Main Out XLR L fizzled out last night

[derker]

I was just hanging out, playing direct (Main Out L -> Mixer via XLR-1/4") when all of a sudden my signal literally fizzled out and stopped working. Switched to Main Out R and I could hear my signal again...back to Main Out L and nothing. Tried plugging, unplugging, reseating, different cables, etc...

My Main Out L just doesn't work anymore. Has this happened to anyone else?

Unfortunately, I bought used so I'm not under warranty. Couldn't transfer ownership so I'm not registered. How SOL am I?

[TieDyedDevil]

Sounds like you've ruled out everything that you can. Probable hardware failure.

Worth a call to Avid to see whether they offer some kind of flat-rate repair.

If you have an excellent tech locally (someone who's comfortable working on modern digital audio gear; not an amp tech...) you might come out ahead asking him to take a look at it first. OTOH, your tech might run into a problem with a proprietary part (although I strongly doubt that in this case) and you'll end up going to Avid anyhow.

One other possibility, since this is almost certainly a failure in the analog signal path: Find that company that does upgrades to the analog chips in the 11R and ask whether they also handle repairs.

If you're willing to live with a bit of a kludge, check that the amp1 and amp2 outputs both work and run those to your mixer through a DI box.

Just out of curiosity: Was the mixer's phantom power turned on at the time of failure?

[derker]

Hey TDD. Thanks for responding....I'm freaking out quite a bit

I've been making sure to connect my 11r in a scheme that completely avoids phantom power... Main Out XLR L --> Line in 1/4" on the mixer via Mogami XLR -> 1/4" cable. My channel on the mixer doesn't even have phantom power, only the first few channels do.

When I first started jamming using 11r, I was using the Output To Amp but switched to the XLR->1/4" to avoid the impedance mismatch. Sounded much better that way too.

I'm pretty sure theres an authorized Avid repair center 15-20 minutes away from here (went there once for a 002 wiring harness), but money's scarce and they'll probably ask for at least $50 just to look at it. I was hoping someone else on here had a similar experience so I could try and piggy-back off their diagnosis, even though it might be irrelevant.

[Hotcrazyfruit]

Originally Posted by TieDyedDevil

One other possibility, since this is almost certainly a failure in the analog signal path: Find that company that does upgrades to the analog chips in the 11R and ask whether they also handle repairs.

This is the first thing I thought. Fizzled out usually means a physical piece of analog equipment malfunctioned, something blew and then finally completely gave out. If you opened er' up (get it? er? Eleven Rack? ) you'll probably see the damage. Im sure if you followed the signal path back to an analog component you will see its blackened and smells burnt. (I actually fixed an old vintage pioneer amplifier this way).

Originally Posted by TieDyedDevil

Just out of curiosity: Was the mixer's phantom power turned on at the time of failure?

This was my next thought, it could have been on only for the left and not the right by mistake

Does hitting the ground lift cause any pop/click/anything at all to happen?

Nick

[derker]

Originally Posted by Hotcrazyfruit

This is the first thing I thought. Fizzled out usually means a physical piece of equipment malfunctioned, was working (improperly, which is what the fizzle was) and then finally completely gave out. If you opened er up (get it? er? eleven rack? ) you'll probably see the damage. Im sure if you followed the signal path back to an analog component you will see its blackened and smells like burnt.

This was my next thought, it could have been on only for the left and not the right by mistake

Does hitting the ground lift cause any pop/click/anything at all to happen?

Thanks for the reply, HCF.

I did open'er up, and I didn't see anything that looks too crazy. The larger caps all look pretty legit, nothing black or burnt that I can see, no funny smells. I'll take another look again today with fresh (albeit nearsighted at -8.50) eyes. Maybe snap a few pics.

[derker]

Just opened it back up and took another cursory look. Nothing out of the ordinary to my untrained eye...no black, no smells. Tried to trace the connection to figure out which components are in the signal path for the Main Outs, but the board on which they're mounted has a ribbon cable going to the main board, and from there, who knows.

I guess-timated that (with the control panel facing forward) that the left side of the main board is mostly for the DSP and computing, the middle is probably A/D/D/A conversion (cirrus logic chips?) and the right side probably mostly the analog components. However, its tough to tell which components (and sections of components) are dedicated to which connections, and theres virtually no literature anywhere to point me in one direction or another.

Pretty big bummer. Anyone have any ideas?

[TieDyedDevil]

Short of a power supply failure, it's rare to see damaged components as an indicator. More often than not the problem is caused by a manufacturing defect in a component (which usually has no visible indication) or by a stress fracture in one of the solder joints (which someone with a good eye and proper tools might be able to find and repair).

I don't think you said: have you tried a different channel on your mixer?

[derker]

Thanks again for replying, TDD. The channel on the mixer is fine, as soon as I plug the cable into Main out R the sound comes out. I just usually use Main out L as it's usually designated mono.

[derker]

Still looking grim over here.

Anyone technically proficient have any ideas?

[lspaulsp]

You can poke around in there with a plastic chopstick. Worked on my T-2. Don't know what I fixed but it's worked ever since. I just gently pushed on all the connections and checked solder joints.

The chopstick was Gerald Weber's idea not mine. But it worked.