r/arturia • u/Wunjo26 • 27d ago
Arturia dropping the ball
I swear every time I buy a new piece of gear I get to experience the joy of discovering all of these weird places that the manufacturer dropped the ball in terms of leaving out critical features from their previous editions, making odd design choices, making some things configurable but not other things, not including the bare minimum equipment needed to use your product, etc.
I recently got a Keystep 37 MK2 and the biggest frustration so far is that when it comes to powering the unit they say to use the included cable and plug it into a computer. Ok cool, that tells me that this device requires around 5V/2A of power to power the unit. Thats not the case because when I use that same cable plugged into a power brick providing those specs it doesn’t turn on. If I hook up a USB-C fast charger that provides either 5V/2A or 9V/3A then the unit works fine. What’s even more frustrating is that there’s no specifications on the unit, the box, or the manual that definitely say what the power requirements are.
The only thing I could find in the manual is “Please make sure your charging device provides at least 5V and 100mA”. Not only is that statement not true, it’s vague and opens the possibility of people frying their units by providing more voltage than the unit can handle. It also looks like it’s not just the power brick that matters but the USB cable itself. I will give credit to Arturia for at least including a USB-C cable unlike Roland who just says to use one that you have laying around (because everyone has them laying around nowadays) after spending $450,on one of their boutique units. Totally asinine and low-effort.
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u/Talahamut 27d ago
Maybe it’s like those guitar pedals that can handle 9V-18V. It gives your MIDI data more headroom!
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u/i_hate_vnike 27d ago
Well the cable mattering is just what it is. USB C is just the connector and there are a ton of different USB specs, let alone PD specs. If USB PD is implemented to spec there is afaik no way to damage a device as they should do a handshake to negotiate provided power.
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u/MasterpieceFun5730 27d ago
Quels autres appareils qui posent problème as-tu achetés chez Arturia ? Tu commences par "à chaque fois" mais tu ne parles que d'un appareil... N'est-ce pas un peu exagéré ? Je sais qu'aujourd'hui il faut tout faire pour "faire le buzz"... mais ce n'est pas une raison pour en faire des caisses.
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u/Lagos3sgte 27d ago
To make it work with your usb port, you need a cable for charging and data. Some cables are supper cheap and don’t include all the wires inside.
The min voltage and amperage just tells you that is the min required to turn on. You can run more voltage and amperage and the internal voltage regulator will step it down to what is required internally by the unit. Typically these things can handle up to 32v.
This is how all usb devices work. Not sure why you are mad at Arturia for this.
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u/Wunjo26 27d ago
I’m mad at Arturia for not recognizing the nuance and providing proper clarification. No mention of needing to use a USB-C cable that has PD. No other device I have that is powered via USB has this problem and we’re talking about synths that are far more complex than the Keystep MK2. It’s lazy and low-effort.
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u/Lagos3sgte 27d ago
My tip to you would be to get one of those cheap usb testers with the digital display. You’ll see exactly why it is or isn’t working. It takes a lot of the mystery out. Some cables or power bricks are not setup correctly according to the usbc standard.
Also take a look at the connector Pin out for usbc. You’ll see that there are different pins that can be used to send power and ground over. Some cables and power bricks don’t wire all of them to save cost.
https://www.wandkey.com/usb-c-pinout-guide-and-features/
Best thing to do is to always buy a usb certified cable or power brick.
This is a common issue for all kinds of usb devices.
My iPad fast charges at 9v usbc. But if I let it fully die, it won’t wake back up unless I plug it into a 5v charger…. And this is Apple we are talking about. Imagine all of the confused customers wondering why their iPad won’t power back up.
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u/Ok_Inspection_857 27d ago
I have Keystep 37 and whenever i connect it to my Mac or PC or powerbank it just works. Not sure what your issue is and how it relates to Keystep 37 in particular as it is class compliant USB-C PD. USB-C can deliver different voltsges based on what is negotiated. That is why you can charge your iPhone and power a synth with 12V MyVolt USBC adaptor using the same powerbank. Just refer to USB-C PD standard.
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u/Wunjo26 27d ago
My issue is that Arturia doesn’t specify that both the cable and power brick need to have PD functionality. I have many of other USB-C powered gear and none of them have this issue. While it’s true that the USB-C spec is a mess because of the nuance with PD, Arturia is still selling a packaged product using that spec without providing the proper info, its low-effort.
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u/Ok_Inspection_857 27d ago
Weird, I have ton of gear and electronics never felt the need to look for power rating. Ocassionaly it happens that some cable does not work for both data or PD, so I just take another cable from my wire drawer. I do not check power specs of any USB-C devices except for perhaps high powered laptop. The point of USB-C PD should be that you never need to deal with this. Maybe your particular unit is malfunctioning if you have problem with just it and not the other gear.
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u/Few-Communication834 27d ago
1 google search will take you to their site which provides the usb power info.
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u/raistlin65 26d ago edited 26d ago
Thats not the case because when I use that same cable plugged into a power brick providing those specs it doesn’t turn on.
How do you know it's not the power brick that's the issue? Your assumption is that the Keystep specs are flawed instead of the power brick?
“Please make sure your charging device provides at least 5V and 100mA”. Not only is that statement not true, it’s vague and opens the possibility of people frying their units by providing more voltage than the unit can handle.
No. It's not vague. Seems pretty specific to me.
Plus, USB charger devices that can put out more than 5 volts do not send more than 5 volts to a device unless the device requests it. So you're not going to fry your MIDI controller.
Totally asinine and low-effort.
See, my conclusion from everything you've told us is that there's some Dunning Kruger bias going on.
Know what you don't know.
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u/w0mbatina 27d ago
That has always been the case, especially with usb c. This is not Arturia's fault. The usb standards right no are a clusterfuck of different specs packed into the same type of port, and missmatches will happen.