Just posted this on the PreSonus forum RE: Faderport and Cubase 8.5

[RockinMillie]

In fact, a quick Google search would have saved you from a lot of frustration so far (search terms: Faderport Cubase). Because this question has been answered over at the Steinberg forum:
https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewto ... a0#p420062

Interesting to note that in this Steinberg forum thread there are people who do have it working on Cubase 8 (on Windows at least).

[trtzbass]

Please help with that. thanks

"Have you tried turning it off and back on?!" - Customer Support


No seriously...

First and foremost, the Faderport is not only an old device, it's also somewhat discontinued. Think of it like the Behringer Control series - still sold, but it won't go anywhere anymore.

Then, the device might not work as expected for you - meaning, the "native drivers" don't work, or you need to use a specific mode in Cubase. For example: Mackie HUI rather than Baby HUI or something similar.


In fact, a quick Google search would have saved you from a lot of frustration so far (search terms: Faderport Cubase). Because this question has been answered over at the Steinberg forum:
https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewto ... a0#p420062



Do I use the Faderport?
Nope - I'm using the Behringer Control series. However, if I'm stuck with something, I try to hunt down answers via the developers first, then try the developer-related user communities. If I can't still find an answer after that, I can rage-quit on KVR or GS.

Hey thanks for the answer.

Yes I did all that, researching steinberg, gearslutz, KVR and presonus forums and trying to run the bloody thing in HUI mode made me so frustrated I went once again to the presonus forum only to find many other users with the same problem who are being ignored by the company. We are all asking for the same thing: please update the drivers, the unit as it is is crippled. Digging through the answers I found out that apparently Steinberg changed something in the software so we should be the ones to contact Steinberg to ask them to work on compatibility.
Now: quick story time. Last year I bought Pre Sonus Notion, which is a super sweet notation program. I start using it only to find that it crashed after only a few bars of playback. Tried workarounds, tried other stuff, nothing works. I open a case with their support desk and the answer is something to the tune of: yes we know it's a bug that happens if you use a Focusrite soundcard. There is a beta driver they put out that should work. And it didn't because it's only for Scarletts. So when I told them they just said I should ask Focusrite to work on compatibility.
I sense a pattern emerging here.
Maybe I'm just unlucky, but it really feels strange that, once Studio One and their own brand hardware got a nice share of the market, they stopped being the caring, helpful company I knew them to be.
The oldest review of the Faderport I could find is from 2007. Are we to accept an hardware unit of that price that's 9 years old is already a piece of junk? Meanwhile its integration in Studio One is stellar.
As consumers, when did we accept that the workaround culture is a thing? Obviously and especially on a PC platform, a bit of tweaking is always to be expected; but how come I increasingly see problem solving time eating into my creative work time?
When I was younger I enjoyed the thrill of chasing bugs and making stuff work. Now I just want to make music and being a very active live musician and a father means that I am less inclined on doing somebody else's job because my time is limited.
Also the unit is still widely sold by all the biggest retailers here in UK / Europe, so from where I am it doesn't look like it's discontinued.
Are we exercising our customer rights enough? Am I making any sense?

[RockinMillie]

As consumers, when did we accept that the workaround culture is a thing?

When we try to use hardware / software on a platform that it has not been certified for or tested on and potentially putting oneself in an unsupported position with the vendor

The oldest review of the Faderport I could find is from 2007. Are we to accept an hardware unit of that price that's 9 years old is already a piece of junk?

No, but we do have to bear in mind that technology, especially software is very fast at evolving. DAW users demand regular updates / new versions from vendors. So in a lot of cases a piece of hardware which worked perfectly on a previous version may not work on the current one. Smart phones are an obvious example of the fast moving nature of technology.

On another note I have to say I demo'ed Notion and found it to be very clunky and not very nice to use. Personally I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole. So, I ended up buying Finale for my notation work after also demo'ing Sibelius. YMMV.

[Compyfox]

*sigh* Alright...

Yes I did all that, researching steinberg, gearslutz, KVR and presonus forums and trying to run the bloody thing in HUI mode made me so frustrated I went once again to the presonus forum only to find many other users with the same problem who are being ignored by the company. We are all asking for the same thing: please update the drivers, the unit as it is is crippled. Digging through the answers I found out that apparently Steinberg changed something in the software so we should be the ones to contact Steinberg to ask them to work on compatibility.

Okay, I know at least one person that uses the Faderport in a more recent Cubase version, and he has no problems with it. So I guess it's really down to how you connect it, what drivers are installed, and how it's set up.

You are aware that you can open a "floating window" in Cubase for the HUI and BabyHUI modules? Go to devices, select HUI or BabyHUI and the window should appear. This window then has a dropdown menu where you can switch the behavior. This can improve things, this can not. But this is the next thing that comes to mind.


Another thing that comes to mind is, DON'T USE THE DRIVERS and run the hardware generic.

Why do I say that? I have my Behringer Control modules connected via USB, with generic drivers and things work absolutely fine. The bundled drivers were always crap, the control manager was broken to begin with. There are plenty of third party tools out there, and even so called "newsletter groups" where you can find a lot of info (though it's easier to find all that on regular webpages these days).

Maybe it's the same for the Faderport - again, I don't have it, I don't need it. I can't further comment. But I have/use Cubase (albeit not C8.x), so I can at least try to help here.

Now: quick story time. Last year I bought Pre Sonus Notion, which is a super sweet notation program. I start using it only to find that it crashed after only a few bars of playback. Tried workarounds, tried other stuff, nothing works. I open a case with their support desk and the answer is something to the tune of: yes we know it's a bug that happens if you use a Focusrite soundcard. There is a beta driver they put out that should work. And it didn't because it's only for Scarletts. So when I told them they just said I should ask Focusrite to work on compatibility.
I sense a pattern emerging here.

There is no pattern, because Presonus (or any other company for that matter) can only do so much compatibility work for devices. If Presonus says "Focusrite is to blame", and Focusrite can't help you further, then maybe bark up Presonus' tree.

Maybe I'm just unlucky, but it really feels strange that, once Studio One and their own brand hardware got a nice share of the market, they stopped being the caring, helpful company I knew them to be.

Because income and advancing development?

You do know that the Faderport was a substitute for a hardware controller that was never really there, and now S1 is tightly integrated into their most recent digital console?

You can still(!) control S1/Cubase/Logic/ProTools with third party modules. With certain cut corners, but you can! And this is what counts, no?


Take a look at the MackieControl, the old Steinberg Houston, the Avid ProControl-1.. host developer own products, yet they are also discontinued (and were not just stomped in, but sold until there was nothing left in stock), yet if you can find them at an affordable prices (and in good condition), they still do their job. In fact, Steinberg dropped the Houston as fast as the CMC series. AVID tried to keep the ProControl-1 alive, even though it was full of bugs and issues, but one the ICON console came out - bye bye.

The oldest review of the Faderport I could find is from 2007. Are we to accept an hardware unit of that price that's 9 years old is already a piece of junk? Meanwhile its integration in Studio One is stellar.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but... yes.

Do you know how old the Behringer Control series is? And how much of a "junk" this is considered?

The advantage here is that even though the firmware for all of these devices are old, it still works. If you can live with cut corners (which is absolutely no issue for me). The BCR can be highly customized for General MIDI (and here it really shines!), and I use the BCF not in the built in Cubase Mode (which really only works "great" up until C5), but actually "BabyHUI" mode since the compatibility and usability is better/more logical than the built in host presets.

And this is why this module is still being in use. Even though Steinberg gives a flying F about compatibility.


So yes - you have to accept that.

As consumers, when did we accept that the workaround culture is a thing? Obviously and especially on a PC platform, a bit of tweaking is always to be expected; but how come I increasingly see problem solving time eating into my creative work time?

You act as if the Mac does NOT have to live with workarounds... sir, you are highly mistaken.

When I was younger I enjoyed the thrill of chasing bugs and making stuff work. Now I just want to make music and being a very active live musician and a father means that I am less inclined on doing somebody else's job because my time is limited.
Also the unit is still widely sold by all the biggest retailers here in UK / Europe, so from where I am it doesn't look like it's discontinued.
Are we exercising our customer rights enough? Am I making any sense?

Again, selling units from a larger stock doesn't mean that the module is still "continued" so to speak. You might still find Steinberg CNC modules at store, but the whole engine has been discontinued. You still find Behringer Control devices at store, but this is "backup" from over-production. I still await an X-Touch Rotary Bank (will probably never happen), then the Behringer Control Series is finally fully discontinued.


Am I pissed that I can't full integrate my Kurzweil K2000 synth into Cubase without jumping hoops? Or remote control my TASCAM DAT? No.

That's just how this works...




Welcome to the realm of hardware, were great concepts exist, but "software only" focusing companies can pretty much care less. Just be happy that you didn't use Cubase during SX1 and SX2 days and tried to integrate hardware...

Sorry, I'm at my wits end here. All I can say is, grab a cup of cocoa, dig some more through manuals and certain web articles, do some trial and error. This is all you can do at this point.

[trtzbass]

Hmmm.

Ok I took a couple days and had a think about all we are talking about here. I have listened to your opinions and did more research and have come to the conclusion that evidently my perception of what I should expect as a customer is unrealistic. Doesn't mean I like it and I just file it under the "it sucks but it's just how things are", along with the thousand other things that start cramming that category.
If the public consensus strongly leans towards criticising my opinion and reaffirming that the contrary is praxis now, well, then all I need to do is suck it up and deal with it. Today is PreSonus (whom are still ignoring all of us who are asking for the drivers to be updated), tomorrow is the phone company, next year is Google, five years down the line is the guys who make the software for your self driving car or smart house.
Have a nice one everyone

[RockinMillie]

Hmmm.

Ok I took a couple days and had a think about all we are talking about here. I have listened to your opinions and did more research and have come to the conclusion that evidently my perception of what I should expect as a customer is unrealistic. Doesn't mean I like it and I just file it under the "it sucks but it's just how things are", along with the thousand other things that start cramming that category.
If the public consensus strongly leans towards criticising my opinion and reaffirming that the contrary is praxis now, well, then all I need to do is suck it up and deal with it. Today is PreSonus (whom are still ignoring all of us who are asking for the drivers to be updated), tomorrow is the phone company, next year is Google, five years down the line is the guys who make the software for your self driving car or smart house.
Have a nice one everyone

First off, I'm sorry that you haven't managed get your Faderport working with Cubase 8.5 - some people have achieved this.

I think rather than having to 'suck it up', it's probably better to see it as a hard lesson learned in the real world of computers / software / outboard hardware.

As Lawrence said earlier, if you are really not satisfied then you do have the option of returning the unit to the shop you bought it from. Especially so if you raised the scenario of it working with v 8.5 with them before you bought it.

Put it another way, would you hypothetically, upgrade your version of Windows from say version 7 to 10, without first thoroughly ensuring that your DAW, all third party drivers, graphics card, audio interface etc. were 100% compatible and supported ? Doubly so if your livelihood depends on it ?

It is always worth doing the research first for the exact versions / platforms to make sure that one is not straying into unsupported territory. Otherwise unfortunately, you are in the scenario of workarounds and kludges.

I even bother vendor pre-sales people with e-mail questions, before I buy if I'm not 100% sure. I have found most to be very responsive and helpful.

Good luck. Over and out

[Compyfox]

*sigh*

Hmmm.

Ok I took a couple days and had a think about all we are talking about here. I have listened to your opinions and did more research and have come to the conclusion that evidently my perception of what I should expect as a customer is unrealistic. Doesn't mean I like it and I just file it under the "it sucks but it's just how things are", along with the thousand other things that start cramming that category.

Okay...

If the public consensus strongly leans towards criticising my opinion and reaffirming that the contrary is praxis now, well, then all I need to do is suck it up and deal with it. Today is PreSonus (whom are still ignoring all of us who are asking for the drivers to be updated), tomorrow is the phone company, next year is Google, five years down the line is the guys who make the software for your self driving car or smart house.
Have a nice one everyone

Honestly, serious facepalm moment right there!

You seem to me, as if you actively refuse to get the bigger picture. You talk about a Presonus device from the late 2000's that you "still expect to work", in a third party product with the original Presonus Drivers no less. "Sound on Sound" reviewed that device in June 2007, so I assume it was released around early 2007. So that is 9 years of existence!


I can understand your frustration. Trust me, I've been there with several hardware controllers, drum triggers, digital mixing consoles, etc - from (sometimes really atrocious) no-name to respectable company brands. Compatibility issues, not working right out of the box, certain features not working at all, I've experienced it all. But i still got these devices to run in some form (sometimes with frustrating cut corners, but still - I blame it on my experience with MIDI since the mid 90ies)).

Yes - workarounds for hosts that this wasn't made for are pretty much the standard (or "praxis" as you said). You don't want to know how many man-hours it took me to setup my BCR 2000 to fully work as I wanted it to. Or how many days it took me until I could use my BCF 2000 blindly in Cubase. Then Cubase 7 came along and somehow messed that up, until I realized "wait, you can switch communication modes in the DAW" (see my last PM).


Did you even try what I wrote in my last PM?

Or do you still assume "it's written on the box, it has to work, Presonus is at fault - and they do jack sh*t with the drivers". Again, they are not at fault. A tag written on the box "works with host ABC" doesn't necessarily mean that it works to a 100%. It's like the food industry... even if it's only 20% actual pork in the recepy, it's still called "pork sausage". You can start a riot about that, start campaigns to ban such labels. But it will be a long hard road.

Once more - don't use the Presonus drivers, try this device as "HUI device" (both HUI and BabyHUI). If it's still not working, and neither Presonus OR Steinberg (see their forum posts, and I do hope you got in touch with the support as well!) are responding to your liking - give back that device if you still can.


At this stage (and I checked Presonus's page), the Faderport is still presented, but in a de-facto "discontinued" state (same with Behringer's "Behringer Control Series"). The last drivers are supposed to work for Windows 8 (well, "similar" driver topography), the Mac drivers are from 2012. The successor to the Faderport is the StudioLive series and their App!



Once you realize all this, maybe the frustration is not as big as you currently show.