I tried my deck for the first time on Saturday, and while I used it as a bit bucket, taking a signal from a Sound Devices USB Pre2, I did turn the Input level knob just to check it out and I found it to be uniform and smooth. I turned it slowly, as if I were to set a level which obviously I didn't using the deck as a bit bucket, but I did not experience any binding or unevenness in turning the knob. I was actually very impressed as I found the deck much quicker and more responsive than the MKII.