Academy Dashboard › Forum › Production › Mixing › Did a control surface change your experience? › Reply To: Did a control surface change your experience?
Jared ShermanI just recently got an Avid S3, and it is nice. However, I was never much into control surfaces for a very long time as I had a Digi 002 (control surface version) and rarely used the surface. Want to know why? I actually found that any time I used it, it was keeping me from learning Pro Tools better. I ended up selling it and got an 002 Rack instead.
Therefore I would say that if you aren't already an expert at your DAW, a control surface would just become a crutch that keeps you attached to your control surface as opposed to being able to run your DAW in a mobile environment or in someone else's studio.
That said, it is very nice to have at least one fader for automation rides (like the FaderPort). Nothing is better than having a real fader for volume automation.
In conclusion, it's possible that a control surface may change your world, but you should ask yourself if you know your DAW well enough for that world change to be a positive one or if it is really just a crutch that makes you less useful when you are away from that surface. On the flip side though, if you never intend to work away from that control surface then I suppose that is fine, but I would still highly recommend being an expert at your DAW first.