CTRL 24 Mac OS X Monitor Issue
 

I recently moved my PT HD setup (Mac OS X w/ Control 24) into some console furniture and ever since I've been having some strange issues with the monitors. I have a D-SUB to TRS cable going from the CONTROL ROOM MONITOR output with 1&2 going into the monitors. This was working perfectly before, but now I'm hearing a very faint signal out of one speaker when on PT SOURCE 1&2. When I tried toggling sources I got a clear signal out of (LsRs) 5&6 but again only from one speaker. I did some playing around with the I/O setups and for some reason swapping outputs A 5-6 and A 1-2 with the monitors in MULTI mode and PT SOURCES 1&2 + 3&4 is giving me a stereo spread between both speakers, but it is not consistent from session to session. Plus when I go to play something through iTunes it reverts back to playing through one speaker only when on PT SOURCE 5&6.

I've done a lot of trouble shooting with different cables, connections, refreshing the ethernet, even just the headphone mix straight from the board is only producing a mono signal from one ear. I oversaw the whole move of the system and everything was very gently handled, so I dont think anything was damaged but it does seem to be an internal issue with the Control 24.

Any ideas? I'm pretty lost here.
Thanks,
Mikey

Re: CTRL 24 Mac OS X Monitor Issue
 

Is this an old-style Control24 (i.e. not the C/24)?

Just a thought, but I used to periodically have this kind of problem with a Control 24. The monitor section (and in fact the entire beast) is connected to the front and rear panels and the other boards in the unit with IDC connectors that are hot-glued to keep them from falling out. If one of the connectors to the monitor section becomes partially unseated it's possible that you'll get this kind of symptom with low or no level on some or all outputs, plus weird grounding, noise, etc... The symptoms also fit in your case since it's after a move (though I suppose it could also be a broken Dsub in your cabling).

If you don't know what you're doing electronically, I wouldn't recommend trying to fix this yourself, but if you're feeling brave you can dig into the unit - *lots* of bottom panel screws to pull off in order to get into the thing, but my recollection is that once the bottom's off you should be able to see the monitor boards and the IDC connectors - you can just manually make sure that they're all completely seated. Assuming that's the problem and you've fixed it, you might want to add a little hot-glue on top of the offending connector to make sure it doesn't happen again.

best,
rich

Re: CTRL 24 Mac OS X Monitor Issue
 

Thanks Rich,
Yes it is an old style Control 24. I'm really hoping its not a soldering or gluing problem because I am definitely not qualified to self repair those kind of issues. I tried a few other things that produced strange results: sending the Aux output to the monitors only gave me sound through one speaker and hitting the mono button gave me sound through both speakers (though obviously both were the mono channel). It seems like the board is confused about where its main mix is being sent, its definitely not through A 1-2 as neither the headphones or the aux out are getting stereo mixes but just mono in one ear or speaker.

I've also had strange issues with this board in past with the inputs; somehow 9-16 got reversed on the analogue end so if I went in channel 9 I would have to use A 16 on the cpu to get a signal. I made sure the I/O setup was configured properly and everything...maybe this board is in need of a serious look over by a specialist.

If there are any other possibilities please let me know...
Thanks again,
Mikey

Re: CTRL 24 Mac OS X Monitor Issue
 

I think the most likely culprit is a connector seating problem - that would actually be good news, because it's a simple problem - a qualified tech should be able to straighten it out in an hour or two, with most of the time being spent removing/replacing screws!

best,
rich