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 Damian2609 Sun Mar 06, 2022 8:15 pm
Hi,

For some time now I've been having a problem with the q-links on my mpc x ...when I turn a q-link, in fact when I simply touch the thing, the values on the screen can (fairly often) start eratically jumping around. Making it impossible to have any smooth control. And it can sometimes be a nightmare trying to record automation.
Usually after some time (anywhere up to about 1 minute) turning the knob back and forth, It eventually comes back under control.
It doesn't happen always, but certainly often enough to be very annoying.

Would anyone out there have any ideas how to stop this please?

I'm using firmware 2.8
I wondered if it might be something to do with overloading the storage (ram??), so I cleared everything off from the internal storage, and now have all my projects and samples (other than the preloaded samples ie. The Vault) saved on to an sd card. And the problem still occurs.
By Calcaire Mon Mar 07, 2022 7:19 am
I would suggest now that you stopped saving on the internal disk ( and will never do it again 8) ) ...

- reset preferences
- clean install of 2.8 ( or try 2.9 or 2.10 that do have some extra very good things, as pitch enveloppe on samples)
- reset preferences again


if it still occur, just test it without any usb drive or controller connectted

or check your electrical current stability
User avatar
By BostonGreen Mon Mar 07, 2022 7:52 am
Search the forum, common question.
Turn off 'show q-link when touched'
User avatar
By DeaDeus Mon Mar 07, 2022 1:53 pm
BostonGreen wrote:Search the forum, common question.
Turn off 'show q-link when touched'


"Show Q-Link Status When Touched" is not available for MPCX
>> Page 83 of manual

Even the special case for the MPCX: left hand side Q-Link (physical) button works for popup menu - but the switch to turn it off/on is missing
>>> Page 295

Maybe this workaround works, but never tried it (might be a bad solution):
Get yourself 16 plastic knobs - but it is tiresome to open the QLink menu and selecting the appropriate knob to turn....
User avatar
By 83dude Mon Mar 07, 2022 2:22 pm
Are all devices connected to your MPC grounded via the same electrical outlet?
User avatar
By Ultros Mon Mar 07, 2022 2:41 pm
lol recently i decided to shuffle my qlink knobs to see if its a physical problem.

on my unit qlink 1 was being a jerk so i pulled knobs 1 and 4 off and swapped them. now qlink 4 is being a jerk. i wonder if there was a bad batch of qlink knobs released on the wild.

they are plastic, but conductive. perhaps some qlink batches didnt get enough of whatever material they mix in with the abs to make the knobs conductive.

i have my suspicions that dielectric grease in the knobs hole before sliding it on will help aid conductivity.
User avatar
By DeaDeus Mon Mar 07, 2022 2:50 pm
Ultros wrote:lol recently i decided to shuffle my qlink knobs to see if its a physical problem.

on my unit qlink 1 was being a jerk so i pulled knobs 1 and 4 off and swapped them. now qlink 4 is being a jerk. i wonder if there was a bad batch of qlink knobs released on the wild.

they are plastic, but conductive. perhaps some qlink batches didnt get enough of whatever material they mix in with the abs to make the knobs conductive.

i have my suspicions that dielectric grease in the knobs hole before sliding it on will help aid conductivity.


...a piece of aluminium foil can help :-)
I had the issue on a few knobs
By kaleidoplasm Thu Mar 10, 2022 1:35 am
even after disabling the qlink display, i'm having the same problem. You said..aluminum foil? Is this a manufacturing defect?
User avatar
By DeaDeus Thu Mar 10, 2022 4:18 pm
kaleidoplasm wrote:even after disabling the qlink display, i'm having the same problem. You said..aluminum foil? Is this a manufacturing defect?


Not sure, but the contact to the potentiometer and the knob seems to be not perfect - as Ultras mentioned.
Old fashion knobs had a screw to fix it to the poti - to have a closer contact, just take a small piece of alu foil and wrap it over the top of the poti pin - this will make sure there is no gap and a tight fit.
No magic behind it. Maybe , as Ultros mentioned, the content of conductive material is not sufficiant.
User avatar
By NewAkaiUser Thu Mar 10, 2022 7:57 pm
The foil will not help you, because I still have this problem with the aluminum knobs (MPC One) :lol:
I solved it with a powerbank.
Maybe consider purchasing active ups for your MPC X and other studio gear. Then the equipment works technically on batteries.
By Elijah Fri Mar 11, 2022 8:19 am
Try operating qlink while touching a metal part (such as the back panel) with your left hand.
By Stuey Thu Mar 24, 2022 7:19 pm
Problem went away for me on MPC One by changing how I rotate the knob.

Just moving it by a finger pinch isn't enough, I found that my fingertip needs to be fully over the knob and sweeping the metal casing when turning it :lol:

IE hold the knob way lower down :-D
By Lyle Clark Sat Jan 20, 2024 4:47 pm
I have the same problem with my MPC one and it has very few hours of use but even barley touching the top of them in control mode acts as if it’s a pad
By good_guys_MPCXSE Fri Oct 10, 2025 2:38 pm
Hi,

I "fixed" the issue by wearing classic Adidas rubber flip-flops. Hence when I'm grounded the q-links all work (also when I touch the backplate whilst turning the q-link knobs they are also fine). Hence there is some kind of short-circuiting going on within the machine. I'm gonna try to open it up and see wether I can physically ground it from #within

But for now, buy them adidas flipflops 8)