They cost 68 EUR. 39 EUR + 29 EUR shipping
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If the sticky buttons issue were limited to 3% or maybe 5% of users, it could be dismissed as a random problem. But from what I can see, weâre closer to 50%, which points to a serious manufacturing defect. Explanations like humidity, dirty hands, or direct sunlight donât hold up. Weâre musicians, and our instruments must be able to withstand rough use. Thatâs professional gear that costs $1,000 or more, and this simply shouldnât happen.
As far as Iâm concerned, Iâve ordered third-party buttons and knobs for my Digitakt. Iâm definitely not going to buy Elektron spare parts, knowing that in a couple of years theyâll likely develop the same problem.
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How did you determine itâs 50% of users?
I donât like having to play devilâs advocate with this issue all the time because I appreciate it impacts lots of people but the reality is that it could well be more like 3-5% of users - but itâs those users you will hear from. By far most Elektron users donât have sticky buttons, and even if it ever reaches 50% most of those will be after a couple of decades of use when other components will be failing anyway.
Correct: When posting percentages, you should always provide the source
This poll is here on the forum:
The percentage of sticky buttons should be neither 50% nor 5%, but zero.
Note: my Digitakt is 7yo
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Every product with that coating I have ever bought (elektron, moog, arturia, focusrite) happened within 4 years.
Also happened with my GFs Rollerblades, the rubberised bits disintegrated.
It happens on all kinds of products not just elektron. In all parts of the world. To all types of people.
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Ok but this doesnât account for negativity bias. Generally people that donât have an issue arenât engaging with the conversation. If you start a thread about tyre blow outs youâll hear a lot from people that have had them, but they are still quite rare to experience.
I do think itâs fair to complain about either way - itâs a long term issue even if the vast majority of MKII and Digi owners wonât have experienced it yet. Certain geographies will have a bigger issue too.
I have plenty of stuff with this coating, some devices 5+ years, my 10 year old car has some of it on the door interior. Itâs all fine. OG DT was released 9 years ago, they have not all got failed coatings (some do though, which yea that sucks).
Will these coatings last forever? No. Could they be better? Yes. But for many they will outlast their time with the device either way.
Id personally prefer a high quality keycap material - it would be more expensive but these arenât cheap devices so no excuse imo.
You contradicted yourself twice.
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Where?
Personally I feel like we touch upon issues of falsifiability and the problem of demarcation in a post-popperian sense. In other words itâs not about âcontradictionsâ per se, but more about the
đ distribution in Poisson proceses. Obviously this hypothesis is subject to refutations, and I will be more than happy to admit its failure for science to progress even further 
Can you provide a link to the third party button manufacturer? Thanks 
Edit: i found âem on Etsy.
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Yes I had experience that same problem on a second hand Digitone OG. I removed all the buttons and try to remove the sticky little skin with soap. The result was not satisfying⌠I finally order new buttons at Elektron for about 40âŹ. Problem resolved.
FWIW, my DT1 is fine so far and therefore I had not posted anything about it here.
My friendsâ DT1 who bought his about half a year before me is starting to get sticky encoders. So, this leaves me kinda worried, itâll eventually happen to mine.
We cannot compare our environment, though. He is one of those users trying to keep everything in mint condition, unlike me. I rather donât care if my gear looks used. Heâs got a tidy basement studio with decksavers on nearly everything, etc. I cover my gear with old fabrics like dust cloths or old curtains.
Anyway, I like the buttons on his MM/MD better. I donât need that âextra gripâ from coated buttons or encoders. Curiously, my red Microbrute which I hardly used has developed this problem this year. The buttons look like they had a rough time in a Cheech & Chong movie and feel like someone spilled soda or beer over it.
Like mentioned above, this is a problem in general and it would be great if companies would stop using such materials. I hope Elektron used something else for the TV, so their users wonât run into the same issue.
Same here. I doubt using better material would raise the price that much.
Theyâd save a non-zero amount by just skipping the rubber coating. Or break even by replacing the coating with a nice satin clearcoat. Theyâd last forever.
Actually, theyâll probably save quite a bit even doing the nice version, due to having to replace so many peopleâs keys at a loss now.
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They canât just skip or move to a finish coat, theyâd still have to find a method for applying the color and lettering/symbols, likely moving to the dye sub route (which I donât believe is common for shine through keycaps). They could/should handle a loss, but it would be a loss nonetheless.
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The color and markings on the key are almost certainly not part of the rubbery coating. Theyâre applied to the key first, and then (transparent) rubber coating is sprayed on top.
Thatâs why weâre seeing folks here showing the results of gentler coating removal techniques (rubbing on cloth, etc) that show keys sans its matte rubber coating, with glossy, slick paint and markings left behindâŚ
The basic concept behind rubber coating is to make plastic appear less plasticky and, consequently, less cheap. While it does achieve that effect initially, over time, it tends to melt, revealing the deception. Manufacturers are well aware of the issue but continue to use it: the only solution is to avoid this material altogether. There are countless alternatives available, for instance aluminum, Nord Lead employs wood and stone for the pitch/ mod wheel, while vintage gear often used Bakelite (a different kind of plastic). The solutions do exist, but it seems that Elektron has no intention of addressing this issue.
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Theyâre commonly just sprayed, dipped or molded with a pigmented TPE and then laser etched to reveal the bare material underneath. There would be no reason to paint and then apply TPE because coloring TPE is one of its strongsuits.
And we see just as many examples of keycaps where the material has been completely removed. For those who are left with a renewed surface, I suspect they have just removed the broken down surface layer of the material.
A big factor leading me to this conclusion is that translucent TPE is known to yellow over time and I donât think weâve seen any examples of this. This is another reason why this material is often colorized. If these caps are painted, laser etched, and then coated with clear, weâd likely be seeing yellowing lettering over time as well.
The colour and print on the buttons is retained once the coating wares off, how long it takes to wear through that is anyoneâs guess. All the transparent keys you see are the result of aggressive processes to remove the coating that strip everything.
FWIW I wouldnât mind smooth keys, e.g. like on the backlit MBP2012 which are still good to go, and encoders like on the MM/MD. I just hope Elektron will find a good solution for future products and maybe for the next generation of spare parts for the DT/DN etc.