The powermate driver still works. My powermate is hooked up to my mac studio. I'll try this one; the real one doesn't init on restart, so I have to open it to get the throbbing.
zdw 20 hours ago [-]
Would be great if it could do other things, like be a volume knob, or do media play/pause, given that scrolling and mouse button press seem like things you already have a mouse to do?
lloeki 16 hours ago [-]
This begs to be able to send MIDI events!
dmwood 23 hours ago [-]
Yippy! I feel like I'm 15 years younger
maroonblazer 23 hours ago [-]
>Of course, modern controllers exist that offer many more literal bells and whistles...
Anyone have a favorite 'modern controller' for those of us who no longer have a PowerMate?
LilyGo/TTGo also has some interesting knobs with some unusual features features (force feedback or LCD touchscreen on top of the knob, depending on model) but again I don't have firsthand experience and these might take some DIY
jrmg 20 hours ago [-]
Not commercial, but “Engineer Bo” on YouTube has an interesting series about building his own very professional looking scroll knob:
Some are calling it the most obvious trend of all computing. And that was before the agentic age super put its finger on the cosmic scales of justice+hacking.
ThrowawayR2 21 hours ago [-]
There was a poster on HN a while ago that recommended¹ the Drok USB volume knob because it can be reconfigured to send keystrokes or mouse actions. Just Google for "configure drok usb volume control knob" for instructions. I reconfigured mine to send mouse scroll events for scrolling through documents.
Surprised Loupedeck hasn't come up here. The Live and CT both have weighted main dials with real damping — which is what made the PowerMate feel different from a regular rotary encoder, more than the software integration ever did. Pricier than most of what's been mentioned, but the closest I've found to the tactile feel.
Everything in the sub-$50 range (Drok, generic Aliexpress encoders, etc.) works fine for mapping to volume or scroll, but they all feel like plastic clicky knobs. Fine for utility, not for fidgeting.
eksu 22 hours ago [-]
Surface Dial is a good hardware target.
parl_match 22 hours ago [-]
some elgato stream deck models have knobs. 3Dconnexion also still around
Hamuko 18 hours ago [-]
Elgato and Corsair have also made a keyboard that has the Stream Deck buttons + knobs on it.
Disclosure: I have no idea whether this would still work, and I have no way to find out.
mcphage 22 hours ago [-]
I have one of those, but never used it too much—if the button got pressed while my Mac was asleep, it immediately woke up and kernel panicked. I don’t know if there was something odd about my machine or my particular PowerMate or what?
aa-jv 16 hours ago [-]
I have two of these, near-permanently affixed to my Zynthian .. but now I think I want another one for the desktop. Anyone know of similar devices available currently?
fzzzy 24 hours ago [-]
Lol I wrote a new driver for the bluetooth one a few months ago.
joshmarinacci 1 days ago [-]
Curse you! Now I have to go clean out the attic to find mine.
Rendered at 23:10:16 GMT+0000 (UTC) with Wasmer Edge.
Anyone have a favorite 'modern controller' for those of us who no longer have a PowerMate?
Customization is possible https://blog.lanzani.nl/2025/customizing-the-binepad-bnk9-fi...
LilyGo/TTGo also has some interesting knobs with some unusual features features (force feedback or LCD touchscreen on top of the knob, depending on model) but again I don't have firsthand experience and these might take some DIY
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYK5tmZIBWtHYt4w8Y6P6ba-I...
Some are calling it the most obvious trend of all computing. And that was before the agentic age super put its finger on the cosmic scales of justice+hacking.
¹ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31702940
https://www.elgato.com/us/en/explorer/products/stream-deck/g...
Still got mine!
https://youtu.be/X6_E69K5WUs?t=327
Disclosure: I have no idea whether this would still work, and I have no way to find out.