Hello all, Firstly, apologies if this is the incorrect place to post this thread. I recently upgraded to X2 producer and i'm loving every aspect of it (especially breverb), also for the record, I haven't experienced any crashes what so ever.

Anyways, I'm looking to buy a nice daw controller for my project studio setup and i'm wondering if anyone could give me some pointers on any controllers that specifically work well with cakewalk? (mapping ease etc). I'd ideally like an MCU but that is sadly a touch out of my budget at the moment. I'm just looking for something simple like a Behringer BCF2000/BCR2000 duo or Novation Zero mk2. Has anyone had any experiences with these controllers with Sonar X1/X2 and can comment on how effectively they work? ..... also, I'm open to any other suggestions (£500 max). I ruled out the faderport & alphatrack as i'm looking for something a bit more substantial.

Cheers.  

Have you looked at the roland/cakewalk A500-Pro?

I am using A 500Pro since my 8.5.3 and x1 days. It has been very easy. Installed the driver, connect the USB cable, press the ACT button and some simple setup at X2 and you are all set to go.  I used the tranport button the most, record, play and pause, then the knobs and fader. It's advantage is it is designed to work with Sonar from the start. It can instantly swtiched to control any synths or effects plugin or the mixer volume and pan, depand on which one is being highlighted. 

It comes in 3 sizes, A300pro is 2 octaves, A500pro 4 octaves and A800pro is 5 octaves. BTW I am not a Cakewalk salesperson.


              

I have the Novation Nocturn, used to have the Zero SLmkII, works like a charm with Sonar

Though out of production, Frontier Designs AlphaTrack w/ it's Sonar app is perfect for me.

Just picked up the Novation Impulse49 for $270 US.  Works with X2 just fine.

What are your wishes? I mean At the moment I'd like an Alpha track, the special Cakewalk keyboard and something upscale like the VS700...   But everyone is different.

When I was looking at the masterkeyboard, controllers I settled on the Korg Kontrol49. Right now I'd pick a Roland/Cakewalk product though. But at that time they did not have the marriage the Korg is. I allways had a weak spot for the Roland VS100. Such a nice and sturdy box. Very portable. And very nicely made. And when you bounce yesterday's mix to it's memorycard you can play today a new solo to it and import back into your laptop... And then over the network into your main DAW... Wich means it's very portable and goes from being a device wich can record 8 tracks to being a small two track recorder... And it can do your automation, start stop and basic metering...

What are your wishes?

 
Good question...   Are you looking for a keyboard controller or simply faders + knobs?   If it's the latter, the BCF2000 works pretty well with SONAR IMHO for basic mixing chores.    I like it.