DAW Controller

Controllers > Control Surfaces

Published March 2025

Softube’s Console 1 system reaches its third iteration, refining and improving the popular DAW controller.

In our April 2024 issue, Sam Inglis reviewed the new Console 1 MkIII, Softube’s channel strip DAW controller designed for their Console 1 plug‑in ecosystem and selected third‑party partners like UAD and FabFilter. Those familiar with the MkI and MkII versions will know that the mixing system comes with two units, the Console 1 Channel and the Console 1 Fader. Unfortunately, the MkIII Fader was not ready for Sam’s initial review. The two are meant to work as a unified system where the Fader unit gives basic mixing control over 10 mixer channels, and the Channel unit allows you to get into the details of EQ, compression, overdrive and other effects on the currently selected channel.

If you’re interested in the system, start with Sam’s initial Console 1 Channel review and return here to learn more about the Fader unit.

Pre‑Fade

The Console 1 Fader uses the same dimensions and case design as the Console 1 Channel. Build quality is exceptional, and together they make a fine‑looking pair. Softube even sell a smart‑looking wooden stand that will mount both units together. Alternatively, you can purchase a rackmounting kit or mount them using a VESA stand.

There are 10 100mm motorised faders, 10 OLED screens, a single high‑precision encoder, and plenty of push buttons for mute, solo, mode switching, channel selection, and more. The encoder is the same type found on the Channel unit and is used for panning the selected track and menu selections when needed. Some people may miss the lack of a dedicated pan encoder for every channel, but I didn’t find it a problem. With a click of the Shift button, the encoder doubles as a stereo width control, as with the MkII.

The touch‑sensitive motorised faders feel very high quality and include optional haptic feedback, which is new to the MkIII. For example, when you pass through unity, the fader will hit a small resistance spot. The clever thing about the haptic system is that it is entirely software‑controlled, which means it can change positions on the fader or even be disabled altogether. For example, if you have the faders in Pan mode, the haptic feedback will be in the centre of the fader instead of where the 0dB mark would be. There is even a handy option to vibrate the fader when a channel is clipping.

The screens above each channel show a variety of information depending on context. In normal fader mode, they show channel name, pan position, volume, VU meter and mute/solo status.

The faders can be put into nine different modes using the six Fader Mode buttons to the left of the faders. Volume and Pan modes control the volume and pan directly in your DAW, and Sends 1‑6 allow you to control the first six sends (there is no way to access a seventh send or beyond). Param mode will enable you to control any parameter in the Console 1 plug‑in, which is a nice way to access a single parameter across multiple channels. I particularly enjoyed assigning the Character and Drive parameters to faders, which allows you to mix using overdrive instead of volume.

Fade In

Like the Channel unit, the Fader unit is powered by USB‑C. Two recessed USB‑C ports allow you to daisy‑chain up to four units and a Channel unit to a single computer USB port. The Console 1 system needs custom support from DAW manufacturers. As a result, not all DAWs have the same level of support, and some features may work for some and not others. Softube are constantly working with various manufacturers to improve this, and full or partial support is now available for most of the big‑name DAWS on the market. At the time of this review, Pro Tools suffers from a reduced feature count compared to other DAWs but check before purchasing.

The twin USB‑C ports are cleverly recessed so you can keep your cables nice and tidy when daisy‑chaining units.

Each channel has a Select button. When you click it, this channel becomes the active channel, and if you have a Console 1 Channel unit, that will refresh to show the settings for the current track. If your DAW supports it (not all do), the Select button LED and the OLED screen will adopt the track colour set in the DAW, which helps with navigation. If you have a lot of tracks, you can move backwards and forwards in groups of 10 tracks or one track at a time. Alternatively, if you select a track in your DAW, the Console 1 units will update to show you that track and select it.

The Console 1 system depends on having the Console 1 plug‑in (free with the purchase of either unit) inserted at the end of the plug‑in chain on every track of your DAW project. Tracks that don’t have the plug‑in inserted will not appear on the unit. In a couple of the DAWs I tried, there was a blank channel on the Fader unit for every track that didn’t have the plug‑in inserted. I’m not sure if this is common to all DAWs, but it seems a shame to have a wasted fader if you don’t need control over all tracks in the project.

For those who don’t want to buy into the Softube plug‑in system or have a DAW that isn’t supported by Softube, Console 1 Fader also supports Mackie Control and HUI protocols. MCU and HUI only support up to eight faders, so two faders will be redundant, and the encoder won’t work either. You’ll also be missing out on many of the more integrated features of the Console 1 system.

Universal Audio Apollo interface owners will welcome a function mode that allows the MkIII Fader to control the UAD Console software. I didn’t have a UAD interface to test it with, but this could be tremendously useful if you use the Apollo’s low‑latency digital mixer a lot. A fifth mode also allows the unit to function as a MIDI CC controller. Three banks of 10 faders and associated mute, solo and select buttons send out unique MIDI CCs, which is extremely handy for MIDI automation of any kind. These modes can all be switched on the fly using the hardware.

The Console 1 plug‑in itself is remarkable. It is both a plug‑in and a plug‑in host. It behaves as a channel strip where you can swap out components, for example, an EQ or compressor, for another model. I refer you to Sam’s Console 1 Channel review for the gritty detail, but I will say that despite doing tape emulation, filtering, compression (twice), EQ (twice), overdrive, and all the utility stuff like volume panning and phase control, it is incredibly light on CPU. Of course, if you swap out some of the components for Softube’s more demanding plug‑ins or some supported UAD or FabFilter plug‑ins, your mileage may vary, but with modern CPUs, this is less of a problem than you might imagine.

Fade Out

Much of the value within the Console 1 system is in the direct software plug‑in control and the library of plug‑ins that Softube have developed over the years. They have an impressive library of channel strips, compressors, EQs, mastering tools, and more, many of which are compatible with the Console 1. Some big names they have licensed for their emulations include Solid State Logic, Weiss Engineering, Chandler Limited, Empirical Labs and Summit Audio. If you buy the Console 1 Fader or Channel unit, it comes with a ‘Core Mixing Suite’, which gives you a nice selection of EQs, compressors and saturators to use with your hardware, but buying more could be addictive, not to mention costly.

The MkIII Fader is not the main star in controlling channel strip parameters other than volume and panning. That is the role of the MkIII Channel unit. You can use the Fader’s Param mode to access a single parameter on the faders, but attempting to make all your edits this way would be frustrating. Even though the Core Mixing Suite is included with a Fader purchase, it doesn’t make much sense without the Channel unit. The Console plug‑in has been designed with hardware control in mind. Controlling it with a mouse felt clunky, and it would be a waste to insert the plug‑in on every track simply to give you control over volume and panning. The sensible purchase path, at least in my eyes, is to get the Channel unit first, and if you gel with that but feel you are missing faders, get the Fader unit.

Softube sell optional wooden end‑cheeks for mounting the Console and Fader together. Rack ears are also available.

One thing I would love to see added to the Console 1 hardware is transport controls. During mixing sessions, I often had to divert my attention unnecessarily back to the mouse and keyboard to start, stop and navigate a project, which seems a shame given how good Console 1 is at keeping you away from the computer for every other mixing task.

Now to a minor gripe: When will manufacturers learn not to put dark‑coloured text on a dark‑coloured background? In low light, much of the unit’s labelling is unreadable. Some of the screen text also suffers legibility problems, particularly in menus where the font is so tiny that I was forced to squint even when wearing reading glasses.

These are minor complaints and should not detract from the MkIII fader being one of the best fader controllers on the market. The motorised faders are precise and quiet, and the whole package feels premium. The software integration was flawless during my testing period. You have to accept that Softube’s Console plug‑in will be on every track of your DAW project, but the payoff is a system that feels tightly integrated and reliable. The Fader unit, on its own, will not take full advantage of the software integration, but together with a Channel unit, they make a powerhouse of a control system.

As a side note, acknowledgement and praise should go to Softube for their work implementing accessibility features in the Console 1 system. These include a suite of options for screen reader users (Voice Over on macOS and Narrator on Windows). It is good to see companies supporting people with vision impairment. Credit where it’s due.

The MkIII Console and Fader combination has matured into a class‑leading controller suite.

The Softube Console 1 system is 10 years old, and the MkIII Console and Fader combination has matured into a class‑leading controller suite. It is evident that Softube care about their product and are listening to customer feedback. Incremental updates and clever hardware revisions have helped the system develop into one of the market’s most mature and premium DAW controllers. There is a price tag to match, but you get what you pay for. Compared to the MkII units, the MkIII have better build quality, nicer faders, rock‑solid encoders, and a much deeper integration with software.

Pros

Ten quiet and precise motorised faders with haptic feedback.
Beautiful build quality.
Softube’s software integration ‘just works’.

Cons

The price is notably higher than the MkII.
Pro Tools lags behind in support.

Summary

Softube have taken their Console 1 system to a higher level with the MkIII. Like the Channel unit, the Console 1 Fader MkIII is a beautifully built software controller that keeps improving.