I have been looking out for an upgrade from BCF2000 (since its broken). I have been seeing that most control surfaces out there do not list Sonar explicitly as much as they do Pro Tools, Cubase , Ableton, Reason. I would like to know if there are control surfaces which can control pro channel plugins? Specifically does the  Novation Zero SL or the Necktar Panorama work with ProChannel ?  Behringer X-Touch seems interesting but not sure if its worth spending extra bucks for what the Zero SL can do at a much lower price point. Suggestions please....
 
 

There are 2 methods to control ProChannel modules:
a) ACT Dynamic Mapping (used by generic MIDI plug-ins and VS-700)
b) direct control (used for EQ and Comp only for Mackie compatible devices like X-Touch, required moded plug-in to really work)
 
Novation Zero is using own software Automap to control (wrapped into this software) plug-ins. ProChannel modules can not be wrapped.
 
Naktar Panorama does not support Sonar natively, it will work as a simple generic controller and there is no way to improve that (the protocol is unknown).
 
If you was using BCF2000, may be it is worse to have a look at BCR2000: http://www.azslow.com/index.php/topic,301.0.html see the documentation from Bassman there.

the novation zero SL Mk2 can be switched from automap to a conventional midi-controller which than can be used with act in sonar.

I used the Automap learn functionality to set up my Pro Channel modules. It works fairly well. You just have to pay attention to which mode the controller is in (Mixer vs. FX). The cool thing is that I also have a VS-20 running in conjunction with the Zero SL Mk2, and they play well together. It gives me transport and faders on the desk as well as the keyboard stand.
 

Tim Flannagin
I used the Automap learn functionality to set up my Pro Channel modules. It works fairly well. You just have to pay attention to which mode the controller is in (Mixer vs. FX). The cool thing is that I also have a VS-20 running in conjunction with the Zero SL Mk2, and they play well together. It gives me transport and faders on the desk as well as the keyboard stand.
 

That essentially means I can use Zero SL to control the mixer , pro channel and other VSTs. That is pretty much all I need. Thanks for the response !