alt Hacker News>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?
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I don't have one, but Ploopy's knob is intriguing (https://ploopy.co/knob/).
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
Not commercial, but “Engineer Bo” on YouTube has an interesting series about building his own very professional looking scroll knob:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYK5tmZIBWtHYt4w8Y6P6ba-I...
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.
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.
Microsoft Surface Dial is nice. You'll also need to write a driver...
Surface Dial is a good hardware target.
some elgato stream deck models have knobs. 3Dconnexion also still around
I have this and it’s great https://binepad.com/products/bnk9
Customization is possible https://blog.lanzani.nl/2025/customizing-the-binepad-bnk9-fi...