Nektar's Panorama CS12 controller lets you get hands-on with Logic Pro: "CS12 is a completely new take on the DAW controller"

nektar
(Image credit: Nektar)

If you're a Logic Pro user that's getting frustrated with solely keyboard and mouse-based music-making, Nektar could have the answer. 

The manufacturer's Panorama CS12 is a dedicated hardware controller for Logic that's described by Nektar's Product Manager Tim Chandler as "a completely new take" on the format. CS12 is a channel strip controller that's said to place emphasis on plugin control and organization, providing easy access to any parameter on Logic's channel strips. 

On the left of the controller's interface, you'll find a 100mm motorized fader next to a backlit level meter and pan control. In the centre, we have a comprehensive transport section beneath a generously large TFT display. 

Alongside this there's a column of backlit, colour-coded buttons that correspond to specific plugins mapped within Logic; the bottom two give you access to sends, Logic's Smart Controls and user-defined pages for custom global assignments. The rest of CS12's interface is devoted to illuminated 12 rotary knobs and four buttons.

CS12 arrives with tightly integrated support for all of Logic's stock plugins and a number of popular third-party plugins, with parameters pre-configured to avoid time-consuming manual mapping, though mappings can be customized via the bundled Nektarine software if you need to. Any third-party plugin can be handled by CS12 without using plugin hosting software.

Nektar Panorama CS12 is priced at £345/$359 and can be pre-ordered from Thomann now.

Watch Sonic State's NAMM 2024 interview with Nektar below.

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(Image credit: Thomann)
Matt Mullen
Tech Editor

I'm the Tech Editor for MusicRadar, working across everything from artist interviews to product news to tech tutorials. I love electronic music and I'm endlessly fascinated by the tools we use to make it. When I'm not behind my laptop keyboard, you'll find me behind a MIDI keyboard, carefully crafting the beginnings of another project that I'll ultimately abandon to the creative graveyard that is my overstuffed hard drive.

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