Too many cooks in the kitchen, looks like Clapham Junction to me!! 
looking at that photograph, i think NASA might get interested or SpaceX 
Making music should not look that difficult
All the best
John
Have been using all sorts over the years, now have settled on a Presonus FaderPort 16. Works well in a smaller facility.
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You know, i thought that for many years too. And i had a swap around earlier this year after selling a large workstation synth and invested the money into more guitar stuff (As thatās what i prefer to play really), and bought some much needed shelving, cable management etc.
And i gotta say a clean environment, for me, is so much better for my workflow. I had 4-5 controllers on my desk that i had built up and adapted over the years, and now i just have an MCU sat there. Donāt underestimate a clean/clear environment can do for your headspace. Looking back, I was a slave to my desk only facing forwards and continuously setting up controllers and not really producing much music as a by-product of that.
Now i move about more as itās a nicer environment to do music in.
Since the early 2000ās, I have been in search of the best control solution and it has been frustrating in terms of quality, features and/or price. Right now, I use the Tascam DM-3200 digital mixer & Console 1 which together do a decent job reasonably well. Ideally, if you have the budget, the SSL Matrix 2 is probably one of the best solutions if you use hardware processors. My partner and I are putting together our $$ to buy one, hopefully within the next 6 months.
In the $1,000-$1,500 range, the Avid Artist Mix or the Mackie MCU are probably the best options. The ICON control surfaces look promising but Iāve read a LOT of complaints from many users.
Are there any control surfaces besides the Artist Mix that have level meters when used with Cubase?
You can get a level meter from the generic remote setup, Iāve had it running on my BCR2000 before.
Also the Nektar Panorama P series can display meters for the track youāve selected on their display.
ICON QCon ProX have level meters; I personally donāt tend to focus on them and look to my onscreen mixer.
Steve.
Yeah itās all very subjective of course, but in my case iāve found that by reducing control surfaces (I had a setup incredibly similar to yours) and creating a bit of space iām just producing more music. I wasnāt even seeing projects through to completion before - Maybe 3-4 songs a year. Iāve completed 6-7 since May, but theyāre of so much better quality - less looping and copying of regions, for example, because iām just that little more clearer and physically active in how i record (i think?!). I dunno haha!!
I didnāt do it on purpose either, i just had a clean up and thought iād put stuff back āas i neededā through pure laziness initially - cause they were bundled in a corner with cables spaghettiād all over. ā¦And i look over now, and theyāre still sat there in a pile.
I think for me, itās just removing the temptation to tinker, i just love hardware and setting up controllers, but itās to the detriment of producing music which is what i SHOULD be focusing on - When i review it now, most of the āquickā actions i was performing were standard low cuts, bit of compression etc. So i have a few track templates setup with those ready to go and quick controls for parameters i know i need. i.e. Let Cubase do the work for me - previous to that i was on a mission on how to break the 8 control limit. But now i just embrace it.
I put a bit of ambient lighting in the corner, put my guitar amps there, a stool for playingā¦ And where i used to remain seated at my desk and bring the guitar over, i go and sit in that corner and play/record - itās bringing so much more out of me musically as i donāt have that almost-magnetic pull to the desk as a focal point anymore. Just creating that space and less desk clutter seems to do me wonders.
Thatās only my personal experience, but after years and years of tinkering with control surfaces it may be a valuable lesson for anyone who finds themselves caught in that loop as itās easy to forget about the artistry of music and get overly focused/obsessed on technicalities, workflows etc. Not saying you are of course as this is about me, but i definitely had 70-80% of my focus as a technician more than an artist/musician.
Same here. Over time, Iāve come to increasingly value a simple workspace, which only has aesthetically pleasing gear. Thatās one reason I like my Artist Mix. The design makes it look nice on any desktop.
I have an Artist Mix, but Iām always interested in keeping tabs on what else is available. Is there anything besides the Artist Mix that can do all of these?
- Motorized faders
- Level meters
- Bank selection on control surface follows selected track in Cubase project window or mix console
- Less than $1500
Mackie Control Universal.
Bump. Are there any control surfaces, besides the Artist Mix and MCU, that can meet these criteria?
Are you changing the question?
Mackie Control Protocol does not include automatic bank switching. Iām told MCU auto bank switching in Logic works, so it must be something thats modified within Logic.
However this guy spent some time and actually made it work. Scroll down a bit and see where he made auto-bank work.
The basics here:
Good luck! Itās way too much for me. 
Thatās my understanding too, so I was surprised to see Mr. Sonar reply to say the MCU can do all 4 things on my list. Writing a program to serve as an intermediary sounds like way too much trouble. Iāll stick with my Artist Mix for now since it seems like thatās still the only control surface can do all 4 things I want. Although the S1 is coming out soon and looks interesting.
Iāve had both an Avid Artist Control and a cc121. I got rid of the Avid in the end becase it didnāt get used to the fullest extent of itās feature set, but keep with the cc121. It gets a lot of use for automation tasks and is indispensible for routine EQ and transport duty.
Does the CC121 EQ control include the Pre low/high cut controls?
Mackie only gives you the standard 4 bands and you canāt adjust the EQ type for each band via the standard EQ controls either, so i have to use EQ as an insert to control them how i want - wish Steinberg just added an extra page for standard EQ. 
I still think Artist Mix is the best one for me, it handles Cubase EQ very well and with touch sensitive encoders, itās great for EQ and send automation. Not to mention easy quick control automationā¦