#95 Presonus StudioLive Series III 32R teardown

I know, i know, i'm breaking my own vow from a while ago, to forever(?) boycott Presonus hardware, but... Well, on a technicality, they're Fender nowadays, so there's that. Either way, more or less on a whim, and at the available price, i really couldn't say no to this deal. With the introduction of the updated "SE" line, Thomann had some severe discounts on the previous-generation SKU's, and were seemingly eager to get rid of their existing stock. 

I had been daydreaming of one or several MOTU Stage B16's, but those seem to be about as rare as hens' teeth, and fetch 4-figure prices "even" on the used market. Then i looked for Presonus gear - also on the pricey end of the scale, but just for kicks, i took a quick peek at Thomann and when i saw this previous-gen 32-input, 18-output gem at 47%(!!!) off, i had to have it. Discounted to a bit under 1000e; ex.VAT came out to a (relatively) measly 730e. I dare you to argue this isn't a steal...

 

 

But let's pop the hood on this one, shall we?

#94 Apogee Symphony Thunderbridge teardown

As mentioned in the previous post, that Symphony I/O came bundled with an Apogee Symphony Thunderbridge PC-32 to Thunderbolt adapter. Just this on its own seems to sell for more than i paid for the entire package... But let's see what makes this bugger tick, shall we?

 

#93 Apogee Symphony I/O (mkI) teardown

Right, so, a few weeks ago (actually, well over a month ago - dang, time flies...), i stumbled upon a German eBay auction for what seemed to be an Apogee Symphony I/O, a Symphony 64 Thunderbridge, and the cable to connect the two, sold as faulty / untested. I turned out to be the only bidder (after there were none, the first time the listing was put up), and especially after seeing some "sold" prices both on eBay and Reverb.com, i decided a bit under 200e was worth taking a chance on. About a week later, i picked up the package from the post and, as it turned out, at least the main box, the Symphony I/O, was actually working perfectly fine!.. 

I had to cobble together a DB25 male to 8x XLR "pigtail" to be able to test the line inputs & outputs, but that was a small price to pay for confirming the functioning of this thing. Well, that, and the OLED display situated between the two knobs on the front seems to be dead (replacement's ~20 bucks) - only discovered that upon seeing a video how to switch the thing to "USB Audio" mode. But let's see what's inside this then, shall we? 

#92 MOTU 828es teardown

Whelp, the little Ultralite AVB didn't last long in my posession - i got greedy, and just "had to" upgrade from that to a "big boy" unit. Kinda had my sights set on something like a 1248, but with asking prices in the 900eu area, those were a bit of a no-go. For the most part, 828es's seemed to be in that same area, until one popped up on auction on eBay, from the Netherlands, for "just" 600eu (plus shipping). Coincidence or not, just as with the MOTU 8M a few years back, i ended up being the only bidder, so here we are...

#91 MOTU AVB switch (1st gen, 5-port + Ethernet) teardown

In all fairness, i doubt i've ever claimed i'm not a MOTU fanboy, but i DO have somewhat of a soft spot for their hardware. That may or may not be visible from the contents of this blog, especially lately. And since i'm planning on an AVB setup here at the home studio, when i saw this thing going for about half the usual used-market price, i couldn't pass up the opportunity.

 

#90 MOTU 896HD teardown

Well-well-well, how's this for a "blast from the past"? I hadn't come into possession of one of these even close to when they were actually relevant (having jumped straight into the 896 mk3 Hybrid), but a few weeks ago i stumbled upon a ridiculous deal for this and an 8pre, for a price i literally could not refuse. So without further ado, let's take a peek in there, shall we?