generate basic automation data for the Cubase mixer would be very useful From a practical perspective the need for the external power supply to drive the fader in its motorised mode is a bit of a shame power via the USB bus would be a much more elegant solution and can only assume that there are technical constraints preventing this Of course having multiple faders for controlling several tracks at the same time would be preferable and there are alternative and generally more expensive hardware controllers available that can do just that However if both space and budget are limited the Faderport is a neat and workmanlike solution That said for PC users a try before you buy approach is probably recommended until Presonus solve the USB issue described above John Walden Atop In Use The transpor
3. to grips with eight or nine faders and associated controls as a window on a much larger virtual console than a single control strip Keeping track of what is going on becomes a feat of mental prestidigitation worthy of Mr Memory There have been single strip controllers before but Presonus new toy the FaderPort UK 109 78 VAT distills the essentials without trying to be too clever at a highly attractive price For starters ata mere 180mm deep by 130mm wide and 40mm high it doesn t hog valuable work surface space T he gently raked top and back is a single sheet of metal imparting a sense of solidity to the whole The fader is a touch sensitive motorised ALPS 100mm throw item with 10 bit resolution that translates into 1024 steps enough to avold zipper noise This fader is the real McCoy with the same dual servo belt driven mechanism that you will fnd on many expensive consoles The pan hina LAAI Th i nid i f i i Fader Power AL 30 rotary with the same blue knurled knob found on other Presonus devices and none the worse for that The buttons are less satisfactory at least on first acquaintance They need a firm press and have a short eee n travel which is T ez L fine for selection i but initially off putting as Same Window View See transport controls Sh me In operation this impression quickly dissipates to be replaced by gratitude for their positive a
4. Presonus Faderport http www soundonsound com sos junO7 articles presonusfad S OUND ON S OUND Mazddslealeidoscope The World s Best Music Recording Magazine Presonus Faderport June 2007 In this article Presonus Faderport Pr t A Fader USB Control Surface Mac PC Faderport On The PC InU Published in SOS June 2007 n Use Reviews MIDI Controller ti Print article Close window impressions Presonus Faderport 159 Hands on control of your DAW can speed up your workflow considerably but pros i 2 C what if you don t want or need a console sized controller Enter the Compact and affordable Handles all the main transport Presonus Faderport and automation functions HUI compatibility Paul White cons Not all functions work as they There s no denying that hardware control surfaces make life a lot easier when should in all DAW applications it comes to controlling key operational functions of recording software but not haugh the faringoming everyone has the space or budget for a large multi channel controller The updates should remedy this f f j y Presonus Faderport is a new compact device that provides convenient access to what you re likely to use most rather than trying to control every possible summary function Currently there are relatively few small devices of this type Mtop Pr t Fader on the market but it seems like a great idea for anyone who has limited space or
5. ction Around the back there are just three connections a four pin USB socket al low voltage power inlet for the motorised fader and a 1 4 inch footswitch jack for hands free punch ins The unit itself is powered via the USB connection with fader power supplied by a wall wart With the fader A on the left the top row has the pan knob Mute Solo and Rec enable keys Next down comes the Channel Select row with left and right shift by one channel arrow keys and an Output key If the channel shift keys are used in conjunction with the Bank key the focus is shifted in 8 channel increments In the Fader Mode row Read Write Touch and motor Off keys control automation Dedicated keys toggle Mixer Project Panel and Transport Control Panel panes on and off Last key in this row is Undo which is also Redo when used with the Shift key in the Transport row which also has Punch User and Loop keys with Shifted functions of Previous Next and Mark respectively The transport keys themselves are where they belong at the bottom with Rewind Fast Forward Stop Play and Record Stop and Rewind together give Return To Zero and Shift Rewind Fast Forward eive Start and End In HUI Control mode for use with Pro Tools Logic and the like the Output and User buttons don t do anything Installation can be as simple as p ugging the FaderPort in For applications that only support HUI that s it the necessary drivers are install
6. e are separate K automation mode buttons all illuminated when active for Read Write Touch and Fader Motor Off modes Read and Write work as you would expect them to and the last button is especially useful for mix playback as it avoids the distraction of the fader noise Tracks are selected using the track up and down arrow keys or by using the Bank key you can jump in banks of eight tracks Mute and Solo also work correctly these apply to the track mixer not the Arrange page while the Rec button arms a track for recording as expected An Undo or Redo if you use Shift button steps through your various levels of undo or redo If the designers are open to suggestions for future firmware updates I d like to see the Pan control double as a cursor position wheel in conjunction with the shift key as it offers more precise control than the fast wind buttons Atop Impressions My test with Logic Pro on a G5 machine ran fine with no problems other than the marker behaviour noted earlier However when did the same test with a Macbook Pro couldn t get the pan control to respond Hopefully the forthcoming Logic driver will avoid this kind of inconsistency but suspect the problem was in Logic Pro s Intel version HUI support and nothing to do with the Faderport hardware Despite some of the functions not currently being supported in Logic controllers such as this also see page 190 of this issue for some alternatives really improv
7. e the experience of operating a software DAW and having only one fader can actually be an advantage as you re not continually looking around to see what fader controls which track since the currently selected track bus or output is always live On my own Mackie Control system the transport section is by far the most used part of the surface along with the automation mode and loop punch buttons so think Presonus have picked the correct functions to place at your fingertips without making operation in any way complicated would have preferred a wheel to control the cursor but other than that the Faderport is a very neat solution for the home studio or on the road Published in SOS June 2007 SHARE geo Sound On Sound Ltd is registered in England and Wales Company number 3015516 VAT number GB 638 5307 26 Registered office Media House Trafalgar Way Bar Hill Cambridge CB23 8SQ United Kingdom Email Contact SOS Telephone 44 0 1954 789888 Fax 44 0 1954 789895 All contents copyright SOS Publications Group and or its licensors 1985 2009 All rights reserved The contents of this article are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part whether mechanical or electronic is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publishers Great care has been taken to ensure accuracy in the preparation of this article but neither Sound On Sound Limited nor the publishers can be he
8. ed resolution controller is a shatt encoder automatically If there is a dedicated driver then this needs to be copied and installed used Nuendo and here it s a simple matter of dropping a DLL file into a folder Application set up obviously differs according to the software of your choice but in Nuendo at least it only took a few seconds If you wish to customise the mtn assignments there is a dedicated window For Nuendo the driver comes ready programmed Shift Mix toggles the top part of the Mixer on and off and Shift Transport switches the metronome on and off Personally would resist the temptation to map too many other controls to key combinations in the interests of keeping it simple Protocals are hardware controllers Achilles heel Although Mackie s venerable HUI protocol is something of a dingua_ france it isn t particularly comprehensive and many current applications do not support it The Rolls Royce solution is a purpose written controller driver for each specific application This takes time and therefore money to implement and thus frequently produces a chicken and egg situation where neither the hardware manufacturer nor the software author wants to write drivers unless they think it will result in more sales For the moment the FaderPort has purpose written drivers for Steinberg s Nuendo and Cubase albeit only on the PC Cakewalk s Sonar 6 and Mark of the Unicorn s Digital Performer Other app
9. er should improve this No driver software is currently Photos too small Click on needed as Faderport uses the HUI protocol to control Logic So all you have to do is go to Control Surfaces Setup photos screenshots and select HUI and then set the MIDI input and output ports to Faderport diagrams in articles to open a Larger View gallery Atop Faderport On The PC In order to get a PC perspective on the Faderport Paul passed on the review unit to me after testing on his Mac system Installation of the hardware under XP is a plug and play operation and no specific drivers are required the Faderport appears as a generic USB Audio Device However the supplied software CD did include a DLL file for using the Faderport with Cubase with which I intended to do my testing and the installation of this is described very clearly in the printed manual All went well enough with my desktop test system until I tried to specify the MIDI In Out ports for the Faderport within the Cubase Device Setup window the USB Audio Device drivers indicated in the documentation were simply not present to select After a certain amount of head scratching re plugging and connecting via both the motherboard USB ports and two different USB hubs a quick visit to the Presonus web site forums suggested that some other users have reported a similar problem and Presonus are working to provide a solution Some users have however also managed a successful work around by
10. ld responsible for its contents The views expressed are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the publishers Web site designed amp maintained by PB Associates SOS Relative Media 2 of 2 17 07 09 13 37 Presonus FaderPort Sick of mixing with a rodent ROB JAMES tries to alleviate his RSI with Presonus s affordable mini controller fe have fa become familiar with performing everyday mixing tasks using a computer mouse often in combination with keyboard shortcuts However just as it is E possible to bang in a screw with a hammer 3 or open a paint tin EES iii with a screwdriver p Or a hammer Ed 3 it works a whole lot better with a purpose made tool and so it is in the audio and video world with faders knobs and buttons Now I m a self confessed control freak and I ve always found the mouse to be a poor paw substitute for the real thing However conventional hardware control surfaces are not necessarily the answer Sometimes less is more and this principle is equally applicable to controllers Certainly a knob per function control surface is highly desirable in some circumstances but with today s operating practices and workflows it can be total overkill and that s without considering the cost Middleweight hardware control surfaces are frequently more trouble than they are worth because of the inherent compromises It is a lot harder to get
11. lications including Digidesign s Pro Tools are supported via the HUI protocol In operation found the FaderPort completely intuitive and a very valuable addition to the mouse and keyboard but then for all except the most forensic of level changes a fader will always be my weapon of choice If you have any fader jockey skills whatsoever writing automation this way is a lot better than mousing around with an on screen fader and infinitely preferable to dragging points on a rubber band At this price as long a as the audio or video application you use can be persuaded to support it properly the FaderPort is a winner E PROS Elegant simplicity price brings about a real productivity boost Limited native driver support for the present button action takes a while to The Presonus FireStudio FireWire and MIDI interface also has an optional monitor controller the MSR or Monitor Station Remote and these two can be combined with the FaderPort to create a complete system of I O and control Contact PRESONUS US Website www presonus com UK Source Distribution 44 20 8962 5080 March 2008
12. t controls handle the usual play record and fast wind functions and pressing the fast wind also gives 1 of 2 17 07 09 13 37 Presonus Faderport http www soundonsound com sos jun0O7 articles presonusfad you variable rate cursor scrolling where each subsequent press increases the scroll rate don t find this as friendly as a rotary jog scrub wheel but it works well enough for getting around Above the main transport buttons is a shift key momentary action to latch or press and hold to use as a non latching shift and buttons labelled Loop Punch and User Using the shift key these buttons also allow the user to create markers and to step back and forth through any markers placed in the track though this seemed not to work correctly in Logic found couldn t create markers and when trying to locate one instead of going straight there it simply opened the dialogue box that lets you type in which marker to jump to However it is no hardship to navigate markers using keyboard shortcuts The single fader controls the currently selected track s level and on DAWs that support it may also be used to control the master output level As f touched upon earlier this fader can be used manually with no additional a aa power or it can operate in motorised mode when the included mains tater Power ABN adaptor PSU is connected A touch sensitive fader cap facilitates the 6 j e recording of mix automation in touch mode and ther
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