Dear Steinberg Cubase Development Team,
I am writing to request a critical architectural update regarding the integration between the MIDI Remote API/Surface Editor and the Remote Control Editor (RCE).
As more manufacturers ship high-density, haptic MIDI controllers, this architectural gap will only become a bigger obstacle for power users trying to bridge deep plugin customization with modern hardware.
Currently, there is a severe disconnect between these two features that fundamentally limits users with modern, high-control hardware setups—such as controllers featuring large matrices of motorized, haptic encoders and displays (e.g., 32 knobs and 32 buttons). My specific setup is a Roto-Control (32 motorized encoders + 32 buttons), which makes this limitation especially apparent.
System info:
Cubase 15, LATEST BUILD, BOTH Windows/macOS version Still has NO Support for this
The Problem
While the new MIDI Remote system beautifully handles custom layouts with large control counts (allowing 32, 64, or even 128 physical elements), the Remote Control Editor remains tightly constrained by the legacy Focus Quick Controls architecture (limited to exactly 8 parameters).
When a user opens the Remote Control Editor to customize a VST plugin layout, the window is completely blind to any hardware mappings outside of those first 8 standard Quick Controls. Because of this:
- No Direct MIDI Learn: Users cannot use “MIDI Learn” inside the Remote Control Editor to assign physical hardware knobs beyond slot 8. The editor simply does not listen to inputs from the active MIDI Remote surface.
- Destructive Workarounds: If a user maps their extra physical controls (Knobs 9–32) directly to the Inserts Viewer Parameters or Parameter Bank Zones inside the MIDI Remote Assistant, it breaks and completely overrides their standard 1–8 Focus Quick Control workflow.
Why the Instrument Quick Controls Banking Workaround Does Not Solve This
I am aware that Instrument/Track Quick Controls can be banked separately from Focus Quick Controls—for example, configuring a bank of 32 parameters (16 encoders + 16 faders) with buttons to page through additional banks. However, this does not address the core issue being reported:
- The Remote Control Editor’s “Learn” (L) mode still does not listen to or bind against banked Instrument Quick Control slots beyond the first 8. Banking the underlying Instrument QC system does not make those additional slots visible or learnable inside the RCE itself.
- This workaround shifts parameter routing into a separate system (Instrument QC banks) entirely outside of the Remote Control Editor’s UI, meaning the RCE can no longer be used to name, organize, or provide visual/haptic feedback for those banked parameters—defeating the purpose of using RCE as a unified plugin-mapping layout tool.
- Users are still forced to choose between two disconnected systems: RCE for the first 8 slots with full naming/feedback support, or banked Instrument QCs for extra slots with no RCE visibility, naming, or feedback integration at all. This is a workaround for raw parameter count, not a fix for the reported disconnect between RCE and the MIDI Remote system.
Users are forced into an unacceptable compromise: either limit their entire advanced hardware controller (like the Roto-Control’s full 32-knob/32-button surface) to just 8 generic Quick Control slots with full RCE support, or fragment their workflow across systems that don’t talk to each other.
The Requested Solution
Please update the Remote Control Editor so that it dynamically follows and talks to the MIDI Remote system:
- Bi-Directional MIDI Remote Integration: Allow the Remote Control Editor’s “Learn” (L) mode to directly intercept and bind physical CC messages coming from an active MIDI Remote script, regardless of whether the control sits in slot 1 or slot 64.
- Expand the Core Quick Control Ceiling: Allow the Focus Quick Control framework to expand its page size past the hardcoded 8-parameter limit to match the custom configurations (like 32 cells per page) natively supported by the Remote Control Editor UI—including recognition of banked Instrument Quick Control slots, not just the first 8.
- Unified Control Stream: Ensure that custom layout configurations designed inside the Remote Control Editor seamlessly pass parameter names, values, and 14-bit MIDI feedback straight to the matching slots of a custom MIDI Remote surface (such as the Roto-Control’s full grid), whether those slots come from Focus QCs or banked Instrument QCs.
Cubase 15 has made incredible leaps in hardware integration, but this barrier prevents power users from bridging the gap between deep plugin customization and large-format physical hardware scripts like the Roto-Control’s. Thank you for your time, constant innovation, and consideration of this workflow fix.