PreSonus FaderPort V2

I come from Reaper (DAW software) and thought, probierste times the Faderport out, should be so great and facilitate the work. But beware, Reaper and Faderport are not friends, even if you have through software from forums and with patience and spit finally the Faderport on the port, then not for all functions. This is not a joy and is reminiscent of setting up sound cards in the 90s or installing printers. Why can't this just work, what's the point of all these protocols and then it doesn't run after all.

But with Studio One the sun comes up. With registration of the Faderport you get a license for Studio One Artists (about 80€ value) and there the whole thing just works wonderfully. This is how automation works and pushing buttons is fun.

The hardware is of very high quality, the fader moves smoothly and the changes are immediately adopted in the software and the buttons all make a quality impression, rich feedback and defined clicks, so it should be.

For other DAW I can not speak, for my needs Studio One is completely suitable and Reaper also remains, then with mouse and keyboard.

Before I briefly describe Presonus' Faderport - which has since been renamed "Faderport Classic" as Presonus has since launched the Faderport 2 - in detail and share my experiences installing and using it, I'd first like to justify my rating of the product with a full 5 stars.

I give the Presonus Faderport the full 5 stars, as all promised functions were fulfilled and I am indeed not only satisfied, but very happy with the Faderport as a digital audio workstation controller for Logic Pro 9.1.8:

REVIEW
All functions indicated on the device are well readable and clearly arranged and the layout is in my opinion even superior to the new Faderport 2. The coloured illumination underlines the clear arrangement so that the Faderport actually makes mixing, cutting and transporting work within the DAW easier and faster.
The buttons have a pleasant, but in contrast to rubberized buttons a firm pressure point, to which certainly some users have to get used to (again) if they have already worked for years with rubberized buttons such as a nanokontrol from korg or even a smartphone / tablet as a controller.
The haptics of this firmer resistance leads to the fact that it actually no longer comes to false triggers and you can also work blindly with the controller. This also applies to the pan control, which has a noticeable grid and you can adjust the panorama values to +/- 1 values. Value jumps are therefore impossible.
The fader also has a pleasant resistance and runs more smoothly than buttery and thus makes wonderfully smooth fader movements possible, which, for example, are defacto not realizable with a mouse.
However, the parameters that can be automated are limited to volume and pan (under Logic Pro) and automation of other parameters is only possible under the in-house Presonus Studio One.
Since the faderport really convinced me, I will also try out their in-house DAW in due course to use the faderport for plugins and further parameter automations as well.
All the labelled functions work without a hitch (after installing Presonus' specially developed controller profile for Logic Pro - more on that in the next part) and the motorised fader jumps pleasantly quietly, swiftly and accurately and to the value visible in the DAW as you switch through each track.
Likewise, in the automation mode of the DAW and by changing the fader mode to "Write", automations/fader and panorama movements can be recorded, which the motorized fader then follows "as if by magic".
The "Presonus Faderport Classic" fulfills all functions and I personally am very satisfied with the feel, the design and especially the form factor - i.e. the dimensions of the device - hence the full 5 stars for the device itself.

Now for the CRITICS /DETAILS:

CRITICS 1.0 (General)
Installation under Mac OS 10.9.5 for Logic Pro 9.1.8 took a full 2 days of my time.
There was no instruction manual or driver CD included. I registered the product and after about 3-4 h of futile attempts to get the product working, contacted support who got involved a day later. In the meantime, I got the device working in HUI Mackie Control mode, with a meager feature set. I was able to install and test the Faderport Classic from Presonus with their own controller profile after independent research, driver search on 2 (!) different Presonus websites in one of the most chaotic driver databases I have ever experienced in 20 years and finally hours of trial & error.
Note: The solution was a manual install/copy of the controller profile in Logic; To do this, right-click on Logic "Show package contents" and then manually copy the profile into the appropriate folder with controller profiles].

CRITIC 2.0 (Special)
After the faderport was running on the second day with the appropriate controllerprofile for Logic 9.1.8 and I was able to test all functions, I was convinced of the design arrangement and function and quickly learned to appreciate the fader and its good feel, so I tried to record some automations except volume and pan. Then the sobering, shocking and for me inconceivable truth given the terrific feel of the fader:
It is not intended and not possible to record parameters other than Volume and Pan with the Faderport fader under a Presonus third-party DAW.
*It took me the rest of the day to find a workaround in Logic Pro to record automation other than volume and pan. However, this is not part of this product review and would go beyond the scope here technically as well as in terms of content.

When I had the installation and all the functions I had hoped for the Presonus Faderport Classic with a lot of diligence, sweat and decades of experience had fought, even still the Presonus support, which is now no longer needed by me, contacted me asking for my hardware and version numbers, I closed the ticket and called it a day.

CONCLUSION
Full 5 stars for the product, the excellent support from Kirstein - with beyond friendly and pleasant advice on the phone, as well as fast and above all well communicated delivery by DPD.
I have truly ordered many things - especially music equipment - but this order went like only very rarely: Excellent good! I will gladly order from Kirstein more often and I'm glad to still have gotten the item there, since the Faderport Classic will soon be discontinued, as far as I know. Therefore, I would like to motivate anyone interested to compare the Faderport Classic with the Faderport 2 and to order and try it out.

FINAL WORD
On my work desk, the Faderport Classic stands to the right of my mouse and fits there perfectly with its dimensions. The Faderport 2 is bigger and more elongated and does not fit on my desk as well as the Faderport Classic. The price of about 100,- Euro is not only justified for the quality, function and ease of work with the help of the Faderport Classic for the work in the DAW, but actually a bargain. Grab it!