Hello, first of all, this is NOT about trying to bash AVID customer support in ANY way. What this is about is trying to get symptoms and causes and a possible solution to this, what seems like, a common problem with these units. I recently had my second failure of this type in 3 months and have just recently received my unit back. I will begin by saying that AVID has been great in getting the problem fixed, the second time they even let me ship the unit back using thier account. I used to be a field service engineer for Neve in NYC and have extensive user-side experience in console far more complicated than an Artist Mix, however that doesn't mean I'm an expert, and the saying goes, a little knowledge can be dangerous. This is about trying to understand the problem from the users perspective, shed some light on it's cause via usage and/or installation, and to possibly give AVID a broader 'heads up' to the problem, even though I'm sure they are 'painfully' aware of it.
ref. example thread:
Artist Mix won't power up.
It seems the cause of the problem in my case is a ferrite on the PCB right where the power enters the board. The first time it went, a piece cracked off it's entire length and there may have been some fracture somewhere I couldn't see. The second time it was split down the middle. On both occasions it appears this was the only component replaced. These are catastrophic failures most likely caused by a large current, or spike...whether it emanates from the PSU, or comes in on the ground could be the answer. I don't have schematics, so understanding the problem systemically is moot.
Here is a description of my usage, symptoms experienced, and attempts at a solution.
When I first installed my Artist Mix, I have it coupled to an Artist transport. I am using it with a Mac Pro 4.1 in an HD3 system. I also have the MP hooked to a small network on Ethernet port 1. I have a small router connected to Ethernet port 2 and I run it on it's own subnet, which is differnt from my other network. I'm using static addressing for the 2 units and the MAC. I found they have little to no issues communicating this way. I suppose the unique subnet is 'quieter' than the general network... I have a large UPS with line filtering powering the Mac, the small router connected to Ethernet port 2, the 2 Atrist boxes (Mix and Transport), and my 2 SyncMaster monitors. It's BIG ups 2400 watts and is WELL within it's operating parameters. I thought this was sufficient as far as 'protection', but 3 months into using the Mix, while between playbacks I heard a 'crack' from the unit, it went dark and wouldn't repower. Basically the same symptoms all seem to experieince with this failure. Sent it out for repair, but opened it before I did so, out of curiosity and found the damaged component. When I received it back I opened it and observed that it was the only component replaced, that I could see. Plugged it in and all went well until about 3 weeks ago. The same thing happened and I opened it to find the same issue. Buttoned it back up and called AVID and they were VERY cool about it and handled it in the way described above. When I got it back a few days ago, I looked at the inards and found the same component had indeed been replaced again. I'm not sure how many more times it will be able to be replaced...the solder balls and PCB burns are growing...
I decided to try and look into my installation as a possible cause of the issue, and noted one thing that was, I thought at the time it occurred (right before the second failure) peculiar. Both the Mix AND the Artist wouldn't power down with the power switches! This was AFTER I turned off my 192 I/O and the MAC. They would only power off if I removed the Ethernet cables from the Mix and Xport. The Mix came up the next day and wouldn't power down again that night. However, the next morning it wouldn't power on and the issue of the cracked ferrite was there. This means there is some residual current flow happening from somewhere. More on this later...
When I received the Mix back I decided to look at my hookup and try to visualize any problems. There are 2 things I noticed that might be a problem, both of the having to do with ground. The cables I'm using between the Mac to the router, and from the router to the Mix and xport have shielded connectors, however there is no connection through the cable, so a ground loop between the MAC-router-Mix isn't a problem. The Mix uses an external supply with a standard IEC AC plug with ground pin. The Transport and the router use wall warts with only 2 connections, power and neutral. The router has a shield tab on the back as does the UPS, so I connected a piece of 18 gauge wire at those points. One other thing...I use a footswitch to sometimes punch in and out. It is a standard momentary closure normally open footswitch.
It's too early to tell if adding the ground wire did anything. I'm wondering if those that have experienced this failure have observed anything as I did and if you are using and installing your stuff the same way. One thing to note, would be the type of Cat cables AVID would recommend. I believe mine are Cat5e, but should I be using straight Cat 5?
(the more on this later point) One thing that is different between the Mix and the transport, other than the IEC powered vs the wall wart supplies is that the Mix uses and internal relay to connect power. I'm wondering if there is some condition that causes the relay to not switch when power is removed and therefore cause some unexplained current to flow that kills the ferrite?
If we could compile a list of observed failures and perceived symptoms, some commonality may be established and help give AVID some insight. I know I don't want to keep going through this and the Mix is a great tool.