Chroma Caps on Ableton Push

[noofny]

Does anyone know what you could possibly do to mod chroma caps so they are capacitive, like the ones that come on the Push? I've been reading around and sure this has been asked before but nobody has answers it seems.

I was imagining something like drilling a small hole through to the top and stuffing something conductive through there...I'm guessing it's a matter of the material used in the push knobs is semi-conductive but the Chroma caps are pure plastic/rubber/silicone.

Appreciate any insights.

[Patch]

I honestly think you're crazy to even think about it.

Push is not a toy - it's an expensive piece of equipment. Leave it alone!

Personalise it with an overlay or something if you must.

http://www.styleflip.com/ableton-pus...sticker-covers

[noofny]

Sorry I obviously didn't explain myself well or you misunderstood. I am not wanting modify the Push or the Push encoders. I'm wanting to find a way to modify the Chroma Caps so that they take advantage of Push's capacitive (touch-sensitive) encoders.

[noofny]

148 views...but no encouraging replies, links or insights, that seems strange although I guess this is a strange request.

I found are these guys, who make what appears to be metallic knobs. Not bad but really after something more grippy than the factory Push ones : http://jessedeancustoms.com/gallery/_mg_4001/

I'm going to experiment wih some spare Chroma Caps I have here and will post any helpful results.

With this many views, but no replies, am I asking too much?


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[padi_04]

Chroma Caps aren't touch sensitive so they will kill a good chunk of Push's display functionality, we are planning making capacitive ones next year but there are no hard dates set yet.

The reason why you might have a lot of views and no replies is that not everyone in here is a modder or has access to a touch sensitive device so they might simply have no input on the subject. 160ish views is not that much.

As a new user your first 5 posts are moderated, this is a spam control measure that helps us keep the forums on check, normally these are reviewed in 48hs or less. Don't take it personal if it takes a bit longer, we are a small team who has day jobs just like most of the other forum folks =). Since you are now sitting at 6 posts your only limitation will be accessing the buy/sell section until you cross the 50 post mark.

If you have any other questions regarding the forums or moderation process feel free to shoot me a PM or email me at matias@djtechtools.com

[noofny]

Thanks very much for taking the time to explain and help me understand how the forum works Matias, it's given me a clearer perspective, apologies for taking it personal. You are right that not everyone has the time/luxury/need of experimenting. Based on the fact I do, I'll share anything I get after this weekend, so it might help any of the people reading over this thread wondering the same thing.

Perhaps it might raise a vote for "Chroma Caps - Push Edition"

;-)

[noofny]

I finally got around to taking a stab at this today. This is definitely a functional hack rather than a glossy/final/safe mod, I really don't recommend anyone doing it and not sure how long it will hold up. Naturally this only maintains touch sensitivity for the tops of the knobs , but that was my goal.

It would be interesting to get ideas on alternatives, my nasty approach to maintain touch-sensitivity was to drill a hole through each knob and stuff conductive tin-foil through it. It looks bloody horrible, but as seen in the video, it works and has only destroyed 8 chroma caps in the process, leaving the Push totally unmarked and original (sorry DJTT, please don't take offence lol).

I'm going to try spray paint the knobs with a matt black to see if it helps to mask those awful silver dots. Would be awesome if someone knew of an actual conductive putty or something that you could use instead of tin-foil - the only remaining problem would be colour-matching the knobs with that material. The tin-foil solution is really quite terrible but does the job and is cheap.

Sorry the pics and vide aren't decent quality, documenting the process was an after-thought.

IMG_0909.jpgIMG_0910.jpgIMG_0912.jpg

[padi_04]

Might be good considering buying one of these and cutting circles to be glued on each cap top.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Conductive-S...item27f0dc4c4a

or finding a conductive alternative to Plasti Dip.

[noofny]

Thanks padi_04, that's not a bad idea! I've ordered some Sugru (http://sugru.com/), is a kind of putty that semi-hardens after a few hours. I've seen some guys that mix it with graphite powder to make it conductive, so I'll try this too and post the results. Sugru also comes in a range of colors that match most of the Chroma cap colour variations, so would be ideal if it can be made conductive.

[noofny]

I ended up drilling the holes out a little wider, mixed blutac with graphite powder to made conductive putty and stuck that into the holes instead of the foil. The end result looks a lot better than the previous hack and works much better too. It still sits in the 'hack' category but achieves what I wanted, and using the Chroma Caps over the slippery plastic stock ones is killer, especially with full touch-support maintained. To make the putty was easy and quick, you just have to mix a lot of the graphite powder in with the blutac, stretching it out into a thin sheet, sprinkling the powder over it and working it through with your fingers (wear gloves). Pretty happy.