Come to think of it, I should report this to NI so they have a record of the it. I ended up requesting and receiving a full refund and shipping from the retail seller, but didn’t communicate with NI. I’ll do that.
- Ken
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That was pretty much my experience with my Mikro. 3 pads would occasionally not trigger at all particularly when played in-conjunction with another pad. Or the pad would trigger but very very quietly. The problem seemed to be confined to the bottom right hand side of the unit. I played around with different settings and didn’t see an improvement so sent it back. I haven’t bothered replacing it as it was a bit of a spur of the moment purchase anyway. Wouldn’t rule out getting another one at a future date though
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Updating my Quest for a working product.
Contacted support last Monday, they responded in less than 24 hours and asked for all my info for a mailing label. No questions at all. Now a week later, still no response and not even a label to get this process going. I’m pissed. I also stupidly bought a huge NI package and Addictive Drums additions and am ready to give up after spending all this $. My options are:
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“Ignore it” and every once in awhile be reminded that this sucks when I hit a pad and it won’t trigger.
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Do a charge back on my CC and just get the refund on the Maschine Mikro, but still end up with software I bought that won’t be used.(I highly doubt they would refund everything else)
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Still just sit around for weeks until they want to repair it (Which is going to be a refurbished unit that I have had the pleasure of paying full price for)
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Or… Buy another one off Amazon again, then setup a return and put the old broken one back in - Would that impact serial numbers? I know Amazon ready doesn’t check returned items but with registered serials not sure…
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Any update on your experience? How long did the repair take?
I personly never dared to do the serial number return check, but I did return a pair of headphones worth $180 once and amazon told me I could keep it and gave me the money back… weird company. My guess is they wont check but I also know that amazon will probably completely ban you forever if they suspect fraud. They don’t give a shit…
Cheers,
Robert
I tend to avoid Amazon, they are a bit like having the plague to me. I don’t like the way they try to scam you for Prime every time you check out. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with Prime, I’m sure for those that use Amazon a lot, its of great benefit. Also, I’m not sure that you can trust the reviews of the Company. I got a survey request via email, started the survey and as soon as I said that the item was returned “Your survey is complete - thank you”. This basically means, they avoid negative reviews so the overall data is corrupt.
NI do allow transfers of licenses, so if you could find someone that wants the software and willing to pay you for it. The license can be transferred to them. Its a bit of a pain to do because if its a total stranger, you need the logon email that they have to NI to start the transfer process.
I got my MK3 from, quite surprisingly, a computer online store. The price was just a couple of pounds more than I was going to pay from my usual supplier that had (still has) no stock. This one seems fine at the moment and I am using it almost daily for my drumming practice. I’m still quite disappointed with the lack of functionality in Midi Mode compared to Maschine Mode, but living with that and making the best use that I can. You’ll probably have to consider that you have put that serial number into NI when you registered the product, so if you do return it to Amazon you will need to find out how to change the serial number over if you get another unit. Problems will occur if you don’t when Amazon re-sell the unit to someone else and they try to register it with NI. They are bound to go back to Amazon first to report it.
Just a few thoughts.
Ivan
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Hey Ivan and Robert -
First thanks to Robert for reaching out via email!
Ivan - So the kind of plan is to just order 2 more new units while I wait for a simple mailing label (Day 8) and then have a 3-way cage match to see if one of these will work 100%. I’m not sure how I am going to feel if the other 2 have issues, but still would have #1 on the list for a repair, which is still a concern as some have had to do the repair twice.
I’m thinking I could just register the 2nd unit, test it out and then de-register (Is that an option?) the non working one, and just return that. At least with Amazon returns it seems like instant credit is applied once it’s shipped. I’m guessing they don’t have time to sit there and open up 3rd party boxes and try to figure out what’s going on. I also would be surprised if somehow NI sees the return that is registered to me and does anything about it - I’m a paying customer who bought a 2nd unit - Why would they care? I’ve bought their Komplete 12 for another $200, and then some more admins at $49 a pop on top of the $350 Maschine! What more do you want from me!? ha!
From a customer point of view it’s stupid that I would even have to do this, so I’m not sad at all that I’m going to return two of these units no matter what at this point.
No troubleshooting done, and is taking this long just to get me a label to start the repair process of a unit that is 2 months old with less than an hour of use. Very silly. I would even go for credit card protection, but that’s going to take weeks as well.
At the end of the day, I should just have a working unit that I paid for, right? So silly to make the hardware the “key” to unlock their software.
I will update in a few weeks…
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Hey @Traygen, you are right about it being silly to buy 3 units to try to get one that works. I couldn’t afford to do that. I did take a look at my account today with NI, just to see how the registered products look but I didn’t find an un-register option. I would guess, and it is a guess, that you would have to email NI and explain that you had a swap out of one of their products and need to change the serial number that is registered in your name. Your software options won’t necessarily change.
I think that I would be quite miffed about waiting so long to get the repair sorted out, particularly as you are definitely a good customer of NI’s (spend rather a lot money with them). With my disappointments of the Mikro 3’s lack functionality in Midi Mode, I had made my mind up not to spend another cent with NI. Sadly, they do have a few nice looking drum kits in their software packages so I don’t know if long term I will stick with that thought. Also, @Robert_Mathijs posted an excellent method of using the drum kits in my existing NI software setting them up as drum racks in Ableton (the DAW I use). It works really well, this could change my thoughts about future NI purchases too. I set the funk kit up today, in a drum rack and the Q4G template really easily playing them out of Komplete. Its pretty nifty I have to say and it didn’t take long to configure either.
Good luck with your Quest 4 Repairs, look forward to the updates.
Ivan
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Where are these instructions please?
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@Gundam23, you could try to back off the sensitivity just a little. There has been suggestions of around 80% sensitivity working well, I think mine is probably between 80-90%. I have no issues with the pads currently of my Mikro Mk3.
Welcome to the community. 
Ah, I’ve found them: https://questforgroove.com/lesson/maschine-mikro-mk3-setup/
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Where would I find this preference screen that Robert mentioned earlier?
Edited to add: looks like this is in the Maschine 2 software. Would the sensitivity setting here apply when using the Mikro in MIDI mode with other software?
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Hi @discopatrick, you need (if you haven’t downloaded it yet) the Controller Editor software from NI download site.
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/support/downloads/drivers-other-files/#maschinecontroller
Its not the most friendly of downloads sites, quite confusing. You need Controller Editor 2.6 for either Windows or MAC depending on what you are using. Then under the Maschine Mikro heading you need the Firmware Updater 1.1.1 , again for either Windows or Mac.
The window you are referring to is in the Controller Editor, you can now choose the Maschine Mikro Mk3 from the dropdown menu (but it will probably auto recognise). The go to File (this is windows, no idea about MAC) and preferences, you will see the two tabs and for the sensitivity its the second tab.
Hope this helps. 
Ivan
Thanks @ivanclarke - that’s really helpful! 
So, the sensitivity appeared to be set to around 80% the first time I opened that preference window. I have now set it to 100%. Unfortunately, I’m still finding the pads to be not as responsive as I was hoping.
I do have one last thing I can try, and that is to try the Mikro mk3 in “native” mode (i.e. using Maschine 2), as opposed to MIDI mode. I have read elsewhere that different sensitivity settings apply in native mode (though this is from 2017: https://www.native-instruments.com/forum/threads/pad-sensitivity-in-midi-mode.323419/)
I’ll need to register the device in order to install Machine, but I’ve learned that NI can “deregister” the device from your account if you need to send it back, so I’m happier about doing that now.
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Hi @discopatrick,
That could be the pads, but I also find that the sensitivity feels different with the different kits that I setup. Not sure why, but I have 7 kits on my Ableton template that I use for finger drumming and they all feel slightly different. It is possible that you Pads are dodgy, there seems to have been a few. You may find that an external kit that works independent, possibly like Addictive Drums 2 or one of the others have their own sensitivity settings which would make a difference.
That is a good bit of info for all NI users to know that they can deregister, I didn’t know that. Very useful.
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Yep, an NI representative mentioned serial number de-registration in 2017 here. https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/208001749-deregister-harware
I haven’t been able to confirm whether they still do this though.
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A couple of updates.
Firstly, I was able to register and deregister the Mikro and Maschine software with no problems. NI were very helpful and quick.
And that would imply the second thing… I’m afraid I’m sending my Mikro back 
Even after installing the Maschine software and playing with the settings there, I found the Presonus Atom to be a lot more responsive and reliable in triggering notes, especially when it comes to more delicate patterns. I suppose I might have just got a bad Mikro.
So, the Quest for Groove continues… the Atom will be my practice setup for now, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for an upgrade. Perhaps I should try the big Maschine?
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Maybe… just maybe tou actually got yourself an Atom thats much better than usual
Comparing my mikro mk3s to my two atoms gives the mikro mk3 as a clear winner.
The big maschine is even better but also more pricy.
You might also want to try nektar aura? Just did a video about that. Maybe thats more to your liking.
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My update:
tl;dr - Fixed after 3 weeks. Had to really keep on NI support via chat/forum/email to move things along. NI as a company seems to be struggling internally.
Got a new replacement. Took 2 weeks for the shipping label, and another week to mail (Having distubrution/inventory issues too)
If I had a time machine, I’d go with another company (Nektar or anyone else other than NI).
I’m also glad I didn’t just swap out from a new one - They do keep tabs on registered devices and it ties into certain software (Like Maschine license).
Now on to the videos finally! Bought this thing May 8th - ha!
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Glad to hear it! I’m currently struggling with a similar thing regarding live streaming and my new equipment… have been waiting for two months for them to fix my problem which they are legally obliged to do, but it goes sooo slow. It’s a lot of fun when something just works, but this whole process of waiting is terrible.