PreSonus FaderPort Production Controller Reviews

In my studio, I have a console area, which is also for guitar, and bass, as well as keyboard parts, and a drum station. Well, a drum station is not complete for the solo artist working alone without a monitor, keyboard, pointing device, and this puppy. If you ain't got it there, you're up a certain creek without a drumstick...

Presonus continues to amaze me w the equipment they put out. The faderport is very cool, saves me lots of time recording instead of using the mouse! Sweetwater as usual was on the ball, ordered Tuesday afternoon, package was delivered less than 20 hrs later!

Thanks for the awesome service!!

Dave Stanley
Youngwood, Pa

Purchased Studio One 6 Artist as a DAW, then another brand of controller which I could never get to work with anything. So I took the plunge to try something proprietary, and it worked right out of the box. The Faderport works flawlessly, instantly. The power switch is a nice touch also. Reasonably priced, good build quality. Small footprint. I can only speak to the Presonus end of it. SO EZ.

This box has become indispensable in my day to day studio workflow, it's like my right hand, always there. I am a long time Apple Logic DAW user and have had a number of hardware controllers, most took up space and returned little compared to my speed with a mouse or trackball.

I got my FaderPort as part of a package and was not expecting much, I've been shocked and impressed by how much this box has improved my productivity. Some of my favorite features are:

Easy to use loop button
Hands-on transport controls
Motorized fader that follows which channel is selected, ultra handy when working on midi scores
Large lighted buttons for most used features
Intuitive to use with special version tailored for Logic, matches many built-in control features

This tool has become one of those rare items I'd order a replacement immediately if anything happened to the one I'm using. It gives me tactile control over basic hardware features, like back in the 70's and 80's when we were using multitrack tape decks. I like todays DAW's much better.

Good Music To You!

This is the best recording-mixing-pre/post mastering tool!!! ...I liked Faderport so much I bought another one so I could mix from my EZ chair!!!

FaderPort was something I got as an "included bonus" with an audio interface purchase. I love the Quantum audio interface and the FaderPort came from nowhere and changed the way I command my DAW, I'm beginning my third year with it and have nothing bad to report. I record and mix in Logic, I set the FaderPort to match Logic commands and it works flawlessly. FaderPort lets you put your hand on the transport inside the DAW, for an old-school OTB recordist like me the FaderPort feels like hardware. I've learned to love FaderPort.

LIKES - Physical transport buttons, the Rotary Encoder (almost always set to scroll the time line), the motorized Fader (always shows/adjusts level of selected track)

DISLIKES - Could be a little smaller physically, Transport buttons could be more heavy duty feeling

Minor gripes aside this is one piece of gear I'd replace in an instant if it was lost or stolen.

Good Music To You

I just bought a PreSonus Faderport 2 from Sweetwater and I am really delighted. I had a couple of issues installing it and my Sales Engineer immediately directed me to a specialist, who solved my problem in nothing flat. Thank You Sweetwater and Nitish Kulkarni, my Sales Engineer.

My hand was cramping up from all the mouse work.
I got this it's a game changer use with pro tools daily

I waited a long time to get a production controller and agonized about functionality and number of faders. The truth is even with drum groupings we're typically not riding more than 1 fader at a time, and you have VCAs among other things to help with this. The faderport + studio one is unbeatable. Being able to link to ANYTHING in the daw, UAD plugin variables for instance, is a game changer. You just push the link button click on the virtual knob and it picks it up and now you have a physical interface with the jog wheel. Being able to dial in the threshold on my SSL bus compressor for instance with just my ears is extremely helpful. Plus there are 20 other things that rock about this controller, Highly recommmended. Paging through tracks making quick moves and adjusting third part plugins with this thing speeds up your work flow dramatically.

This Faderport definitely beats using the mouse. My work flow is a lot faster now. Great product and I have an awesome sales engineer (Chris) that gets me my gear fast.

I use Studio One on a laptop. I have been stretching from my keyboard to get to the mouse to start recording and stopping the transport. I love the fact that I can set the FaderPort up at my keyboard and control many aspects of the program from there. I really love it!

Thanks goes to Kevin Scott for his help. He's been my sales engineer since 2007 and he hasn't steered me wrong one time.

I've had an original Faderport for years and really like it. The Faderport V2 is a huge upgrade in every way imaginable! Make sure to follow the setup guide exactly and it should be plug and play after that.

I also appreciated the fast shipping! Thanks!

Use to have the Mackie MCU Pro but it was over kill for me. I work on one track and a time and prefer to mix on in the S1 software. This just fits my workflow better. It completely works on S1 so I love it.

I had recently purchased the MacBook Pro and started having unexplained problems after a period of time. Discovered that I didn"t have enough memory for what I was trying to accomplish. I upgraded to the iMac Pro and Studio One professional to remedy this. After all this I found that the Magic Mouse was causing unintended problems when I would reach for it and found that at times it was making changes to the project that were hard to detect, so I purchased the Faderport to Remedy that situation, and it has solved all of those problems. I recommend Faderport 2018 highly for those working with DAW"S.

If you're a Presonus Studio One user, this control surface will be a welcome addition to your studio setup and workflow. The integration with Studio One out of the box is amazing. All the controls you use on a constant basis are now right under your finger tips. Much more organic than using a mouse. Download the manual and review the functions. Well worth the money. And with Sweetwater's typical customer service and support, you can't go wrong!

Meets Expectations... obviously best suited for PreSonus Studio One (as Avid shows zero interest in supporting their customer base in moving away from HUI and allowing more robust SDKs for external companies to integrate with Pro Tools).

I replaced the original/legacy FaderPort... I wish this 2018 version had a smaller footprint - like the original controller, but it has more functionality.

Sadly, it is missing the "Bank" navigation (I could not find a reference in the manual, but it's possible I missed it). Aside from those 2 minor gripes, everything is definitely a step up from the older model.

I bought this mainly for the fader, I needed to add a hands-on fader control to my home DAW setup that I had been sorely missing. The transport controls were secondary to me as I am quick enough with my keyboard hotkeys, and didn't think it would speed things up much. I must admit I was wrong.

The transport controls honestly are my favorite part after using it for a while. While I will grab the fader when doing fine-tuning and mixing, I end up using my mouse for 80% of on-screen adjustments, whereas I have completely abandoned my transport hotkeys for the very convenient buttons on the Faderport.

Plus guests to my studio get acclimated much faster than when I had to explain: "Well you can just use the mouse, but if you want a button to press, asterisk is record, comma and period are..." (you get the point). This has honestly been a major hidden bonus for me. A few times now I have set the fader to their headphone mix and parked the unit next to them. I noticed this is quite popular with vocalists and see them fine tuning it throughout the session.

To shorten this review up I will end with my major Pros and Cons:

Pros:
+Easy Setup and essentially 0 minute mastery due to well labeled front panel
+Small enough to not dominate the desk it is on, but large enough that you don't have to hunt for buttons
+Lights behind buttons look great in person, better than I expected
+Fader tracks nicely for the price and Read/Write seems perfectly captured

Cons:
-Small one, but the fader moving makes an annoying sound, not silent but not loud compared to monitors or headphones
-I don't like that as a Cubase user I have to re-initialize the settings on power-up. I like to kill power sometimes so the lights aren't always on. Turning it back on, while only 2 buttons extra, is a bit annoying and I wish it remembered the last state it booted in.
-It doesn't seem to work with the master bus on Cubase. Sometimes you need to pull down the master to hear somebody or listen to that weird sound across the room, but don't want to hit stop. Still need my mouse to do that.

Overall I would say well worth it for the price.

It is integrated with Studio One and works great! Love being able to avoid the mouse for most things. I got the single channel version which for me is perfect. My only install issue was the finite number of USB ports I have - just plan ahead so you know you'll be able to add it into your rig.

This is well thought out product, feels well made and just works, the fader is very responsive, I needed to replace a much more expensive controller that went bad thinking to just give it a try, I am happy so far with the Faderport and I like the size format as I can possibly put it in my backpack when traveling. I give it 4.5 stars just because I would love to have some kind of led information screen that provides some info, perhaps the name of the channel is active etc, perhaps on version 3? I can recommend the fader port

Simple to use and easy to navigate

Great product, really makes your workflow smooth! I use ProTools so the Faderpkrt does need to be set to HUI MODE, but once that was done everything worked like a champ!

I purchased FaderPort 2 (also referred to as FaderPort 2018) for use inside my recording booth to control Studio One 3 when recording voice over tracks. Natively, FaderPort supports Studio One 4, but can easily be configured to support popular DAWs such as Cubebase, Pro Tools, etc. For my version of Studio One, I just needed to install their software extension for version 3.
I replaced the USB cable that comes in the box with a 15' cable, and extended that with a 15' USB repeater cable to reach my DAW workstation. It's important to use the repeater cable, because USB data transmission is typically limited to 16'.
The FaderPort is solidly built and provides all the functionality I need inside my booth to efficiently lay down voice over tracks. After recording, I complete my editing at while sitting at my workstation. So far, I'm lovin' this product and give it 4.5 stars. Maybe after using it for awhile, I'll give it 5 stars!

I recently added this to my mobile rig and it has really helped speed up my work flow by leaps and bounds. No longer do I need to rely solely on my mouse when on the road, in a hotel or while working away from my studio. The FaderPort 2 is another beautiful designed piece by that integrates perfectly with my other Presonus gear. I love how seamlessly it sets up with Studio One 4. Having switched over from Pro Tools (10+ year user) to SO3 last year, my creative work flow has increased and my downtime setting up has decreased. PreSonus continues to impress me with their products, and FaderPort is just another piece that I would highly recommend to users of all stages.

Great product, everything works as I expected and is very intuitive, you'll get the hang of it in no time. I use it with Logic Pro X.

The FaderPort works well for volume automation and transport control (in Pro Tools Native, in my case), but it's important to understand that neither the fader or encoder (or anything else on it) are assignable to control other parameters via MIDI Continuous Controller (CC) messages. That was something I discovered to some dismay after purchasing it, so I thought I'd make this limitation clear for others who may assume, as I did, that it will provide this functionality.

I just received this so my review could change as time passes. I had some spare Sweetwater bucks that were about to expire and I've had my eye on the Faderport since seeing it in Ade Fenton's studio tour on YouTube. The main feature I wanted was a motorized fader because I'm sick of using the faders on my controller keyboard that don't accurately show levels. So far this is great for that and writing volume & pan automation.

I was really excited about this controller and the Link functionality, assuming I could use this in Logic Pro X to control any parameters in software instruments, effects plug-ins, etc. The Link button only works in Studio One, so be aware of that before buying this. I'm bummed this capability isn't there, but I should've read the manual before buying.

FYI, If I change the primary target automation parameter and use the fader it still automates volume and not the selected option like a filter cutoff frequency.

A small gripe that is probably a setting I can fix is whenever I switch tracks in Logic, it opens the software instrument window. I know what instrument I'm using, so it's a little annoying.

I came into music in the early digital days where you sequenced or recorded on a Roland MC-303 or Groovesynth, then recorded the performance to your DAW and manipulated it from there. I'm trying to get away from using the mouse and keyboard as much as possible. I hoped the Faderport would allow me to do that. It does, but not as much as I'd like.

This is a really sweet unit, but it took a bit of work to get it installed and configured. On an installation such as this, I follow instructions slavishly! If I need tech support, I can say that I did everything "by the book". After registering this device with PreSonus I was instructed to download install the PreSonus Universal Control UI and driver package. I discovered that the Universal Control package is "only" required to update the firmware in the FaderPort, so when the UC install asked me which all the (already checked) drivers in the package I wanted to install, I didn't recognize any of them so I un-checked all of them and my AudioBox iTwo quit functioning! Studio One immediately grabbed on to my Yamaha (Steinberg) MG-UX driver as its preferred input device (NOT appropriate), so I had to re-install the Universal Control (with ALL the drivers checked) to get the AudioBox back (and then find and fix the MG-UX hardware mis-assignment), and then everything worked - sort of. The slider and its automation worked, and many of the buttons did SOMETHING, albeit some where mislabeled. After struggling with this for a while, and updating the FP firmware, I ran the boot routine on the FP to configure to work with Studio One, as opposed to some other DAW. The unit is supposed to come with this as the default. It apparently wasn't. So voila!, after this reset everything worked, and functions matched lables. Nice!

Windows installs are always a bit dicey and persnickety, so the driver problem wasn't unexpected, but better documentation from PerSonus would have helped A LOT! I'm not a Windows person.

I'd give this unit 5 stars for functionality. All the documented functions, except one, work as expected, the exception being vertical zooming using the navigation buttons - which I don't care about.

I would consider this FaderPort to be a MUST HAVE for serious home studio work with Studio One. The layout of the buttons is good, the slider works as well as on any analog professional studio mixer I've ever used, and once I get my muscle memory trained to use it, it'll be great improvement over using a keyboard and mouse. You just need to be mindful and knowledgeable when installing it.

It's pretty, really lights up the room. Set up was easy and followed the manual.
I'm using Cubase. So far it mimics everything but one important (for me) item. So far, as far as I can find, they include no facility for toggling the channel monitor function. I really like having this on the box. I moved to this from the Steinberg CH and TP controllers mainly because I didn't care for the virtual touch sliders. So, I like the Fader Port OK but still relies heavy on the mouse.

I really really wish companies would start paying more attention to Reaper as a DAW. Used by likely millons of users since it's inexpensive and powerful. This until does work with reaper but there is no documentation for it. Using reaper MCU control for it, it's almost unusable except for the fader and the main buttons. Luckly someone made a better MCU interface for reaper than standard one, lookup Klindke v0.8 version. With this almost all the controls with the faderport work. At least enough of them to make it worth it. That is the only reason I took off 1 star here. Presonus please add reaper to your list for future products.
I had originally gotten Behringer X one controller while Behringer did add configuration specific for reaper, they didn't have USB 3.0 support for it even with the latest firmware upgrade. Well USB 3.0 is the standard for now and only will be replaced, hard to even find USB 2.0 ports on new machines. So I returned it for this unit. With a couple adjustments this works great.

I Picked this up on a whim.....I know Presonus is geared toward the Consumer Bedroom guy And not so much Pro Level....But give this a chance, I do wish it was USB C but that's really a Non Issue......I used this the other night for the first time and found it Super intuitive....
As a 27 Year Pro in this Industry Flying Faders has been a staple for many years and l am a huge proponent of Automation.....and this does it Flawlessly, It does Fall a little short that it snaps to Latch after writing any fader moves and you need to be Mindful of this, Also it doesn't leave Write Mode until you stop using the stop on transport and select Read on the Unit itself.....a little cumbersome.....Its Extremely Useful in Laptop Environments as using the Track pad or a Mouse is also cumbersome This gives you a tactile feel , The Knob is solid , The Buttons are also solid , And it supports most DAWs , Personally I'm in Pro Tools and Running this Via HUI and its fine.....This will be perfect for those of us that wish we had faders while using our Laptops Either on a plane or a Bus ( if ya tour) or at home on the desk....Solid Build and Presonus has a penchant for niche Gadgets, I also have the Central station Rack in my Studio B , And Studio C has The Monitor Station 2 .....I don't Use their software personally But if its Intuitive like Their Faderports or Central Station it's a Good Thing.....

Honestly, I would have rated this 5 stars if not for one specific major issue I have with the Studio One software - I'll get to that.

As for the Faderport it is great. It is very solidly built - nothing cheap feeling (or looking ) about this. I sets up quickly and easily and works just as it should (or better, as I expected).

I use Reaper for my DAW and not all of the Faderport functions work in Reaper. However, most of them do and I love it. I knew it wouldn't be "fully functional" in Reaper when I ordered it so I was expecting that.

Over all - Presonus has made another beautiful and functional piece of hardware. I love it.

My one complaint - is that it includes a copy of Studio One Artist. I thought that was cool - I also thought maybe I'd try it out - if for any reason to have a fully functioning Faderport. Well, I quickly discovered that this version of Studio One does not allow the use of 3rd party plugins - if you want that you have to shell out $... for a piece of add on software. SOrry but that's lame - I'll stick with Reaper.

Great build. Easy to get working in Ableton Live. Works well! I found it rocks on its bas if I rest my palm on it, so I added some bigger bumpers in the back to get it to angle right for me and be solid.

My only question, and time will tell - if my hand is on the trackpad already - will it ever truly be easier to move it to the faderport to hit the button, or just use my old ways that seem faster? Time will tell.

I loved it, simple to use. The fader feels really great. But, it has some compatibility problems with cubase.

It works with pro tools 2018.7 that I usually work on.
If you are a Mac OS X user, If you have Presonus studio one v3 or studio one v3 pro , you must download the extension to utilize studio one v3 .
But while the extension install it will first install studio v4 , it seems working fine with v4 .
And then ,you have to put away the Studio one v4 or hide them in other folders first ,and
From the Finder toolbar, click Go, hold Option, and click Library
Open Application Support/PreSonus Software/Studio One 3
Copy the contents of the folder to a folder on your desktop for use as a backup.
Delete all files and folders except for the user.license file
Reopen the studio one v3 ,it will ask you to add USB control extensions, then you can see the Faderport2018 instead of fader one or faderport8 or 16. After chosen the right one ,they work fine together.
This is the solution I found after chatting with PerSonus Technical Support.

I was truly hoping to love this controller, but – at least with Ableton Live 11 – it's a let down.

The software is simply not there for Live. I'm sure it's a beautiful thing with Presonus' Studio One (and maybe Apple's Logic as shown in in Sweetwater's YT video review), but for me it falls short with Live 11. Some examples:

- The current version of the firmware (3.44) has a bug, confirmed with Presonus, that prevents clip launching in the session view. Zero ETA on a fix.
- I can't find a way to record into a clip with the Faderport; pressing the record button only records into the arranger view (possibly related to previous bug, but that's pure speculation.)
- The Faderport is missing some standard channel controls: channel activate/deactivate, A/B send control, etc. that could/should be available.

It just seems like there are too many missed opportunities to make this controller actually great with Live and its unique environment.

Maybe my expectations are too high. I'm sure there are others omissions that more experienced Live users can/would cite. I'm looking for a control surface that enables me to operate Live without having to touch my computer keyboard. I don't know if it's a limitation of the Faderport, working with Ableton (the company), the control protocol implemented, the limitation of the control protocol, a combination of all, or something else, but this isn't that controller.

Unfortunately, even these few issues are enough to frustrate me and make me not want to use it. I was considering the Faderport 8, but now I'm not.

If you primarily work in arranger view and want a motorized fader (super-handy for recording automation) with basic functionality… you'll be happy. If you're looking for a control surface that can manage/operate Live without touching the computer keyboard… at least in my limited experience, this isn't it.

First: It's super convenient to have the play, stop, record, solo, mute, panning and more all at my fingertips. That alone almost makes this controller worth it.

Second: The (lack of) responsiveness and occasional lack of detection on the fader is unfortunate. Sometimes I move the volume fader and it doesn't even respond. Other times the built-in motor is forcing against my finger, not letting me easily move the fader. I have to jiggle it a bit to get it to become responsive again and level where I want it to go. This is really frustrating sometimes.

If you aren't using Presonus software, then this really isn't for you. I had the original FaderPort, which I was using with Pro Tools. I had to replace my old Mac with a new one, and the FaderPort wasn't upgradeable. So I got a new one - which isn't nearly as compatible with Pro Tools as the old one. The only functions that really work are the transport controls and the punch-in. As long as I have the punch-in, I'm happy. Not as happy as I'd be with all the other stuff working.

I picked up the FaderPort to write automation. This unit is limited to only writing volume automation... Read that again. ONLY VOLUME AUTOMATION. You can't write automation for plugins or sends. Ridiculous. I guess I needed to shell out another $ for the 8 fader version for that.

After discussing this with Presonus Support, they tell me the Faderport is working as it should, unable to follow the selected track in Ableton.

When I click on a track in Ableton 10 with the computer, track 1 through 8 - the Faderport follows the focus on that track and syncs up immediately.

But track 9 and above, it does not. It must be manually set with the faderport. It does not follow track selection with your computer input device (trackpad, mouse)

Working with up to 40 tracks - I am losing the location of the Faderport, and once I find where it has focus by clicking a next or previous button, (and scrolling my screen) I have to click those next/prev buttons (depending on direction) up to 23 times to get to track 40.

Whats even worse, is you think you have it on the correct track you want to modify, but you don't. You move the buttons - and it affects the track you can't see on your screen. That is a nightmare for mixing.

I am returning this toy back to Sweetwater as it is not consistent enough to use in a professional workflow, and will either move to a higher quality piece of gear, or - no control surface at all.

I can see the potential of this product. Sleek, visually appealing, and its 'flexibility' to work with many DAWs.

I bought this to use with Logic Pro X, and was ultimately disappointed. The motorized fader stopped working shortly after I opened it (box, product itself were not damaged during/upon delivery). I've heard and read other reviews of Logic being the least friendly of the 'compatible' DAWs.

Give it a shot for your other approved DAWs though, maybe it'll be perfect for you.

The Fadarport worked right out of the box - so far so good. After computer reboot, it doesn't work and no setting changes in PT could get it to work. After many email exchanges with Presonus, it still wouldn't work. Seems the only way I could get it work was to reset the FP to it's original firmware then update the firware. I had to do this each time I wanted to use it. No thank you. Returned to Sweetwater. I'm not sure if this is a FP issue or a Protools issue but either way it didn't work for me.

I've been a SW customer for maybe 4-5 years. spent over 8K at Sweetwater last year alone and have never went to the trouble to write a review, good or bad. Great company and great customer service but I feel compelled to write this one. Less than a month ago I bought a Faderport V2 I'm using Pro tools 2022.4 with a Mac M1 and am very disappointed in the Faderport. Out of the box only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the features worked so I bought the V Control plug in which was supposedly going to "supercharge" the Faderport for Pro tools and now I have maybe 75% of the functions, most problematic being that the SHIFT button is completely ineffective so am unable to control any of the many extra features it will control with Studio One and other DAWS. In my opinion it is wrong for them to advertise it as being useable for other Pro Tools until they get the HUI/Avid connection fully happening. In the Sweetwater review of this product Mitch Gallagher says that even with other DAWs you still have control over a "ton of functions' but in truth it's about 1/2 of the functions, if that. IMO there are just too many variables involved in the way we are all set up with different DAWS, ages of various programs and different computers for any one controller to really work across the board so I'm not expecting miracles but after sinking into it to only get 75% function I think it is wrong for them advertise this product as being compatible with Pro tools.

It worked properly for 2 days, but then the FaderPort fader stopped affecting the DAW faders (in Studio One 5). However, if I moved a DAW fader, the physical fader would still move. But, it wont work as intended. I did everything the Presonus support asked, most of which was pointless in my opinion. Presonus support was not helpful and very slow. Finally they told me I had to update my BIOS, my chipset, all drivers, etc... before getting back to them. I know that none of that will help. The equipment worked fine for 2 days, my BIOS did not suddenly go bad! I got the feeling they would just give me hoops to jump through, stringing me on for days. At this point I am really disappointed with Presonus. I had really wanted this to work.

From the moment I plugged this into my MacBook Pro running Big Sur, it caused Logic to go CRAZY!!! When I'd open a new session (with a couple of instruments I've put into a template), It would blast a note from one of the VST's at you, and show a chord in the window that would be something crazy...and i wouldn't even be touching a note! What I couldn't believe is what it did to a session I'd been working on, then brought Faderport into to finish. It almost destroyed a couple days' work. Apple Tech Support helped me save it. Presonus sent instructions for a clean install. I followed the instruction to the letter. It still gave me that wacky result. If you use Logic Pro, STAY AWAY!!! This product has a great idea, but performs horribly. And I really wish it had worked, too.

The FaderPort, to put it simply, will set up in Cakewalk Sonar. Right now, I have Presonus working on it and they have no answers at this moment. As part of the purchase, Studio One, the basic, also did not hook up properly, actually not at all.
As far as I am concerned, if Cakewalk's Sonar is your choice of DAWs-stay away from FaderPort.