Hi folks! Just want to check quickly that my crossfader is as it should be. The box my Octatrack came in had been a bit crushed so I’m probably just on high alert.
Because this is such a hard thing to describe without you being able to touch it I made a little video:
If I apply mild pressure from the bottom of the fader whilst pushing it left/right I find it binds fairly easily. Less of an issue when pushing from the top but it gains a lot of resistance. It’s smooth as silk when pushing back and forth normally.
I haven’t been able to find any reference anywhere of the mechanical design of the MKII fader so I’m not 100% sure of how the track works.
I only have DJ mixers to compare to and it’s quite a different feel - just want to make sure it’s all OK, save me sending it back for a replacement
Mine does the same. Grey model, 2020. It bothered me for the first 2 weeks, but I always locked the cross fader between two fingers, a combo of the thumb, index or middle finger. Extremely smooth that way, as a barely touch it.
There is an old thread showing how to tune it. I would love to see a new step by step video, when I get tired of the behavior. This thread would be perfect for sharing.
Thanks for your feedback all - so sounds like it’s not unheard of, but definitely not the norm. The closest thread I could find discussing a similar issue seemed to agree it should always be smooth. The volume knob is wobbly too, and although I could have lived with that (because I’ll never touch it, and I can replace it easily), this is an imperfection too far on such an expensive device so back to shop!
I’d just started to work the damn thing out as well and really enjoying it so it’s annoying having to part with it for probably a week or two!
Can you lift the tip off a little? Does it still do it? I had one that did this and from memory it was the rubber tip catching. Stuck a bit of paper in the little hole so it didn’t sit so low - job done.
Hey thanks for the suggestion - the cap isn’t making any contact with anything so defintiely not that for me! Could be something going on under the dust cover but whilst it’s returnable I’m not going to go opening her up as I’ll just spill Ribenna in it.
Seems like something isnt tight enough some where on the crossfader unit.
Or, its that bloody magnetic grubscrew.
If you’re worried about voiding your warranty, send that video to elektron and ask for advise.
Seems a bit daft to return the unit for a 10 minute job that anyone can do.
(First, tighten each hex screw either side of the fader- if that doesn’t fix it, take the cross fader unit out, check its all ok, take the magnet out and bobs your uncle, super fast super smooth fader action)
If you’re comfortable replacing a pot you shouldn’t have any trouble swapping the crossfader (it should be a drop in replacement, no soldering - I don’t think you even have to take the caps off the encoders, since its on a separate board) so maybe you can get them to send you that and put it in yourself instead of returning it and waiting for a replacement or repair, and it would be completely new that way. That’s what I would do if I could get the part free.
From what I understand the OT’s cross has a resistance piece to it, you can remove it, or loosen it, or over time it may loosen up a bit.
If you just bought it, I would send it back for another, or make a support ticket with Elektron and have them fix it.
I’m fairly savy with opening electronics and fixing what needs to be fixed.
The OT is kind of spooky to open, and the crossfader has some weird components that if they come off or you break them, it wont work at all, and you’ll have to send it in.
There’s videos/photos online of people opening the OT and messing with the crossfader, there’s even some threads on this forum about taking off the resistence piece.
I would watch, look at, and read about all that first before trying to open it right away.
Get a sense of what you’re in for and what to look out for.
If it’s beyond your ability, send it in, or see if it breaks in after some use.
It’s worth noting that all existing knowledge, as I undersand it, is about the MKI crossfader - same with teardown photos.
The devices are very similar but not the same.
I’m not even sure the MKII one has the adjustment screw - it at the very least has a different design.
I don’t think that what I’m experiencing could be fixed by adjusting the resistance - as there isn’t too much - the problem is very specific to angles, and so more likely slop in the mechanism, if I had to guess.
I could replace any number of components in the OT myself, but I’d rather not have to on a brand new device and risk damaging something - seems totally unneccessary to me personally.
Not sure how it would help tbh - I just needed to understand if what I was experiencing was normal so I knew whether I needed to get a replacement - I’ve done that
