Softube Console 1 MKII: A review of this hardware/software controller and mixing platform

Softube Console 1 MKII is a music production device with a portable size—small but slightly bigger than a computer keyboard. It is composed of a plethora of knobs and switches that features as a covering to its clear front panel.

Softube wants to address different features upgrade for the Softube Console 1 MKII. They want to offer software plugins that have a great range of functions to produce a great mixing of sounds. Many software plugins try in the past to create physical hardware that can replicate the parameters of plugins. This is what Softube Console 1 MKII give those who miss the tactile method of music production—recording and mixing sounds.

Physically, Softube Console 1 MKII appears to be well-built. You can simply plug in the supplied USB cable and put in your desk. Same with installation, it is easy—plug in the hardware, install the software. Then, you can start your mixing.

After installation, the onscreen display page appears on the computer. Then here, you will see your channel strips or the Shape, Equalizer and Compressor plugins separately. Because of this, it is much easier to do music with processing paths. You can your bespoke mixes as presets and you can copy parameters between instances of the plugin between tracks.

The program display on the screen is clear and crisp and the visual representations of the features, like the compressor, shape and a waveform meter in the EQ section, are also great. For the hardware, it has a very suitable combination for the software feature. Because the plugins are developed by Softube, the knobs and buttons match up with their software counterparts. There’s no paging for parameters or shift-pressing to access hidden features—it’s pretty much a ‘what you see is what you get’ paradigm

The Softube Console 1 MKII offers a limited series of software emulations alongside dedicated knobbage. But because of the tactile way of producing music, Softube’s new hardware/software expands the idea of it—making a decent stab at creating a workable, tactile control surface.

Key Features

• Compatibility with UAD Powered Plugins
• Emulation of SSL’s SL 4000 E console
• Quickly switch between tracks and control EQ, compressor, gate and more

RRP: $499