Capacitive jogwheels that work by detecting tiny electrical charges in your fingers are very common, but they can sometimes cause difficulties.
Digital DJ Tips reader Pete writes: “When my Numark N4 is set to scratch mode, and I move my hand across the top or very close to but not touching the jogs, the music will stop. This does not happen though when I turn off scratch mode.
“I have contacted Numark and they tell me it’s an earthing problem or I have it on the wrong type of surface. Well I have tried every type of surface and the problem won’t go away. My warranty is up so I can’t send it back.
“Have you seen this or heard of this problem before. Can I maybe ground the controller somehow myself? I am out of ideas. Please help!”
Digital DJ Tips says:
This is a common problem, and is due to the capacitive way that the Numark (and many other manufacturers’) jogwheels detect the presence of fingers nearby.
While some manufacturers have sensitivity controls to adjust this, sometimes even these don’t help. Bottom line is that capacitive jogwheels can be notorious depending on what the controller is connected to, what other gear is nearby and so on.
Try touching the earth pole on the back of the controller with your fingers and try scratching with the other hand…
Numark is correct in saying you should try earthing the unit. A quick test would be to touch the earth pole on the back of the controller with your fingers and try scratching with the other hand on the jogwheel at the same time, to see if this solves the problem. If so, you need to ground the unit by attaching a wire to this pole and attaching the other end to the ground.
I have actually done this with my VCI-300 by dangling the other end of the wire in a drainful of water behind the DJ booth (crazy but true)! I certainly don’t recommend that emergency solution though.
If you know what you’re doing (and only if you know what you’re doing, otherwise please seek an electrician’s help) you can use the earth pin on a mains plug. Alternatively, if any other gear has an earth pole, you can connect to that and see if that helps.
Otherwise, it sounds like it is indeed a hardware issue and the only way to sort it out would be to return the unit for repair.
Have you had issues with jogwheels not behaving as they should? How have you gone about solving them? If you have any words of advice for Pete, please share them in the comments.
Now go to:
Review & Video: Numark N4 DJ Controller & Mixer
Your Questions: Why Don’t Jogwheels Alter BPMs Permanently?
Will You Be DJing With Jogwheels In 5 Years? Ritchie Hawtin Won’t…
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Tags: jogwheel problem, numark n4
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Had similar and even more severe issues with my NS6 jogs. Gave up on it in the end and flogged it. Have a DDJ-S1 now. Jogs not as flash but they haven’t let me down once, unlike the NS6, which did on several occasions.
[ link ]Hi,
I have an ns6 to…do i need to worry abot this?? how did it happen??
Thnanx .
[ link ]damn my nephew has it &he goes through the same thang so thats the soulition huh 86 it
[ link ]Interesting, I ran into this one time when i was adjusting the jog wheel sensitivity of my MC6000. It really tripped me out when all of a sudden the music would stop when my hand came within a half inch of the jog
[ link ]In my experiences I think its the electrical charge buildup in our bodies. My NS6 sometimes will do the same thing. I will look for something metal that’s grounded and touch it while touching the base of the controller and problem fixed. Always do this BEFORE you start loading music so that you don’t have any accidents when the party actually starts.
[ link ]this does not happen with my n4 but it used to happen on my mixtrack here is a non orthodox solution i had place full palm on the jog wheel and give it a few twists and it should solve the problem or atleast it did for me
[ link ]Haha, I like the water trick
[ link ]Funny thing is, it still happens when I plug my VCI-300 into a certain PA system, fine otherwise. Weird!
[ link ]Guys relax. No need to worry. Don’t chuck ur ns6. Had mine for over a year now. Check the serato site for the recalabration instructions. Plus its noted that before every set, before u load a track, just touch ur jog wheels. I do it like she’s my lady, soft. : )
[ link ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qoPgi1sl8Y
I know you have to touch the platters to calibrate them, but how cool would this be for effects.
[ link ]Yeah I calibrated whenever I set up THE NS6 at a new venue, but twice (in three gigs I used it for) the platters did not respond properly, couldn’t scratch at all and very sluggish for pitch bending – this was even after a few reboots and re-calibrations, which is far from ideal in a gig situation when you’re already under pressure.
I just decided that the NS6 (great as it was in many other ways – and always trouble free when I used it at home) wasn’t cut out for “mobile” DJing at differing venues. Being able to rely on my gear 100% was (and is) critical when you’re in an unfamiliar place. Sadly my NS6 made me nervous everytime I took it out to play on.
[ link ]Wow frankly I never knew there were such stuff involved in log wheels? Im not using jog wheel equiped controllers but this info is very interesting and might help a fellow-DJ.
Is this exclusive to touch sensitive jog wheels or it can happen in any sort? Please let me know by commenting!
[ link ]Capacity can also be reduced by adding layers of non capacitive material on top. Tape the thing with stickers and you will realize that the capacity will decrease with each layer
[ link ]I religiously calibrate the jogs by touching them every time I turn the unit on, but I still had a few issues like this too. What I ended up doing was connecting the earth pole of the wall plug to the turntable earth/ground post on the NS6. Hasn’t happened again since that. (touch wood!!)
[ link ]I have the n4 and the jogs craped out on my after three times using it, it started off with the scratch not working at all it just pitch and bends now the track wont play unless i touch the jog, i have read on many foums about the n4 and the n6 and it seems like a common problem, as for the more fortunate people that only are having the minute problem of electro discharge happening i suggest you go pick up a ground bracelet they are like 5 dollars and can be found in any pc repair store usually used when repairing mother boards for computers hope this helps
[ link ]