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Hello,

If I lose power to my 828mk3, or simply turn it off, I cannot get it to power up, the display just blinks. After an extended period of time it will eventually turn on, say after more than an hour. Is this part of it's normal behavior, or could I have an insufficient supply of electricity to my studio and the unit isn't seeing enough juice, or is it something else? Any input is appreciated, thanks.
Tom

This sounds very odd. But to be sure, take it out of your studio / house, and test it somewhere else, to see if it behaves the same way. I would also contact MotU for a bit of troubleshooting.

/B

I've seen this once with mine. Didn't figure out what it was. My power supply is regulated so it's probably not a power problem. The only other thing that occurred to me at the time is possible overheating.

This happened with my first 828mk3 and I could never get it to start ever again. Motu tech support had me ship the unit back, and determined that it was more cost effective for them to just send me a new one, so they did.

Sure enough, the new one has the same problem. However, I was able to get it started a few weeks ago and now I will not turn it off until I'm sure I won't be composing for a period of 2 weeks or more (that's the turnaround time).

I'm glad to hear that my TWO mk3s aren't a fluke, but poo on MOTU for this. Black Lion Audio won't even mod the new mk3s because "the components are so bad".

Also, do a search for this - cuz I started a thread about motu tech support and my entire situation last month.

erikjamesmusic wrote:I'm glad to hear that my TWO mk3s aren't a fluke, but poo on MOTU for this. Black Lion Audio won't even mod the new mk3s because "the components are so bad".

That's terrible! I hope MOTU realizes that this is not a sustainable business model, and that they get their parts together and recreate this properly. Their original boxes, now called "legacies," which they no longer support, were practically indestructible. I still use my 1296 and 896 (original), along with my 2408mkII -- all of them still work just fine, despite being over 8 to 10 years old.

Something tells me they will fix this in some way. They may not fix the individual boxes they've already sold, but they will find a better fabricator, designer or both. Nobody can stay in business making junk.

I've known MOTU now for 27 years. I understand that their success has always been based on quality, but to be competitive they have always had to seek to reduce costs, which has meant that their software occasionally let slip a bad bug, or their hardware has not always been as good as it could be, but they have usually found the best balance between cost and quality and given us what is ultimately a bargain. I think they'll keep working on this and it will soon be the bargain that we've come to expect.

Shooshie

My 828mk3 failed to load CueMix FX, saying "Bad load DSP scope loop" or something like that then going back to "loading CueMix...". It eventually it always started though. Took 30 sec to 2 mins to start. It wasn't a big deal but I contacted MOTU anyway. I got really fast answer to my Tech Note with follow up questions and eventually he told me I should send it in for service. Which I have now done. Fortunately I have an original 828 I can use while waiting.
I never understood this bad rep MOTU support has. They have always been super friendly and helpful to me and I have always gotten quick responses to emails (and now my first Tech Link).

erikjamesmusic wrote:This happened with my first 828mk3 and I could never get it to start ever again. Motu tech support had me ship the unit back, and determined that it was more cost effective for them to just send me a new one, so they did.

Sure enough, the new one has the same problem. However, I was able to get it started a few weeks ago and now I will not turn it off until I'm sure I won't be composing for a period of 2 weeks or more (that's the turnaround time).

I'm glad to hear that my TWO mk3s aren't a fluke, but poo on MOTU for this. Black Lion Audio won't even mod the new mk3s because "the components are so bad".

Also, do a search for this - cuz I started a thread about motu tech support and my entire situation last month.

I've also had terrible luck with the 828mk3s.
I went through 2 of them. They both had volume gain issues where it seemed like the volume/trim didn't even work and was incredibly loud and then the unit died. The shop i bought it from replaced it then... similar thing with the second one. i'm now using using an old 828 mk2 which has been solid for a while.
I should've gotten it fixed but i still have a broken mk3 sitting in my cupboard. In my personal experience the mk3 was crap! All these complaints can't be a coincidence.

Jesus, how may folks are having problems with 828mk3s going into the flashing blue display dead mode? My home unit just flipped out, and 3 at the college I work at pooped out over the last 4 months, and one student's as well!!!

MOTU, please respond to my information requests, and tell us what to do?

What the heck?

Otherwise, love the little units....all 12 of them......

tjmusic wrote:Hello,

If I lose power to my 828mk3, or simply turn it off, I cannot get it to power up, the display just blinks. After an extended period of time it will eventually turn on, say after more than an hour. Is this part of it's normal behavior, or could I have an insufficient supply of electricity to my studio and the unit isn't seeing enough juice, or is it something else? Any input is appreciated, thanks.
Tom

Ok, in my first post in this thread, I thought it was weird.......
Now I got the same symptoms on one of my 828mk3's. What's really unfortunate, is that the other one seems to have developed a fried Firewire port.

The thing is, this is the 3nd time that they need to be serviced.
Not funny at all.
Thinking about switching to an SSL interface.....


/B

FYI, 8 months ago I did a thorough comparison of the 828mk3 v apogee ensemble. The biggest difference was the D/A convertors in the Apogee were much clearer, better quality. The mic PREs were subjective - both sounded equally "professional". I went with the 828 to pocket some cash, and to access the "direct hardware monitor" option in DP7.

WHAT A MISTAKE.

I NEVER had a problem with my apogee ensemble and it looked better in my studio