Support and discussion for all of Akai’s modern standalone MPCs including the MPC X / X SE, MPC Live 1, 2 & 3, MPC One / One+, MPC Key 37/61.
By JBP Wed Feb 23, 2022 3:18 pm
Hi there !

I have a new MPC X, which is an replacement unit for another one with a similiar serial number.
On both units the data-dial behaves like this :

In a list when i scroll the wheel one single unit back and forth, I would expect the cursor on the screen to move up and down. Instead the cursor often just goes in one direction and the back turn (counterclockwise) is ignored.
So while turning the dial back and forth, the cursor often only moves down. This happens only if turn one single raster-point. Also there a raster points that work almost flawless (cursor gets up an down) and others that work very poor (cursor almost everytime goes down).

Scrolling without direction changes works flawless, so every raster point is recognized.

Contacting seller technical support I was told the problem is normal due the construction of the wheel.

Is that true and the behaviour is reproducable for you or do i have a faulty unit ?

Thanks for your answers in advance ! JBP
By JBP Wed Feb 23, 2022 5:10 pm
It basicly happens on any Data Dial input anywhere, browse sample list or move notes in Gridview.

Move a note in Data Grid with Data Dial -> one step right, one step left, one step right, one step left, repeat....
Or browse a list -> one step fwd, one step backw, repeat....

Its like cursor left right, but entered by Data Dial the "cursor left" event is often not fired and nothing happens on screen

*edit'* for clearification, I suspect an hardware error / faulty Data Dial mechanics
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By Ultros Thu Feb 24, 2022 6:26 am
I try my damnedest not to spin the fek outta my rotary encoder for that reason. I scroll by touch instead which is tedious but in my delusionally willfully ignorant mind i think it will save the mechanics of it. hoping that holds true... sadly my digital decks have the same encoder type and its the only option for selecting a track.
By JBP Thu Feb 24, 2022 8:26 am
Did I understand correctly that it is totally normal the dial behaves like this ?

Ok the good news are that my MPC X is not faulty, the bad news ... I have to live with that ...

Thanks for your answers, helped me a lot to make peace with my unit !
Last edited by JBP on Thu Feb 24, 2022 8:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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By Lampdog Thu Feb 24, 2022 8:37 am
Sounds like it, yes.

My mpc 4k dial was doing the same thing. Replaced it.
Emu turbo phatt dial was doing this when I bought it used. Replaced the dial.

Some dials you can open up and clean, some you cannot.
By JBP Thu Feb 24, 2022 8:42 am
Ok I wondered because both of my ordered machines behaved the same and found it surprising such clumsy input is considered normal (and sellers customer service told me so)
I made a video and wrote to akai support directly, I will let you know what they say.

Thanks for Information !
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By Lampdog Thu Feb 24, 2022 8:52 am
Did you do a hardware reset in preferences? I suggest doing that should the very first thing out the box. After that check for updates.
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By Ultros Thu Feb 24, 2022 10:01 am
Pull upward on the encoder, so the knob slides off. then, inspect the peg that the knob sits on. if it rocks around it could be an issue.

The real test tho is hooking it up to a pc in controller mode and logging the events from the encoder. if it sends 7F (-1) when you rotate left, and 01 (+1) when you rotate right, it is sending the correct info and is working fine, you could then cross hardware damage off then list and suspect software bugs.
By JBP Thu Feb 24, 2022 11:11 am
I checked out the MIDI signals, thanks for the hint : There are no Midi events fired too.'

For clarification : this only happens when I change direction: step backward after a step forward. Otherwise the dial works fine and every event is recognized.
and it ingnores only backward events.

Man that drives me crazy... My seller still says its normal. Ill see what akai tells me.