No More Mind Games: Audio Control Surfaces (For Sound Devices and other Field Mixers)

There are a number of control surfaces out there, and most are designed for music production on computers. However, as a location sound mixer for Film & TV, we also have uses and unique needs for control surfaces. I've gone through a few of them on set and have found pros and cons with a few of the most popular audio control surfaces of 2025 and will outline to you what I've discovered and what I found most helpful to my own workflow mixing location sound for television commercials, and field recordings.

First of all, let's get on the same page of what we mean by a "control surface". Control Surfaces are most often used to interface with a DAW on a computer in regards to digital audio. A control surface is a device, similar to a digital mixing board that will have assignable faders and buttons, allowing tactile control of the computer software. This can allow precise control of many aspects of audio production, including virtual instruments, samplers, signal processors, mixers, DJ software, and music sequencers.

Most control surfaces are designed for this use; music production on computers. However, there are several popular control surfaces that are compatible with field mixer/recorders such as the Zaxcom Nova and the Sound Devices 8 series. Zaxcom and Sound Devices do make their own control surfaces, but the size and cost may not be ideal for some users. With that said, a few of the most popular 3rd party control surfaces on the market for use with the top field sound mixers / audio recorders for video production are the following: Waves Fit, iCon M+, iCon P1M, and the VdB Finger Control Surface. I bought a Waves Fit and an iCon P1M to use on a 2 day commercial shoot and a reality show where I mixed a "studio" music recording with kids in the field, interfacing with my Sound Devices 888. The iCon M+ has been known for its low price, small size, but its poor craftsmanship. After researching an alternative, the Waves Fit seemed great. It's about 2-3x the price, but a much better build with a lot of attention to detail. It also has 16 faders plus a 17th master fader, all fitting into a standard 19" rack unit space for sound carts or flypacks. iCon recently came out with a new control surface, called the iCon P1M, essentially replacing the M+, for hardly any price increase. The VdB Finger Control Surface, coming in an 8 fader and a 12 fader version, appeared to have few features, yet still priced similarly to the Waves Fit. So I did not try that one out and cannot say much about it, other than I know VdB to be a professional reliable brand.

Waves Fit control surface for Sound Devices

Waves Fit with Sound Devices 888 in a 19" rack unit sound cart

Pros

Yes, it is indeed made very well. The faders respond well and don't feel like they're prone to breaking off like many reports of the iCon M+. Control surfaces are usually used in a home or professional studio, therefore they aren't moving around much, so it's rare to see any safety features or redundancy built in. However, I love the fact that the Waves Fit has a strain relief for the power cable built in. The iCons don't have this which is a big downside for field production as that power cable can easily become unplugged when sliding the cart tray in or out and perhaps when adjusting other cables in your setup. The strain relief on the Waves Fit keeps it super secure. I love the number of buttons on the Waves Fit; it's not too many but it's at minimum, all I need. I was able to assign my most used features to the buttons and it was easy to navigate as there weren't too many on the board. Super quick to go to my routings page to make a change on an output or press 1 button to go to my outputs page to quickly adjust the gain, for example, of 1 of my many outputs. It was also quick for me to adjust the delay of 1 of my outputs caused by a long cable run that needed to match up to the video feed at video village. Without a control surface, it would have been so difficult to do this directly on the Sound Devices 888 that I may have told the video playback guy, "tough luck". There are always last minute requests in our business unfortunately, such as those that come once you start rolling, so speed and accuracy is essential and the right control surface gives you that.

Cons

I will say though, I did return the Waves Fit, and there is really only one reason why I replaced it with another control surface. Despite its name, the Waves Fit, does not exactly "fit" into a standard 19" rack unit. Yes, it technically can, but with wild compromises having to be made. I've looked at other people's cart setups and asked them how they did it and even the ones who kept the Waves Fit were unhappy with how poorly it fits in the rack unit. For me, with lots of tinkering over a number of weeks, the best solution I found for myself was to place my wireless rack beneath the control surface, which required extension cables for each channel of wireless to go back up to my recorder, along with a longer digital power cable for the RF Distro, causing a large mess of cables which bunch together when closing the drawer making it a hassle every time I tried closing the drawer. I also had a very limited view of the screens of the receivers making it very difficult to make adjustments on them while sitting underneath the Waves Fit. In addition to that, the Fit had to lie on top of the PSC RF 6-pack RF distro which almost, but didn't quite fit perfectly, as there was a tiny bit of space between the two. So technically, the Waves Fit was sitting only on the edges of the industry standard sliding tray, the Penn Elcom R1290. I've seen another mixer flip that tray upside down to give a flat surface throughout for the control surface, but then I'd lose 1RU of very valuable space in my cart. Without the 1RU of space, I'd have no space for my wireless receivers; unless I got rid of my monitors. I'm not saying there is no solution, but as you see, it causes a huge space issue. If the Waves fit was about half an inch narrower, it would fit inside the sliding tray instead of on top of it. If you're able to find a way for the Waves Fit to physically fit into your setup conveniently, it is a very nice piece of equipment that is easy to use and doesn't cost a ton.

iCon P1M control surface for Sound Devices

iCon P1M interfacing with Sound Devices 888 audio mixer

I replaced my Waves Fit with the iCon P1M. The iCon M+ had a bad reputation, particularly for being poorly built, as evidenced by many user reports of the faders breaking off. I can confirm that the iCon P1M is built much better than the iCon M+. The faders feel fine, the buttons and everything feel fine. It's not quite at the level of Waves Fit, but it shouldn't break and the faders and buttons respond well. There are definitely some pros and cons to the P1M compared to the Fit.

Cons

• iCon P1M only has 8 faders compared the the 17 on Waves Fit and is barely any smaller. The 17th is the master, whereas on the P1M, the 8th can switch between Fader 8 and the master fader by pressing a button.

• No strain relief for power cable. The supplied cable is straight exit and does come unplugged easily. (Use some tape to secure it?)

• Many buttons, likely far too many for a field sound mixer.

• Sometimes it can be slow to display what it should on the screen.

• (Initial Setup is extremely difficult and complicated interfacing it with Sound Devices). I'll have another blog post walking you through troubleshooting that as Sound Devices and iCon were not too helpful for me or for some other users.
  

Pros

• This mixer actually fits nicely inside a sliding tray in a 19" rack unit.

• Short in height and you can push down the display or easily remove it to close the drawer.

• Affordable, about half the cost of the Waves Fit.

• Buttons can be named and will display what you type onto the button, unlike the Waves Fit, where you just have to remember (there's not space to write on the Fit)

• The display is large and actually says the track name unlike on Waves Fit (This feature is not compatible with Sound Devices on Waves Fit at the time of writing this article)

iCon P1M display folding down to fit in 2RU space.

Summary

With all this, there's definitely reasons to choose the Waves Fit, or perhaps another control surface but for working out of a 19" rack unit cart with a drawer, I had to go with the iCon P1M. I spent a few weeks looking at other mixers' carts with the Waves Fit and trying to configure mine to make it "fit" and the compromises were just too much. The more time I spend with the iCon P1M, the more it's fitting my workflow. Here's a list of the approved 3rd party control surfaces for Sound Devices.

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Brett Ainslie is a NYC based freelance Production Sound Mixer owner/operator.

He has been mixing sound on location for Film & TV since 2010 for narrative feature films, TV commercials, corporate videos, musical and corporate event live streams and broadcasts, digital content, documentaries, sports and network reality shows. Brett has mixed sound for TBS, HBO, Showtime, Bravo, Disney ABC, Discovery, Food Network, Fox, VH1, A&E, ESPN, MTV, National Geographic, Bloomberg, Vice and more.