Questions & Answers

Please Fix the Shaky, Jumpy Faderport 2 Fader

+3 votes
1,337 views
asked Feb 19, 2020 in FaderPort Series Feature Requests by timothylawsnyder1 (250 points)

My Faderport 2 fader, when I have automation that is a linear rise in my DAW (Logic Pro X 10.4.8 on an iMac running OS 10.13.6), rises in a jumpy, "shaky" manner.  I have written to technical support, who indicated that the fader "is more of a reference point than on point accuracy."

User expectations are that, if a volume automation, rises linearly using just two endpoints of the segments, the fader should do the same.  This does not happen; the jumps are noticeable and are noisy.  (I have a video available but am unable to attach it here, as far as I can discern.)

5 Answers

+2 votes
answered Jul 19, 2020 by benreaves (11,380 points)
selected Jul 20, 2020 by timothylawsnyder1
 
Best answer

I've heard a video on Sweetwater's site that described the faders as noisy, but not jumpy. That reminds me of my old 01V96's faders before it died. It had a few channel faders that would get "stuck" between two values it was able to faithfully represent, and during a linear fade could jump between the two values erratically until it moved out of that spot. I recognized that as a failure state, where the fader itself was getting old and might not read correctly without a clean. 

I also have a Faderport Classic, and I had to clean it after a spill early in the year, which I followed up with a "self test" i created to make the fader move as fast as possible from extreme to extreme, but also in steps, turning around mid-travel, and slowly up and down the length of the fader. If the points were too far apart to be reached and a new automation line started, the fader would try to jump to the new position, often quickly, so it would shake extremely hard. At first I was afraid I had completely ruined the track, but it didn't happen on slow automation.

So, I'm not sure what your specific issue could be, but I do believe that PreSonus needs to focus on what is good about their products and should actively be seeking to emphasize those aspects about it, instead of trying to go for this vertically-integrated, massive scale they've been trying to get to for the last decade. I think they have the capacity to be the best at what they are good at, including controllers like this, and are just not focused enough to be the best.

I hope if you can have PreSonus service the Faderport, even a paid service, that it comes back without jumping. It's a shame they told you that was normal operation.

0 votes
answered Feb 26, 2020 by AlexTinsley (925,410 points)

Thank you for the feature request. 

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+1 vote
answered Feb 26, 2020 by timothylawsnyder1 (250 points)
I am the original poster of this fix.  Am I the only one who has this?  (My worry: My unit is defective.)  I'm stunned that this has not received any votes.

Thanks/Enjoy!
0 votes
answered Jun 9 by MarkWright2824 (140 points)
Hi Timothy,
I have this same problem on 1 fader (15th) on a used faderport 16, which i just bought.
Hoping i haven't bought your old one. Did you ever get it fixed?

Kind regards,
Mark
0 votes
answered Aug 8 by dominicson (150 points)
edited Aug 8 by dominicson
I am on Logic Pro 11.0.1 and can confirm that this is a bug.

As a Logic Pro user, when I want to increase a volume from 50% to 60%, when I use the angle tool automation with a line tool that angles from 50% and move my mouse up for the automation line to reach 60% volume.

Expected: The Faderport channel fader should move from 50% to 60% smoothly within the timeline bars where the linear line automation was drawn.

Actual: the fader twitches instead rapidly between 40% and 70% within the timeline bars where the linear line automation was drawn.

Workaround: Remove the linear angle and instead Latch Record to manually move the faders with fingers.
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