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Tuesday 26 March 2019

#38 Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 (1st gen) teardown

Yet another "sold as faulty" eBay catch - a nice little(?) Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 USB audio interface. Which turned out to actually have nothing at all wrong with it.


Admittedly, i went against the first commandment of teardowns (ie. "Don't turn it on; take it apaaaah't!.."), but only because it was the first troubleshooting step, and it used the same drivers as my Scarlett 18i6 "daily driver".

Friday 22 March 2019

#37 Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL teardown and troubleshooting (part 1)

Together with the pair of Konnekt x32's (one of which is dealt with in the previous write-up here), i also got one of these Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL's. Also sold as untested, but powered up and allegedly detected by a Mac, so i figured it couldn't have been too far gone (or fubar'd).


The reality of it turned out to be a wee bit more complicated than one might've hoped...


Wednesday 20 March 2019

#36 TC Electronic Digital Konnekt x32 teardown and repair

We're having a "productive" period, as it turns out. This time around a TC Electronic Digital Konnekt x32 audio interface / digital patchbay is on the chopping block. Or on the operating table, rather - i do indeed hope to repair, rather than dismember and mutilate this thing.


I managed to catch this, along with a twin of its, for under $200 / 200e delivered, as a "job lot", both sold as untested / faulty. The first one was shown powered up and possibly working fine (several LEDs on the front panel being lit), so potentially fine, pending tests. This second one though, not quite so much - only the blue LED halo surrounding the power button lit.


Friday 15 March 2019

#35 Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP teardown and repair

Yet another sold-as-faulty eBay catch - a nice little Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 DSP Firewire audio interface. The listing said:
"I bought this online and it is not working or it is not compatible with my computer. My computer is not recognising this audio interface. So I am selling it as not working."
 Fine by me. The photo of the back showed the Firewire port as looking quite pristine, so it wasn't a case of connector-inserted-upside-down. And for the price i won the auction for, it was worth the gamble. A frontal photo did show it powered up, so at the very least, it wasn't dead.