No, you cannot. They need to be the same type of encoders. (which is a pretty readily available part)
Just in case anyoneâs in need of one, I recently bought one of these https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32664312910.html?trace=wwwdetail2mobilesitedetail&productId=32664312910&productSubject=UpBright-New-AC-AC-Adapter-For-Elektron-Machinedrum-SPS-1-MK1-MKI-MD-SPS1-MKI-MK&spm=a2g0s.12269583.0.0.1f745576Pbq8YJ 6V AC power supplies for an MD Mk1 that I borrowed from my brother (he lost the original power brick). Took a few weeks to arrive, but works a treat.
You can actually still get the power supllies for mkI units direct from the original manufacturer, I asked support a while back and they gave me the companies details, IIRC they are Norwegian based.
As for longevity of Elektron machines I have no reason to believe that people would be unable to fix them in the future, almost every vintage device I have owned, including 808, 909, MC-4b, and tons more have needed repair or sevicing, parts wear out, capacitors dry out or leak, internal batteries can explode or leak, and even some semiconductors can fail, transitors, regulators, diodes, ICs. Etc etc.
Even though they are mostly SMT they can often still be fixed, if you are determined.
Question is will anyone be using them in 30 years aside from a few retro nostalgia fans or old guys?
There is some mythical ideology that is attached to some of the older systems like the 909. But, while there are vintage synths kicking around, a lot of whatâs currently available in the vintage market has likely had various repairs over they years. As someone mentioned earlier, components eventuallyfail over time for various reasons.
That being said elektron gear is generally solid and tank like in my experience. Lasting for eternity, probably not, everything eventually decays.
Yes they are. True story: After one of the bloodiest days at the Battle of Verdun, the survivors found everything around them shattered to pieces from German artillery, except for a black rectangular box. That box? The Octatrack MKI.
i would say, this only depends on if you get bored of it
when it comes to the hardware, from the mechanically viewpoint, definitely NOT. the Encoders and Potis of the rather older Elektron Machines, particularly the Machinedrums and Monomachines, will become wobbly and finaly break and you get pissed of it. i experienced it myself two times with both named units btw. i managed it to repair them, but quite late before selling them^^
Are the DSP chips and everything âoff the shelfâ? That is, could you, with enough time, take a âstrippedâ circuit board and buy (from sources other than Elektron) and fit all the parts required to make it work once you flash the firmware on? Or are there some parts which are bespoke to Elektron? I guess this is where it feels like thereâs potential for non-fixable failure in future.
sound itself likely wonât last for âeternityâ so iâd say that any consumer electronic device wonât last either
Where can we order this encoders? Only from Elektron support? Is there any part Number /Vendor where we could order them? The contact for the âdownâ key on a friends OT broke (after heavy usage though.)
From support is obviously wisest - but thereâs plenty of discussion of going solo with parts that are the equivalent/same
e.g. part referenced here
judging from the popularity of the 808 and 303 Elektron stuff is probably too good at what it is designed to do to become timeless anyway.
make stuff crap again!
The posts from people having issues with the new encoders got me worried though. Specially the ones that describe scratchy heavy feeling encoders. I hope these are just a few exceptions but I do worry about the longevity of the encoders. Only time will tell
It is unfortunately inevitable that things break or have defects regardless of how high quality it might be, but considering the amount of units we have shipped with these new encoders, these posts on the matter is an incredibly small percentage, meaning that the failure rate is very, very low.
(And in the case of a defect or encoders breaking we do have a 3 year warranty)
No custom DSP or other CPUs in our units. Theoretically you could do that, but it sounds like a pretty big project!
Having said that, we try to repair boards down to the component level if things are broken or defective, and are most times successful at doing so.
Iâam woried about a rubberised layer that the new buttons have, like on the digitakt.
I have the 2 items that are nearly 10 years old that are using this rubberised layer on plastic and it started to âmeltâ on them.
One is microsoft mouse and other is motorcycle helmet.
That tiny rubber layer lost all of itâs properties and as soon as you touch it it glues to your hand, smears. All sort of dust/dirt is getting glued to the surface. After you take the items in your hand part of the layer will stay on your fingers. Totall mess.
Iâm really worried that it will be the same on the elektron boxes.
But as I said about 9-10 years time was needed for that rubber layer to go completely bad.
Weâve stress tested them quite extensively and honestly, theyâre hard to ruin with a knife. It will be fine.
yes, i hope so. Time will tell. I plan to keep my elektron for more than 10 years
Cheers Ess, good to know that in theory people could fix up these devices long beyond their expected lifetime even if Elektron stop servicing