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zdw 1 days ago [-]
Would be great if it could do other things, like be a volume knob, or do media play/pause, given that scrolling and mouse button press seem like things you already have a mouse to do?
lloeki 24 hours ago [-]
This begs to be able to send MIDI events!
mannyv 10 hours ago [-]
The powermate driver still works. My powermate is hooked up to my mac studio. I'll try this one; the real one doesn't init on restart, so I have to open it to get the throbbing.
dmwood 1 days ago [-]
Yippy! I feel like I'm 15 years younger
maroonblazer 1 days ago [-]
>Of course, modern controllers exist that offer many more literal bells and whistles...
Anyone have a favorite 'modern controller' for those of us who no longer have a PowerMate?
LilyGo/TTGo also has some interesting knobs with some unusual features features (force feedback or LCD touchscreen on top of the knob, depending on model) but again I don't have firsthand experience and these might take some DIY
jrmg 1 days ago [-]
Not commercial, but “Engineer Bo” on YouTube has an interesting series about building his own very professional looking scroll knob:
Surprised Loupedeck hasn't come up here. The Live and CT both have weighted main dials with real damping — which is what made the PowerMate feel different from a regular rotary encoder, more than the software integration ever did. Pricier than most of what's been mentioned, but the closest I've found to the tactile feel.
Everything in the sub-$50 range (Drok, generic Aliexpress encoders, etc.) works fine for mapping to volume or scroll, but they all feel like plastic clicky knobs. Fine for utility, not for fidgeting.
lukeh 1 days ago [-]
Microsoft Surface Dial is nice. You'll also need to write a driver...
Some are calling it the most obvious trend of all computing. And that was before the agentic age super put its finger on the cosmic scales of justice+hacking.
ThrowawayR2 1 days ago [-]
There was a poster on HN a while ago that recommended¹ the Drok USB volume knob because it can be reconfigured to send keystrokes or mouse actions. Just Google for "configure drok usb volume control knob" for instructions. I reconfigured mine to send mouse scroll events for scrolling through documents.
Disclosure: I have no idea whether this would still work, and I have no way to find out.
mcphage 1 days ago [-]
I have one of those, but never used it too much—if the button got pressed while my Mac was asleep, it immediately woke up and kernel panicked. I don’t know if there was something odd about my machine or my particular PowerMate or what?
aa-jv 24 hours ago [-]
I have two of these, near-permanently affixed to my Zynthian .. but now I think I want another one for the desktop. Anyone know of similar devices available currently?
fzzzy 1 days ago [-]
Lol I wrote a new driver for the bluetooth one a few months ago.
joshmarinacci 1 days ago [-]
Curse you! Now I have to go clean out the attic to find mine.
Anyone have a favorite 'modern controller' for those of us who no longer have a PowerMate?
Customization is possible https://blog.lanzani.nl/2025/customizing-the-binepad-bnk9-fi...
LilyGo/TTGo also has some interesting knobs with some unusual features features (force feedback or LCD touchscreen on top of the knob, depending on model) but again I don't have firsthand experience and these might take some DIY
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYK5tmZIBWtHYt4w8Y6P6ba-I...
Some are calling it the most obvious trend of all computing. And that was before the agentic age super put its finger on the cosmic scales of justice+hacking.
¹ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31702940
https://www.elgato.com/us/en/explorer/products/stream-deck/g...
Still got mine!
https://youtu.be/X6_E69K5WUs?t=327
Disclosure: I have no idea whether this would still work, and I have no way to find out.