I'm in search of a good control surface that's motorized to work with Cakewalk bandlab. Preferably under 2k

Presonus Faderport has been great for me. I just have the single fader version. They have 8 and 16 fader versions too. The 16 fader version sells for $999.

Till you are ready to fight with no longer produced VS-700 (driver issues), the only stable solution is MackieControl.
It work with:
* original unit (Mackie MCU Pro / XT)
* full clones (Behringer X-Touch / XT)
* partial clone (Presonus FP 8/16)
- other clones (f.e. QCon) have some troubles with Sonar/CbB
The first is original, so everything which has chance to work will work. The second is the cheapest solution, but some people are not happy with faders behavior. There are only good words written about FP8/16, but it has much less controls then MCU and so loose some functionality.
 
Note that controlling FXes is tricky (you will need to write special text file with each particular plug-in layout) and controlling Synthes is impossible.
 
Theoretically you can also try Avid surfaces throw EUCON, you can find at least partial success stories in this forum.

azslow3
Note that controlling FXes is tricky (you will need to write special text file with each particular plug-in layout) and controlling Synthes is impossible.

 
The Mackie C4 can be used for controlling both FX and Synths (VSti's), and works really well.
 
Whilst you don't need to write the text file for each plugin to give it a layout, it's probably worth doing so - otherwise it lays out the parameters in the order it finds them.
 
I spend a good few days going through all my EQ's, compressors and channel strips plugins coming up with as standard a layout as I could.
 
I would say however, since modern vsti synths have so many parameters, that it's debatable as to whether using something like a C4 to control every parameter is practical. You end up having to wade through pages of parameters, unless you do go through editing the MackieControl.ini and organise/trim them down yourself.
 
For FX though, the C4 is a dream and sits quite nicely alongside an MCU or MCU + XT.
 
Also, for a motorised controller, I wouldn't write off 2nd hand original Mackie MCU's. They typically go for around £300 ($400). However:

• They are LARGE and take up desk space (but then, so is the MCU pro)
• Replacement faders are hard to come by - this isn't the case for MCU Pro's.

 

cakewalk ain't the best for control surface support, so thank goodness we have azslow3(he's taken the cs sdk and made it his own!) and msmcleod's advice, above, can't be argued with
 
good luck!

msmcleod

azslow3
Note that controlling FXes is tricky (you will need to write special text file with each particular plug-in layout) and controlling Synthes is impossible.

The Mackie C4 can be used for controlling both FX and Synths (VSti's), and works really well.

Can it really control VSTi (Synth)? Is that in your mod or I have overseen something in the original code?

azslow3

msmcleod

azslow3
Note that controlling FXes is tricky (you will need to write special text file with each particular plug-in layout) and controlling Synthes is impossible.

The Mackie C4 can be used for controlling both FX and Synths (VSti's), and works really well.

Can it really control VSTi (Synth)? Is that in your mod or I have overseen something in the original code?

Yes and it's in the original code.
 
But it only works if you've added your VSTi the "old" way, by putting it in the FX bin of an Audio track.
 
Like I said though, there's so many parameters in modern vsti's, even with 32 rotaries it's pages and pages of parameters. Also the 7 character labels get a bit cryptic!
 
But if you really want to control a particular VSTi, you can add it to the FX bin of an audio track and control it like any other plugin.

msmcleod
But if you really want to control a particular VSTi, you can add it to the FX bin of an audio track and control it like any other plugin.

That is a nice trick

Hi. I use an ancient Tascam FW1884 (in Native mode) with SONAR in Win 10 X64, with somewhat success.
I have control over faders, both tracks, buses, and Master fader.
I can't (or haven't figured out how to) control any plugins from it. Would be very cool if I somehow figured it out
All the best.

I would still like to pick up an old Tascam US-2400. 25 motorized faders, and you can usually find one on eBay in great shape for about $600. They appear to work well with Sonar. Not sure about CbB.