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[Oysterhead]

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[ronjams]

The answer is to do a hard reset to bring everything back to factory specifications Motu can help you with that so call them

[Oysterhead]

The answer is to do a hard reset to bring everything back to factory specifications Motu can help you with that so call them

Thank you for the quick response! Just to clarify, a “hard reset” is different from the “Factory Default” accessed via the settings menu?

I hope you’re right, this will be great if it solves the problem. Will report back.

[Oysterhead]

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[James Steele]

Sorry to here that. Sounds like you picked up a used interface (cheap I assume), knowing it had issues and gambled that it might be something you could fix. Not sure what sort of support MOTU could give you? I know that if you are within the 2 years or whatever, often times they'll exchange the faulty unit for a new one. But I'm pretty sure they don't actually make the hardware in house and I doubt they have electrical engineers at the ready to troubleshoot a hardware problem like that remotely and tell you how to fix it.

You rolled the dice and sadly, you lost on this one. That's one of the reasons I almost NEVER buy used gear at a discount that I see on Craigslist or wherever that claims to just have a minor issue that seller is *sure* can be fixed. I am truly sorry you got burned on this one.

[chapito]

Yeah thats a bummer.

IME, MOTU service has been great. I got my Traveller (2004) "repaired" (actually replaced) and even sent that replacement in for a 99$ service repair years later (2010? - the price was $79). And continued to use that same unit till this week when I upgraded. (...and the Traveller is still running great).

I hope MOTU hasn't changed their policy for first owners. I think that even second-hand should be 'repaired' —for a fee.

[Oysterhead]

Sorry to here that. Sounds like you picked up a used interface (cheap I assume), knowing it had issues and gambled that it might be something you could fix. Not sure what sort of support MOTU could give you? I know that if you are within the 2 years or whatever, often times they'll exchange the faulty unit for a new one. But I'm pretty sure they don't actually make the hardware in house and I doubt they have electrical engineers at the ready to troubleshoot a hardware problem like that remotely and tell you how to fix it.

You rolled the dice and sadly, you lost on this one. That's one of the reasons I almost NEVER buy used gear at a discount that I see on Craigslist or wherever that claims to just have a minor issue that seller is *sure* can be fixed. I am truly sorry you got burned on this one.

Hi, James, and thanks for the response. Wanted to also say thanks for keeping this board running for so long. Having run similar independent forums long before Reddit, Facebook, and the rest of the “modern” internet, I realize it’s a “labor of love” and I don’t mean to come in and just complain. Much respect for what you’ve done here!

I wanted to revisit this topic, as I may have been a bit hard in my disappointment in MOTU, and wanted to clear things up.

So, yes, I picked this 8A up for a great price and 100% knew of the issues. The seller was very open about it and clarified much of what worked/didn’t work prior to the transaction. I’m actually very satisfied with the purchase and think I got a great value for the price. I’m also very impressed with the MOTU 8A for what it is and for what does work on this particular unit. Everything works just fine with the exception of the analog I/O. So what I do have is a very fast TB/USB3 interface with 8 channel ADAT i/o and AVB for LOTS more i/o potential, all available via the TB/USB3 to my Mac. I hooked up my Behringer ADA8200 via ADAT, so now I have an 8 channel i/o TB/USB3 interface out of the combo, for considerably less money than I could get in a single unit otherwise.

I’ve given more thought to my disappointment with MOTU as a company, and wanted to adjust my take on that: I get it. Producing tech hardware right now is probably a total nightmare with the supply chain issues, realities of continuing operations through a global pandemic, etc. I sure wouldn’t want to be in that industry. The company is likely working with a skeleton crew and doing their best to stay afloat, all while preparing new hardware for the market. It seems obvious the Ultralite mk5 and the M2/M4 units are just the beginning of the latest generation of product releases, and this has to be super tough right now.

In the meantime, with the regular rapid pace of tech advances, it makes more sense that they shouldn’t waste their limited time and resources dealing with repairs and support after 2 years. Let’s face it, this is the “disposable age” of tech. Like it or not, that’s the current state of the game. Easier and cheaper to just swap out a fresh unit with someone (the original buyer, within 2 years of purchase) rather than maintain an actual repair service. Put the resource towards improving the product line, keeping up with changing tech and being competitive in the sales market.

I’m actually impressed that they seem to be very good about continued driver/software support for older models. I see things that are 10 years old still benefiting from driver/software updates. That is exceptional after-the-sale-service, so kudos for MOTU for that.

The whole concept of “warranty” on a piece of tech hardware is simply a cost factor in the initial retail sale as a way to subsidize replacement units in the case of failure. It’s just an insurance policy, really.

With that in mind, I just picked up a non-retail MOTU Monitor 8 at a substantial discount, and I fully understand I won’t have that 2 year warranty benefit. But I reduced my up front cost, significantly, on an otherwise new unit (in this case, un-opened and still brand new). I’m accepting the risk by not having the “insurance” that I’d get with a full retail purchase. I’m ok with that.

I’ve also added a couple 2408 units (a mk2 and a mk3) for <$200 for the pair. I have *zero* expectation that I’d get any kind of support from MOTU on those. But they are great A>D units that will add channels to my system for pennies on the dollar. Putting all this together with the 8A & ADA8200 combo (AVB between the 8A and Monitor , I’m going to end up with a 32-channel TB/USB3 interface for a mere fraction of the price it would cost me otherwise.

One last thing: My only lasting gripe with MOTU service/warranty is that I believe they should stand behind a unit for at least the 2 years they do currently, but for subsequent owners as long as they can show original retail purchase from an authorized source. If I buy an Ultralite mk5 today, and decide to sell it to my buddy 3 months from now because it ends up not being the right match for my needs, he should still benefit from the remaining 21 months of warranty. THAT’S what it means to “stand behind your product”. As long as I give him the original retail receipt, that should be fine. Perhaps MOTU has some flexibility with this, I don’t know. But their written policy says that the warranty does *not* pass to him, and I don’t see a good reason for that.