Microfreak - lots of bugs

[Named User]

Hi there. I am not having much luck with my device.
There are two main issues:

1. The touch strip flickers and glitches, alternating between the pitch screen and the preset screen.
2. Reasonable regularly (about once every 5 minutes) a key drops out, and is entirely unresponsive until I restart the machine. It is not the same key every time.
3. The device is massively sensitive to rf noise, I have a quite loud 6k to 8k sawtooth type hum unless I ground the device to my Eurorack ES8 with an audio cable.

Point 3 might be specific to my configuration, but is anyone else experiencing 1 and 2? Any suggestions? (Radio silence from Arturia support).

I want to love this device, but 2 at least is a deal breaker.

[TLW]

Mine has none of those things.

Are you using the power supply the synth came with? The manual and other information put out by Arturia says strange things can happen with the capacitive keyboard and touch strip unless the synth is earthed.

[Named User]

Yes, I am using the power supply the synth came with.

I recieved this response from Arturia, despite clearly advising that I was using the power supply that came with the unit:

"The MicroFreak touch capacitive keyboard needs a proper grounding to work flawlessly.
Don't worry, in most situations, the keyboard will be working fine. But if you encounter any irregular behavior when playing on the keyboard, or when pressing the arp buttons and touch strip:
Please power it using a grounded power supply (three pin wall plug) or a USB grounded device."

[tbn]

Is the wall socket in which you put your power supply properly grounded as well? Have you tried using another socket in your house / another place for comparison?

[Named User]

Just a heads up: I have this unit working perfectly now. The problem seemed to
be interference with my Eurorack power supply or a digital module.

[emc]

I'm experiencing the same issues and also suspected capacitance problems. Currently testing with 2 power supplies: a Macbook Pro, and an Anker USB adapter. Not at all surprised to hear that noisy power supplies interfere with this, I'll test with the actual power supply today and perhaps scope the USBs to watch for noise.

I'm concerned about this however... it may make battery-powered jams more difficult

[Trevor42]

I found that plugging the MF power into a separate socket from all your other music gear works.

[subterrene]

I have an issue with the display glitching and jumping between parameters. It seems like the preset sounds are effected sometimes as well. Will try the solution of plugging power in separately from my other gear, fingers crossed!

[eaman]

1. The touch strip flickers and glitches, alternating between the pitch screen and the preset screen.

That's because the unit is not properly grounded and the touch strip goes crazy

You may try to use a different wall socket: I use ethernet over powerline at home (ironically to reduce wifi noise) and I can't use any socket close to my computer, I had to lay a cable from the other room.

You may try to use a powerbank / laptop via USB, not connected to a wall socket.

[kevingtzz]

Currently I have the same issue, but already find the cuase. Yes the resposable is the capacitance, the unit is not properly grounded but is no because the power supply, I tried to power the device in all the sockets in my house and also with power banks and usb ports with the same result. I finally found the problem, its me, I'm the irregular ground, when I try to play the keyboard with my bare feet the problem appears, but when i have shoes on it disappears. hahaha 

[Silvestre]

I had the same problem that you mention. I read about having wet fingers but it didn't work. It occurred to me to put on the keys a plastic of those that are used to cover notebooks and school books and it worked well but everything improved when I sprayed on it a layer of silicone spray of those that are used to protect the panel and the leather of the interior of the cars.

I guess the silicone works like a plastic layer over the keyboard and the jagged sound and short circuit on the screen are over.

I recommend that you try putting any plastic on the keyboard so you can verify what I say. If you see that it improves, just then try the silicone spray.