Maschine Mk3 Encoders

wzdm.85 · 2023-03-05T16:41:11+00:00

There was an error rendering this rich post.

Hello Native Instruments, could you please start using quality potentiometers on your hardware? The encoders on my Maschine are all loose and sloppy. They feel like garbage and make the Maschine hardware experience, as a whole feel, the same. Not only does it feel ******, but I find that some of the values jump around when using the sloppier of the knobs.

I treat my gear like gold and there is no reason for the knobs to feel like this, other than they are poor quality to begin with.

Find more posts tagged with

Maschine MK3

Komplete Kontrol Keyboards

Accepted answers

D-One

@Bastian asked:
hi. Do you know if this is possible to use on the 4d rotary encoder, the menu encoder?

No. The small knobs are endless pots and the big knob is a digital encoder.

I replied here:

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/158058#Comment_158058

All comments

D-One

Unfortunately, it's a common issue for the encoders to get looser over time on MK3's; some people use rubber Keycap O-Rings on the knob shaft to add resistance back and say it helps a lot, personally, I never tried it but it's rather inexpensive so maybe it's worth a try? Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/DGZZI-Dampeners-8x5x1-5mm-Keyboard-Damping you need the thicker variety.

NI does officially use other encoders now for the M+ and after 2 years I have no issues, I doubt the MK3 will have any new HW revision at this point, but it should IMO... Or let users buy the Knob PCB assembly with better encoders. I went to the length of soldering new ones myself which was documented in the old forum but to the average user that's a big risk.

It shouldn't make values jump around tho, that's a separate issue afaik, I had it intermittently with my MK3 too and I am not sure what solved it since I tried many things at the time. I speculate it's electrical interference, try a different USB cable, plug the MK3 into a different USB Port on the computer, make sure to use a cable with Ferrite Beads, etc...

wzdm.85

Thanks for the reply.

Has anybody reported issues with the M+ encoders? Or have they been pretty much issue free? That would give me second thoughts about M+, because I hate the feeling of my Mk3 right now.

djadidai

My encoders are fine on my M+! However I’m no hardcore user using it daily for hours. I maybe average an hour/day on a good week. They’re tight as hell.

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/56723#Comment_56723

So far no, I haven't seen a single report about the M+ encoders on the forum. The MK3 had tons...

Jeremy_NI

@wzdm.85 If you witness a hardware default, please contact our hardware department: https://bit.ly/NISupport_Hardware

wzdm.85

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/57678#Comment_57678

Thanks Jeremy, I have submitted a support ticket, but have not yet heard back from them.

wzdm.85

Are there any Mk3 owners that are reporting the knobs not getting sloppy over time? I am thinking about getting a replacement unit, but I am worried that I'll run into the same issue again.

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/59355#Comment_59355

The old forum thread about this was kind of long and everyone in it confirmed the same behavior, now of course a thread about this topic is not as likely to attract users who don't have the issue and just go there to say "I have an MK3 for X years and don't have this issue", so idk...

Personally, I find it extremely unlikely that a new unit won't have the same problem eventually.

If this was an issue for me I'd just buy 8 pots and ask a repair technician to solder them for me, if I changed one successfully then a professional should do all 8 in 10min and then you're guaranteed to have knobs that last much longer if not virtually for ever.

wzdm.85

Man, such a bummer. What could be such an amazing piece of gear, has such a fatal flaw. I mean, it bugs me enough that I've pretty much lost respect.

In case I can find a technician who could solder new ones in, do you remember which encoders you replaced yours with?

D-One

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/59371#Comment_59371

Any repair guy can do it, those old shops that fix random electronics and such, do this at your own risk tho.

I used some RV112FF-40B1-15F-0B20K-0068, their shaft length is shorter than the originals but worked fine, if you look in the spec sheet it should tell you the exact model number for the longer shaft or what to look for. Here's a pic:

I changed only one to try it out but ended up actually preferring the looser encoders as the new one really had a ton of resistance. You can read the original thread using the Way Back Machine, here:

https://web.archive.org/web/20220830212208/https://www.native-instruments.com/forum/threads/knob-strength-on-hardware.349895/page-4

wzdm.85

Thanks a lot for the info man. I'm not sure that I'll go down the self repair route. NI says they'll replace the unit for $200, since it's out of warranty. I'm pretty hesitant, as they'll probably just get sloppy again. Pretty disappointing that NI doesn't address the issue and just use better pots. It sucks that there is such a huge gap in hardware quality between the Plus and the Mk3.

DeepThumb

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/59515#Comment_59515

IMO every encoder will die sooner or later. Just google for loose encoders or scratchy encoders. Same happens to pads / their sensor sheets.

wzdm.85

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/59529#Comment_59529

Yeah, but they should definitely last more than 4 or 5 years. Especially a modern encoder.

D-One

They will all break one day, sure... but getting loose within a year or two is a different matter, from my experience with other gear it takes a much longer time to have problems but that's just my experience.

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/59515#Comment_59515

It's really up to you, around 60$ with a high chance of never having this issue again soon vs 200$ and it definitively happing within a year or so + dealing with shipping it back and forth, spending a ton of time without your equipment, etc... 200$ for a small PCB with 8 knobs is absolutely insane to me, that's 1/3 of the cost of a new MK3.

I do understand that fixing things by your own means is not for everyone tho... Perhaps the O-Ring method could work for as cheap solution then.

Psyearth5

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/59371#Comment_59371

I had it with MK3 and unit was replaced but what I learned is to be gentle with them. Now I am saving for Maschine plus and I am hope that I will succeed till the end of the year. I spoke with several Maschine YouTube channels and they all confirm that Plus has much better quality build and I need it for live Act, time has come 😃

Quick links

Unanswered questions