MIDI ControllerOverreview

PreSonus FaderPort V2

One motorised fader and forty functions for about $210 — and a verdict that flips completely depending on which DAW you opened.

13 sourcesUpdated
$210Typical US price

Score aggregates reviewer opinions across topics.

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PreSonus FaderPort V2

The short version

What to know.

A compact single-fader DAW control surface built around one 100 mm touch-sensitive motorised fader, a large push encoder and about two dozen backlit buttons covering transport, channel, automation and navigation. Around $210 it is the cheapest way most people find to put a real motorised fader on the desk, and reviewers agree on the hardware: the fader is high-resolution (10-bit, 1,024 steps against the 128 of a standard MIDI fader), smooth and precise; the encoder and Session Navigator meaningfully widen what one fader can do; the chassis feels solid; and the bundled software — a full DAW licence plus Ableton Live Lite and a plugin suite — is generous next to the price. They also agree on the hard edges: it is not bus-powered, so the motor needs the included mains adapter; there is no 5-pin MIDI and no generic MIDI mode (that is documented as FaderPort 8/16 only); and the buttons cannot be reassigned outside PreSonus's own DAW. The real disagreement is about integration, and it is not taste — it tracks which DAW you use. In PreSonus's Native Mode (Studio One, now Fender Studio Pro) and in Reaper and Logic, owners call it instant and seamless. In Cubase and Nuendo the stock Mackie Control path works in banks of eight channels and the fader stops following a mouse-selected track past channel 8 — PreSonus documents this themselves — which is why the same unit gets called both 'perfect combo' and 'glorified play and stop button' in the same review list. A community-written MIDI Remote script largely fixes it for Cubase users willing to install one. Opinion splits again, more mildly, on portability: small and light enough for a backpack, but tied to a wall socket.

About this product

The single-fader FaderPort — the 2018 redesign PreSonus lists simply as 'FaderPort' and that retailers and owners call the 'V2'. One 100 mm motorised fader, a 360° push encoder and 24 buttons; no keys, no pads, no scribble strips. Not the FaderPort 8 or FaderPort 16, and not the 2007 FaderPort Classic, which shipped a native Cubase bundle file the V2 replaced with Mackie Control.

The FaderPort has been PreSonus's answer to the same small question since 2007: what if you kept the mouse and keyboard, and just added the one thing they are genuinely bad at — riding a level by hand? The 2018 redesign that everyone calls the V2 is half again as long as the original, adds a large push encoder and a Session Navigator section, and keeps the format otherwise intact: a single 100 mm touch-sensitive motorised fader, two dozen backlit buttons, a transport row, and a footswitch jack, in a box that sits beside a keyboard rather than replacing the desk.

It is the cheapest widely-recommended way to get a real motorised fader under your fingers, and for years it has been the default answer when someone asks for one. It also carries a reputation that splits hard along DAW lines — and in January 2026 the software it was built around changed name, as Fender folded PreSonus's Studio One Pro into Fender Studio Pro.

A good fit for

  • Studio One / Fender Studio Pro users, who get the deepest integration of any DAW by a wide margin
  • Anyone who wants one real motorised fader for automation rides without buying — or finding desk space for — a full control surface
  • Reaper and Logic users who mainly need transport, automation modes and hands-on level for the selected track
  • Small desks and one-hand-on-the-mouse workflows, where a compact box beside the keyboard beats a full surface

Think twice if

  • You mix in Cubase or Nuendo and are not willing to install a community MIDI Remote script to get sane track-following
  • You need hands-on control of many channels at once — one fader plus bank-switching is the whole proposition
  • You want a bus-powered controller for a laptop bag; the motor requires the mains adapter
  • You need generic MIDI CC control, 5-pin DIN MIDI or CV — none of which this unit offers
  • You want to reassign every button in a DAW that isn't PreSonus's own

The reviewer consensus

Agreement &
disagreement.

2 / 7topics divide opinion
connectivitybuildsoftwarevaluecontrolsintegrationportability
4 Strong agreement1 Mostly agree2 Divided opinions

Common ground9

  • The 100 mm touch-sensitive motorised fader is the point of the product and is consistently called smooth and precise — 10-bit, 1,024 steps, against the 128 of a standard MIDI fader
  • The large push encoder and Session Navigator meaningfully widen what a single-fader surface can do; reviewers coming from the FaderPort Classic name it the key upgrade
  • Build quality is solid — a metal-housed chassis with durable buttons — and owner reports through early 2026 still say so

Points of contention4

  • Whether it integrates well is really a question about your DAW: seamless in Studio One / Fender Studio Pro, Reaper and Logic; hobbled in Cubase and Nuendo, where Mackie Control banks in eights and the fader stops following a mouse-selected track past channel 8
  • Whether the Cubase/Nuendo situation still counts against it, given that a community-written MIDI Remote script restores selection-following for anyone willing to install one
  • Whether it is portable: small and light enough for a backpack, or tethered to a mains socket and therefore not really a mobile controller

A closer look.

7 topics · 2 divided
Left: criticalRight: positiveTighter lines: more agreement

Integration

No overall leanDivided opinions
Reviewer sentiment6 supporting sources
CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

The one axis sources genuinely divide on — and the split tracks your DAW, not your taste. In PreSonus's proprietary Native Mode (Studio One, rebranded Fender Studio Pro in January 2026) the unit is driverless and deeply wired in: plug-in targeting via the Link button, reassignable controls, and instant track-follow. Reaper and Logic owners report the same selection-following behaviour over Mackie Control. Cubase and Nuendo users hit a wall: the stock MCU path addresses channels in banks of eight, so clicking a track past channel 8 with the mouse leaves the fader controlling something else, and there is no way to reassign the buttons. PreSonus's own knowledge base documents the behaviour and explains the cause — the V2 dropped the FaderPort Classic's native Cubase bundle file for generic Mackie Control. The practical fix is a community-written Cubase MIDI Remote script (run with the unit switched to Studio One mode), which restores selection-following and, in that thread, turned several people's shelved units back into daily drivers.

Measured

PreSonus documents four modes: Native Mode (proprietary, Studio One only), HUI, MCU, and a generic MIDI Mode explicitly noted as supported on the FaderPort 8 and 16 only. Non-native DAWs therefore run over HUI/MCU, and the maker's own article states that 'MCU protocol operates in banks of 8 channels at time'.

vs. listeners — The product page markets support for 'virtually all major DAWs' via MCU and HUI, while the maker's own support article documents that the same MCU path breaks mouse-driven track selection past the first bank of eight. Both are true — the protocol connects everywhere and constrains the workflow everywhere it is used.

Where it splits
In its native lane it disappears into the workflow — Studio One / Fender Studio Pro, and Reaper and Logic follow your mouse too46%

“Studio One users enjoy all the main control operations along with more deeply integrated functions such as the aforementioned ability to target controls for adjustment from the FaderPort and to reassign controls.”

Paul White, Sound On Sound
Outside that lane it is a plain Mackie Control surface — in Cubase/Nuendo it banks in eights and stops following the mouse54%

“However if you click on Channel 9 fader on screen and drag it up and down, the fader on the FaderPort 2018 will not move.”

PreSonus Knowledge Base, 'FaderPort 2018 - Cubase Channel Navigation'
Link to this topic

The hardware

Specifications.

Checked

Playing surface

Encoders
1 endless
Faders
1 motorized

Workflow

DAW integration
Studio One, Ableton Live

Connection

Pedal inputs
Footswitch
Power
Power adapter

Physical

Weight
680 g
Dimensions
229 × 140 × 45.7 mm

Manufacturer-published figures, not measurements · from presonus.com.

Follow the evidence

Sources 13

1–6 of 13 sources

Read with context

Limitations & method.

As of

What to keep in mind 6

  1. This is a read of where the reviews land as of August 2026 — a controller's story moves with firmware and DAW updates, and this one's did.

  2. How well it works for you depends more on your DAW than on anything about the hardware, so weigh the sources that used the software you actually use.

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