Melbourne Instruments Roto-Control Is A MIDI Controller With Motorized Knobs

2025 NAMM Show: Melbourne Instruments has introduced Roto-Control, a unique motorized MIDI controller.

The Melbourne Instruments Roto-Control features fully assignable motorized touch-sensitive knobs, user definable haptics for detailed control, high-res screens that provide easy-to-read labels for every control, and internal memory with storage for over 8000 assignments.

The motorized knobs use brushless drone motors with custom ultra-hires contactless optical sensors. They have a lifetime rating in excess of 50 million cycles, 500 times more than conventional pots.

Here’s a video overview:

Roto-Control offers three main modes of operation:

  • MIX Mode – Plug & play dedicated Ableton Live audio mix environment. Automatically sync Ableton Live Sets with all track names and colors instantly appearing on Roto-Control displays. Roto-Control will automatically update track names and colors when connected to an active Ableton Live Set. No need to save or edit labels on – all data is taken from the active Ableton Live Set.
  • PLUGIN Mode – Plugin parameters and labels are taken directly from Ableton Live with one touch, one-time, intuitive setup. Learn plugin parameters once and Roto-Control will remember learnt parameters anytime you use Ableton Live. All learnt plugin parameters are stored locally on Roto-Control. Up to 64 plugins per single track, with up to 128 controls (64 knobs + 64 buttons) per plugin.
  • MIDI Mode with Motion Recorder – Control MIDI hardware and software including synths, DAWs, lighting, media applications and any MIDI compatible technology. MIDI Mode can operate stand-alone without a computer.

Features and Specifications:

  • 8 x Touch sensitive motorized knobs with haptic feedback and instant recall.
  • 9 x High-res LCD (IPS) displays.
  • 16 x Backlit RGB LED buttons.
  • 2 x USB-C ports (data & power)
  • MIDI in/out/thru, 5-pin MIDI DIN and MIDI over USB.
  • Power: USB-C 5V (15W)

See the Melbourne Instruments site for details.

2 thoughts on “Melbourne Instruments Roto-Control Is A MIDI Controller With Motorized Knobs

  1. with Roto-Control; knobs turn you! best i got. looking into pot shaft motors, they’re actually pretty reliable, and not too expensive. we’ll be seeing more of this i guess. glad it’s on respectable sized pots though. once the cheapie 9mm start though, all bets are off.

  2. I think it’s a good concept. Only 8 knobs, but with displays. If it sells well, a 16/24/32 knob version could be possible. Although the 8 knobs are good enough for many applications, and use not much space.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *