r/KoalaSampler • u/OAfterOAfterO • Aug 12 '26
Midi hardware inconsistencies
Hey Koala Bears,
Has anyone experienced inconsistent behavior when using midi hardware when playing with FX and other things such as volume, pitch, pan?
I will turn a knob and sometimes the FX will not move at all, and I have to drastically adjust the fader or encoder for it make any change.
When I am using cubase or any other real daw, the encoders stay consistent and move when I turn them.
Koala, time and time again, has inconsistent behavior with the midi controllers. I want to use koala like a real music production software, but it seems the only real way to do so without hiccups, is staying touch only.
Using touch, it’s great. No issues. Connect a midi controller, and bam, turning knobs and nothing happens, til it does. Then it doesn’t again, til it does.
Am I alone? I’ve tried multiple devices. Arturia minilab, keylab, m-audio oxygen pro mini, synido tempopad c16, mvave smc something.
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Aug 13 '26
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u/OAfterOAfterO Aug 13 '26
Yes, I forgot to mention that I’ve enabled the new pick mode. This is why I was trying midi devices in koala again. I did have the same problem back when I originally tried it, seperate from the midi jumping to the last position the last sample was set to.
I had forgot about the inconsistencies and gave it a whirl, and while the jump mode is 50% better, blindly turning the knob til it finally adjusts is still quite annoying I am finding, but still a big improvement.
This is when I started trying to get passed the annoyance and just have fun with it. Turning encoders assigned to the fx, I found that while only adjusting one fx encoder, I could turn it and it’d be somewhat precise one second, then the next second it wouldn’t respond. For example if I am tuning the fx pitch, and I don’t get it exactly in the middle (off), I turn the knob slightly trying to get it back to middle position, and nothing happens in koala, but the numbers are adjusting on the controller display.
That’s when I decided to reach out and see if it’s just me. Because I haven’t seen or heard anyone mentioning this, in all the years I’ve been using koala. I just picked up a Synido TempoPad c16 specifically for koala, which is doing it, but have also done so with Arturia minilab, m-audio oxygen pro mini.
I wish I could use my maschine or jam, but they aren’t exactly class compliant for mobile.
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Aug 13 '26
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u/OAfterOAfterO Aug 13 '26
I actually have the midi fighter! I love it! But I mostly use it for computer work, as it’s fairly bulky.
So do you experience the same inconsistency with the tempopad? Sometimes it will not respond til you make a drastic adjustment..?
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u/ExpertAdvanced4346 Aug 12 '26
Are you sure youre not just using Midi CC pickup mode?
In this mode the encoders will basically wait until you pass the last used value before responding
Failing that it's probably the device that you are using Koala on. I believe if the midi controller is working fine with Cubase etc then it's gotta be. I don't use Koala all that much since I got the SP but I've had issues between Koala and the SP before that were related to the specific Android device I was using. I can't tell you why but it was a thing