CC121 Replacement for defective fader

Steinberg Hardware CC121
1

I’d like to rehash an old issue that’s been discussed here before, but yet without a solution:

CC121 Fader Replacement?
CC121 Replacement fader problem?

I ran into the same problem after buying a used CC121 with a defective fader (the sense line was disrupted, so moving the fader would no longer update the virtual fader in Cubase).

Searching for a replacement part, i came across the same two YAMAHA faders that have been discussed here and that are currently offered by thomann, one with a rubber dust cover and one without and decided to go for the version WITH dust cover.
Both models are mechanically identical (dimensions, pin positions, pin assignment), both have 10k linear potentiometers and even the transmission (number of motor revolutions for the complete way of the fader) is identical, however the model with the dust cover will not work properly in the CC121!

When moving the fader on the CC121, the virtual fader of the selected Cubase channel will follow the fader position of the controller, however when moving the virtual fader in Cubase, the fader on the CC121 will not reach the minimum and maxium positions (the following pictures show the minimum and maximum positions that can be reached by the fader).

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After making sure that this is not a matter of a bad power supply, i ordered the model without dust cover, replaced the fader again and it worked satisfyingly right away!
Steinberg could have probably avoided this behaviour of the controller by implementing a calibration routine that allows to calibrate the minimum, -20db, 0dB and maximum positions of the fader (Yamaha mixers that make use of that fader provide that), but apparantly they had decided to save that effort :frowning:

So if you have a CC121 with a defective fader and you would like to replace it, you should go for THIS product:

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It is available here (no, i’m not affilitated with thomann in any way):
https://www.thomann.de/de/yamaha_ls_9_01v_motorised_fader.htm

Do NOT use this one:

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Both faders are apparantly produced by ALPS, the one without the dust cover seems to be the one that’s listed here:

Happy soldering!

2 Likes
2

Thank you so much for this! This is a very useful post. I’ve just bought a 2nd hand CC121 and was thinking of pre-emptively buying a spare fader in case this one breaks.

Unfortunately that item on Thomann is discontinued :frowning:

The product Yamaha Motorised Fader LS9/01V96 is regretfully no longer available.

It looks like this might be the same one though: https://www.proaudioservice.co.uk/product/yamaha-motorised-fader-ls901v96/

3

Hello,

It seems another Yamaha Motorised Fader LS9 replacing the old version is available on Thomann website.
it is called “Yamaha LS9 Motorised Fader New”

It is sold here

You should also check the CC121 power supply since if the power supply gets old and no longer provides fast enough the regulated enough needed , the symptom is the fader no longer moving, but maybe the fader is OK and you only need another the power supply.
You may need a regulated 12v power adapter with 750mA output (or more, a 12 VDC 1-A power adapter is good enough) as this model

4

Ha! yes.

This is a spam prevention measure, which goes away after a new user has read a few posts. See https://forums.steinberg.net/t/forum-guide-new-here-read-this

I have manually updated your profile, you can post links etc now.

5

Thanks Steve

6

does the ls9 fader really work? has it been tested? the old one is no longer available but nobody says if the installation of the new fader is a success.

7

I go this fader but its still jittery and noisy,
almost impossible to mix music when its making noise like that all the time

8

With a controller that has only one fader, it is unfortunately the case that this single fader flies back and forth when you switch between tracks, i.e. very often when you are setting up a mix. This means that when most of the mix is already done and you’re just tweaking, for example when you’re adjusting the equalizers, you’ll hear the fader constantly bouncing back and forth and it’s annoying.

This problem was taken into account in the development of the script of the PreSonus FaderPort V2 (2018) as an alternative to the CC121 so that you can turn off the fader with a simple push of a button, so that the fader temporarily does not react to Cubase (set from bidrectional to unidirectional) and you have your peace.

9

It’s not only noisy when switching tracks , but even when it just moves up an down according to volume automation on the track, even few millimeters of movement makes noise

10

However, whether a noise is annoying or not depends very much on the sound of the noise. My fader sounds like the rustling of a banknote. I’ve heard that the CC121’s fader sounds like a hamster farting, so of course that’s a problem.

11

What fader do you use ?

12

When i ordered my faders, Thomann offered two different types, the one WITH the dust cover and the one without. Now they only offer the one WITH dustcover.

I checked my order history and i can confirm that the item number of the currently offered fader (233463) is identical to the item number of the fader that i had ordered, which did NOT work properly!

So i don’t think, that the currently available fader is really a revised model that replaces both earlier fader types (with and without dust cover) and is now a fully compatible replacement to the part without dust cover. Most likely the older model (without dust cover) is just hard to come by or getting too expensive, so Thomann decided to no longer sell them.

If you check the manufacturers product page (https://tech.alpsalpine.com/e/products/detail/RSA0N11M9A0J), the status says “Not recommended for new designs” which means that the item is about to be discontinued in the near future, but should still be in production.
If you search for the manufacturers part number ( RSA0N11M9A0J) there are still many hits (Aliexpress, eBay, but also Mouser Electronics), so the fader should still be available.
Reichelt also offers a fader with an almost identical part number (RSA0N11M9A07), which is probably worth a try :
RSA0N11M9A07: Schiebepotentiometer, Mono, 10 kOhm, linear, mit Dipping-Kontakt bei reichelt elektronik
The datasheet linked to this fader on the Reichelt product page is from 2006, hence it is possible that the “7” at the end of the part number refers to a product (or datasheet) revision, which was “7” back in 2006 and is now “J” and Reichelt just didn’t update the number.