Poor pad sensitivity in MIDI mode (Maschine Mikro MK3)

fercontreras8

Hi folks,

I just bought two Maschine Mikro MK3 units, and I ran into the following issue on both:

https://www.native-instruments.com/forum/threads/very-bad-pad-sensitivity-in-midi-mode-mk3-hwm-823.458671/

The above post is in an old NI forum, so I am not sure if NI ever addressed it.

Were any of you able to solve this?

Thank you

Nico_NI

Did you try Adjusting your MASCHINE Controller's Pads Sensitivity already?

Peter Harris

I have a similar problem and yes, I tried adjusting that.

But with mine, fourteen pads are fine but two have very low sensitivity in both normal and MIDI modes.

Can the pad triggers be replaced?

D-One

No, it's still unsolved.

The sensitivity in MIDI Mode is just different, unfortunately... altho the velocity curve can be adjusted (in controller editor) the minimum actuation force required to trigger a Pad cannot, and it's miles apart. (MIDI Mode requires a lot more force)

If adjusting the curve in the controller editor is not enough then you can also do it in your DAW, Ableton, for example, has a MIDI FX that can change the velocity curve of incoming MIDI, most DAW's should have something similar but again this can't change the minimum actuation force; only NI can do that.

I think this started with the MK3 series, so affects at least the Mikro Mk3, Mk3 and M+.

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/45875#Comment_45875

Seems like a completely different issue and HW-related.

The sensor sheet? Hard to imagine it being damaged but it could be dirty if you have had your unit for a long time. There's this trick I used to do with my M-Studio, I would lift the Pads up a bit with my fingertip and wiggle them around a bit, it helped with that sort of issue but it's not a permanent solution and might be causing more damage if you do it a lot.

NI does not sell spare parts so you would need to ship your unit in for repair.

Or... try to fix/clean it at your own risk... MPC Stuff sells sensor sheets for the MK3 for example as well as wacky ways to physically change the sensitivity like the corkx thing. This last one is basically just adding material between the Rubber Pads and Sensor to make them more sensitive, this sort of mod used to be popular in the MK2 era... Since the MK3 I haven't really seen people doing this, the average user of this era doesn't seem as adventurous as past decades.

Peter Harris

Thanks for the ideas. Much appreciated!

The unit I'm talking about is a $100 second hand Mikro MK3 from ebay so I might try opening it up and giving your cleaning idea a try. Always been curious what NI products look like inside...

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/45966#Comment_45966

Just be careful not to use any cleaning fluids that would leave residue, like household cleaning stuff... Water and random chemicals can corrode the PCB.

Since the graphite sensor sheet touches PCB traces I think your best bet is to use what people use to clean PCB's, Isopropyl alcohol... While you have it open, inspect if the pad traces look clean and golden, it should look like this:

If they are nasty then clean it too and make sure it's fully dry before turning it on, Isopropyl alcohol is conductive. I'm not an expert on this topic tho.

Peter Harris

@D-One, you gave me the confidence to try opening up my second-hand Mikro MK3 yesterday and I'm so glad I did. Once I gave the insides a through cleaning with soft brushes and alcohol (especially the pad sensors), it works perfectly. I think the culprit was mostly weed crumbs that got down into the guts, gumming things up with the resin!

Thanks for your advice.

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/46261#Comment_46261

Weed? haha Thats so funny! 🤣

Glad you got it sorted. Merry XMAS.

mason drielling

Poor pad sensitivity in MIDI mode (Maschine Mikro MK3) — Community

mason drielling

Im using the Maschine MK3 having the same problem

"the minimum actuation force required to trigger a Pad cannot, and it's miles apart"

There are really no solutions for this?

Peter Harris

My Mikro was back to normal after a good cleaning but it was a much cheaper piece of gear, and I'm not sure I would have the nerve to try that with a Maschine MK3 unless it was out of warranty and a likely write off otherwise.

mason drielling

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/62443#Comment_62443

I want the minimum actuation force to be the same. Cleaning it will NOT do the trick for me. This is a matter of software ONLY.

mason drielling

You may not control Komplete Kontrol vst in other daws with a Maschine Controller (thats not very Komplete of NI)

You may not use keyboard mode on a Maschine controller in other daws without error, midi mode or not. There is always added latency or initial velocity errors.

In order to use keyboard mode in another daw you must use have the whole Maschine software open, so that it can detect the midi velocity properly, before it goes to another daw.

And like I said, there's added latency.

It doesn't matter what ableton/logic script you use. It won't work. It doesn't matter if you spent money on it. I guess...

In FL studio however, you may write a script that allows the velocity of the Maschine MK3, Micro or whatever to work properly without errors. Here is the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-nOQDF-HaE&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.native-instruments.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title

mason drielling

BTW I found that link in a duplicate forum post, yall should close this one and mark the other one as unanswered. Cause it is most definitely NOT ANSWERED.

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/3502/is-there-a-good-workaround-for-the-midi-sensitivity-issue-of-maschine-mk3-yet#latest

mason drielling

my argument is that Native instruments does this because they need to:

they need you to use the maschine software because it works best with kontakt and other similar NKS products cause those are how they actually make money. (And why they don’t update the maschine software)

the maschine controller is resellable, so they can’t make money off of resales on eBay or Amazon.

and this issue (with keyboard mode) is how they stop you from using any maschine controller on other daws, so they can make money off of resales by not resolving this issue.

anyone is better off getting a 4x4 midi controller and figuring out how to get scales to work on it in another komplete daw.

it seems cynical but I’ve been using NI since I was a freshman in high school. I’m about to graduate from college. I’m pissed about this. I now have to learn piano because keyboard mode does not work in other daws. The path to even realizing this was extremely treacherous and expensive. I hope this helps someone out or that this issue does get resolved. Otherwise I’m gonna just stay pissed off on the forums while i slowly learn piano so I can cut my little maschine “addiction” and start making big boy music.

LostInFoundation

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/62448#Comment_62448

The problem with the “answered” flag in this forum is that it is enough that somebody wrote back anything to mark a thread as answered.

In my opinion this is misleading, cause not all “answer” are solutions.

The ones for which a correct (or interpreted as correct) answer is been accepted are marked with also a check mark. Like this: