#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?

#89 MOTU Ultralite AVB teardown

Slight side-note to begin with - just a couple days before this write-up, this blog has reached no less than 500.000 views. That's half a million(!!!), quite mindblowing for this niche of a collection of topics, and the frequency (or lack thereof, rather) of postings. I'd though just like to take this chance to thank all of you who stumbled upon this little corner of the Internet, and i hope you found useful information, if not even learned a thing or two. Onwards and upwards!..

#87 Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 gen2 teardown

It's only been a bit over a year since the last post, but on the other hand, this one's been on the back burner for... oh, "just" around-about 4 years or so. Back in autumn 2021, i happened to catch a good local deal on this 18i20 gen2, promptly sold the gen1 i had to a bandmate at the time, and made this my "daily driver", before getting the chance to pop the hood or doing anything to it. Indeed - shock, horror, an interface that i used, without any mods! I know, i know, we all make mistakes...

 

#86 Condenser Cavalcade - AKG Perception 150 / P170 / P17, Behringer BA-19A

You know me, i can't pass up a silly-good deal when i see one. That's how i ended up grabbing the other week, two AKG small-diaphragm condensers (the black P170 and P17) and a Behringer BA19A boundary-microphone. Yeah, i know, i know, but an equivalent total retail cost of ~250eu got quickly whittled down to 120eu (shipped!). 

The Perception 150 i've had for a good few years now, and i figured i'd include it here, to see if and how the insides of AKG's lower end of SDC's have evolved over the years.

#85 Harley Benton HB-80R teardown & modding

Right, so i had been on the hunt for the cheapest way i could get a 1x12" or 2x12" guitar cab for a while now - mainly because i landed a toasted Celestion Greenback for free some months ago, and a recone kit is arguably affordable. Budget being a prime concern, i was compelled to look locally, and a couple weeks ago finally pulled the trigger on this thing.

#82 RME ADI-8 DS teardown and repair

 A seller on eBay had had a couple of these units listed as faulty for a few weeks, and once i had a bit of spare cash, i decided to take the dive and snap these up. The impetus was two-fold - on one hand, as it turns out, there seems to be a bit of a "disease" going around with power supplies in RME rack units; and on the other hand not long ago, i had noticed an ad from a person in this area actually looking to buy exactly one of these units.

Some extra motivation was prompted by looking up some prices for this thing. Borderline-eyewatering, i'd say. It seems to have retailed somewhere in the 1500e area at launch (1280GBP in 2003), and still selling for anything between 500-800e used (on Reverb.com or Milk Audio Store). Gulp.....

The shipping time was spent more or less being anxious whether i had bought a couple of lemons (for all i knew, the power supplies were missing altogether), or whether i would manage to catch a break and manage to fix these up easily and make some extra cash for the holidays.

#81 MOTU Traveler teardown & upgrade

As a follow-up to the recently posted MOTU Ultralite teardown, i had to grab this as soon as it popped up in my search results, because it had a price i couldn't ignore or refuse, and it had the ideal feature set for recording my band's jams and rehearsals. While the former had most of the features i needed in the 828mk2 i had been using, but in a smaller form factor, this Traveler packs more of the features i need (two extra mic preamps, while retaining the -10dBV/+4dBu line inputs with optional 6dB boost), in an intermediate form factor, as well as having a full 53dB of gain available on the mic preamps, but without weirdo custom potentiometers to wear out. Just about best of all worlds, really, especially for the paltry 85e this cost me. And as the cherry on top, it even has a separate battery input - hello, fully mobile recording sessions...

 

 

#80 MOTU Ultralite teardown

In an interesting turn of events, i actually did NOT get this one as faulty. It was more to relieve one of my 828mk2's from rehearsal-place-recording duty, and on the other hand, i managed to get it for quite cheap. In the context of, faulty ones had similar asking prices, so there's that.

#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.

#74 Focusrite Saffire 6 USB 2.0 modding (for stand-alone operation)

First of all, the main issue with using this stand-alone (without a computer) is that the Xmos controller only enables the analog power supplies (the two MIC2505's and the LM3488) once it's done whatever handshaking it needs to, with the computer. But since i'd only need / want it to act as a rudimentary preamp / mixer / headphone amplifier, i kinda-sorta need the analog supplies working.

#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?

#68 Alesis M1 Active Mk2 rehabilitation, part one

Over on the Badcaps.net forums, a thread was started all the way back in 2010, about power supply issues in these arguably "classic" low-cost active studio monitors. It even ended up being stickied just this winter, so it's been quite active and useful. It served as motivation for myself, to take up hunting for faulty ones - not sure if i had gone through three pairs, but at least two pairs i revived and sold off to a couple friends, some 7-8 years ago, and to this day i've yet to hear back about any further issues, so i take that as a good sign. In the mean time, i still contributed with thoughts and advice there, which helped lead to several successes.

Recently, a fellow forum member there got fed up with his failed attempts to revive his pair of monitors, and got himself a pair of new ones. In that context, we struck a deal for the Alesis'es, and a few weeks later, here they are.