APC mini MkII lights problems

DJ Hardware
1

APC mini MkII and Djay Pro AI - both Mac and iPad iOS versions. Problem below is same whether its IOS or MAC versions of the software.

Of course there’s much discussion about getting the lights to work. and I’ve read it ALL! I know what I am doing and setting up the midi mapping properly - Midi out, ch 7 for brightest colors, etc etc. But no matter what - some buttons on the APC do not do what they are supposed to do even though they are mapped correctly (as confirmed by the TEST option)

eg. MATCH KEY mapped to a button (any button)

Button

Default (tried all the other options)

MIDI out

Ch 7

Min 41, Max 72

no blend or invert (tried all the other options)

… should give steady BLUE and when pressed momentarily changes to RED to confirm the button has been pressed. And of course it does correctly set the sync button on Djay Pro, BUT there is no lighting response (even though test works). Here’s the kicker though: it DID work fine when I first mapped everything. Everything worked beautifully. When reloaded - various functions (eg SYNC, KILL BASS EQ, RESET TEMPO etc) - all mapped similar to above failed to have a lighting response.

HOWEVER

Functions like NEURO MIX SOLO 3Ch DRUMS do correctly trigger the lights. This example is mapped like this:

Button

Default

MIDI out

Ch 7

Min 102 Max 60

blend off

invert on

… gives light blue when function is off and red when active. Works fine.

What is going on??!!

Odd thing that changed between the time everything worked and now is that the DISABLED value in the MIDI options now sets a color (that doesn’t change) in non-functioning buttons, but does nothing with the ones that work correctly. Previously the disabled setting did nothing for any configuration.

Of course I have tried all suggestions: making a new mapping and switching from that and back to the main one. Plugging/unplugging/restarting everything. Switching to NOTE and DRUM modes and back (on the APC). Trying to reset the APC by plugging into my Ableton Live Suite = where everything on the APC works fine of course. Nothing helps.

Hope that someone can explain what’s going on whilst I still have hair.

Thanks!

Rain

3

Hi @Rain_Felix, welcome to the Community, and thanks for such a detailed write-up.

You’re not the only one seeing this. It matches an earlier report where APC mini mk2 LEDs worked fine right after mapping, then lost their colors after djay restarted: https://community.algoriddim.com/t/akai-apc-mk2-mini-led-on-off-colors-resetting/40052

The APC mini mk2 isn’t an officially supported controller, and our team doesn’t have one to test with. Your values look right, though. Per Akai’s protocol doc, channel 7 is solid at 100% brightness, 41 is blue and 72 is red.

One thing stands out in your examples: the Neural Mix buttons that still work have Invert on, and every button that broke has it off. Could you test this on one broken button?

  1. Open your APC mapping (MIDI > APC mini mk2 on Mac, Dashboard > Settings > MIDI Devices on iPad).
  2. Select the Match Key mapping and turn on Invert under MIDI Out. Don’t change anything else.
  3. Quit and relaunch djay, then check whether the LED responds.

If it lights up, you can adjust Min/Max to get the colors back where you want them, then do the same for the other buttons. Also, which djay version are you running on the Mac and the iPad?

I hope that helps!

4

Thanks of your reply, Much appreciated although I have to now confirm that I am an idiot!

The answer is so simple I cannot believe I didn’t think of it. Basically if you are mapping all 4 tracks - then you HAVE to HAVE an audio clip in all 4 tracks.

If the track is empty - whilst the action will work (SYNC on/off for example) the lighting set up will not.

At the possible risk of speaking too soon, it’s that simple.

:flushed_face:

5

PS. It seems that you still have to do that trick where you load the mapping you’re using, then load a different one, then switch back to the one you’re working with. Every time you connect the APC.

Rain

6

You’re welcome @Rain_Felix.