The strange differences between two x1 mk3s I bought five months apart

tuna · August 7

In February, I bought an x1 mk3. (By the way, the x1 mk3 I bought in February had mold-like stains and strange dust on it, but they immediately replaced it with a new one.) I always felt something odd with its encoders. I couldn’t select the song I wanted easily, and when I tried to do a beat jump or loop, it would land on 8 instead of 4 or 16 instead of 8; it wouldn’t stop at the target point sometimes. This month, I bought another x1 mk3 to play 4 tracks. The screen backlight of the new one was more blue, while the old one was more white. Then, even the feeling and sounds of pressing the buttons were very different. The new one has a much better button feel. And of course, the encoder works exactly as I want. I can select the track precisely. Even the turning feel and sound of the encoders are different, much nicer and sharper. I believe photos and videos would better explain what I mean. I want to exchange the one I bought in February with this new series. It’s the same brand, the same product, but the feel is completely different, and I can't understand how this is possible. I realized I couldn’t use the first one properly when I started using the new one. Has anyone else experienced this kind of situation? The color difference in the screens or the feel of the buttons is not very important, but the encoder not turning properly greatly affects usability.

In the videos, the one on the left is the new one, and it still has the screen protector on. If you listen with headphones, you can hear the difference in the sounds of the buttons and the sound of the encoder on the new x1. Unfortunately, the old one doesn't have this stability.

x1mk3.mp4.zip

lord-carlos · August 8

Yeah, they switched to different encoders.

A lot of people did not like the original encoders. I doubt they let you switch it.

You could sell it and buy a new one.

pkazi84 · August 8

Checked the video. I also have the "older revision of mk3"

Actually i have no issue with the original encoders and its sensitivity. I did not feel the track selection or loop size changing would be unstable. Compared with my old X1 Mk1 the MK3 encoders feels a lot more smoother but i got used to it quickly. Of course it is just personal preference.

DJDL · August 8

I really dislike the original encoders, which is what I got with my MK3 less than a year ago. I constantly get the wrong results while loading tracks or looping/moving loops, which translates to errors and imprecise performance. I often wonder how other users could cope with this, even while reviewing the unit without mentioning this issue. I thought perhaps I got a bad unit, but a bit of searching revealed other users also experienced this.

I am glad they got it fixed, as the X1MK3 has a great potential, but feel ultimately frustrated that the price I paid for being an early adopter is having to keep dealing with this issue which really distracts from what could otherwise be a great user experience. I can't justify buying another unit, and besides, it would seem unfair from a consumer standpoint.

Hopefully, some sort of update path or solution is offered for early customers.

viper9711 · August 8

The problem with buying a new one is: how can you be sure that you are getting a new version of the MK3? You can't know how old the dealer's stock is.
It would be good if NI would tell you which serial number and batch the new encoders are installed in.

A few months ago I had an MK3 to try out and sent it back, particularly because of the bad encoders.

If I had kept it, I would be really annoyed now because there is a better version.

lord-carlos · August 8

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/171253#Comment_171253

I kinda want to ask ni about what exact encoders they now use, and solder them myself.

pkazi84 · August 8

@DJDL I absolutely understand your frustration. Unfortunately not much can be done with this 'issue' at most you can send it back but no guarantee that the next Mk3 you buy will be the "corrected" version as many of the first rev. are at the suppliers and stores (unless you purchase it directly from NI). I think NI did not recognize it officially that it would be a "faulty" version, because the product works. In fact it does not have any defects that prevent it from being used as intended. If it was qualified as "defect" in that case they could recall all X1 MK3 which were released in the "first round".
As for me i could get used to those encoders others may be not. Somebody use to told me that if a new product released whether it was console, dj gear, or even a software whatever …. "NEVER BUY THE FIRST REV" because that's for sure it would have a kind of issue which will be fixed in the future versions. 😀 The problem is that you cannot always make sure which version you get if it's not listed.

DJDL · August 9

I get what you are saying about not buying version 1 of anything, but being this the MK3, you would have thought that they's taken into account all that was achieved with versions 1 & 2, and improve upon it. I also get that the team has been through some changes which probably presented a bunch of challenges, and even then, they went and created an inspired, sexy and exciting product - with bold aesthetics and full of thoughtful features. I would have done a couple of things differently, like the cue/sync/play placement or how the hotcues work for setting and removing ques (MK2 was great). But those are minor things. I think that the encoder issues were just the result of using different parts suppliers for any of many possible reasons, and some of those parts just resulted in being of lesser quality than what we are used to with all other excellent NI hardware. Other build choices do feel like a step back, like the rubber feet that are prone to slide off after a few months because the glue is not strong enough. The build quality of the X1 MK2 is just astounding. After more than 10 years of getting used and abused constantly, mine still holds strongly. Only one button (Load to Deck B) is showing signs of wear, but otherwise, that thing feels like it could go for another 10 years easily. Maybe it will, if it does not become obsolete because of software advancements like MK1 did.

I might decide to sell my MK3, but probably at a discount because out of principle I won't take advantage of an unsuspecting customer who is unaware of the issues. If I do manage to sell it after warning a potential buyer about its shortcomings, I will definitely purchase a new one. But not before making sure that the encoders have indeed been fixed.

pkazi84 · August 9

@DJDL By searching on the web regarding to this issue i found this link below.
If I understood correctly it offers a workaround to adjust the sensitivity of encoders and others as well.
It is worth checking if you have not done yet and give it a shot. However it is described with TP3 but i should work in TP4 too if you already use the latest one.

There is a great detailed explanation how to do this and might be helpful to get over this "issue".

https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/15880527833245-Traktor-X1-MK3-Overmapping-Instructions

Stevan · August 9

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/171341#Comment_171341

That won't help with step/clicky encoders. It only helps with the smooth encoders like MF Twister for example.

pkazi84 · August 9

@Stevan Oh ok thanks for the correction i was not aware of that.

tuna · August 9

Hi guys,

We have sent a detailed email to NI through the retailer/dealer, including visuals and video. We are waiting for their response. I hope they take action because this situation is quite strange. I have two of the same product, but the usability and even visual differences are noticeable. This is my first experience with an NI product, and it has been both surprising and disappointing. I use many products from well-known brands like Elektron, Roland, Novation, Allen & Heath, Korg, Behringer, etc., and have never encountered such an issue. I hope NI takes action regarding this situation. If they remain indifferent, it will damage their reputation. If NI does not address the issue, I will return the most recent X1 MK3, sell the older one, and probably buy another Xone K2 to complement my existing one. We’ll see. ps sorry about my lang i am not native.

MichaelK_NI · August 9

Hi everybody,

let me shine some light on the encoder topic here. When choosing the right encoder for the MK3 we did a bunch of side by side tests and the encoder which is slightly softer actually receiving pretty good feedback when it comes to quality and interaction feel particularly when it came to being able to scroll longer lists faster. Of course this was a smaller sample size of people compared to the feedback we would be able to collect after a public release.

As we always try to keep improving our products we kept a close eye on user feedback (like this thread here) on what the experiences of our users are with the product. While the majority seemed to like (or at least have no issue) with the encoders we have seen a couple users not liking the accuracy of them especially when tweaking loops. So we went to look for alternative components which could hopefully satisfy all X1 users and found this new more clicky encoder. After some further comparison testing we internally found that testers who liked the previous encoder have also been fine with the more clicky one and testers who didnt really like the softer encoder liked the more clicky one a lot more. Therefore we decided to introduce this component in a running change to hopefully satisfy all X1 users from here on out.

Regarding the temperature change in the display color. This is normal tolerance. While we strictly monitor that within one unit all displays have the same color temperature, we are not able to control some deviations in white color temperature across units.

I hope this answers some of the questions raised here and gives you a bit more background on the topic.

I wish all of you a great rest of your Friday and a happy weekend.

Cheers

Michael

lord-carlos · August 9

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/171389#Comment_171389

Thank you for taking time to answer our questions.

Could we get the exact name of the encoder form the new batch?

pkazi84 · August 9

@MichaelK_NI Thank you for the detailed explanation.

Have you or the team considered to display this "change" on the box of X1 somehow in the future ? For example rev 1.2 or something like that. In that case customers could decide which version they would like to purchase.

DJDL · August 9

@MichaelK_NI

Thank you for the explanation. It’s truly commendable that you are actively listening to customer feedback and incorporating it into product improvements. This approach not only strengthens the relationship between users and the NI brand but also fosters customer loyalty and contributes to the continued growth and consolidation of Traktor’s legendary status within the DJ community.

Since the introduction of the X1MK3 and now with the audacious release of Traktor Pro 4.0, it is very exciting to witness a renewed stance within NI/Traktor and an exemplary return to form. Anticipation and optimism for the future of the Traktor ecosystem is sky high, and I am personally thrilled to start using all of the new features that once again enhance the creative process and allow for enriched artistic expression. Refreshed and modernized software together with hardware that provides unrivaled workflows, are sure to engage current and potential users alike, and I really hope for the best outcome in the coming years for the platform.

In my case, I wish I had waited a bit before purchasing my X1 MK3, as the enconder issue presents an unnecessary challenge to my workflow. I'm glad some people like it, perhaps I can find somebody who is willing to buy it as is. That, or NI can hopefully come up with an upgrade path that is practical for both parties.

Cheers to all.

The strange differences between two x1 mk3s I bought five months apart

Comments

Categories