I note with approval the addition of channel gain control from the Faderport. I wish the same thing could be done with preamp gain for interfaces that support preamp control in S1 (rack mixers especially).
When starting a session with lots of mics, the thing I reach for the most is the gain control (wherever it is). I get a rough setting from the player hitting the drum in question (or horn or guitar or whatever) with the channel fader at unity, and keep tweaking until I have everything close to the sweet spot before hitting record. But I keep thinking, wouldn't it be nice to be able to set 16 or 32 mic gains quickly without using a mouse or moving your visual focus from the fader surface?
Ideally I'd like to set phantom on/off from Faderport as well, but I'd be happy with a modifier-controlled fader switch to preamp levels, or even a mode that moved the preamp gain from the selected channel to the parameter knob.
Probably won't get a lot of votes, but if you own an interface that supports preamp control, this could make your life easier.
Peter