Dead 896mk3 Hybrid?

[Zeno]

Hello, all -

Happy Holidays!

I feel like Charlie Brown on Christmas with this present: dead MOTU interface.
As of today, one of my two 896mk3 Hybrids is dead. The LCD screen and some of the LED for PAD or TRS just flash on and off in unison every couple seconds, with a clicking sound. The unit never boots up, and is not recognized by the Mac. Has anyone experienced this kind of failure? Any troubleshooting I can do on my end? Tomorrow I'll try contacting MOTU for repair options otherwise.

I did notice yesterday intermittent audio dropouts for a second or two, perhaps once and hour...so that might have been the early warning sign of failure.

Thank you...

[primeevolutionary]

This did eventually happen to me with my first 896. It lasted nine to fourteen years and I used to leave it on perpetually. I sent it in to MOTU and paid what seemed a pretty nominal fee and they ended up replacing it. I bought a second 896 while that was out and use the replacement as my secondary unit for supplementary inputs and outputs. I turn both of them off when not in use now.

[Zeno]

This did eventually happen to me with my first 896. It lasted nine to fourteen years and I used to leave it on perpetually. I sent it in to MOTU and paid what seemed a pretty nominal fee and they ended up replacing it. I bought a second 896 while that was out and use the replacement as my secondary unit for supplementary inputs and outputs. I turn both of them off when not in use now.

Thank you for the reply. I also tend to leave my interfaces on all the time. I've heard conflicting recommendations as to whether that is better or worse for the gear. I have a hi-fi preamp, for example, that doesn't even have a power switch; the manufacturer recommends leaving it on all the time.

Here's a quote from the Dangerous Music Monitor ST manual:
"Over the years, the experience of the Dangerous team has been that gear left on is
more stable in performance and sound quality, and doesn’t really cost very much in extra
power consumed. Solid state amps and converters can take several hours to stabilize in
temperature and the sound quality is a moving target while things are warming up. Having
said that, the writer has come home to his studio and found smoked speaker cones (bummer)
due to Con Edison power switching problems. This issue is a tough call and really situation
dependant. Studios that power down daily can lose a piece of gear now and then to the
rough reality of daily power-up. The repair bill is likely more than the extra electricity
consumed had the equipment stayed on."

Anyway, I have repaired the MOTU interfaces more than once, for different issues (failed meters, etc.), and MOTU did the flat-rate swap in both cases, sending out a replacement refurb unit quickly. It was quite a nice low price also. Does MOTU no longer have that policy?

Else, if the repair is too costly, I would consider moving to the more recent MOTU interfaces, like 8pre-es, which seems to be the closest feature-wise to the 896s, but presumably with even better pres, and the newer network-based software and matrix routing (which looks a bit overwhelmingly complex, but I understand is extremely flexible and powerful).

[primeevolutionary]

I don’t remember the cost, but, thought it very low for the value ($100?).

While that one was out, the one I bought, which is now my main 896, I sent to Black Lion for upgrades. I can’t hear the difference and thought the original hardware sounded fine, but, everything I’ve recorded with the new hardware sounds great.

I’ve always been on the fence about turning off vs leaving on. I left the old one on all of the time, so, I figured I would keep this one off when not in use to see if it would last longer or not. It is usually on at least eight hours a day and I don’t fret if I don’t power down at the end of the day or not. The replacement 896, which is now my number two, only gets turned on when going out to the reel to reel or plate reverb.

I know the 896s are getting long in the tooth technologically, but, I love the ergonomics of the unit.

[Zeno]

I don’t remember the cost, but, thought it very low for the value ($100?).

...

I know the 896s are getting long in the tooth technologically, but, I love the ergonomics of the unit.

Yes, that cost sounds right....or maybe $150. At any rate, a great deal, since often repairs in NYC are that just for the estimate and the hourly rate is similar.

Agreed that they are aging tech. They do work very well; the preamps or converters were just fine for my purposes. I also prefer the 2-rack space design, since it allows for large clearly visible meters.

I'm now also consider a different option as well rather than replacing the dead MOTU: A mixerface like the SoundCraft Signature 22MTK. It's actually more inputs, but less outputs.



SoundCraft Signature 22MTK

So maybe I would combine it with my other still-living 896mk3 Hybrid. Mainly I need the extra outs to send to hardware effects. I wonder if the two (MOTU + SoundCraft) would get along, though, since it would mean both drivers active in the Mac simultaneously, and both interfaces accessed from the DAW simultaneously. I wonder also how the preamps and converters on the SoundCraft compare to those on the 896, or on the newer MOTUs.

[primeevolutionary]

That's snazzy looking.

[Zeno]

Hello -

An update on progress.

I spoke with MOTU techs about this. Unfortunately, MOTU no longer does any post-warranty repair. Not only is the flat-rate swap option gone (which was excellent and which I have used 3 times in the past), but there is no other option. They said I could try an external electronics shop. One tech did suggest replacing the power supply. So I bought one from MOTU for about $50 (including shipping).

I replaced the power supply. Now the unit at least attempts to boot up, with display showing:

MOTU 896mk3 Hybrid v1.02
Loading Audio Router
Loading Cnfg not done

Then it alternates between:

Loading CueMix FX...
Bad load DSP scope loop
Press Page to skip

Pressing page does nothing, however.

I tried a hardware reset, holding down Page while turning on the unit. This produces different messages:

MOTU 896mk3 Hybrid Boot v1.01 [sometimes also shows - "skipping restore from Flash"]
Loading Boot Firmware
FPGA Load Error: Cnfg not done
FPGA Error: SPI Test Failure
MOTU 896mk3 Hybrid Boot v1.01 (and stays on that screen)

I tried reseating various cables and connectors, to no avail.
I notice that 2 balck capacitors on the main board, near the power supply board, have their tops "domed"/swollen. These seem to be the same 2 shown swollen in this 828mk3 repair video, at this time-stamp. (Video is in Russian; if you do not speak Russian, you can turn on subtitles with translation into your preferred language): https://youtu.be/p_cIvP_HtC8?t=71

Is it worth attempting to order and replace the capacitors? If so, any idea what value and type capacitors to use? Some comments on repairs of other interfaces recommend using ones with higher-rated voltages.

Yet it seems the problem is with the FPGA processor. Still, maybe that processor is misbehaving due to power issues, or issues with the capacitors on the board...?

Any thoughts welcome and appreciated! Would be nice to save this unit rather than have to research and purchase something now.