#83 Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 gen2 teardown & repair

I know it's been quite a while, but i haven't given this up! Life just gets in the way, i'm sure you know how it is... Regardless, this time we'll be taking a dive into yet another "as faulty" acquisition - an utterly pristine-looking Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 gen2.

#77 MOTU Ultralite mk3 Hybrid part one: teardown

Yet another score from the "morgue" - this time around, a feature-packed little bundle of audio joy, namely a MOTU Ultralite mk3 Hybrid. This was up for sale as "no longer powering up", and for a two-figure price, i couldn't pass it up.

#76 Fractal Audio Axe-FX II teardown and repair

A couple weeks back, an acquaintance contacted me about his Axe-FX II suddenly not powering up anymore. I saw this as an opportunity to at the very least take a peek under the hood of one of these things (still selling for four-figure amounts), so why not?

I had neglected to snap photos of the outside of the thing (because other priorities), so you'll have to settle for some "stock" shots. Not that there's anything overly interesting to see anyway.

#75 Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 (1st gen) teardown & repair

Perhaps a bit anachronistically, only *after* getting my hands on the previously-torn-down 2i4 gen2, i also came into the possession of a 2i4 gen1, that was no longer being detected completely / correctly by the computer. But hey, better late than never, right? I also grabbed a working one (because the price was near-irresistible), to have a known-good source for the firmware, in case that was the issue.

#73 Focusrite Saffire 6 USB 2.0 teardown

Initially, i was thinking of getting and modding a Scarlett 2i4 to use as an updated and more flexible in-ear headphone amp, to replace my aging modded M-Audio Fast Track (incidentally, the subject of the very first article on this blog). I even ended up with two 1st gen ones as well as two 2nd gen ones. But recently, i came across yet another deal i couldn't pass up - a Saffire 6 USB for a nearly ridiculous 36e, shipped(!). Virtually the same structure as the 2i4's, but i can definitely get more money (back) from reselling those, and keeping the Saffire. That, and i had come across instructions for a mod to the Saffire 6, to enable stand-alone operation.

#72 MOTU 828 mk3 teardown

Yet another eBay score - caught this one with a blown power supply. Blown, as in, skidmark inside the casing, circuit board scorched, tracks vaporized. But maybe i'll make that into another article on its own, someday. In the mean time, let's take a peek under the hood of one of these arguable "classics".

#70 MOTU Audio Express teardown

This summer's "already" been quite fruitful, gear-scoring-wise anyway. This find cost me a colossal 86eu, with allegedly none of the outputs working. This, in the context of it retailing for a somewhat eye-watering 500eu(!!!) or thereabouts, brand new. On the bright(?) side, it came with the original packaging, manuals still in their plastic bags, as well as a USB and a Firewire cable to boot, both also still factory-packed. So why not?

#69 Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 (2nd gen) teardown & repair

For a little while now, i've been thinking of "upgrading" from my old-but-modded M-Audio Fast Track to use as an in-ear monitor amplifier, and the Scarlett 2i4 caught my eye. The mono/stereo direct-monitor selection, as well as the hardware-switchable pads on the inputs made up just the right feature set, in addition to it being usable as a mobile recording interface. As it happens, just the other week, mere days after having saved an eBay search for 2i4's, an email notification revealed a 2nd gen allegedly-faulty unit being up for sale from Italy. I quickly asked the seller about shipping costs, and ended up sealing the deal for an even 50e. 

#66 Audient iD22 teardown

Despite having hoped to nab an Audient interface for some time now, only quite recently did i manage to get my hands on one. Since i'm a cynical... [ahem] person, after having heard several notable(?) audio engineering channels over on Youtube ranting and raving about these, and the "Audient console preamps", and the "discrete JFET DI" and whatnot, my curiosity was indeed itching to see if and how the reality lives up to all the hype and marketing. 

#63 M-Audio M-Track 2x2M C-series teardown & repair

Boy, that's a lot of M's up there... But yeah, here's another eBay score, bought as faulty. Basically, because it was too cheap to pass up, even if it's unrepairable - a paltry 30eu. The ad said it will no longer power up, save for the phantom-power indicator LED, and won't be detected by a computer. But before troubleshooting, it warrants a thorough inspection, inside and out, wouldn't you say?

#61 MOTU 896 mk3 Hybrid teardown (post-recap)

Since relatively recently acquiring the MOTU 8M, once i got around to swapping it out for the 896 mk3 in my recording rack, i figured it might be worth doing a quick teardown of the latter, before i sell it off. I've done a really brief one over on the BadCaps.net forums when i first bought it, but it deserves some higher-res photos and a more detailed documentation of its guts. Do keep in mind that it got re-capped as soon as i got my hands on (or into?) it, so the electrolytics are not stock. But
without further ado...

#60 MOTU 8M teardown

Well, this one's a "biggie" - i had been lusting after one of these for a few years now, but the price was (and technically still is) on the prohibitive side, retailing at ~$1300-1500, depending where you look. Fortunately though, i've been stalking eBay off and on for one of these, and a used one happened to pop up just the other week, on auction. To my amazement and delight, despite there being at least 6 other "watchers", i was fortunate enough to win it for the opening bid, ie. about half the price of a new one.

#58 Behringer FirePower FCA1616 teardown

Long time no see, eh? Well, what can you do when the new job's kicking you in the rear end? Regardless, new patient on the table this time around - A not-that-often-encountered Behringer audio interface (now discontinued, "obviously"). I took the gamble on it primarily because it was cheap, secondly because i wanted to take a peek under the hood, and somewhat connected to that, curious about if and what "magic mojo" might the touted Midas preamps contain.

#55 Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (1st gen) teardown & modding

I had fiddled with one of these a couple years back, but here's another chance to take a look inside a (1st gen) Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, their second-smallest USB audio interface of the range.

#50 Philips HTS7201 Soundhub Home Theater (2.1) teardown & repair

This just came in, with the symptom description of "will no longer turn on". Fair enough, sounds like a power supply issue then. Apparently this retailed around $400-ish when new (according to a 2012 review i found online) - not exactly bottom-of-the-barrel, but it's still very much in the mainstream/consumer range, so i'm expecting crap caps to be the root cause. But time will tell.

#43 Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 teardown

As it turns out, i hadn't done (or at least documented) a teardown of this little guy, even though i've been using it for the last two years or so. Even though, as it turns out, i bought this a few months after starting this blog. Either way, i just put it up for sale (due to upgrading to the Scarlett 18i20 i inspected the other week). So i figured i might as well snap a few photos before it goes to its next owner (whomever that may be).

#41 Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 (1st gen) teardown & repair(?)

A local friend bought this slightly battle-scarred Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 off a buddy of his. The reported issue was some random / intermittent noise affecting only the inputs. Time will tell if that was conveyed to me accurately, or if it's a more global issue. First thing's first though - having a wee little look-see on the inside.

#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".

#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...

#34 MOTU Traveler mk3 teardown and repair

Hunting for faulty stuff on eBay has been fruitful yet again: this time, a MOTU Traveler mk3 Firewire audio interface. The reported issue was by now, the "classic", dead Firewire.

A pretty comprehensive little package, with loads of features shoehorned into quite a compact package - 1RU thickness / height, but only about 80% of the width.