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  #11  
Old 03-24-1999, 06:16 AM
Ray Fabi Ray Fabi is offline
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Default Re: HUI Electromagnetic Field (Part 2) The sequel

I never thought this would happen. I was really hoping Mackie would be professional enough, and knowledgeable enough to fix this design FLAW on their OWN equipment!
If the HUI does not get fixed, this whole mess will end up costing me $10,000 CDN more to get the only alternative that I know of - the Pro Control.
I'm extremely disappointed that Mackie cannot resolve this!
Too bad, I kinda liked the company...
Ray Fabi


[This message has been edited by Ray Fabi (edited 03-25-99).]
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  #12  
Old 03-24-1999, 10:24 AM
Nick Batzdorf Nick Batzdorf is offline
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Default Re: HUI Electromagnetic Field (Part 2) The sequel

These things are frustrating and I sympathize, but what if the only way to solve the problem would be to have the faders redesigned? That's not practical if they didn't sell very many HUIs.

There is an alternative on the horizon, by the way: CM Automation is coming out with a $1000 motorized control surface, sort of a baby HUI. No touch-sensitive faders, but the important features (i.e. faders) are there. www.cmautomation.com
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  #13  
Old 03-24-1999, 10:44 AM
Disco_Doctor Disco_Doctor is offline
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Default Re: HUI Electromagnetic Field (Part 2) The sequel

It's ALWAYS practical to make a product that works PROPERLY!

I've followed this thread from the beginning. Personally, I'm amazed at how much time Ray and Phil have spent trying to find a solution. I would have bailed a long long time ago. The one question I have is - have you guys had your HUI's swapped out for different ones to see if another HUI would work? Did Mackie refuse to try that?

Good luck...
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  #14  
Old 03-24-1999, 11:53 AM
Ray Fabi Ray Fabi is offline
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Default Re: HUI Electromagnetic Field (Part 2) The sequel

Hey Disco and Nick.
As I'm transferinging my mixes from PT to TC Dat, I'm taking the time to go to this thread once again. I had three (3) HUI's for testing in my studio. They all had the "sticky fader" syndrome. It really is a design flaw! And Mackie sure knows about it NOW!
I will certainly check out the CM automation gizmo you're mentioning Nick... never know, might be a solution.
I agree with Disco, I should have bailed out of the Mackie HUI debugging session many moons ago. But, since the only valid alternative to the HUI (to my knowledge) is the Pro Control, and I cannot really afford it, I'm desperatly trying to make the HUI thing work. Not by choice, trust me, I do not have THAT much time to waste.
Thanx everybody.
Ray Fabi

[This message has been edited by Ray Fabi (edited 03-24-99).]
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  #15  
Old 03-24-1999, 01:52 PM
ppine ppine is offline
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Default Re: HUI Electromagnetic Field (Part 2) The sequel

Well, I installed mine this morning and I guess I got lucky. It initially is working fine. I'm hoping that this will stay this way because I really like this gadget!!!

Ppine
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  #16  
Old 03-24-1999, 03:54 PM
Phil Buckle Phil Buckle is offline
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Default Re: HUI Electromagnetic Field (Part 2) The sequel

Hey I'm glad it's working for you. I liked mine to but it really is unuseable for me. Disco Doctor....yes I also had 3 different HUI's and although I only tried 2.....the first was broken out of the box....they both had the same problem. Also read Mikey's post. His was working until he moved it into the studio and then it showed the same symptoms as ours...and I think Rays works when it is in his kitchen!!! Go figure.
While I understand Mackie's dilemna I do not like the way this whole thing was handled by them. I'm not thankful for getting my money back as I believe that is my right as a customer.
I am however very thankful to my local rep who got to the bottom of this problem.


[This message has been edited by Phil Buckle (edited 03-24-99).]
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  #17  
Old 03-24-1999, 04:42 PM
Disco_Doctor Disco_Doctor is offline
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Default Re: HUI Electromagnetic Field (Part 2) The sequel

What about having a local genius audio equipment technician do a modification to your HUI's to make the suckers work? Why even bother with Mackie? I'm in LA, and I can think of a few guys off the top of my head who could probably dream up something in a matter of minutes...I'm not much of an electrical engineer (although I did completely dissassemble and reassemble a HUI once), but it seems to me that the circuit which "senses" your fingers can't be all that complicated.

Let me know if you'd like a referral for a good tech in the LA area...

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  #18  
Old 03-24-1999, 06:25 PM
Phil Buckle Phil Buckle is offline
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Default Re: HUI Electromagnetic Field (Part 2) The sequel

Well for a start I'm in Australia. That would void the warranty of course. Anyway I have wasted enough time on this issue and I'm trying to finish an album.
And, you know.....I liked my HUI......I didn't LOVE my HUI. Good riddance.
The technology is 2 years old, maybe this was a blessing.
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  #19  
Old 03-24-1999, 06:37 PM
Ray Fabi Ray Fabi is offline
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Default Re: HUI Electromagnetic Field (Part 2) The sequel

Hey TMS, Disco, Phil and PPine. I too believe that Mackie should put an engineer full time on this for about a month to come up with (1) a new design for the faders or (2) a modification of some sort that would solve the problem. I did talk to a tech whiz here in Montreal who said that perhaps it would be possible to modify the pc board to allow the faders to work. A few problems though: it's someone else's design, it's rather small circuitry and we do not knowe how long it would take to figure out the problem. BUT, why should I pay a tech or engineer to come up with the solution? Wouldn't it make more sense for Mackie to handle this on their engineering side? Doesn't Mackie have the resources to handle this? God what small thinking, and poor support...
Disco, at one point (and I hope it does not get to this) I might want a referal to solve this problem.
Thanx all
Ray Fabi
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  #20  
Old 03-24-1999, 06:46 PM
Mikey MTC Mikey MTC is offline
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Default Re: HUI Electromagnetic Field (Part 2) The sequel

My problem with the HUI is not as bad as Phil's. Phil can't move the faders at all. He grabs one and it's totally locked. My problem is a little more subtle. I tried it the other day and it was almost fine. I say almost, because the fader movement wasn't totally smooth (as it is when the unit is off) but it was usable. Other times you can feel the brakes coming on and releasing as you move the fader.

Ironically, mine's actually been in the repair shop all week for an analog problem but seeing Mackie's acceptance to give Phil a full refund, I'm also considering this option. The trouble is, there's no competition for this unit.

You can't call Pro Control competition when here in Australia it's 3 times the price. This new CM box doesn't have a control room section (something I dig on the HUI) and that's really the whole market. I really want to keep the HUI even though I've got a couple of other problems with mine that are supposedly "within spec" so nothing can be done about them.

As a closer - I refuse accept that Mackie are an unprofessional company and I refuse to adopt a knee-jerk hate position, the kind that is so prevalent on the net. Mackie want to succeed and Mackie want happy customers. They don't want bad publicity like this.

I think Phil nailed it when he said that just because we're screaming loudly here, doesn't mean the right people are hearing this. There must be a way to get the message to the RIGHT people at Mackie. I'm talking upper management and not engineering. And not a message that tells them that of the several thousand HUI owners out there, 5 are having a problem. I would bet the farm that the number is MUCH MUCH higher.

MIKEY
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