I do the screen off thing too, just listening without visual cues, ears are more focused for the subtle tweaks that way. I have the old silver version which has been going strong for years. This new one is more refined.
I am looking foward the Review with cakewalk. I am very thankful for this topic, because my research for DAW Controller ended always in more questions than answers.
Great Video Mike ... I look forward to your video with the review guide and details on how to use the QCon Pro G2 with Cakewalk. It will be very useful for many non-professional home studio users like me who want to buy a DAW controller to upgrade our small studio.
Great succinct review Mike - Looks like a lovely bit of kit - I use my Roland APro 800 keyboard controller (that set me on the Sonar / Cakewalk path as Sonar 8LE came with it) but it is temperamental and unfathomable! Don't think I could justify the price of this but great to see it has mapping and overlays for Cakewalk as many manufacturers seem to forget it exists!
Top notch Mike, really good to have a concise, to the point summary rather than a drawn out 40 minute review. And knowing you've used other similar controllers for comparison is a huge plus point. Thanks for the video, think I'll be buying one of these. Cheers!
Excellent review! I was going to purchase a genuine Mackie MCU, but this review was so good that I ended up purchasing the Qcon G2 instead. I also did a little research and learned that Mackie's products suffer a bit as "abandonware", whereas Icon really seems to stay on top of their products. Beautifully done, sir. This review made a difference!
Great vid as usual Mike, I invested in one of these and 2 extenders a few months ago, absolutely love them. I had considered the immediacy of the Faderport 16 with Studio One but I opted for the Icons for their sleekness and expandability. I had tried the Xtouch which I still have but in my opinion the Icon G2's are superior in build quality . Also with the extenders sat next to each other it looks and feels like one unit. Like you I use Studio One and Cubase it also works flawlessly with that. The only controllers I might go for other than the G2's would be their bigger brothers the Pro's but for now I'm more than happy with the G2's .
You've probably moved onto other hardware by now but I thought I'd ask… Are you able to control plug-ins in Cubase to any usable extent? I realise you can make knobs move on the screen but without spending several days customising each plug-in to work with a controller, I've never found a piece of hardware that does this satisfactorily (?)
Hi Mike! Can't say how much I love your videos! I worked for Cakewalk for 10 years, and I still learn things from you! Just bought the G2 and I custom mapped two faders to send CC1 and CC11 instead of Pitch Bend, the default. Only trouble is, CbB doesn't record the fader movements! I verified they're simple MIDI CC Events using MIDI-Ox, so I know for certain the G2 is sending what I want. I suspect CbB doesn't record them as I expect because of something in the Mackie Control protocol. Anyway, have you been successful doing any custom mapping? Can you look into it for me?
hey Mike, just wondering if you ever did a follow up to this video. i'm looking at getting the qcon g2 and would love to hear your thoughts on how well it integrated with both studio one and cakewalk. any feedback would be greatly appreciated. it is not easy picking the right hardware that you want to last for many years. many thanks.
Thanks for this! I'm looking to move on from my Mackie eventually and was about to buy the Presonus Faderport 8. This looks like the MCU, but sleeker and more up to date. Thanks!!!!
Best bang for your buck by a country mile is the Presonus StudioLive III series. Live mixer, interface & control surface. I have the 24 so minimal paging of channels. Works perfect with Logic. Best dedicated control surface is probably the Avid S3 (had one for a year or so) but it is mentally expensive.
Hi friend, I have a Q about the overlays for different DAW´s are they adhesive so they don´t jump off ? nice demo, i concider to buy one QCon Pro G2 soon Thank you for shareing, Love cheers from Sweden 😃💚
I use this with studio one pro 4.6, reaper and cakewalk works great with all ...works best with studio one IMO.. but you can’t go wrong with using it with cakewalk... I did notice that the master fader and the meter light next to fader doesn’t work when using it with cakewalk .. I might be missing something during setup though
Mike, is the newer mackie any different than yours? Was a new Mackie a c9nsideration or were you really turned off of them. I was thinking of going that route & have you tried any others like the Presonus faderport, or the Behringer x-touch?? or others or considered, thanks!!
Heya. My main Mackie was one of the early editions. The faders on that are really quite noisy. The extender I had was newer, and the fader noise had improved. However, I have had to swap the displays out 3 times, as they failed. This is a known issue. The only way to get a permanent fix, was to get one from a third part, who manufacture a replacement that actually works! But I find it annoying that it's a well known issue that it's taken another company to fix. It just put me off of Mackie a bit :( I havnt tried the faderport yet. From memory, I think it does have pan controls for each channel. I've tried the x touch. Good, but I prefer the build quality on this one, and the larger size.
home studio gear is constantly and VERY QUICKLY getting better and better. This daw controller will be obsolete in a year. I can “catch up” with new tech but I wont be able to “keep up.” It’s evolving so fast.
Qcon need to hire you to do more reviews I purchased the qcon nano and haven’t found any tutorials on how to use it properly within my daws I have protools and fl studios and logic and ide like a good tutorials that’ll show me how to open my plugins and control my vst
Looks to be a good replacement for my Digi 003 that I have to replace as the latest version of ProTools and OSX/OS11 no longer support - researching as much as I can on this unit and appreciate the info on it
Reminds me of the x-touch. Was torn between this and the x touch but being able to use the x touch to control the x air or x32 live makes it seem a little more worth it, but damn this qcon looks so cool
This answered everything I needed except one thing. Would you be able to provide measurements of the unit? Every seller is showing different measurements. Please and thank you!!!
Hi Mike, great video, thanks for posting! How are you finding the controller after living with it for 6 months? Any reliability issues? I'm particularly interested in Pro Tools integration with HUI. I'm thinking of upgrading from an old Command 8, do you know if Scroll to track works to focus the controller by Ctrl+Shift+click on a track name in pro tools? Thanks!
Hi thanks for the video, bought one off the back of this review, love it. Can I map the buttons directly in studio one or do I use the icon software, not much about the use of the app anywhere? Thanks again. Also how did you do the demo mode with all the faders and lights doing a pattern? Cheers 🙃
The Presonus StudioLive 32s 3 series 40 channel is Best is what I use - Truly an all in one Machine - Blows this one out the box as well as many other for the price and what you get
hey Mike, I just recently purchased the Icon Platform Nano, and I'm trying to set it up with Cakewalk, and I'm having trouble, can u go over how you set up the QCon, I'm sure it the same
Great review! I was thinking of buying the Behringer X Touch but this looks much nicer. Should I spend the extra cash and get the Qcon Pro G2 to use with Cubase Pro 11?
wow, straight-up shocked at the price of this. i was expecting this to be at least twice what it's listed for, considering the pricetag of some of the mackie MCU units i've seen. i think you sold me
I have the Mackie MCU Pro with two extenders and a Mackie C4. I haven't had any issues with mine.... yet. So thinking ahead to when mine starts acting up and needs replaced: Are the transport controls (Play,stop,etc..) easy to get to and push on the Qcon? Seems like maybe I'm just spoiled with the giant transport controls on the Mackie and wondering if Qcon is easy to use also? I'm also wondering if upgrading is even a consideration for me since it seems to me at first glance, that is is basically just like the Mackie isn't it? Except for the fact that I love the backlit buttons! :)
Hi Mike, I have just purchased one of these Qcon Pro G2 but my experience on the faders is not as good as yours. I find them noisy and a bit clunky. I have tried calibration but they are not much better. What did you set yours to?
Thanks for the review 🙂 Currently looking in to buying a controller, but torn between this and The Behringer X-Touch. Is this worth the extra money? Is there any features missing on this compared to the Behringer accept the IO's? Seems like the Behringer is a good buy, but this G2 looks great.
I want to be using the unit as a Midi CC controller as well as for mixing. Is it easy to combine the two functions in one layout or is switching modes required, and, if so, what is involved in making that switch? Are there presets or something to that effect that can be recalled, and how easy is it to do that? Really enjoy your work and have learned a lot so far. Keep up the great work.
Hi Mike, I´m Diego, a producer, musician and singer from Argentina. I´m about to buy the qcon pro g2, but before I would like to ask you about the compatibility with Cakewalk, specially if you can access to every channer easily , and also the master and submasters section. Also if it is possible to control plug ins parameters and eq etc of the pro channel. Any comments about it I will be very grateful. I really like your videos and your help will be very important for me, as I don´t want to make a mistake buying the wrong controller. Thank you very much in advance!
Hi Mike. I can’t find any information about using Qcon (Pro g2 or Pro X) with stereo tracks or output buses other than Master. Have you tested? Are we limited to mono tracks? Thanks for your answer and your great videos that make me feel like I’m not alone in using Cakewalk.
I run mine in Mackie Control mode MCU which doesn't depend on any drivers to run whatsoever! Some older controllers work as MCU as well so even something like a Behringer BCF2000 can be used today!
I'm SERIOUSLY thinking of buying this or the Qcon Pro X but I have a very important question. Yes, I will use the device on Cubase but as a main, I want to use it on Adobe Premiere. So my question is, how compatible is the device/s with Adobe Premiere? If you yet to cover this can you do so in a quick mini impression video, please? Thanks.
I was planning to purchase the SSL UF8, until I saw this video. The Pro G2 seems to work well for you with Cakewalk (which is what I use also), and it's nearly half the price of the UF8. Are there any major advantages to UF8 over Pro G2?
Hello and thank you for this great video even if it makes me struggle a little more. Because I was convinced by the purchase of the presonus faderport 16 since I work with studio one. And then I came across your video grrr!! I had already read good things about this g2 but I stuck to my first idea. But now I really hesitate a lot. There is one thing I don't quite understand, could you answer me please? I am French and do not speak English very well. Are you saying that the overlays for studio one are already in the box when you buy the main base or do you have to find and buy one separately? sorry I did not understand well. Thank you
I'd love to know how you have set up your QCon G2 to function with plugins in Studio One 4 as I have the same control surface and it fails to do many of the studio one functions on my Mac. This is the deciding point for me keeping it as plugin control is perfect in Ableton but I primarily mix in studio one.
So, if you’re working with more than 8 channels, can you change which channels are seen on the G2 Pro, or do you have to get a second G2 in order to see what’s going on with the rest of the channels? I use an Allen and Heath GLD 112 for live mixing and they have banks to switch from when there’s more channels to use than the set number channel strips on the console. I find that super convenient and am hoping that there’s an equivalent on the G2 as that would be super ideal!
I want to buy one of these but I'm hearing a lot of negative things about Icon products, including software issues and malfunctioning displays and leds etc... I use cubase... Can you shade some light?
Hey...excellent video. I've had one of these for two weeks and I love it. The only problem is that the manual is very thin and I can't find out how to do certain things that I really need. I'm looking for an instructor. Share screen. Online. Hourly paid. If there's an expert out there who'd be interested, please let me know in this thread. Thank you
Robert, If it is using the Mackie Mode, then the operation guide is in Cakewalk by Bandlab. I learned how to use the BCF2000 and wrote a tutorial back in the Sonar forums years ago from reading it. I learned how to use my Mackie Control Universal from the guide built into Cakewalk Sonar. The controls should be the same. Open up Cakewalk by Bandlab and select the Mackie Control properties page. Once it is open, click the properties page and then press F1 on your keyboard and a hidden information page appears showing you the Mackie Controls for using in Sonar/ BandLab. Select "Working wuth the Mackie Control and you will see all of the control for functions in Sonar/Bandlab. Now since this is from the old days of Sonar, things like the compressor being the first FX insert is no more and you will notice some other oddities, but this work. Good Luck
Hi Mike. I am having a hard time deciding what to choose as my dc. Icon, Faderport, or Xtouch? My main daw is S1. You have some experience with the Icon. What are the worst downsides with it? Should i pick it over the others? Why?
Can someone tell me if that QCon Pro G2 controller can also be used as a Midi Continuous Controller, for example use the faders to send midi CC 11 or CC2 or any other CC to write data in a DAW or control VST instruments?
Can you use this for mix automation on a tascam neo. Tascam neo is a self contained 24 track recorder with midi in. Could you record mix automation with midi in??
