MOTU 828mkII FW: Quality Problems? | More than one 828mkII

[abalari]

Hi there,

I got one 828mkII FW in use for roughly 5 years now and never encountered any problems. Now I got an issue with the ADAT in, which I currently try to solve with the official support of MOTU.

In the course of my investigations I came across several offers for used 828mkII FW interfaces, even with 12 month dealer warranty. I'm tempted to grab one and then use both interfaces in serial connection with my MacBook Pro late 2013, running on OS X 10.9.5 and with Logic Pro X.

A friend of mine, who was so kind to lend me his RME Fireface 800 for one session, told me that there would be serious quality issues with MOTU interfaces, especially with the 828mkII: He works for a big software developer, where numerous of these interfaces have been in use and said that almost 50% of the interfaces broke within only a few years. Frankly, I don't want to believe this ratio and also didn't find any supportive indicaton in the www. He also said that this would be the case mostly for specfic serial number ranges.

Here are my questions:
1) Are you aware of any such quality problems with the 828mkII? If yes, were would I find the serial number ranges in question?
2) Does anyone here have experience with running two 828mkII FW interfaces on a late 2013 MacBook Pro with OS X 10.9.5? Does this work without problems?
3) What would you deem to be a fair price for buying a used 828mkII from a dealer, also including a 12 month warranty?

Thanks and cheers
Anders

[HCMarkus]

All I can say is I've been running an 828mkII for years with zero issues. Don't know if MOTU still has the $100 replacement program going, but the company has stood behind its products for years, and the 828 was a long-running product that, at 50% failure rate, wold not have enjoyed the success it did.

If I recall correctly, the most common issue with the unit has been a single power supply chip that overheats and requires replacement. It is a very inexpensive part, I think under a dollar or two. If you are handy with a soldering iron, this could be an easy self-repair. Search here or Google and see what you find.

I just happened to be on Ebay last night and saw lots of 828mkII's for sale for under $300. No warranty but, again, if MOTU has their replacement program going, you can buy one with the assurance you can have it replaced with a working unit for $100.

[mikehalloran]

The last 828mkII shipped eight years ago.

There is the occasional report of a failure. Mostly these are units that have been running continuously since new. Those who only run them when tracking (like I) can expect many more years of service.

Others have posted recently that the $100 trade-in on these has been discontinued due to unavailability of a part but I know nothing more than that.

Mine works perfectly.

[HCMarkus]

When 828mkII dies (as it most likely will, someday), I plan on replacing with the new A16 USB2/Thunderbolt interface. Symphony-quality conversion (nulls almost perfecetly with Symphony), solid MOTU drivers, and a really nice built-in hardware mixer. My perfect interface. I may buy one sooner rather than later.

[mikehalloran]

When 828mkII dies (as it most likely will, someday), I plan on replacing with the new A16 USB2/Thunderbolt interface. Symphony-quality conversion (nulls almost perfecetly with Symphony), solid MOTU drivers, and a really nice built-in hardware mixer. My perfect interface. I may buy one sooner rather than later.

Agreed. If mine dies before I upgrade my iMac, I will replace it, probably with the A16. When I replace my iMac, I will definitely get a TB interface. I don't expect this to happen for another year (or two?).

[abalari]

Mike and HCMarkus, thanks a lot!

It was also my expectation that the overall quality is much better than my friend stated. The 16A seems to be attractive, but right now I don't intend to spend that much money for an interface.

I deinstalled my 828mkII in the project studio and brought it home, in order to have it at hand when MOTU tech support guys should have additional questions.

As I have it here now, yesterday I connected it to my MacBook Pro, set it to be the system's audio option and practiced my guitar skills with Rocksmith 2014 (which, unfortunately, is fed only by a specific USB D.I. interface shipped with the game) - after some time the output in the MOTU became terrifyingly clicky and on another occasion yesterday it was just like having a massive 0.5s ducking effect in place, while playing normal mp3 files with iTunes.

I don't know if this relates to the problem I currently try to solve with MOTU (clicks in "ADAT in" channels, also in stand alone mode - sync and feeding AD-Converter is fine, also successfully tested with an RME Fireface 800 instead of the MOTU; no clicks when the MOTU isn't warm yet), but I wonder whether my MOTU 828mkII doesn't work properly with my system. It used to work fine and flawless with my old MacBook Pro (early 2008), still running on OS X Snow Leopard.

Now I run a late 2013 MacBook Pro (2.6 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 GB 1600 Mhz DDR3) on OS X 10.9.5 - I've been away on a project for several months and connected my MOTU to this new computer only two weeks ago for the first time. The shipped drivers didn't work, not much of a surprise, and I downloaded the newest driver from MOTU.com => made the MOTU work, basically, but I'm not convinced of its stability and really am in doubt whether to purchase a second 828mkII, following the idea to link the two interfaces.

[mikehalloran]

You keep talking about "stability". That doesn't seem to be an issue for anyone else. Normally, they work or they don't.

How are you clocking yours?

There are still new 828mkIII Hybrids out there. The 828x has a Thunderbolt port instead of FireWire--otherwise, they are the same. If adding an interface and budget doesn't allow an A16, you may want to look there.

[abalari]

Good to hear that no one else seems to have issues with the mkII running under Mavericks or Yosemite (which you actually do use, Mike, don't you). So I'll consider to buy one. I'll go for a newer and thus more costly alternative next year, but right now I need a solution involving relatively low costs.

The problems with my mkII seems to be another story, then. I tried all possible sync options. Basically, one Presonus Digimax D8 is feeding my mkII via ADAT. I tried several cables for each cable type in question. And I positively tested my setup with a RME Fireface 800 instead of my mkII. So that's the different outcomes for the mkII, regardless of being run in standalone mode or connected to my MacBook Pro:
1) mkII running on internal clock, syncing the D8 as slave via word clock. Result in my case for all sampling frequencies except for 96khz: Nasty and loud continuous digital noise. No noise @96khz, however my mkII hangs after a few minutes when operated at 96khz.
2) D8 as master, mkII as slave via ADAT optical. Sync formally works, random clicks in the ADAT in channels.
3) Bought a word clock generator and synced the D8 and the mkII via word clock in, a few days later. And: Almost perfect silence and the expected clean and good audio signals in the ADAT in channels. I began to adjust the recording levels for the drumset to be recorded via the D8. After 15 minutes approx. the clicks came back to stay.

=> so that's the issues, summarized:
1) mkII does not work @96khz (I can live with that easily)
2) mkII does not work as sync master device via word clock
3) mkII produces clicks in the ADAT in channels when the device is warm, also when it is correctly clocked

As I said I deinstalled it in the project studio and took it home with me - when not being "hidden away in the rack", I now realise a relatively loud hum when the device is on - it doesn't disturb me in the studio because I didn't even notice it there. However, is this normal?