Softube launched the original Console 1 mixing platform channel strip back in 2013. We loved it so much we awarded it an Expert’s Choice Award. We praised it for its ease of use and how it encouraged mouseless hands-on mixing approach when setting EQ and dynamics. The main reason why we fell in love with it was that it proved to be intuitive, way more instinctive than clicking around plug-in windows with a mouse.
The quality of the console emulations was also a keen point of interest as the catalogue of consoles expanded over the years to include Neve and API, style boards. We thought the original Console 1 could not get any better until now.
Softube launched an addition to this system, which can also be used as a standalone unit, called Console 1 Fader, which debuted at AES 2019. We’ve had a unit on loan for around a month. We paired it with the original Console 1 channel working in Studio One. Watch our video to see how this setup works and to hear both working together in action…
As stated earlier, Console 1 Fader is a standalone device. However, using just a Fader unit could be slightly limiting for some. Console 1 essentially provides control over, drive characteristics, drive amount, low and high filters, channel level, pan, mute, solo, channel select and send levels for the first 3 sends in a compatible DAW. That may be enough for you? If it is, then Console 1 is well worth checking out, but we feel a Fader unit paired with an original Channel unit is the best way to go.
Using A Plug-in Has Never Felt More Analog - At No Point Do I Feel Like I Am Mixing With A Plug-in
Did you see us reach for the mouse at any point during the mix section of our video demonstration? There was no need for the mouse, and that's for a good reason. Having access to faders, which in Console 1 Fader, provide more capabilities than just volume along with the EQ, dynamics and drive functions on the original unit, is as close as you can get to mixing on a real large format analog console. The magic these two units provide when paired together is nothing short of amazing.
In our tests, we never felt as though we were working with a plug-in, which essentially is what Console 1 is. The hardware is merely a controller for the plug-in that we insert across all our channels in a mix.
As you can probably tell, we are quite taken with Softube’s Console 1 Fader. So much so that we are awarding Console 1 Fader an Expert Choice Award for the reasons we’ve already stated in addition to the following:
Designed To Be Modular
As we’ve already shown, this system comes into its own when the original channel is paired with the new fader unit. But, this system can grow with an additional second fader unit providing 20 motorized faders under your fingertips. Using a tablet running a DAW remote app, as seen in our video, is also highly recommended.
Push-Pull Fader Control
Multipurpose faders are very handy, especially when they provide essential processing controls such as low and high pass filtering. After you’ve mixed a song this way you may find it hard to go back to using a mouse in a plug-in.
Personalisation
When Softube launched the original Console 1, they probably didn’t anticipate that many of their future users would personalise their devices. Many Console 1 users colour code the knobs with stickers, others change the pots altogether with different style caps, others buy prefab wooden enclosures or build their own. In the software, users also have the option to mix and match sections from different consoles emulations, which is great if you like the dynamics section in the British Class A board and the cleaner sounding EQ in an SSL.
Drive and Character
Applying drive and adjusting its character was simple enough on the original Console 1 as there are independent pots for each but the push-pull fader control makes this process more intuitive somehow.
Added Bonus Width Control In Console 1 Fader
A neat addition to Console 1 Fader is the width control, which can be applied using the pan pot’s secondary function (hold shift). This, as the name suggests, exaggerates the stereo field of a track or adds an effect of stereo to mono source tracks. The opposite can also narrow overly wide sounding stereo tracks down to mono.
Navigation
Console 1 Fader doesn’t have a digital scribble strip displaying track names, which you would be forgiven for thinking is a bit of a limitation. A tablet running a DAW remote app will easily help you navigate your tracks in no time at all.
Competitively Priced
Console 1 Fader is available to buy for $699, and the original Console 1 is slightly more affordable for $549. Both include the plug-in component but differ slightly depending on which unit you buy. If you own an original Console 1 then Console 1 Fader needs to be on your radar as it dramatically improves the system. If you are considering a Fader we suggest you also consider getting a Console 1 channel as these two units together really inspire hands-on mixing, which when all is said and done, is a fun way to spend time and energy mixing music.
Read our review and watch our free tutorial video to learn more about the original Console 1 channel and to discover how UAD plug-in integration works:
Console 1 Integrates With Most Major DAWs
While Console 1 works in all major DAWs, only a handful support it’s abilities to control faders in Mix windows. Presonus Studio One, Steinberg Cubase, Cakewalk by Bandlab, and Cockos Reaper feature additional integration which enable a Console 1 user to select tracks and control their pan, volume, sends and more directly from the hardware. Sadly this deep intergration isn’t supported in Pro Tools.
Visit Softube for more information.
On A Personal Note
Regular visitors of the blog may know that I’ve been a C24 control surface user in my Pro Tools workflow for nearly a decade. No other control surface in this time has tempted me away from my C24 until now. It’s early days but I’m seriously considering retiring my C24 in favour of a dual Console Fader setup with the original channel that I own in Studio One.
We’ll keep you up to date on this revelation over the coming week and months.