PreSonus Forums

Bbd wrotePlease don’t hijack this thread!

Possible we could move that post to the faderport forums as a separate thread?

irawasserman wrote

PreAl wroteDef much better but not perfect.. in regards to the double triggering issue. Otherwise can't tell the difference.

thanks PreAI, much appreciated !

maybe there is hope then ... if I swap my Atom 16-Pad (I think it's still under warranty) and my big beef being those extra double trigger notes.

Ira : )

Not sure, looking at others maybe not. Just make sure you are on the latest firmware and you have recently reset it to defaults (after the firmware upgrade).

New universal control now out with another firmware update for SQ, although no mention of this issue in the release notes. Haven't tried it yet.

PreAl wroteNew universal control now out with another firmware update for SQ, although no mention of this issue in the release notes. Haven't tried it yet.

Thanks PreAI !

according to release notes, these are the items that have been addressed :

Universal Control 3.5 Milestone Release Notes

Fixed In This Release

ATOM / ATOM SQ
● Issue where LEDs would not light up correctly after disconnecting and reconnecting during a
Studio One session.
● Other minor issue fixes for 16-velocity mode and editor mode.

Anyone tried the new firmware?

Strom wroteAnyone tried the new firmware?

Yes, it's still broken.

Here's a video of me tapping a pad on the SQ on firmware 1.16 with a sine wave blip. Clearly a bunch of double triggers (I have edit view open so you can see the visual too). My high score so far is 3 in a row, which happens twice in this video.



I'm also now battling the fact that Studio One doesn't even record MIDI in time. As you live record, the audio is correct and in time, but when you are done recording and play it back, all the MIDI notes are shifted early on the grid and off time (this is without quantization). What have I invested in...

Please report that to Support so they can log it.
Thanks.

Bbd wrotePlease report that to Support so they can log it.
Thanks.

Thanks - I just created a ticket that references this thread. I'll create a separate ticket for the inaccurate MIDI recording (doesn't occur in other DAWs) with some reference videos as well.

shadiradio wrote

Strom wroteAnyone tried the new firmware?

Yes, it's still broken.

Here's a video of me tapping a pad on the SQ on firmware 1.16 with a sine wave blip. Clearly a bunch of double triggers (I have edit view open so you can see the visual too). My high score so far is 3 in a row, which happens twice in this video.

phpBB [video]

I'm also now battling the fact that Studio One doesn't even record MIDI in time. As you live record, the audio is correct and in time, but when you are done recording and play it back, all the MIDI notes are shifted early on the grid and off time (this is without quantization). What have I invested in...

Have you done an audio loopback test and set the offset? May help a little.

PreAl wroteHave you done an audio loopback test and set the offset? May help a little.

Hey - I did run a loopback test. For audio, the difference is negligible (9 samples late), and for MIDI, the result was 6 ms early. However that's not related to the record timing problem, but I don't want to derail the thread. I'll start a separate one.

An unfortunately sad followup after all this time:

I went back and forth with support and was able to verify that my Atom SQ was indeed faulty and double-triggering on every single pad, on multiple computers/OS's and with different USB cables. They confirmed it needed to be sent for service (under warranty). Before I sent it, I asked if it was actually repairable/a known issue and they confirmed that it would be repaired, so I was happy to send it off. I got an RMA number and I had to pay for shipping to Presonus.

After about 3 weeks I received a new Atom SQ in the mail (new serial number), with an old firmware on it, so I can only imagine they just packed up and sent a new one, untested. It has the exact same issues, possibly even worse than my original unit.

I am incredibly disappointed for so many reasons. Did support tell me the truth about it being serviceable? Is this actually repairable? Did they even touch the unit they sent to me? Does Presonus use these products in house to make music? I am now out more money than a new SQ because I had to pay for warranty shipping, and I still have a faulty unit. I also signed up for a year of Melodics, and now I don't have a controller that can actually pass the lessons because of double triggering.

Here's my new unit, double triggering on almost every pad. Pad 14 seems good, so I'll use that to write all my music:



EDIT: What are my options now? Do I attempt support again? Are they going to send me another faulty unit and hope I go away? Since they confirmed this is a problem in my first go around, maybe I can get a refund and RMA reimbursement and find another brand MIDI controller.

shadiradio wroteDoes Presonus use these products in house to make music?

Every company tests their products, but I have not seen any audio software or hardware company use their own products to the same discerning degree that their users do. I don't personally think it's realistic to expect that either.

shadiradio wroteEDIT: What are my options now?

Ask for the refund, imho. If you're not happy with it now, you won't be a year later when you can't refund it.

As far as competing "keyboard-approach pad controllers" products go, I personally like my Launchpad Pro Mk3 a lot. It is incredibly sensitive and I've never seen it double trigger. It's just a plain midi controller with Studio One (no "integration" so the features like "send internal sequencer data to DAW" obviously won't work) but the Mk3 has enough standalone features that I haven't found that to be a hindrance.

robertgray3 wroteAs far as competing "keyboard-approach pad controllers" products go, I personally like my Launchpad Pro Mk3 a lot. It is incredibly sensitive and I've never seen it double trigger. It's just a plain midi controller with Studio One (no "integration" so the features like "send internal sequencer data to DAW" obviously won't work) but the Mk3 has enough standalone features that I haven't found that to be a hindrance.

Thanks for the recommendation - incredibly sensitive w/out double triggering sounds great to me. I have a second support ticket open. If a refund is in place, I'll probably seek out 2 controllers - one that has quality pads, and another with a quality keybed. The deep Studio One integration is a nice to have, but I won't really miss it.

Today I am quite literally tossing this POS Atom SQ in the trash. I finally got sick of Presonus begin unable to make this controller work decently (after more than a full year), and ordered a similar small-footprint Komplete Kontrol M32 to replace it on my desk. Which arrives today. I can't wait.

Like the poster just a few replies above, I too went through the rigmarole of getting an RMA replacement only to find that the replacement was no different than the original. I worked *extensively* with the product manager of the ATOM line to help them understand and fix the problem. Nothing really improved the situation, and the pace of firmware updates is laughably slow because everything is bundled into one Universal Controller release, meaning testing and fixes for one product can hold up testing and fixes for other products.

I finally threw in the towel when I started testing the new Bitwig 4.0 Beta features and discovered that when you're not using the ATOM SQ with Studio One, not only do you still get double triggers, but you can actually trigger and latch a totally *different* note much higher up the scale by playing just one pad. Like, you play a pad on the bottom row, and another pad 5 over on the top row will light up and stick (and you can hear the extra note).

Ridiculous.

Baphometrix wroteToday I am quite literally tossing this POS Atom SQ in the trash. I finally got sick of Presonus begin unable to make this controller work decently (after more than a full year), and ordered a similar small-footprint Komplete Kontrol M32 to replace it on my desk. Which arrives today. I can't wait.

Like the poster just a few replies above, I too went through the rigmarole of getting an RMA replacement only to find that the replacement was no different than the original. I worked *extensively* with the product manager of the ATOM line to help them understand and fix the problem. Nothing really improved the situation, and the pace of firmware updates is laughably slow because everything is bundled into one Universal Controller release, meaning testing and fixes for one product can hold up testing and fixes for other products.

I finally threw in the towel when I started testing the new Bitwig 4.0 Beta features and discovered that when you're not using the ATOM SQ with Studio One, not only do you still get double triggers, but you can actually trigger and latch a totally *different* note much higher up the scale by playing just one pad. Like, you play a pad on the bottom row, and another pad 5 over on the top row will light up and stick (and you can hear the extra note).

Ridiculous.

Interesting. So in other words it seems Studio One code compensates for the hardware?

The only time I get double notes on my ATOM (basic) is if I do it myself. This is very different from what was happening before the last two updates.

Baphometrix wroteToday I am quite literally tossing this POS Atom SQ in the trash. I finally got sick of Presonus begin unable to make this controller work decently (after more than a full year), and ordered a similar small-footprint Komplete Kontrol M32 to replace it on my desk. Which arrives today. I can't wait.

I really hope you enjoy the M32! It's actually what started me on this journey though... I originally got one because of a quality small form factor keybed and the endless encoders, but I had to actually slam on the keybed with full force to register high velocities. I didn't check before I bought one if it had velocity curve remapping, because all their other keyboards do, but it doesn't. I learned from support that it was by design and not faulty, which means they prototyped it, had to slam super hard to reach high velocities, and somehow said "yes this is how one plays piano." Sold it at a loss after waiting a year for a "firmware update to address the issue in development."

That started me on the Atom SQ path. The thing is... I would love an Atom SQ if there are some out there that do not double trigger. I'm not sure if it's certain batches that have issues and you can get lucky and get a working one or not. It happens way more often if you play gently / softly, and I wonder if people that report it doesn't happen for them just play stronger. I haven't experienced this on any other MIDI controller though.

shadiradio wroteIf a refund is in place, I'll probably seek out 2 controllers - one that has quality pads, and another with a quality keybed. The deep Studio One integration is a nice to have, but I won't really miss it.

The Studio One integration, for my personal tastes, is just OK. It skews very heavily towards people who don't want to use their mouse and keyboard, so I didn't use 90% of it. My friend who likes her SQ produces on a laptop wherever she's at and doesn't want to reach over to it to push F5, so I assume for her it's more about portability and form over playability or power usage. If you were double triggering while piecing together a beat with the SQ on your lap in a green room, would you really notice?

My favorite space-efficient keyboard is a Roland A49. It costs ~$250, looks terrible, and as far as synth-action keys go, you can feel every dime of it when you're playing. There's no knobs, no faders, no lights, no fluff that comes at the expensive of the action. Just keys and a paddle wheel.

So I received my 3rd RMA unit from Presonus, but I'm not going to open it. They are unable to test/verify the double trigger behavior before sending out new ones, so rather than play Atom SQ roulette forever I'll probably just sell this one unopened and cut my losses.

I picked up an Arturia MiniLab mkII and even though it doesn't have a revolutionary layout, all the pads send one note when tapped once, which I find useful when working on music.

EDIT: My MiniLab is double triggering. Oh my god. I wonder if all of these controllers use the same sourced sensors/mechanisms for pads.