DAW Controllers - Alphatrack or PreSonus Faderport

setyouranchor

setyouranchor

Celestial Recordings
May 17, 2010
1,492
0
36
North Wales, UK
http://www.dv247.com/computer-hardware/presonus-faderport-usb-midi-daw-control-surface--34296

http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/frontier-alphatrack-compact-daw-controller--40201

I'm lookin at these two controllers. One his £20-£30 more but has the swipe bar at the bottom, looks a lot more versatile but both have had really good reviews. Only con with the Alphatrack is it takes a while to get use to.

Anybody have any experience with either model? Or anyone recommend another DAW controller?
 
I'm reading up on both right now, Alphatrack is winning at the moment!

However, DigitalMetal (Or if anyone else knows), does the Alphatrack intergrate itself and control 3rd party plug ins such as Pod Farm etc and when it has the EQ option, can it control plug in EQs such as ReaEQ, Waves, etc

Also, just read the Alphatrack does not need the additional 9v powersupply for the mechanical fader arm :)
 
The_Shred said:
Ive got an Faderport.
It has no screen so its simple and does the job nicely :)
Click to expand...

so you have no idea what parameter you are about to adjust until you touch the 1 knob or fader and see what its currently assigned to ;)

With a screen you know what you are going to adjust before you touch anything,
Pus with the screen its much quicker to cycle parameters and follow where you are.
Plus there are 3 touch sensitive knobs and a ribbon strip

I use it with Protools (Runs HUI Emulation) and Cubase in Windows XP and 7/64bit

Never had a problem, sold my Digidesign Command 8 and got this as a cheaper replacement - its all good
 
setyouranchor said:
I'm reading up on both right now, Alphatrack is winning at the moment!

However, DigitalMetal (Or if anyone else knows), does the Alphatrack intergrate itself and control 3rd party plug ins such as Pod Farm etc and when it has the EQ option, can it control plug in EQs such as ReaEQ, Waves, etc

Also, just read the Alphatrack does not need the additional 9v powersupply for the mechanical fader arm :)
Click to expand...

Yes it controls any parameter of any plugin that is midi controllable, ive not found anything yet that it wont control as it uses HUI page tables.

No PSU needed at all either its USB powered
 
AboutBlank said:
Look at your screen;)

It's a simple tool and it does what it's constructed for...
Click to expand...

so you are no longer looking at the control surface,
and you will look up and down, up and down during a session that would really piss me off, and would feel better just using the mouse.
Number one thing about a control surface for me is that im looking at the surface like a real mixer and not at the screen to find out which parameter im currently assigned to,
While mixing i also like to turn my computer screens off and use my ears - cant do that with a fader port.
 
Gotcha, but imo you can't "really mix" with such little tools like the mentioned.
If you wanna really mix and grab potis you should go the Euphonix(and other mixers in this range) way.

For fader rides and automation the Faderport is golden(haven't tested the Alphatrack, but that should do the job in an equal league).

Imo for "real poti" mixing you'll need at least 8 channels, under that I'll would stick with PC mixing and do the automations with little tools for the feeling...
 
AboutBlank said:
Gotcha, but imo you can't "really mix" with such little tools like the mentioned.
If you wanna really mix and grab potis you should go the Euphonix(and other mixers in this range) way.

For fader rides and automation the Faderport is golden(haven't tested the Alphatrack, but that should do the job in an equal league).

Imo for "real poti" mixing you'll need at least 8 channels, under that I'll would stick with PC mixing and do the automations with little tools for the feeling...
Click to expand...

Sure nothing beats a bigger surface but i can, and do mix with the alphatrack, its so easy to navigate around and you can see every parameter so its no trouble at all,
Yeah id have a Digidesgn C24 if money was no object but we are talking about the two units specifically (way cheaper than Euphonix) and the pros and cons between them,
You cant mix in the way i do with a fader port.
 
I don't wanna bash your equipment:headbang:

I'm pretty shure I couldn't mix with the Alphatrack nor the Faderport, I've just bought the Port for Rides and automation in general. But thats MY workflow...

I don't know where the openers balance point is?!
Mixing or automation?

My only point is that the Faderport is cool for automations, certainly the Alphtrack too, but 30 bucks are 30 bucks, you know?!;)

No affront, Digitalmetal:)
 
setyouranchor said:
Does the alphatrack come with a feature letting you zoom in and out? Also, can you change between windows like mixer, automation, etc?
Click to expand...

It has preset buttons to flip between Pan, Send, Eq (whatever you default EQ is in protools you can choose a plugin, from memoryi think cubase might use the in built one) and automation,

Download the manual and have a read and see if it does what you want it to do.

AboutBlank said:
My only point is that the Faderport is cool for automations, certainly the Alphtrack too, but 30 bucks are 30 bucks, you know?!;)

No affront, Digitalmetal:)
Click to expand...

No worries im just stating what can and cant be done, IMO the Alphatrack does more that $30 worth of extras
 
DigitalMetal said:
so you have no idea what parameter you are about to adjust until you touch the 1 knob or fader and see what its currently assigned to ;)
Click to expand...

I don't use it for that, I use it for start/stop/rec/undo/loop/mute/solo/window views on the fly etc ;)

Any parameter tweaking is done via the trust old mouse.
 
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