Axiom Pro 61 Slider issue

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keeverw
Posts: 131
Joined: 23 Jan 2015

26 Mar 2015

Hey guys,
I have owned a 1st Generation Axiom-61, and have used it happily for at least 6 or 7 years. Maybe longer, I don't know. 
But as much as I like it, I was really wanting a controller with some feedback, so I could look at the laptop less in a live situation. 

Ideally I think a Nektar P6 would've been the perfect choice, but it was a little out of my price range at the time, and used P6's are hard to find. 

So partially because it was cheaper, and partially because I really liked the Axiom I had, I went with a used Axiom Pro 61. 

And I am happy with it for the most part. 
But one thing I don't care for is the faders. 
They are stiff when you move them slowly, but then get easier when you move them faster. I don't really care for that. But even more of a problem is that sometimes, when I start moving an Axiom fader that is remote overrided to a knob on a combinator, and the software knob is at "0" and the Axiom fader is also at "0", I will start to move the physical fader but the software knob doesn't follow it. If I move the fader back down to the 0 position again, and slow raise it up, then usually the software will follow it. 
But that is really annoying in a live situation. I'm ramping up the volume of an instrument, I hit a chord, and nothing. Then I have to quickly fumble around with it again, to get it to work, and it finally starts working halfway through a verse. 

Has anyone else experienced this problem?
If so, is there are known solution? 

My 1st Gen Axiom never had this problem, and still doesn't. 
And my Oxygen V3 doesn't have this problem either. 


Thanks!

keeverw
Posts: 131
Joined: 23 Jan 2015

12 Apr 2015

Can I assume from the lack of responses that this is not a common problem with Axiom-61 Pros?
And maybe I have a unique hardware issue?

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Benedict
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12 Apr 2015

Hi

I think this is a combo of hardware and software. Most controllers with pots and sliders with start and end (not endless) will need to find the "pick-up" point so slider and software controls match.

I am guessing your controller doesn't always read 0 when you think the slider is at bottom. I see two possibilities:
  • the pot is slightly offset from the knob so as the slider goes to zero the pot reads 1
  • the pot is a bit dirty so the 0 doesn't get read. This is a common issue with M-Audio controllers in particular and manifests as skipped values or the software knob "jittering". Try waggling that knob up and down over the whole range to see if you can clear it out. If it is this known issue it will probably gradually get worse. Some people have some success with physical cleaning but I will leave you to investigate that.
:)
Benedict Roff-Marsh
Completely burned and gone

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Puckboy2000
Posts: 265
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Location: SoCal

12 Apr 2015

I have the Axiom Pro 61. Love it. No problems with the sliders for me. But I haven't really used them much to tell the truth.
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than than that" - George Carlin

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bpmorton
Posts: 432
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

15 Apr 2015

I have the Novation Impulse 61 and it behaves the same way when I first load Reason. The sliders and knobs have to be "found" by Reason by sliding them up and then down then they work fine for the rest of band practice.

Brian

keeverw
Posts: 131
Joined: 23 Jan 2015

15 Apr 2015

bpmorton wrote:I have the Novation Impulse 61 and it behaves the same way when I first load Reason. The sliders and knobs have to be "found" by Reason by sliding them up and then down then they work fine for the rest of band practice.

Brian
Just to be clear, that is not the issue I'm having. 


True, I have to move the sliders to let them be found by the software, and then once they are found, I can move the faders up and down all day long, fast, slow, whatever, and the software faders move with the physical faders perfectly. 

But then in the middle of playing a song, I start to slowly ramp up one of the faders, and it doesn't ramp up. Then I move the fader all the way down again, and then up, and usually it works the second time. 

That is why it's so annoying. During set up, it seems everything is fine, but then during a performance, I try to slowing bring in a pad sound, with my piano sound, and it doesn't work. And then I have to hurry and move it down and try again, totally missing the moment in the song that needed the pad, and making it hard to focus on my playing. 


I have an old first generation Axiom 61 that I've had for at least 6 or 7 years. And it never has this problem. 
I also have a pretty new Oxygen-49 mk3 that also is problem-free. 
And I've used other controllers, and never had this problem before. 
The reason I bought the Axiom Pro is because I've had such good luck with M-Audio controllers, and I knew I could count on this one, but not so much. 

I am really thinking the problem is with the hardware. 
I'm tempted to swap my old Axiom faders for the new ones. But they aren't the same, so it might not work. 




keeverw
Posts: 131
Joined: 23 Jan 2015

17 Jun 2015

So last week on Sunday morning in the middle of a set, my Axiom-Pro 61 just died on me.
I mean, it's nothing but a paper-weight at this point. The LCD screen just twitches and studders and glitches, and my computer doesn't recognize it anymore.
Normally I have two controllers hooked up (in a 2-tier fashion), and it wouldn't have been terribly hard to change tracks on the other controller and keep on trucking. But since I had just bought an Alesis Micron, and wanted to use it for a couple of sounds (and didn't want to have 3 keyboards on stage), I replaced my 2nd tier controller for the Micron, and since it only has standard midi outs, I ran it into the Midi-In on the Axiom Pro. Pretty neat setup actually, I could use the Micron as a second controller for Reason, or just turn up the volume knob and use it's built in sounds. But I was relying on the Axiom pro as a Midi Interface for the Micron, and that stopped working too. So I was dead in the water, unless I wanted to hit F4 and play on my QWERTY keyboard for the rest of the set. lol

And I talked to M-Audio and they said even though I bought it used, since I bought it from Guitar Center, they would cover it under warranty. That was pretty sweet.

But it made me think, I've been playing live with Reason for about 7 years now on my worship band. And despite other peoples' concerns about relying on a computer for a keyboard rig, I have never once had a hiccup during a live set, let alone a complete melt-down where I just had to stop playing all together.

And when I finally did have one, it wasn't the computer's fault, it was my controller.

I am really hoping that the fader issue I was having (see OP) was related to this melt-down, and once they fix it, it will resolve that issue also. Because I like this controller, and I really want it to work for me.
But if not, I'll probably trade it in on something non-M-Audio. Because their quality has gone downhill as of late. I never had (and still don't have) any problems with my original Axiom. And even now I'm relying on it again, since the "Pro" broke.



keeverw
Posts: 131
Joined: 23 Jan 2015

17 Jun 2015

The funny thing is, the Micron is probably capable of making some nice pad sounds, and even passable Rhodes sounds, but I had just bought it and I didn't have any presets like that set up to quickly pull up.
If I had, I might've been able to salvage something.
Instead I made a mad dash home between sets to grab my old Axiom, and it saved the day. :-)

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pushedbutton
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17 Jun 2015

If Servisol Super 10 Switch spray doesn't fix it, it's fucked.
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Using Reason since version 3 and still never finished a song.

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