Icon Qcon Pro

Review: The Icon Qcon Pro is a control surface designed to control most modern DAWs.

The unit is made of metal and rubber, which gives it a solid and rugged feel. It features 8 full-length touch-sensitive flying faders + master fader, a long backlit display that extends across all channels, abundant soft buttons, a LED time/bar display, a jog wheel and rotating encoders with push-to-reset action.

The main transport area, conveniently located to the right of the panel allows to play/stop, forward and rewind and quickly navigate through the arrangement thanks to the solid metal jog wheel. This can also be used for scrubbing the audio files: a very useful function when looking for clicks and pops.

The soft buttons are used for a variety of functions: open the edit/mixer/arrangement windows, control effects send, undo, grouping, scrolling through the channels in blocks of 8, and a lot more. The F buttons can be freely assigned to any function within your DAW.

The 100mm ALPS motorised faders are also touch sensitive, so they can be used to select a channel or to start/stop recording automation. The faders can also take multiple simultaneous movements, allowing to write complex automation tasks in just seconds. This is particularly useful when mixing drums.

Each channel has a select, mute, solo, and record buttons. Moving up we find controllers to edit the plugins, for example you can use the encoders to control the frequency on an equaliser, and press and rotate to control the Q. This allows to quickly tweak through the parameters of any plugin without the need to look at a monitor, leaving the user free to concentrate on the sound.

The “flip” function allows use the long faders instead of the encoders (and vice versa) to control the parameters, which makes it even easier to tweak plugins as well as writing automation for them.

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The Qcon Pro comes with a wealth of presets, for immediate integration with: Steinberg Cubase and Nuendo, Magix Samplitude, Apple Logic Pro, Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Cockos Reaper, and Presonus Studio One.

Finally you can expand the Qcon Pro by adding one or more modules of 8 channel – the Qcon EX.

This control surface can really change the way you relate do your DAW, making the production and mixing process a lot faster and smoother, making the workflow more efficient and creative inspiration last longer.

Connectivity:

– USB Port – TWO 1/4 inch jack – User pedal control inputs – 2x Stereo ¼” TRS headphone outputs (requires Umix 1008 Satellite installed) – Dimensions: 18.7”(L) x 20.1”(W) x 3.4”(H) – Weight: 15.7 lbs (7.1 kg) – Power Supply: 120/240v Adapter to 12v 1A DC output

– PRICE: UK – £449 USA – $699 EUROPE- €599 – PRICE (used): UK – £300 USA – None Found EUROPE – None Found

Download the Icon Qcon Pro user manual as pdf document here.

Visit the manufacturer’s page about the Qcon Pro here.

Available in the UK from Synthax Audio.

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