Larger rotary controller

I've got average-to-small-sized hands, but I still find the rotary controller on the Mk. 2 awkwardly small. It's quite usable, but I think it would feel much better if it were larger. Of course, the would require a redesign of the face, so I guess I'll have to wait until the Mk. 3...

At first I felt the same way, Fat fingers and all.

But now after a week or so I have gotten used to it. I find that I can rest my finger along side of the facia and use my fingernail to turn the bumps on the knob.

The only thing that gets me is that the sample rate on the control knob can't keep up with a quick turn of the knob. I find that trying to turn the volume knob up or down quickly it doesn't respond.

John

Hey Oscar,

Maybe you could pull the knob half way out on the shaft to get it away from the face a little bit. I think it would give more to hold on to! maybe? My Alpine knob sticks out more and is much easier to grab on to.

Alex Lear

Not a bad idea, Alex. Another way to fix this would be to keep the size but give the knob a rubberized outer shell. I think that would do the trick as well.

Oscar

but give the knob a rubberized outer shell.

How about this -- just stretch a small rubber band around the circumference of the knob?

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Personally, I'd rather not have to explain to people why it is that I've got a rubber-band around my $1,600 car stereo...

-Oscar

-Oscar

Good point...


Rob mentioned it was too expensive to create a rubberized knob similar to the Eclipse knobs.

Alex Lear

I found a tiny black rubber band that i believe is used for hair extension type braids that works perfectly and looks like it belongs there. Just a suggestion. If you wanted to get really fancy you could take a Dremmel and route out a small groove for the rubber band to sit in, now that would be fancy. I've seen rubber O rings that would probably work perfectly as well...I'm going to do some hardware store research this weekend and see what i come up with.


|| loren.cox
|| 080000446

Between this suggestion and the one for the epoxy on the remote control buttons, I officially name you "Empeg Handyman". Congratulations.

Hehehe. Sweet. Thanks ;]

i just thought of another one. What about dipping the front of the rotary control in some sort of Room Temperature Vulcanizer (RTV) or the rubber stuff that you can buy at a plastics or hardware store that you dip tool handles in which dries to a grippy rubber? I'm pretty sure i've seen that in matte black and that would just look bad ass, you could even coat the plane of the knob with the bumps with a mold release so that you could cut that section of the rubber off and leave the center and a ring, or the inverse...that would look purdy bad ass. TAP plastics here i come....


|| loren.cox
|| 080000446

You are much wiser in the ways of plastics than I am -- I've never heard of the room-temp stuff, but I'll look for it.

Thanks,
Oscar

RTV is a two part rubber usually used in mold making. (i've made puppets for stop motion projects, which is where i learned about all that stuff). I'm not sure if it would actually work well in this application or not. I'm gonna try and go over to Douglas and Sturgess this weekend as well and see what they suggest. They know it all when it comes to rubber.




|| loren.cox
|| 080000446

Thats not a bad idea, but I have never seen the liquid form of that stuff, just the tube you cut to fit, and heat shrink it - for screw drivers and stuff...
But if you do find a way to get rubber sleeves/rings on the vol knob, let us know, perhaps we could do a mass purchase if people are interested, as I know I am!!

So what happens when you're car is parked in the sun all day. Do you find a puddle of RTV on your car's carpet?

No...heheh. RTV is just vulcanized rubber that cures at room temperature. It would take a lot more heat than that to melt it, and it's incredibly resiliant.


|| loren.cox
|| 080000446

Do you find a puddle of RTV on your car's carpet?

Once it's cured, it's very tough. In Alaska, we use RTV to hold silicon heating pads onto the oil pans of our engines so the engine can be pre-warmed before starting at 40, 50, 60 below zero. Those heating pads reach temperatures in excess of 300 degrees, I think.

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Wow! That's a pretty fascinating application. What a good idea. Still glad i never have to even THINK of how to start an engine in 40 below though!!! gees.


|| loren.cox
|| 080000446

After playing with my empeg a bit longer, I've noticed that the main problem with the rotary controller isn't so much its size (although it would be nice to increase it), but more importantly the rate at which it changes the volume. I find myself having to turn it quite a few times to adjust the volume from low to adequate.

Wish list item: either a faster response rate on the volume ramp, or the ability to adjust it (as one does with mouse movement rates on a computer).

Oscar

Yeah, that's been mentioned many times and is already going to be implemented. I believe at twice the sampling rate? or am i dreaming that up?


|| loren.cox
|| 080000446

Yeah, that's been mentioned many times and is already going to be implemented

I could be wrong, but I think the volume adjustment is not linear, but it varies by how fast you turn the knob. In other words, you get more decibels change in, say, half a revolution of the knob if you turn it quickly than if you turn it slowly.

This is entirely an empirically derived opinion. I don't remember seeing anything in print about this, it's just the way it seems to me that my empeg works.

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

I could be wrong, but I think the volume adjustment (..) varies by how fast you turn the knob.

That's what I believed, Doug, but if you try it out it appears that its is linear, or if it does vary by how fast you turn the knob the speed-up isn't noticeable.

This could, of course, have been corrected in the 1.01 release that was put up a minute ago

Henno
mk2 6 nr 6

The volume *is* definitely speed sensitive - to a point. If you turn the control incredibly fast then it will think you're turning it slower.

Very early mk2 owners will remember the original, linear behavior which was very annoying.

Hugo

The volume *is* definitely speed sensitive
When you say so . . .

I played with it extensively, because I thought you said a while back that you had programmed this yourself, but couldn't make it react more quickly that strictly linear (though when tuning it more quickly, one can no longer count the clicks / needs to estimate how far up/down volume was adjusted).

You could make me (us?) happy by making it even more speed sensitive, when you *again* have a few spare moments.

If you turn the control incredibly fast then it will think you're turning it slower.
I haven't tried that one yet. Will do


Anyhow, nothing critical but NTH (nice to have)

Henno
mk2 6 nr 6

To follow-up my own message: I just happened to rent a Ford Focus for the weekend. It's a small, economical car with a decent interior. I was using the factory stereo in it and realized that the rotary volume controller would be excellent for the empeg. It is just the right size, has a rubberized feel, and a *very* satisfying mechanical 'click' when you turn it. It can also be pressed-in to select functions.

If anyone else gets a chance to look at the stereo in this car, let me know what you think of the controller.

-Oscar

I agree that the knob is way too unresponsive when adjusting the volume. On the other hand I find it too sensitive when surfing the menus. It only takes one click to move from one menu option to the next and I always overshoot the one that I am looking for. I can't conduct this surgery on my late model, rough riding SUV!

pete

...the knob is way too unresponsive when adjusting the volume.

There's a trick to that. If you turn the knob slower, the volume will change faster. The empeg skips volume adjust signals that come too close together, so grabbing the knob and giving it a fast spin will have little effect, whereas a more reasoned turning of the knob will change the volume quite quickly. I just tested and I can change the volume by 30 dB in less than one second by forcing myself to turn the knob slowly.

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"