The lack of hardware controls on the device can be overcome by using a MIDI controller capable of sending System Exclusive messages. Almost every parameter of the DW-8000 can be controlled via SysEx. Only the MIDI settings themselves and the arpeggiator are excluded.
I am using the Behringer BCR-2000 controller for realtime tweaking. If at all, the only setback is the coarse resolution of the parameters on the DW which does not even make use of the full MIDI value range of 128 steps. But the simple fact that it is fully controllable (other than its little brother, the DW-6000) totally makes it up to me.