S4 USB connection breaks very easy

Dear dear NI .. please answer this question!

Why has the S4 the tightest USB connection ever?

It is -besides the color- exactly the same as Maschine, which is connected en reconnected very easy, whitout using any force. For disconnecting the USB cable on the S4 I have to use brutal force .. with as a result I am getting my third S4 for waranty now, cause the USB connection breaks to easy.

The shop where I bought my S4 ecknowledge this problem and says to connect the importship of NI for the Netherlands.

 

The USB port is very tight but, i have to say that if you have broken 3 S4 kontrollers then you might be forcing it or pulling out at an angle.

The USB cable HAS to be pulled out without bending it up. It needs pulling out carefully and in one straight motion.

 

Dude I know .. like I saied I have a Maschine with exactly the same connection which i am using for over a year now and has been dis- en reconnected numerous times without any effort

(unfortunatly my maschine is starting to show some hardware difficulties as well, I think it is short circuited)

 

that sucks! but imho, i have the same gear as you (maschine + s4) and have absolutely no issues with the usb connection. i would have to say that it's something you're doing wrong or maybe being rough with the cable.... don't rage at your gear bruce banner!

 

THIRD S4? I don't think you can blame the hardware.

I have plugged and unplugged many times, and although it is tight, it still remains so and the cable is in there solidly every time.

I usually hold the cable in such a way that my fingers actually 'push' the cable out of the S4 instead of pulling the cable. Feels safer than only handling the USB cable.

 

no this is legit, mine broke in the same fashion and I've never had any other piece of hardware break there.

Maybe a bad initial production run for USB connections?

I remember it being noted somewhere else as part of a review, maybe on DJTT.

When mine broke I used a pair of needle nose pliers and bent the 4 metal contacts back into shape. Been working smoothly ever since (just being really careful reconnecting), it's still missing the plastic nub that broke off. I should probably get it fixed soon :lol:

I bet they have fixed it with the most recent run of S4's

 

hmmm my usb is kinda wobbly already
how is the process? - did they fix it quickly or did they make you wait for a few weeks? I was gonna bring in mine but i am in singapore and I imagine i would have to send it to germany and wait for them to resend it to me, which is gonna take like 1-2 months?

So not looking forward to it - i hope mine wont break

 

Please Help Me.

My USB connection has broken like in your pictures too, but in my case one of the 4 metal contacts when I was trying to get it in to place broked up. So I was having only 3 of 4 metal contacts. I brought my S4 from a guy from my country... so my Kontrol S4 is second hand gear brought from an national online shopping like ebay. So in this case i had no warrity. I called one guy that changed me the USB B conector from the controller with one new not orange, white . The big problem it that the S4 is not working now. He replaced the USB connection very carefully like one new. He also verified every connection of the USB with an measurement device. But it's not working. The new USB B lookes exactly like the original, the orange one. The USB indicator of the S4 is flashing when the controller is conected to the USB port from my mac with the case original USB cable. Is the S4 sofware the S4 it's not recognized and looked like NO AUDIO. Please guys help me up. I'm very sad and desperate. What can be the problem? I allready ordered the S4 flightcase to avoid these problems and to protect the S4 and the connection. What sould I do? Sorry for my bad english. I'm from Romania.

 

I've noticed it is very stiff trying to get it out of the back of the unit, but it needs to be so if anyone knocks into it it doesn't just fall out. The way I take it out is by gently wiggling it and pulling on the usb bit right upto the hardware, don't tug on the cable. I have to admit, everytime I do it I do think "oohhhhhh noooooo" and then it comes out ok. Not sure what the solution is though, just wiggle it out I guess and don't yank it out like your trying to pull out a tooth.

 

the rane SL3 has the same connector and it is very hard to get out too. and its the same color. I think its done that way for a reason, rane claims it's so that it doesn't accidentally become unplugged when doing a gig.

 

What's funny to me is that despite how effing tight the USB connection is, the power cable barely hangs into the port and can easily be displaced.
My connector also snapped, but whoever advised to just leave the cable in the unit may have given erroneous advice. I think that only serves to make the problem worse since winding the cable around the unit might put extra force on that little nub.
Still, I think it's absurd for people/NI to blame the user for what could be a defect or poor design. The Guitar Rig kontroller I bought had some cheap metal cable-routing brackets in the rear that easily snapped off as soon as I took the unit out of the box. These units are meant to be rugged in order to survive being used in live environments, not in a studio where they can be pampered. Using Karlos' logic, I could also state that if you have broken 3 S4 kontrollers, then maybe it wasn't designed well. Unless you're deliberately swinging the unit around by the USB cable over your head, it's ridiculous that we need to be given instructions in how to remove a USB cable from a port. Also, not trying to be inflammatory. I just think people are being a little too quick to pass judgment on others.