After really looking at a lot of videos about the faderports and hearing about the new 16 coming out...  That almost is the last deciding factor why to go with Studio 1.  Yes the mouse is ok...but man, just the quick use of those hardware pieces, not to mention the transport (away from the computer??), looks awesome.
I feel like I've been living under a rock, not keeping up with this kind of stuff on this $$ level.  Looks to blow away any competitor (Mackie, etc) and is solidly integrated with PreSonus S1.  This is a real clincher, imo.   Any shortcomings of S1 compared to SPlat just seem to melt away with this setup.  I'm believing for a thrilling end of 2017 for the studio.  I had looked hard at the Behringer X mixers...but had to pass.  These look for the HOME STUDIO, to totally kill in all aspects.
It's like this ole dawg is getting a nice new bone.

The open box 8 is right now for $399.99
on Reverb

https://reverb.com/item/4...s-faderport-8-open-box

that's a good price.  I'm deciding on either that and the Faderport 1...or waiting to see what comes of the 16, soon to be released.  Do I need 16 faders?... maybe....but it'd be cool.  Most of my session easily have over 16 tracks.  The Studio Live 24 looks to be a candidate with new software coming out too.  I think by next Spring....the choices will be even much better, rather than jumping this instant.  BUt it is making me decide to make a final move.  The demo is new and exciting to me and that's enough of a reason to switch as well.  Hardware that integrates this good, seals the deal.
Shoot...sell ONE Les Paul....will pay for almost all of it!!  lol!!

Here's a better price NEW...

$335.16 with code GROUP at JRR


https://www.jrrshop.com/presonus-faderport-8

oh jeez....  getting about to "impulse buy" level.  That would fit nicely next to the mouse pad too.
 

after filling up on Boz's stuff (the ole Imperial Delay and T Bone are fantastic)... the Bendeth stuff...eh...it's ok....
I've been spending...plus some early Christmas shopping and some other software...  Omnisphere finally too???.  I've had a good fall income, but that's a dangerous justification for spending more too!   ha!

I like the faderport too. I plan to to replace my interface, so to me, for the money I'm looking at the Studiolive mixers. My main rationale being the price for a stand alone interface with lots of channels is about the same as the 16.0.2 which has a built in firewire interface. The series three is more expensive, but you get 100mm motorized faders, great preamps and onboard efx. For anyone taking on recording jobs this is a sweet setup. With the series three if you use the built in effects in the mixer SO3 will treat it like a vst in the daw. Making a change to the mixer compressors or fat channel makes that adjustment in SO3. I don't use a patch bay, so for me, it's nice to have the I/O inputs readily there so I can simply plug in my gear and use it much like an analog mixer.
 
The series three can also record without a computer if necessary. Too many other things to really cover here.
 
I'm going to wait until I finish my other recording space and then I'll likely be buying one of the Studio live mixer/interfaces. which will serve as my studio hub. If you record in a studio and play out live, this is hard to beat.
 
The Behringer X 32 is a great mixer too and you can use it with SO3, but it doesn't  mesh easily into it like their mixers do.
 
Presonus also has some cool monitor control gear.

Not using the PreSonus stuff, I didn't really follow what they were coming out with.  Last couple of years has been a big jump it seems.  When the live mixers first came out, I looked hard at them...the X32...but just passed on them both, because they were just kinda "faders" and not a whole lot more in the beginning....unless used live.

The live series apparently (coming soon??) uses the same "fat channel" in the mixer as in the DAW...so you can monitor with...record dry...and then use the fat channel in S1 to replicate.  Apparently a one button push sets up the fat channel in the DAW to emulate what's on the mixer.

Mix scenes can be saved in the same way. Load a project into SO3 and the faders should follow on those new mixers. I haven't demo'd one. This is what I'm gathering from youtubers who have them. Likely competition in answer to the X32 since it has motorized faders and the older Studio One boards didn't.
 
The 16.0.4 is the only one with midi. It has 60mm non motorized faders which are OK IMO, light years ahead of the typical box interface and costs about the same as a typical 26 channel interface by a reputable maker.. I could do much worse. You could still probably plug the whole band in using it.
 
 

I use the Faderport 1 with S1, and it works great. Very handy and responsive. That is one of the great strengths of S1. The hardware integration. With the recent work they did lowering the latency of the program, you can get insanely low latency with practically any interface. Use their interfaces, and it gets even lower.