#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.

#84 Cymatic LP-16 teardown & repair

So this Cymatic LP-16 16-channel backing track player came in the other week, from a loyal and "repeat" customer, with the description of "turns on but doesn't output any audio". Additionally, it had possibly been tested also with an AC(!!!) plug-pack. Either way, by the time it got into my hands, it was completely dead. 

#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.

#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.

#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.

#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".

#71 Shure 55SH Series II "Elvis mic" teardown & repair

The practical side of this one was performed and documented a couple months back, but since i've had this back-log to work through, the text is only getting written now. But good things come to those who wait, right? Or so i've heard...

Regardless, i couldn't not grab this deal when i saw it. A shure 55SH "Elvis mic", with allegedly low(ered) output, for 75eu shipped (considering it retails around 160-ish). Now, granted, i HAD peeked around the interwebs beforehand, and it seemed that, at least in some cases, the on/off switch could be a suspect. But on the other hand, even IF the capsule itself turned out to be a dud, i could still MacGyver another capsule in there, one way or another (possibly from a Grundig GDSM-202, but shhhhh!...). Aesthetically it was in good shape, so why not?

#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. 

#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.

#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.

#59 MOTU 828 mk2 teardown

Even though this is the 4th or 5th of these units that has gone through my hands, looks like i never documented a teardown of one - shame on me! Time to rectify that issue then, wouldn't you say? I grabbed this one off eBay for about 60 bucks or so, delivered. On one hand, because it was pretty dirt cheap at this money, and on the other hand, because it will be involved in a project idea i had a good few years ago. And yes, "as usual" (by now), this one had a busted Firewire connection, but for my own (nefarious?) purposes, i don't need that anyway.

#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.