I have an Octatrack MK1, I haven’t used it at all for a few months I bought new around 2014. I went to use it today and all of a sudden some of the trig buttons are intermittently not registering a press unless I press it hard, they used to be very responsive on/off with the a light touch but now I’ll go to put down steps and I have to press certain steps a couple times or with a little more force to get it to be on or off. It feels kind of like they’re ‘sticking’ that’s the best way I can describe it, the buttons feel maybe harder to press not in a major way but in a way that’s causes issues. The reason I mention that I haven’t played it in a few months is because some of the other buttons feel this way too including the arrow keys and some of the page buttons. It almost feels like they all need to be sort of ‘worn in’ before they un-stiffen. Kind of odd to describe but that’s the most accurate I can describe it. It reminds me of the keys on my DSI Pro-2, if I don’t play if for a few days each key feels a little stiff and unresponsive at first but if I press each key down hard once then the stiffness goes away unless it goes unplayed for a few days. With the Pro2 it’s just a minor annoyance and oddity but with the Octatrack it’s actually causing it not to trigger consistently.
Has anyone else experienced this? Has anyone else experienced this specifically after not using their OT for an amount of time?
I’m beginning to wonder about the longevity of the mechanical buttons.
and now I can’t help but worry about the longevity of Elektron products…I don’t know if this is just a on off issue that will work itself out or if it’s a sign of something that will need to be repaired or replaced.
I’ve already had to send my Analog Rytm back to Elektron because it’s screen started ghosting and then eventually went all white, they replaced the entire board and it ended up costing me something like $400. (And that was on top of the fact that I paid the full $1500 for the AR since I bought it as soon as it was released) if my OT needs to be repaired I frankly couldn’t even afford to do it right now and won’t be able to for a while. (I’m in the beginning stages of a big move and hopefully purchasing our first house so there won’t be any room for any extra expenses for a long while).
With the money I spent on these boxes I didn’t at all expect to be worrying about them breaking down so quickly.
I had it in my mind that investing all of this money and time into a mainly Elektron based studio set up was a sound investment that would be rock solid and last me a lifetime or at least several decades before any issues began popping up I based that off of the build quality of the Machinedrum and Monomachine and how long those have lasted me, the price points and the reputation of Elektron but if my OT is failing I’m seriously concerned about the future of all 6 of my Elektron boxes 