Nektar Panorama CS12 review (and tutorial)

I received my Nektar Panorama CS12 only a week ago, and have spent the past few days putting it to the test. Given the current buzz around this unit amongst Logic Pro users, I wanted to test drive it, and share my findings. 

I started writing this article as a product review, but it quickly grew into a detailed tutorial on how to use the CS12 with Logic Pro, so whether you're contemplating a purchase, or you already own one, this article is for you. 

First impressions

The Nektar Panorama CS12 is a channel strip controller for Logic Pro. It gives you full control over the selected channel strip's parameters, plug-in parameters, Smart Controls, transport functions, and more. 

Right after unboxing the device, it's hard not to be seduced by this beautiful device. It certainly has a wow effect. The CS12 offers a slick 'powdered metal' look (even though the case is actually made of plastic). Once plugged in, RGB LEDs come alive on activated buttons and knobs, making it easy to identify the desired controls, even in the typical dim environment of music studios. 

Installing the CS12 and all the files necessary to map it to Logic Pro takes a little bit of time. After you've completed the process, click Auto Assign when prompted by Logic Pro.

The CS12 is very intuitive. The basic channel strip, transport control and plug-in control functionality works just as you'd expect. You can get working right away, without having to crack open the manual.

After spending a bit of time and effort exploring the controller and reading the manual, I discovered many additional, more advanced features. There are a collection of little hidden secret functions that I'm going to share with you now. 

Fader and mixer channel

On the left side of the CS12, a large motorized fader sits next to a black 'Mixer Channel' pane that features:

• stereo VU meter
• Pan knob
• Arm (to R-enable the selected track)
• Solo
• Mute
• Select

By default, the fader controls the volume of the selected channel strip. The fader has to detect your touch, so make sure you place your finger on the inside of the fader cap to move it. 

To use the fader to control any other parameter, press Select and in Logic, click a plug-in parameter on the selected track. Now both the fader and pan knob control that parameter. This is very handy to quickly adjust any parameter that may not be already assigned. To revert to normal volume fader and pan knob behavior, press Select again.

Hold Shift to access additional functions:

• Shift + touch the fader = snap fader back to zero
• Shift + Arm = disable all R buttons
• Shift + Solo = clear/recall all S buttons
• Shift + Mute = clear all M buttons
• Shift + Select = control the Master volume with the fader*

* I personally recommend staying away from that feature as I prefer to keep the Master fader set to zero at all times to avoid surprises in the level of my bounced files. 

ⓘIf an alert pops up in Logic Pro, no need to reach for your Mac keyboard. You can close the alert directly from the CS12:

Press Play to click the button highlighted in blue, or press Stop to click Cancel. 

Note that the Pan knob color matches the selected track color, which is a nice touch to help identify the track.

Transport buttons

Six buttons control the basic navigation functions (Cycle mode, Rewind, Forward, Stop, Play and Record). Hold Shift to access the functions labeled in white below the buttons.

• Shift + Cycle = Set Locators by Selection and Enable Cycle
• Shift + Rewind = Set Left Locator by Rounded Playhead
• Shift + Forward = Set Right Locator by Rounded Playhead
• Shift + Stop = Quantize
• Shift + Play = Play from Selection
• Shift + Record = Replace Mode

On the 2nd row from the bottom, the two buttons on top of the Rewind and Forward buttons are called Goto L and Goto R. They move the playhead to the left or right locator. 

• Shift + Goto L = Move Cycle Forward by Cycle Length
• Shift + Goto R = Move Cycle Backward by Cycle Length

You then have an Undo/Redo button, a Metronome/Count-in button and an Auto button. We'll explore the Auto button in the section on automation.

The buttons on the 3rd row from the bottom are:

• < = Select previous track or channel strip
• > = Select next track or channel strip
• Plug-in = Toggle the current plug-in window
• Mixer = Toggle the Mixer pane
• Magnifier (a.k.a. Fine mode) = Enable high resolution control

ⓘTo select a track, you can hold down < or > while you turn Data/Menu. The vertical color bar to the left of the track header (Tracks area) — or the horizontal bar to the bottom of the channel strip (Mixer) — points out the track controlled by the CS12. The track becomes selected when you release < or >.

On this screenshot, the green bar shows the 'Snares' track (track 2) will be selected when you release < or >.

Hold Shift for additional functions:

• Shift + Plug-in = Toggle all plug-in windows
• Shift + Mixer = Close all plug-in windows

Markers

When you press the Markers button, the Markers button is lit and the ten buttons on rows 2 and 3 (labeled M1 through M10) are no longer illuminated, to indicate they are now Goto Marker buttons. 

• Markers + Rewind = Go to previous marker
• Markers + Forward = Go to next marker
• Markers + turn Data/Menu knob = Scroll through markers
• Markers + Play = Create marker at rounded playhead
• Markers + Stop = Delete marker
• Shift + Markers = Create marker at rounded playhead
• Shift + Markers + Markers = Delete marker

ⓘTo go directly to a specific marker without switching on the Markers button, hold down Markers while you press one of the M1 — M10 buttons.

Zoom

Turn the Zoom knob to zoom horizontally. Use Shift to zoom vertically. Simple and efficient.

Tempo

The tempo knob adjusts the project tempo. Not the most useful, but it's there if you need it.

Jog wheel 

You can use the Data/Menu knob along with modifiers to move the playhead:

• Hold down Rewind or Forward and turn Data/Menu to scroll 1 bar at a time
• Hold down Goto L or Goto R and turn Data/Menu to scroll 4 bars at a time
• Hold down Magnifier and turn Data/Menu to scroll 30 ticks at a time

Move the cycle

• Hold down Cycle and turn Data/Menu to move the cycle area by cycle length.

Plug-ins knobs and buttons

The right side of the CS12 is populated by 12 rotary knobs and 4 RGB buttons. They are pre-mapped to Logic's audio effect plug-ins. They can also be custom mapped to anything you want (see 'Custom Mapping' section later in this article). 

Directly to the left of the 12 knobs, a vertical strip of colored plug-in buttons lets you choose the plug-in you want to control. Press the plug-in button corresponding to the insert number, and the display shows the knob assignments for that plug-in. 

A few more shorcuts:

• Shift + Plug-in # button = Individual Plug-in On/Off
• Shift + Plug-in #9-16 button = All Plug-ins On/Off
• Press Data/Menu knob = display RGB buttons parameters

Smart Controls

Software instrument plug-ins can be controlled using the Smart Controls mappings that are saved with each patch in Logic Pro. 

1. At the bottom of the strip of plug-in buttons, press the Channel button,
2. Go to the Smart page.

(warning: do not use the Smart Controls with the Select button next to the fader - see 'known issues' at the end of this article)

Software instruments and MIDI FX

You can create your own custom mappings for software instrument and MIDI FX plug-ins. In fact, you can mix and match assignments for parameters of any kind of plug-ins in User pages. 

1. At the bottom of the strip of plug-in buttons, press the Channel button,
2. Go to the User 1 or User 2 page,
3. Hold down Shift,
4. In Logic Pro, click a plug-in parameter,
5. On the CS12, turn a knob,
6. Release Shift.

In case some of your user assignments don't behave, in Logic Pro, choose Logic Pro > Controller Assignments, select '(No Zone)' in the column on the left, and delete the assignments in the column on the right.

Sends

Press the Sends button to adjust bus send levels.

You can use the Shift button to turn sends on or off.

• Shift + turn send knob clockwise = Send ON
• Shift + turn send knob counterclockwise = Send OFF
• Shift + Sends = Toggle all sends 

Go to the Pre/Post page to choose a pre-fader, post-fader or post-pan routing for each send. 

You can set up new bus sends directly from the CS12! Great to quickly send a track to a reverb bus or to a headphone mix. Go to the Dest page to choose a bus (or output) destination for each send insert #, then press the Confirm button to create the sends. 

Automation

To record automation, press the Auto button, and the automation goes into Latch mode. Press Auto again to revert to Read mode. You can also hold down Auto while turning the Data/Menu encoder to choose a different automation mode (Touch, Latch, Read, Write, Trim, Relative etc).

Start playback, and move the fader, knobs or buttons to automate any channel strip or plug-in parameters. 

In addition to Logic's existing automation modes, the CS12 offers 3 exclusive automation modes that you can use with the fader only: Single Point, Auto-Latch and Auto-Touch.

Auto-Latch and Auto-Touch

In Auto-Latch and Auto-Touch modes, the track is set to Latch or Touch only while you're touching the fader. When you let go of the fader, the automation mode automatically reverts to Read, and no automation is created. 

I've used Auto-Latch when I need to ride the volume of a track (for example to bring guitars up during the choruses and bring them back down during verses). That means grabbing the fader only during the transitions between verses and choruses, where I need to write a volume change. When I'm not touching the fader, I can use the knobs to EQ my guitars, and no automation is created for my EQ moves. 

Single Point automation

This new mode allows you to use the fader to adjust the value of a single point of automation. You can use it while Logic is stopped, or during playback. 

While Logic is stopped, position the playhead, and move the fader: an automation point is created, and you can adjust its value with the fader. 

In the example below, I'm holding the Forward button while turning the Data/Menu knob to position the playhead, then I move the fader to adjust the automation point value.

You can also use Single Point Automation to create straight automation ramps during playback. 

With good old Touch or Latch modes, when you ride the fader to create a fade out, points are created the entire time you're moving the fader. The result often looks something like this: 

With Single Point automation, if you perform the exact same motion, Logic creates only two automation points: one when you start touching the fader, and the other when you release the fader. You get this result: 

So with Single Point automation, you combine the advantage of riding the fader in real time to determine your start and end point, with the advantage of having one perfect, straight automation ramp. 

Note that this works only if there are no existing automation points anywhere on the automation curve between where you start and end your fade. 

To create multiple automation lines, you just have to release the fader and grab it again to start creating a new line. For example here I've touched-and-released the fader four times, creating four automation lines. 

Custom Mapping

All plug-ins have their parameters pre-mapped to the 12 knobs on the CS12. For the most part, with Logic Pro plug-ins, the mappings make sense. With 3rd party plug-ins, the knobs are mapped in the same order the parameters are listed in 'Control view' in the plug-in window. You may want to customize the parameter mapping, which is quite easy to do.

There are 3 ways to customize the mapping of CS12 knobs and buttons to Logic parameters, depending on the level of customization you're looking for.

1. Quick-learn

To quickly map a CS12 knob to a plug-in parameter:

1. Press and hold down the Shift button,
2. Click a plug-in parameter in Logic Pro,
3. Turn a knob on the CS12,
4. Release Shift.

You're done. You can repeat steps #2 and #3 to map as many parameters as you want before you release Shift. 

The mapping is saved for that plug-in, so you'll be able to enjoy your custom mapping for that plug-in anywhere you insert it (any insert slot, any track, any project).

2. Learn mode

To map multiple knobs without having to hold Shift, you can use the CS12's learn mode. 

1. Hold down Shift while you press the Data/Menu knob to turn on Learn mode.
2. Click a plug-in parameter in Logic Pro,
3. Turn a knob on the CS12,
4. Repeat steps #2 and #3 to map more parameters,
5. Hold down Shift while you press the Data/Menu knob to turn off Learn mode.

ⓘCustom mappings are retained only until you restart your Mac. To save your custom mappings so they're recalled even after you restart your Mac, in Learn mode, turn the Data/Menu knob, and then press the Save button at the bottom right of the display.

ⓘIn Learn mode, turn the Data/Menu knob to clear mappings, choose a custom RGB LED color for the knob, or choose a custom RGB LED color for the plug-in button

3. Nektarine

For deeper customization, install the included Nektarine software. Nektarine lets you map any plug-in graphically using drag and drop actions, organize multiple mappings in pages and subpages accessible via the CS12 display, and choose custom labels for your parameters.  

Custom knob and plug-in colors

There are two ways to assign custom colors to the CS12 knobs. Here again, Quick-Learn is fine to change the color of one or two knobs, but to customize more colors you'll want to use Learn mode. 

1. Quick-learn

1. Hold down Shift,
2. Turn a knob,
3. Turn the Data/Menu encoder (the knob color changes, and the parameter color on the display changes accordingly),
4. Release Shift.

You can repeat steps #2 and #3 to change the colors of multiple knobs before you release Shift. 

2. Learn mode

1. Hold down Shift while you press Data/Menu to turn on Learn mode,
2. Turn Data/Menu,
3. Go to the Set Color page,
4. Turn a knob to customize its color.
5. Hold down Shift while you press the Data/Menu knob to turn off Learn mode.

3. Plug-in color

The Plug-in 1-8/9-16 buttons on the vertical strip to the left of the 12 rotary knobs have a default color that indicate the plug-in category (dynamics, EQ...). You can customize each plug-in color. 

1. Hold down a Plug-in button while turning the Data/Menu encoder.

Known issues and workarounds

Here are a couple of issues I encountered while playing with the CS12, along with how I resolved them. 

Sometimes, after leaving the Mac and the CS12 idle for a while, the CS12 went offline and its display would stubbornly feature the startup logo. This was easily resolved by turning the unit off and on, and restarting Logic Pro. 

At some point, I went into the Controller Assignment window to manually delete a custom assignment. I may have done something wrong there, but the CS12 would no longer connect to Logic Pro. Not a big deal, I chose Logic Pro > Control Surfaces > Rebuild Defaults, and I was back in business. The good news is, rebuilding defaults does not make you lose any of your custom mapping. 

There's a known issue where using the CS12 to control Smart Control knobs (in Channel mode with the Smart page selected) while the Select button is engaged creates unexpected behavior. This is something you clearly want to avoid by simply never using the Select mode with Smart Controls. This should hopefully be fixed in the near future. 

Note: the Mastering Assistant plug-in is not currently supported.