John, I just picked up the Faderport 8 yesterday and after 2 days of testing here are some of the things I found. I don't have my notes
From testing wth me so I'll highlight as best as I can. Out of about thirty three available function buttons, roughly half of them do not
Work with SONAR. Six of the ones that do work leave the Faderport in a confused state, that is it still is working but you cannot invoke
Any other function buttons. It's just stuck. Shutdown SONAR, power cycle Faderport. Bad....
I opened a ticket with PreSonus about the functions that just don't work in SONAR and they said this:

"We are always trying to improve on the features of the FaderPort 8 for future releases.
In regard to Sonar, they implement the MCU protocol in a different way than other DAWs do which changes the way controllers work with their software.
If you'd like to see features implemented with the FaderPort 8 in the future I would recommend submitting a feature request"

i will be taking this back to Sweetwater tomorrow. Very disappointing.
Sorry this wasn't more descriptive but I think it conveys the point.

Dave

Interesting answer as that is pretty much the same answer they gave me when I opened a support ticket reporting that my MOTU Ultralite AVB is unable to change sample rate with Studio One Professional. After days of emailing logs etc they told me "MOTU uses a "different" method of interacting with the unit so that is why Studio One has problems.  Funny, since I have zero problems with Protools, Samplitude ProX3, Reaper... Only Studio One has the problem...
 
BTW this is a real weird one.. Whatever Studio One has been set for, 44.1k, 48k, 96k etc, no matter what the MOTU is set to, it will change to what Studio One is looking for. Changing the sample rate in the panels, brings it right back to whatever Studio One was configured for. Only way to change it is to edit an audio.ini file manually.
 
BTW don't bother posting on their FB page or another other public forum because you will be attacked and ultimately banned. There is some kind of kabal that mobilizes to attack the infidels who dare post negative posts about Presonus products..  lol !
 
 

Thanks Dave,
 
Ok, I guess its really made for Studio One, thought Mackie protocol was supposed to be equally compliant, guess not. I tried out a ShuttlePro V2, more like a large mouse with shuttle and jog wheels and 15 assignable buttons, more for clip editing, as was my intention, supposed to work with Sonar, i.e., has selectable setup for Sonar, (and many other Video, CAD, MSOffice software) but never got it working right, or with my Video software, I think I would have been happy if I had at least gotten one key assignable to transport pause/continue and one to stop/rewind, LOL
 
Anyway thanks for the 6 on FP8.
 
Cheers
 

steveo42
 
There is some kind of kabal that mobilizes to attack the infidels who dare post negative posts about Presonus products..  lol !
 
 

a bit like the cakewalk/sonar forums then ?

I'm through with Presonus hardware.  I tried three new Firewire interface units several years ago.  Each one had some type of hardware problem.  One, I remember, had a dead preamp on one channel.  Another would not connect to my T.I. Chipset Firewire port. Don't call what was wrong with the third unit except it was a hardware problem.  Recently (last year) I wanted to upgrade my recording interface unit and got one of the new Studio 192 units.  It worked the first day I got it (although latency was horrible).  The second day, I powered it on but it would not power off, with the power switch.  It was returned and that is the last Presonus unit I buy.
 
 

dxp
"We are always trying to improve on the features of the FaderPort 8 for future releases.
In regard to Sonar, they implement the MCU protocol in a different way than other DAWs do which changes the way controllers work with their software.
If you'd like to see features implemented with the FaderPort 8 in the future I would recommend submitting a feature request"

This information is a bit incorrect. That is not just my opinion, everyone can check the following:
1) Mackie protocol documentation is available on-line
2) Sonar Mackie Control support is Open Source. Everyone can check that the protocol is implemented correctly
3) "Other DAWs" also use different layouts for MCU, none of them is "right" for every DAW. That is why there are commercial overlays available for the original Mackie units. Sonar also has specific labeling for the right section buttons.
4) Other companies, to save costs of own software development, claim the devices are "Mackie compatible". Real compatibility level vary, from nonsense to almost correct.
 
PreSonus has never published protocols they use. For the original Faderport, with proprietary protocol, they have developed dedicated Sonar plug-in. That is why it works well. FaderPort 8 has no such plug-in, it tries to emulate MCU. But that device has much less buttons then the original unit. So it will be always limited compare to the original.
 
To get correct MCU emulation (if you do not have money for new MCU Pro and do not want second hand device), you can buy X-Touch (full version). The same money as Faderport 8, but complete implementation in terms of hardware controls and the protocol (I have recently spotted a difference in fader resolution, some users have problems difficulties to show SMPTE on display, but everything else is confirmed as working identical). There was one report the latest QCon Pro firmware makes it also MCU compatible, no confirmation from other users till now. Behringer Motör and M-Audio Code have incomplete implementation, work with moded plug-ins in Sonar (there is one mod from me and one more from other user), but they also have less physical controls and so the functionality is limited. SSL, as Presonus, declare Cakewalk is responsible for Nucleus is not working right with Sonar.
 
MY OWN OPINION: for the money they want, such answers should be interpreted as an attempt to fool customers. With corresponding reaction (send the device back, write bad review).