THESE are the BEST DAW CONTROLLERS.... for me 😉 

Big thanks to Ridge for sending me this wallet and supporting the channel! Here’s the site if you want to check them out! > ridge.com/WHITESEA

Congratulations on the sponsor, I love your content and I hope you continue with the frequent uploads.

As a drummer I love using my iPhone within logic as a transport bar to record myself which allows me to stay seated at the kit and record as many takes as I want

Great shout out to Ridge for sponsoring your videos bro. I'm really happy for you and this channel.

I really dig the streamer deck, can you show us how do you program the shortcuts and actions?

I was going to get a streamdeck just for streaming, this convinces me to get one more for mixing and producing. The XL is probably needed for the pages to control multiple software on different pages but didnt realise it had this power, way more logical than keyboard shortcuts

You guys stop correcting him on his pronunciations, I mean that's one of the perks of this channel, LOL. :)

I love watching your channel -straight to the point no nonsense pure experience!its become my habit now to check your channel- before buying any new plugin ;)!! u the man!greetings from UK!

Wow I must say that we have remarkably similar workflows! Reaper, Izotope RX and I love my macros and custom toolbars. One thing which I could not live without however, and have to recommend is this thing called "Nob Control" which is basically a big juicy knob, which automatically grabs any knob or fader which your mouse is hovering over. It's like having a physical control for every..single..thing on your screen without having to assign anything ever. It also plays nice with automation recording in Reaper, so I basically just hit "latch" and then I'm recording the automation with the physical knob. Well, I'm going to stop now because it's starting to sound like I work for that company hehe. Groeten uit IJsland!

Man, coming over to your channel from another is like coming into clear, loud wonderful audio (Except that your ad bit needs a pop filter, hehe). Keep up the good work dude!

Got a streamdeck xl a couple weeks ago. For the price, it's a no brainer. I don't have to scroll through a list of plugins anymore- opening up a "compressors" folder & seeing a picture of every comp plugin I own is SO helpful.

As a live sound guy I can't understand why it is easier for you to use pencil for FF plugins. I mean especially eq is extremely handy when you can drag up and down for band gain, left to right for frequency and do a pinch gesture to manipulate Q. And let's be honest - ProQ3 looks like designed exactly to use it like that, to me at least. Other than that I love your setup with stream deck. Nice to see how well it integrates with Reaper. I'm also a Reaper user and I'm considering buying one but in combination with SSL UF8 via Reaper CSI.

Funny, I just bought a Faderport 16 and configured it in Reaper today. For me it works out because I do a lot of volume rides on multiple channels simultaneously, and don’t use hidden tracks or other things that catch it up. Always poked around with iPads for software control, either sidecar or TouchOSC, but have never found a nice setup.

Lots of great ideas here! I’d highly recommend looking into an old single motorized fader controller and the CSI program. It’s allowed me to control and automate the last-touched plugin parameter. Huge time saver for me.

Thank you for showing the note function in Reaper! Working with Reaper since years, but never found this function.

you also might want to look into creating your own custom interface using (open stage control *free, Lemur,TouchOSC*paid) with a touch screen (ipad) , depending on the work you do they might be more useful . i use open stage control + Cubase with a lot of logical editor presets to control my composing template (select/hide/enable instruments, control sends/quick controls , edit midi, mixer ) it takes time to build a template to your needs but it's great .

10 years ago people would be blown away with this Star Trek interaction.

I’ve been trying to control plugins using actual knobs, mostly plugins that resemble analog equipment like the ones from Analog Obsession. I got an Arturia minilab which has a ton of encoders and with Bitwig “devices” I can create a layout for each plugin to control any parameters of the selected device with the same set of encoders. Is there something like that in Reaper? I tried to do the same thing on Ardour but I haven’t find a way to create those layouts, you can only map to a certain parameter at a certain plugin position in the chain, so that you have to have predetermined plugins chains for it to work.

Here's a trick out of left field that I figured out and I still have yet to see anyone else realize. Gamer mouses have as many as 19 buttons on them (I have the Naga Razer which is widely considered the best and one of the only gamer mouses (mice?) that is Mac compatible. I am not a gamer. At all. I bought the mouse 100% for macro controls in my daw. Generally there are 12 buttons on the side that you can program very complex or fairly simple macros onto and then what they call a "fire" button just left and north of your left click and a clickable scroll. My "fire" button is "save", some other simple macros I have programmed into it are copy, paste, slip tool while held until released, quantize, merge audio, select all tracks, etc. I have some more complex macros like group tracks for edits and another that is cut at beat times 8 in one click. So I can group drums together, pick let's say kick if it's playing 8th or 16th notes and in one click, it will slice the drum track 8 times (which is what I zoom my sequence window to roughly), then I highlight them all and an click the quantize macro. Slide the audio so that it's all over lapping, then hit that merge audio macro. The last 2 buttons of the 12 side buttons toggle to the next mouse profile which has more macros you can program and save! Then I can toggle back with button 11. Beautiful right?! $70 I spent on it if memory serves.

Streamdeck, (jogwheel) transport controls and a single motorized fader is all that I need. The days of having 24 fader surfaces are over for me.

Very inspiring, especially the ipad stuff. Got the streamdeck XL some days ago (after a long wait here in germany) and already thought about to use it with bitwig besides the planned streaming controlling (obs, etc).

I like the way you use that stream deck and iPad as controller's, very useful and creative.

I use the Loupedeck CT. Its great, its configurable, its versatile. I can use it with several profiles / Templates, fully customizable, I have Buttons, a big Dial for scrolling, some knobs, etc. It feels like a small mixer. I never would use a Streamdeck, because its (for me!) not flexible and customizable enough and it has no knobs and dials.

Thanks for the heads up on that Stream unit.

Streamdeck looks pretty cool, but how do you configure it? I use a Korg Nano Kontrol Studio for some time now allthough basic, it suits my needs. I use it with Cubase a generic Mackie remote mostly for the transport functions. I also use it for video editing, the jogwheel is great for scrolling / zooming the timeline. My video editing software (Adobe Premiere Elements) doesn’t support midi devices by itself but I managed to get around this by using Bomes Midi Translator pro which can map midi events to mouse and keyboard events.

I got a stream deck xl a couple of months ago and I find it great for shortcut keys and launching apps, but not as much (until I learn a better way(?)) for macros that take place over time. Putting delays in helps, but you never know how fast your computer will run. That said, I didn’t know about the Companion app. Do you use it simply because it interacts with Reaper, but for some reason the Elgato app doesn’t? I’m just getting into learning piano again, so one thing I saw there are Bluetooth page turner pedals (for sheet music on your Pad, so you can turn the page with a foot pedal). Some of these, like Air Turn, also allow you to program some limited macros, midi, etc. I can see this as being more handy than buttons on your midi controller for transport function, since you don’t have to reposition your hands during the count in. Thanks for the video!

Great video! So.. how do you setup an extra window with a tablet that's connected to your DAW? im using ableton and would love to have a spectrum analyzer and luff meter next to me on a tablet. Connected to wifi and use as second screen?

Nice, I got a couple good ideas from this! And yes, I'm still looking for the best way to edit plug-ins.

Stream Deck seems amazing! It's on my WANT LIST now! :-)

For my Cubase shortcuts I use a program in my android phone called Touch Portal

I tried using OSC and and IPad to control a channelstrip plugin on each track, but it’s to difficult to set it up.

Wish there was someone that can show us how to program hotkeys that inserts plugins . Bin looking allover RU-vid and no one showing it. I see you have fabfilter as hotkey!! How?? so it is possible!

Great video! There are two I use to control Reaper with my phone. Macrodeck that does the same as a stream deck. Also touchdaw, a remote control app for any daw

I got the Maschine MK3 a few days ago, and as i mostly own Komplete instruments and effects, i feel like this is probably the best option for me. I have not had it long enough to know about all the potential limitations of using this device, but so far i am surprised by how much functionality i get in a single €600 controller. Still think its a good idea to have a nice analog synth beside it, for the best possible workflow - considering it only has 8 knobs, so you have to flip through pages to control all the parameters, which does not offer the ultimate workflow for instruments with lots of parameters... But once i get familiar with the mappings for my favorite synth plugins, i can flip to the correct page pretty quickly, so getting a hardware synth is not really essential... One thing i have been thinking about getting though, is either a touchpad or a trackball. Compared to a mouse, i think this would feel a LITTLE more like using hardware - and it would not require as much desk space as a mouse.

I like the idea of a Streamdeck (for more than just OBS) - not crazy about the price of them. I've got a Logitech G910 Gaming/Macro keyboard here and have it integrated into Studio One and my FaderPort 8. Between those, my Console One and the occasional use of the sliders, knobs and pads on the Edirol PCR-800, I have my workflows pretty well in hand. I have also been trying the Studio One Remote on my Surface Pro, which is really quite nice since I can easily control some of the functions in Studio One in a "proprietary" way. Still doesn't beat the physical faders, but it is nice to be able to control other things like launching macros and whatnot - just haven't gotten in the flow, in the right position, or had that much a need to get past the number of controls I can already affect with the other items. I also have the OLD Frontier Designs Tranzport, which still (surprisingly) works for transport control and a few other basics for when I'm at the drums - though I will might eventually switch over to using the Surface for this.

My newest addition is an array of push encoders from intech grid. 32 rows of pots for 32 tracks, good units and the price is right

I use a stream deck XL with a page for Reaper. I also have a page for regular browsing, Whatsapp Social media and other stuff i do. That combined with console 1 and console 1 fader is mostly enough for mixing for me. Although I'm sometimes lean towards buying a midifighter twister. I actually don't need it that badly. And I hate mapping the stuff. I use machine and komplete kontrol for composing but that is a totally different workflow.

Hello @white sea studio you have tested softube console 1, but for plugin did you try console 1 in midi mode? having already labelled knob to control eq (pro-q) and compressor (pro-c) is cool, also what's cool in fabfilter pro Q3 midi learn is that you can midi learn the parameter of the selected band/filter and assign button to switch from band to band, and assign fixed knob to the selected band, but you can at the same time assign knobs to the parameter of a fixed band...but i don't know how reaper is handling midi controller , i use studio one (more for producing/composing) and cubase for "mixing" (i'm not a good mixer), in studio one you can use a use a midi track or you have a feature called control link (kind of novation/automap when you assign vst parameter of the focused plugin to a declared midi controller), on cubase you have to use a midi track and use midi send. And also i use midiox to create "cluster" of midi controller because with control link the focused plugin can only be controlled by a single controller, so with midiox+loopmidi all my midi controller can be seen by studio one as one midi controller and like this i can dedicate one controller to a section of plugin (easier to remember than with controller with bank of knob or bank of fader). regards

Wow stream deck is a game changer and life saver for me. Thanks for sharing 😎👌🏻

Yeah, I’ve used Duet app with IPad Pro so it’s plugged in rather than relying on Bluetooth. Must get the first thingy, seen it used by quite a few engineers and a s a performer trying to split my brain into two very different workflows, this has to be a winner

As my old wingman Daan used to say: "If you're ain't Dutch, then you ain't much." Thankyou for your inspiration brother. I was going to drop a few EURO on an Ableton controller. However, I've got a couple of Stream decks I've now repurposed for Ableton. Working well so far. Thanks again.

I have a total of 9 controllers in my in the box studio. allows me to turn knobs on everything, but the best one by far is the novation remote sl mk 2. the learn feature on that is fast. wiggle and on screen knob, then touch the knob you want it to be on the novation. done! start tweeking and automating. Plus it remembers all your plugins, so after you program it for say an ssl e channel, then next time its all there ready to go as soon as the pluging is up on screen. I like this so much I have the keyboard and desktop verision.

I use a Streamdeck + NOB controller for hands on control of various things like the Fabfilter Plugins.

Streamdeck looks really great workflow but what about reliability? So many tiny screens are they going to last a year? And what about Its drivers with daw usb ports ,etc. any issues?

I did a streamdeck profile for Ableton, it takes a loooooot of time to configure well... But the workflow after that is simply awesome...

Hey can you help me I got the stream deck and I cant figure out how to make it open up plugins like pro-Q3 in my DAW🥵

I like to use the apple mouse for the Fabfilters (the only ones I use), at least you can control the frequency and Q at the same time you move up down and sideways...Keep pushing!!

I use my trusty old Mackie MCU constantly, but I realised recently I mostly just use the transport and Jog wheel. A while back I got one of those Softube console ones. After a couple of year of hating the very concept of it, I played with one at my local music store hooked up to a demo session and man I was sold. I pretty much just use the console one plugin with the British (I think its a Neve emulation, so it fits in with the 73's in my preamp stack). Occasionally some reverb, and Ozone on the master. But that whole bucket of waves plugins I had been using for the last 12-13 years is more or less unused now.,

what exactly happens when you press the fabfilter button? what is created or opened when you press? is this for the selectet track?

Good video with the deck! How do you map your plugins to jump on the tracks?

stream deck is so extreme awesome. the display buttons and having multiple lvls of profiles and/or folders im using it with ableton (on mac, with clyphx pro and midi buttons streamdeck plugin) this combo makes ableton much more pleasing to use and produce on (if ableton would open much more of the api so clyphx can utilize it more that would be so awesome but probably the step up to python3 on ableton could open it lets wait for live 11.1 update) and in studio one just basic stuff for voc recording and editing

it is possible to integrate the waves osc control app with reaper, i haven't set it up yet but you might dig all the features it has. Been considering just getting a portable touch screen to mix and control plugins with, which would make mobile recordings easier and probably make the client think i am some kind of tech wiz lol

running Logic Pro with a streamdeck, iPad (logic remote and touch portal) and a set of Behringer xtouch extenders (no regular xtouch) Now, for the extenders, I pulled off the silver end caps and butted them together. Yeah complex routing CAN screw them up but they help a LOT.. I will never go back to using a mouse for faders. Also have a midi fighter twister mapped for my plugins. took a while to set up, but I trigger the "modes" in logic from my iPad (to keep midi conflicts down) and then the midi twister rocks, per plugin. I can go by feel on the knobs and its been a godsend. its a weird time for hardware controllers, feels like were "stuck in the middle" and so many companies are trying to find their way in the "usefulness" department. Was looking at the Uc1 but man, they dedicated the entire middle section for the master buss compressor? thats a huge chunk of real estate for something I will rarely touch. just weird.

Can the iPad be used the same way but on pc instead of mac?

Yes Stream Deck is great. You could also sending Midi Notes and CCs and its very usefull for other applications as well like Video editing, Foto editing, gaming and so on. If this thing has an Wifi or Bluetooth connection it would be perfect.

whats the best video or site to learn to program a streamdeck, you went fast over the streamdeck and its hard to figure the way to set it up

cheers, Didn't expect either a streamdeck or ipad. very surprising. I have an ipad but because I use PC, I can hopefully find a way to use it as a remote controller in a similar way. The streamdeck......well, I'm gonna have to do a deep dive on that and see if it could do a similar thing with my apps.

I wish i had better fader resolution in logic, that's really the only thing i dont like about it at the moment. Anybody got a trick for that?

There is something only for windows 10 called Microsoft Surface Dial you mouse over any button or fader and that's controllable with the phisical knob. It is very inexpensive. I combine it with touch screen. You have to install a program called Elephant

Great video again, thanks for all your effort. I only have one comment, about roasting the speed editor, I love my speed editor, it saved me a loooot of time, so well built and easy to work with, you just need to get the hand of it, and then it will turn from a Slow to a Speed editor ...just give it some time

Maybe you should try the icon qcon stuff. They are midi controlled mixing desks with motorized faders and plugin control

Thanks for posting this man! I have tried so many DAWs, but time and time again, I find myself going back to Reaper. The lack of support for controller integration with Reaper is very frustrating. I have tinkered around with Control Surface Integration to try to get the Faderport V2 to work well, but I am not very satisified with the results. I wanted to use this controller so bad, that I decided to force myself to use Studio One for an entire project. That DAW is seriously a nightmare. Editing audio is painfully slow compared to Reaper, especially because I don't care much for quantizing audio for the kind of music that I make. Whenever I edit, I leave some of the imperfections entact to retain the track's humanity. I also tried Cubase, which is pretty good. I first used Cubase about 15 years ago so I'm very impressed with how the software has evolved over time. However, routing configuration is such a huge pain in the ass. I seriously don't understand why DAWs can't seem to make routing as simple as it is in Reaper. Reaper has the most intuitive routing, and excellent capabilities. You can do basically anything. Glad to hear you have had success with the stream deck- I will have to check that out.

Unfortunately I use my iPad for note taking and writing while I work on Audio so I can’t have it in sidecar mode! But good idea for mixing I’ll try next time I’m fixing up a project

Thanks for your Video. Do I understand it correctly that you can Insert any plugin as example your fab filter plugins while a channel is selected ?

Thanks. Great Vid Topic. I’m using Touch Portal.... I also have Eucon Control. I have to check the Eucon updates lately. Since I updated to Cubase 11 Have not setup my Lemur though if still works.

I need to try using my iPad with my DAW. I use it with Duet software.

Love your personality. You come across like a real buddy.

There's also TouchOSC for iPad, but it's more manual configuration

stream deck is compatible with Reason 12 and M1 ? thanks

The whole touch thing isn't for me. I had a Raven for a while but sent it back. I use and love the X-Touch. Perfect for me! You should try the Raven, you would LOVE it!!!

Thanks for the idea. Question: Doesn’t it make sense to have a physical DAW controller (like SSL UF8) to have multiple simultaneous fader control while mixing?

Man the Streamdesk is a great idea. On my list now!

have you looked into full daw controllers like the Qcon Pro G2? Would love to hear your take on a system like that and i could imagine you preferring that workflow your current setup

You are using a pen to control the faders... That is certainly not a hands on replacement it actually feels more similar to using a mouse which is what we want to escape in the first place. What is the perfect hands on controller faders knobs included? Would love to know

very cool - and useful. Many thanks once again

Check out the SSL UF8 controller. There is a bit of a. learning curve but you’re able to control all features. It’s scalable to up to 4 units.

I have the Atom from presonus to use my Studio One DAW... Very useful because it Works very well with my Ableton too... I recommand

Cool video ! starts with "I love to touch knobs" and then it ends on stylus pencil on iPad. Why not ! It's very cool and good information !

Using the Touch bar on a MacBook Pro is really helpful with Reaper shortcuts! Can instantly insert the fabfilter and other plugins.. open the mixer etc.. a lot like the way you have your streamdeck setup!

where to buy Streamdeck. thanks

What screensaver is that? Fantastic!

Streamdeck is incredible.. the ipad and sidecar is one of my favorites too... but i can’t live witouth physical knobs and sliders either.. and most of all, i need black and white keys

Hey there! I'm a musician/ digital artist, and I was disappointed that you can't use touch in apple sidecar, however, I have a Wacom Cintiq pro16 with touch enabled, and it works PERFECTLY for as a console touchscreen!

Yes You need to integrate keyboard maestro and stream deck together.

I like the Faderport 8 by Presonus and I also like the Console 1 by Softube. much easier to do mix automation when you can grab faders

There are many controllers but majority are bad and like a quality build bad. I used early Berhinger but I found my controller that suits every situation and that's Nektar P1, it conttols all DAW's including shoosing FX and use it, controling instruments and can be a generic MIDI with 10 Banks of 8 knobs, 9 Faders, 9 buttons and whole Transport protocol for every DAW and also includes a shortcuts but it's plastic material but very good quality build with LCD

for all the people liking the stream deck you can down load the companion software for free and just run it in a browser window so you can use it fully without the actual stream deck if you so desire. there is a bit of a learning curve involved with companion its not really an end user piece of software it was originally made for broadcast technicians to control broadcast hardware over networks. so i suggest you download the software and start trying to learn how it works cause its not plug and play. its amazing what it can do though.

The cup prop was a really pro touch. I am going to think about subscribing very seriously now.

What is your screen saver please?

Great job! You pronounced "ideas" almost correctly the first time! (the "s" at the end should have a Z sound)

Have you checked out solid state logic's uf8 and uc1? I think you may find the combination very intriguing. I would love to see you test it out and give your opinion. I have seen nothing but good reviews so far. Even from well known engineers.

I love this video! thanks.

What’s that screen saver?

Wanna take a look on the Slate Raven MTi2?

I need to control transport and punch in with my feet or foot, for ProTools, studio one and Ableton

Try out Icon Q con X ,G2,Pro , they controll all Daws , I have the G2 wich I use in reason 11 it controls everything but plugins when set in Mackie mode , but it does control plugins for everthing else in Hui mode.

based on your criteria I think the panorama P1 may be worth looking at

Make your own icons... I use a PowerPoint with squares on slides as template & 1000's of icons & shapes to build Stream Deck icons when needed. Save them as PNG. Done.

I do like my Kensington Mouse Pro. Had to email the company to setup on my Mac. They helped.

Does sidecar work with Windows?