Best DAW controller for arrangement view / VST production

[golemus]

Hey those of you that compose in arrangement view (in the traditional sequencer way) and with VST plugins, what do you consider the best DAW controller for Ableton Live...?

I must say the things that I use the most currently are
- keyboard for playing
- +- buttons for program change messages
- slider for adjusting volume of the current channel

So my "DAW-controller" is M-Audio Oxygen25 keyboard.

But there is DAW controllers from Presonus, Steinberg and Cakewalk, what do you think of those (with Live)...?

I have APC-40 and I don't consider it a good for arrangement view. it is just in the way.

I kind of wish something that would make EQ/compression faster so that you would have endless knobs for:
- EQ gain1, freq1, gain2, freq2, gain3, freq3, gain4, freq4
- compressor: treshold, ratio, attack, release

Of course the problem is that you always need to first choose a device with mouse before you can control it (to get the hand sign on the device), I suppose you can do nothing for this :I

[Zygi]

maybe bcf2000 in mackie mode?

[beats me]

Mackie MCU, but no keyboard built-in.

[yur2die4]

Absolutely the Novation ReMote SL mkII controllers. Pricey but quite versatile. You can even program a button on one preset to jump into another preset. Not to mention a button to jump into Automap which is a whole Other can of delicious worms.

YouTube their tutorial on setting up Live for it. You'll see that you get parameters of your selected device displayed on the screen with appropriate adjustment types (frequency, rate, wave type etc).

Btw, don't expect much from the drum pads or xy pad.

Tip: if you need to do the instant control of any device with for instance your APC, map the title bar of that device to a button. Every time you tap that button your macro controls jump to it.

[jbauerctu]

I also have a Oxygen 25 for playing keyboard and I've just bought a novation sl zero Mk2 and its very good! A good accompliment to the novation launchpad.

[redglass]

You can consider any midicontroller, with or without keys, that supports mackie control. And there are quite a lot!

[golemus]

Absolutely the Novation ReMote SL mkII controllers. Pricey but quite versatile. You can even program a button on one preset to jump into another preset. Not to mention a button to jump into Automap which is a whole Other can of delicious worms.

YouTube their tutorial on setting up Live for it. You'll see that you get parameters of your selected device displayed on the screen with appropriate adjustment types (frequency, rate, wave type etc).

Btw, don't expect much from the drum pads or xy pad.

Tip: if you need to do the instant control of any device with for instance your APC, map the title bar of that device to a button. Every time you tap that button your macro controls jump to it.

Do you know that if you use the knobs to control Ableton live effects (EQ8, Compressor, etc..) can you get the name of the controlled parameter to the LCD screen or does it work only for VSTs with automap...?

You can even program a button on one preset to jump into another preset. Not to mention a button to jump into Automap which is a whole Other can of delicious worms.

Can you elaborate what do you mean?

And another question, can you use this controller without automap, especially the knobs..? How about the older one (not MKII, my friend has the older version and I could perhaps lend it for trying..

[yur2die4]

I use mine without Automap. Ableton and Automap aren't exactly beat friends. Since Ableton Live doesn't have predesignated midi parameters.

I can't really say for certain what older models would have but using the controller with Automap off, I use the Ableton template that is built into the controller itself.

The jumping-between-presets thing is in the manual. You have to be ready to patiently dig through the menus and mess with things. I use it so that I can have a whole Extra GM layout of assignable things at the press of a button. The controller is very very customizable.

There is also quick access to program change and bpm!! of all things, in a quick menu button. If you have a decent understanding of midi, this is probably the best keyboard to get haha.