If the 002 rack dies out of warranty...

[max cooper]

This question has been in the back of my mind since I got my 002 rack (just a few months to go...still in warranty for a while).

My rack unit makes an electrical burning smell whenever it's on. Always has. Digi support says it's way out of range of the power harness problems. I can also see the build quality isn't the same as my API rack stuff or my Distressors or...you get the idea. This is to be expected; look at what it does. To get the relative (for the time) ballpark performance in 1992 I had to spend a lot more than a little over a grand (adjusted for inflation, it would be an even bigger diff.) In fact, in '92 I had eight tracks of Otari. It wasn't until ADAT that I had more than eight tracks at home ("eight tracks? oh boo hoo" say the Beatles)

If the rack burns itself up out of warranty, am I gonna have to get another Digi rig in order to run the software that my sessions will all be on? Will I get any allowance for the rack, considering it smelled like it was burning since it was new?

If it were a Logic/MOTU rig, I could just replace the dead i/o. Anyone have a clue about this? Any way I can document the fact that I complained about the burning smell from day one?

Thanks in advance if anyone has any knowledge in this area.

max

[albee1952]

If you can do without it for several days, I'd say send it in while its still under warrantee just to be sure. And maybe purchase a new harness now so you'll have it when/if the need arrises.

[Infa]

I heard the 002's having a burning electrical smell (at least some of them anyway) - was completely NORMAL, and NOT ever going to cause you problems...

Now if the power harness does end up going out ever,, don't worry, Digi has been pretty cool about fixing the power harness problem even for units out of warrantee.. Basically because they know they did some stupid corporate sh%t there, and released it to early in the should be still testing stage... Probably just to make a couple CEO's pay checks a little higher than they already are. Sadly enough, the greed never allows the pay checks of the lower important people in the same companies to go any higher. Like for instance the Digi Administrators that post replys on this forum, they don't get any higher of a pay check (like they should) when Digi pulls the next stunt to make a few more instant million....

Anyway,, bottom line is don't worry. The burning smell you are experiencing has been reported by a few others and all say their units are working fine, and it is NOT related to the Power Harness...

[max cooper]

Hey Infa, have ya seen the new GAWRSH (Goofy's Audio Workstation with Sampling+Recording Hardware) at the Disney Store? It's $129 and runs circles around TDM systems.

It's good to know that other's are smelling the rack! Although it worries me, I still say (to Digi's credit) that the 002 rack is pretty amazing for what it does and how much it costs. Look how the DV tookit has allowed people with a big system to have an M-Box/Laptop for editing on the go. I know there's always a quality control threshold for every product, for example; suppose a certain product has a defect rate of 2%, which means 98% are fine. In many cases, it might make the unit cost twice as much or more to get the defect rate down to 0.5% and that cost increase will, of course, be paid by the consumer. So I don't mind if a few units have to fail to keep the price down. I just don't want to be stuck with a dead rig (although I suppose it would be an excuse to buy an HD rig(!!!). As much as I liked working in analog, I've created a lot more finished work with my 002 rack than I ever did with my Otari. And in the end, isn't that really what this is all about?

What's better, The Beatles recorded on a busted four track Vesta-Fire cassette or that Holiday Inn band you suffered through on your last vacation with their 48 track/$10,000 demo of BoyzIIMen medleys?

[stackatrack]

Whew...
The rhetoric is great !
That smell you're talking about is most likely coming from the power transformer.
This stuff is built in China and although the 002s are a fun piece of gear, the components
are not constructed of the best materials nor do they possess the tolerances of parts built over here in the US. Most of our manufacturers over the years have been involved in some way in the chain of supplying military grade parts, so the basic level of quality is much better... but it is also more costly....We did put astronauts on the moon in 1969,right ? Do you think China could do that today successfully ? So when avant designers like Uli Behringer started building his "esteemed" products in China in and around 1989, American companies like Apple and Digidesign started looking at just how much more money they could make by building off shore.The quality isn't so bad for the end user...It's cheaper for sure....but the problems are annoying. Until an American company goes back to building in the US, this is what we as consumers can expect to see as the model for the future in electronics manufacturing.So what's a little shellac burning in and around the coil windings ?...%hit happens.
IF you see smoke..., pull the plug asap

[max cooper]

Stackatrack; I couldn't agree more. There's a funny thing I noticed, though. My G5 was made in China, and it's pretty darn well made, considering. When I took it apart to put RAM in, I was very surprised at the finish quality (not that Apple made something nice, but that something from China impressed me that much.) When I was a kid (early '70's) "Made in Japan" was not a very good recommendation for something. You wanted made in USA. Cars, bicycles, electronics...now it's reversed. Shouldn't be too long before China sends their "Lexus". I certainly wouldn't doubt their ability.

I sometimes use an external D/A A/D with the rack plus my mic pre's, so in that case it's not much more than an iLok, right?

OTOH, some of the stuff in my rack is EXTREMELY well built (military grade?). Especially the Manley tube DI and the API stuff. I think all the REALLY good stuff will continue to come from companies like them, GML, Great River, Chandler, etc...

Behringer...well...



uh...

[mgoorevich]

I am agree that China is just about short step away to become a second Japan. But the thing is that it will go much further and with much more capital involved then Japan. At the time Japan was looking at US and was trying simulate something which would be like american but cary "Made in Japan" lable. But now we know that american means not the best anymore (no politics -just Rock-n-Roll). It was a mistake. But now China gets it right. So there are two factors which will help to grow China up much more than Japan. First - geographics and population. Second european orientation. Well it's basically "the best product" orientation. We know most products are better and advanced in Europe of course. Although China keeps all american industry in its hands.
So I would treat China really seriously in this sense, much more than Japan.

[max cooper]

I'd say that Hang On The Box notwithstanding, China may have better Rock and Roll bands than the US, we just might not have heard them.

Also, believe me, I'd never underestimate the exporting power of China. I understand, however, that economists are divided on how the future will be played out, many believing that soon China will move basic manufacturing jobs to nations with less expensive labor costs than it's own.

[bigears]

well my 002 has just started switching samples rates like its possessed and protools is loosing it

apparently its a rusty power connector which is just pathetic.

I have started a help line here
http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat.p...fpart=1#786117

Thankfully it doesnt smell of burning but there is a hum off it which I think is terrible for an audio box

Also I noticed with another recent purchase that the power supply for my Fostex FR2 recorder makes a high pitched whistle sound

not impressed with that either

I think anyone who is making audio gear could assume that it might end up in the recording space and that it should therefore be silent and not put on the market until it is silent!!!

(You could be running your own recording session and have a machine room containing drives and computers with cables for the 002 and screen and keyboard coming out to you in your recording space)

[funkyghoul]

I think...If the 002 dies out of warranty (which it is now) I'll just call the people who fixed it last time. I will describe the fault, they'll tell me if it can be fixed and how much it will cost and then I'll make a decision whether or no to fix it.

All that being said...after my initial harness failure 6 months in, the guys who fixed it under warranty in Aus did a good job and did a full inspection of the whole unit and sent it back to me with a little sticker on it. I haven't had any problems with it since, over 8 months now.

They did a really good job. I think the DIGI hardware quality overall is quite good.