Shift button “soft” (or “loose”) on Kontrol S4 MK2 - am I paranoid?
Hi,
inexperienced DJ-wannabe here.
Bought S4 MK2, got it yesterday. Love it.
The problem is, one of shift buttons has much softer click than all other buttons and the click is not that loud as others.
With all other buttons, when I get the click - the button is turned on always.With this one button it is possible to get past the “soft” click, when softly pressing the button and get NO effect… it just needs some more force.
This is only an “in vitro” problem, as when I am playing this is not an issue.
I bought it as new, warranty included.
Are there any chances this button will break down? Have it started breaking down already? Should I return the controller and get a replacement?
It really bothers me, as I want my new & shiny things to be new & shiny. On the other hand, the controller works fine, and I realize, that there are more “real” problems with DJ equipment that can affect it, purely as it is an electro-mechanical thing.
Hello and welcome to the forum.
The sound of the ‘click’ doesn’t really matter, what matters is that the button is being able to send its message once pressed without any error/latency/whatever.
What you can do is to pass your unit in midi mode. Open the controller editor (ie the external program). Once pressed the shift buttons will transform the midi messages of all other buttons (most of them, I don’t go into all details here) on that side (they are a kind of built modifier if you prefer). If the messages are changed on the spot as soon as you press the button, there’s no issue. If you need to push your button firmer or need to touch a specific part of your button (like you ‘need’ to find that part if you get what I mean), it is a problem. Samewise the led feedback is a good indicator of the responsiveness (in normal mode).
But your question is a bit out of the blue, does your button(s) will break? Yes they may or may not but like any other part of a machine it is a possibility (which is something you’re aware of).
That said,the buttons on the s4 models are usually problematic, there are many (myself included) testimonies of buttons not broken but starting to be un-responsive after a while (usually they still work but need a firmer push). Not a generality but not an unusual issue either even in case of not over use of the unit.
BUT, you just bought a new shiny toy and that bothers you, so don’t hesitate, being bothered is a good reason enough and what you describe won’t get better with time anyway.