Is this normal for a DMP3?

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rhythm

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Just got a new DMP3, and after unpacking it and doing a quick initial checkout I noticed a couple of things that I'm wondering about:

- Both of the channel gain knobs have small areas in their travel where the movement seems to "bind up" and it's noticeably harder to turn than in the rest of the travel. I would have expected the travel to be pretty uniformly smooth throught the entire range.

- When the unit is powered up, I notice that on channel 1 when moving the gain knob counterclockwise from its max position, when I move through the area where it's harder to turn the knob, the needle on the VU meter shoots up to max for a morment then back down. This doesn't happen at all on channel 2 (needle never moves). I'm wondering if this indicates any issue, since it's not happening on both channels...only channel 1.

Are these things normal? If I return this one and get another would I just find the same things, or should I expect to not see this on a new unit?

Thanks.
 
Is this happening with both pots?...if it is pegging the meters there might be a short in that pot...and the fact that it is harder to turn coraberates that...take it back and get another if it isnt right...you spend too much on stuff like this to have a defective one.
 
Both pots experience some hang up in the travel, but it's worse on channel 1. The sudden 'pegging then going back to 0' needle movement on the meter only happens on channel 1, and it seems like it's at the point where I travel through the "sticky spot", and only when I'm taking it back down, but not on the way up. BTW, this is with nothing plugged into any of the inputs.

The DMP3 isn't all that pricey, so I figured there might be a thing or two mechanically about it that isn't 'high-end', but this doesn't seem right to me. I was just wondering if this is normal for this unit. Right now I'm figuring I'll return it, but since I have no experience with one of these I thought I'd get some feedback on whether or not others see this same thing with an otherwise well-performing unit.
 
I had a DMP3 and the pots were smooth and there was no spiking like that regardless of how you turned them - I'd exchange it if you can.

I have a couple of DMP2s now, and there's no VU Meter, but the pots are smooth and I can't remember any output spikes in my DAW (not that I've really tested for that).
 
Pop off the knobs, loosen the nuts, and retighten them only as tight as necessary. Don't overtorque them. See if that fixes the problem. If not, turn the knobs back and forth a lot of times, that might break them in. If that doesn't help, you might think about returning the unit.

The needle pegging thing is because there is DC across the pot, and when you turn it a brief second to null the resulting offset. That's usually not a huge problem; it's somewhat unavoidable when using a pot with the type of amp the DMP3 uses.
 
mshilarious, does it seem reasonable for the VU meter spike to occur on one channel consistently, but never on the other? Just wondering....I probably would have thought it to be normal if it was happening the same on both channels.

Thanks.
 
Not really, each channel has it's own hardware. I have a DMP3, and the knobs are smooth, no spikes and the likes. Although it does look a little cheap-ish since the buttons all seem to rest at slightly different angles/heights. But they all work without issues AFAIK.
 
Well, after further checking out each channel with a guitar at the instrument input and headphones directly connected to the output, it appears that the spike is due to a dirty/noisy pot on channel 1. I can clearly hear the noise at a particular point when moving the gain knob back and forth (the needle does indeed spike at the same moment I hear the noise). Channel 2 is completely silent when doing this. If I switch to lo gain on channel 1, the noise causes very little movement at all on the meter, but it pegs in the hi gain mode. I guess technically this may not be a problem since I won't be moving the gain knobs around once I get levels set for a recording, but I may return it anyway since it's brand new and I just feel that both pots when brand new should be quiet.
 
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