Let me be open here.
I have, more or less, put EUR 2.500,- aside for the one manufacturer who can provide me with a proper control surface of 12 - 16 channels with plugin / channel strip control.
Avid (Artist Control + Mix) almost got it, but I don’t want to risk writing off the money one day just because Avid or Steinberg decide not to support their “most valued competitor” anymore… and using Pro Tools is not an option for me, because I have spent lots of money on VST plugins (which Pro Tools doesn’t support, so it’s basically blacklisted for me).
MCU is not an option, because it’s huge (the chassis wastes a lot of space for nothing) and not really innovative anymore.
I’m waiting for MY control surface to come my way and holding my money back.