HUI Electromagnetic Field (Part 2) The sequel

[Ray Fabi]

Due to popular demand, here it is. The long awaited sequel to the Mackie HUI Electromagnetic Field. It's called HUI Electromagnetic field "The sequel" And this sequel hopefully will be even better than the original.
For those of you freshly joining us, you can go back to my original post (Makie HUI Electromagnetic field) to get the whole story.

So Phil, what is Mackie really saying about the problem?

Ray Fabi (editor in chief of the HUI sequel)

[This message has been edited by Ray Fabi (edited 03-16-99).]

[Phil Buckle]

Well the good news is we are going to get a definite answer. It turns out that my local rep...a very helpful guy...is a personal friend of the Mackie guy who handles international enquiries. He is the type of fellow who will find out the TRUTH.
WARNING...THE FOLLOWING IS A GENERALISATION OF AMERICAN TECH HELP...
It was my reps opininon that the technique of many American tech help depts (at least the ones he had dealt with over the years) was to kill the customer with kindness and make like everything was or would be ok. The main aim was to placate the cusomer.
Ring any bells?
It seems that we should be able to cut through this bull**** in the next few days.

The letter I got from Dan today suggests that there is a fix by grounding one of the circuit boards. But his post also suggests that he knew nothing about the amount of people with this problem. Perhaps this was an example of the BS smokescreen. Anyway at least he replied.
I wait with interest but my HUI box and packaging is in the next room ready and also waiting.

[Ray Fabi]

Well at least SOMEONE is getting some answers. Thanx Phil.
Keep us informed.
Ray Fabi

[Ray Fabi]

This came form the origonal Post from MIKEY (Australia)
Hi everyone - here's another twist to the saga. I'm also in Melbourne, Australia and am a friend of Phil's. I've had my HUI for 6 months and fader wise, things have been great. I had heard of these problems but had none of them myself. Then last week I finally moved into my new studio. We're talking about a fairly big-buck affair with wiring properly done. AND NOW MY HUI IS DOING THE STICKY FADERS THING!! It pissed me off because it worked fine in a normal house with no thought of fancy wiring but in a purpose built studio, now the trouble comes. I'm in close contact with the tech down here who does the warranty repairs for Mackie in Australia, He claims to be in close contact with the Australian importers but the good news I got was that they are well aware of the problem. I say this is good because it sounds like they're not pulling the old, "you're the only person in the world with this problem" thing. He's repairing an analog problem on my HUI next week so I'll keep the grilling going then and report my findings here.
MIKEY

[Ray Fabi]

Mikey, I had not really taken concern about the fact that you mentioned that your HUI worked fine in a non-studio environment, and when installed in a real studio, it did not work properly. Well, mine does exactly the same thing! If I remove it from my studio, and bring it in the kitchen, bingo! it works. I've actually thought of turning it into a microwave oven. With all the electromagnetic field issues, that thing probably would be more efficient generating waves to cook food.
Ray Fabi

[godzilla]

Hi Guys, happened to read all this and had a stupid thought - have you tried changing the lighting in your control rooms? (my studio is basically dark whereas my kitchen is all fluorescent). Sorry to waste your time if this was ridiculous - just a shot in the dark ;-)

[Phil Buckle]

Hey Ray it's time for some more patience.
The international tech guy has now taken a copy of all these posts and is presenting them at an engineering meeting. This is where the real "tech heads" get together and things happen.
Now my local guy told me this......there are over 600 people working at Mackie and just because the Tech dept knows of a problem it does not mean that the engineers do. Communication can be a problem. He claims the only way we will get any action is if we actually get our problem vented in an Engineering meeting. This will happen in the next few days. Can you believe that they did not even know of the existance of this list and were suprised at the amount of posts? Once again, just because you complained to some people it does not mean that the organisation as a whole knows anything about this problem. Evidently no one wants to be the bearer of bad news so some people say nothing.
Be patient, we should know something soon. My rep tells me that usually when a problem goes to engineering that it is soon fixed. Let's hope.

[Ray Fabi]

Good news! Gee, it's about time. Thanx for the info Phil. Let's hope Mackie finally gets to the bottom of this ...
Godzilla, thank you for your suggestion, but my entire studio is lit with halogens with special expensive dimmers. Ideally it is "my belief" that fluorescent lighting should be kept away from a studio environment, all this because of noise induction and all the other problems inherent to fluorescent lighting. And, why should we have to change our lighting in the studio? It was worth trying. Actually, i remember (as a test for the faders) trying to generate a bit of interference with a small portable fluorescent light in the studio, and it did not do anything good.
Thanx guys!
Ray

[ppine]

Ok guys, tomorrow I am installing my new HUI at my studio. I brought it home tonight to get familiar with it, where it works as advertised. So I'm bracing myself for it to not work at it's intended location...Film at 11pm......

[Phil Buckle]

Well we finally have a solution. There is no solution. I have nothing but bad news I'm afraid.
The engineering meeting I talked about was held at Mackie. They agree that there is a problem with a small handfull of users but will not redirect any efforts from current projects to fix it. In my scenario they are happy to refund my money and I will take this course.
I can't believe it, I really wanted to keep this desk. I'm upset and I feel for all the other users who are having problems. I believe, after Mackies admition, that they have every right to demand their money back. The product is faulty. Sorry Ray.