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?
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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.