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Hello all

I was wondering if anyone has experienced issues with their displays on the motu devices?

I have a unit I purchased at the end of Oct. 2010 (NEW from AMS) As of late the display ramdomly dims. Not frequent, but occasionally. It is as if the backlight is dimming. The LCD contrast still works, just a little dimmer. Additionally I should mention, it is still more than able to be read in a bright room. Hence, it's not a huge ordeal and motu is willing to take care of it by sending me a replacement unit.

My concern is, my unit hasn't been used, well, really at all. I think I've recorded maybe 5 guitar lines with it. Been busy working on my house. It is still new in other words. I know some small studios use these and I'm afraid of getting one that may have hours and hours of use on it.

When I first purchased this unit I received 3 prior to the delivery of this working one that didn't work properly.... If I'm not mistaking one of them had the same issue with the display but I could be remembering wrong.

Too be truthful I am debating dumping this unit being Kathy at Motu told me the remainder of the 2yr. warranty is transferable (I don't want to sell someone a problem).

I know I'm rambling a bit and for that I apologize. Just jeesh! I think this is my 4th 896MK3 and all I have seemed to have is issues. Like I just wasn't meant to use Motu. Which is a shame because I absolutely love the unit and features.

Could it be driver related? Is there a potential power save option.... ? It is only the display and not the meters. I don't think it is computer related because I can turn the computer off and turn the unit on and it's still dimmed.

Just in case:
W7Pro64
Cubase 6
Tascam US2400
EVGA FTW3 Mobo
Intel i7950
896MK3 (driver 4.0.4.6150)
128 Express

I don't think there is anything else worth mentioning...

What should I do here? Any ideas?

Thank you in advance. I very much appreciate any help you may be

Ax

Yeah I've experianced the same problem twice now. Don't know what the problem is though..

I have the same problem: the primary display (under "CUEMIX FX MIXER") first suddenly dimmed radically, and now has disappeared completely. Anyone have any wisdom?

It's a known issue. Not sure if MOTU fixed it by now for new units sold, but I saw it mentioned that they had. How true, I can't say.

I've hit this problem recently. You mentioned that it is a known problem. Do you have any more information about it?

I first experienced a dimming problem upon a recent power-up. With the latest USB issues related to OSX El Capitan, I have to repower my 896MK3 after every Mac wake from sleep. This happens 2-3 times a day.

On one such power cycle, the unit powered on with a "pop" sound from the power switch, and the display suddenly looked dim. Readjusting the display contrast (to Max) solved it. I don't know if the failure event merely changed the contrast setting, or if it affected the display itself.

A couple days later, on a subsequent power cycle, the display light stopped working. I can still see the image of the display - just no light. Also, I can tell that contrast adjustment still works.

At this point I have a working unit with a malfunctioning display light. But I'm worried that the issue is deeper than that, and related to the power supply.

Since I have a MOTU MIDI Express XT that uses the same power supply, I swapped the two supplies , hoping that it was a power issue. The swap had no effect, which leads me to believe my display is damaged. It's still possible, though, that a power supply failure caused the display damage. I swapped the supplies back.

My nagging suspicion is that a filtering issue in the power supply was prone to damage the display during power up. It seems too coincidental that both stages of my display failure occurred just when turning the unit on.

Hence my wondering what the known issue is/was. I bought my unit new from Sweetwater in Sept 2012.

Probably best to contact MOTU directly to see if your unit is eligible for their rebuilt/exchange program.

Yes I have. They will fix/replace a unit for the standard $100.

Looking back at my old records, I now see that my original Sweetwater unit shipped with a flickering display. Sweetwater replaced it with my current unit a week after purchase. I had forgotten about this episode.

So now I am more curious whether my unit is a vintage with a persistent display issue.