two S1s vs a S3

[mr xy]

Anyone have thoughts on which is the better choice?

How is plugin control on the s3? Are the encoders nice and does the mapping work well?

[its2loud]

S3 had end of sales in 2021. EOL support will be 12/31/26.

You cannot expand the S3 if you decide to add more faders to your setup.

I cannot speak for comparing encoders and faders between the two but plug-in control is on par with the exception of the two rows of encoders on the S3. .
You also benefit from adding meters with S1’s and adding a Dock will give you additional functionality.

[TJ Allen]

I have both - S3 at the studio and S1 at home. S1 is great and has many pluses (location of the channel select buttons for one and the coloured softkeys), but the build quality on the S3 is far higher (reflected in the price). The knobs have a much more sturdy feel and greater resistance, which makes accurate plug-in control much easier for me at least.


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[mr xy]

Originally Posted by TJ Allen

I have both - S3 at the studio and S1 at home. S1 is great and has many pluses (location of the channel select buttons for one and the coloured softkeys), but the build quality on the S3 is far higher (reflected in the price). The knobs have a much more sturdy feel and greater resistance, which makes accurate plug-in control much easier for me at least.


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thanks for this - very useful info.

[jeremiahmoore]

I own an S3, and use two S1's at a place I freelance. So I've got lots of time on the S3, not so much on the S1.

S3 plusses:
- lower profile in rear; I like the shape.
- build quality is nice
- 2nd row of knobs is nice, tho I've not found i use them ALL the time sometimes I get into a flow where I am.
- More soft keys: 8 on left, 8 on right.

S3 minuses:
- personally I don't like having the select and a/rec buttons inside the fader path, it's too fussy.
- Soft key LEDs are only yellow; whereas dock and S1 have colored, which is nice reminder of whatever you've programmed for them.


S1 plusses:
Faders are fast. Buttons are colorful. Expandable beyond 16faders. I think (?) it does multi master mode now.

S1 minuses:
- for me the size of the S1 is very annoying; too high in the back, too deep. I keep my PT monitor as low and angled as possible; S1 mucks it up. I don't use S1 w/ meterbridge tablets for same reason: do NOT want to add height to my setup. Now if someone made a tablet that was 9" wide and 2.5" tall...! I might. Would consider building custom desk to "sink" the controllers, even cant them backward to accomodate the rear height. For being "compact" ... it's pretty chunky. The artist series was actually quite compact. (but disappointingly plastickey.)

(fwiw, feel the same about Dock.. I'd like to have it in center, but it's ridiculously high! In my layout, vertical height is critical real-estate.). Very much preferred the low profile of the Artist Series in this way... and even ProControl, and the S4 can be lower too.

[BScout]

Originally Posted by jeremiahmoore

I own an S3, and use two S1's at a place I freelance. So I've got lots of time on the S3, not so much on the S1.

S3 plusses:
- lower profile in rear; I like the shape.
- build quality is nice
- 2nd row of knobs is nice, tho I've not found i use them ALL the time sometimes I get into a flow where I am.
- More soft keys: 8 on left, 8 on right.

With 2 x S1 you have 16 soft keys too (the soft keys at the bottom are independent.) So if you have 3 x S1, you would have 24 softkeys (and if you had 4 x S1 setup, you have a grand total (and max) of 32 softkeys)

[its2loud]

Double those soft key numbers for the S1 when you add in the SHIFT layer for programmable softkeys.

[chrismeraz]

Originally Posted by jeremiahmoore

S1 minuses:
- for me the size of the S1 is very annoying; too high in the back, too deep. I keep my PT monitor as low and angled as possible; S1 mucks it up. I don't use S1 w/ meterbridge tablets for same reason: do NOT want to add height to my setup. Now if someone made a tablet that was 9" wide and 2.5" tall...! I might. Would consider building custom desk to "sink" the controllers, even cant them backward to accomodate the rear height. For being "compact" ... it's pretty chunky. The artist series was actually quite compact. (but disappointingly plastickey.)

Yes all that was a dealbreaker for me, I prefer to stay on the ****ty old Artist Mix because of this exactly. Artist Mix is terrible, but still better than S1! :facepalm:

[BScout]

Originally Posted by jeremiahmoore

S1 minuses:
- for me the size of the S1 is very annoying; too high in the back, too deep. I keep my PT monitor as low and angled as possible; S1 mucks it up. I don't use S1 w/ meterbridge tablets for same reason: do NOT want to add height to my setup. Now if someone made a tablet that was 9" wide and 2.5" tall...! I might. Would consider building custom desk to "sink" the controllers, even cant them backward to accomodate the rear height. For being "compact" ... it's pretty chunky. The artist series was actually quite compact.

There is Avid Control Desktop (ACD) software. Look into it. It's an option to install from the Eucontrol installer.
You can put your monitor's lower edge into the space for the tablets to reduce height.