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Post by wiz on Nov 12, 2020 18:42:13 GMT -6
My Apollo x8 which I purchased in Feb, is off for repair. It would develop a noise on a line input ,that sounds an awful lot like a condenser microphone that has moisture on the capsule. It was intermittent. In the end after much going round and round with UA support, which is kinda frustrating due to the delay between getting asked a question, answering it, then waiting for a response, all via email.. it took a couple of weeks to get to the point where they told me I have to send it back to the store I got it from. Now it has to go to the store, they want to check it,then to the distributor for repair......why don't they give you all the trouble shooting stuff in one bloody go, you do it, they decide, why does it have to go round and round and round. I asked for a replacement off the bat, and can't get one. I hate that. I should be able to get a loan unit. In fact under Australian law, you are entitled to a replacement if the unit doesn't perform as intended..which is clearly the case. Now I am dead in the water , and I bet London to a brick, it comes back with the same intermittent issue. I have provided extremely detailed information about the fault, including a video of the issue, I still reckon I will get the same faulty unit back.. lets see. The issue, is always on a line input.. .and can be cleared, by a number of means. Selecting MIC/Line in the Console app, and going back again to LINE. Unpluggin any physical Line input or output and replugging it in, including the headphone outs. It never happens on a MIC input. Whilst the noise was happening, I disconnected the x8 from the iMac, and the satellite, and the noise persisted. To me, it was an obvious hardware issue from the start, but you have to go through 2 weeks of run around... its extremely frustrating. So lets see what happens. Not real happy at the moment, this is the first audio interface I have had, and I have had many that has had a fault, and its only 10 months old. It is by far the most expensive interface I have purchase, and I expected better. Here is the video of the noise Apollo noise on input
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Post by kcatthedog on Nov 12, 2020 18:59:07 GMT -6
Well, that’s a drag, just line and channel 1, hiz is ok ?
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Post by wiz on Nov 12, 2020 19:04:08 GMT -6
Well, that’s a drag, just line and channel 1, hiz is ok ? Hi z does it as well, and not just channel one, seen it on other line inputs.
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Post by kcatthedog on Nov 12, 2020 19:07:37 GMT -6
And it will make the sound with nothing connected to any input?
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Post by wiz on Nov 12, 2020 19:11:32 GMT -6
And it will make the sound with nothing connected to any input? I know you are just trying to help, but honesty atm I am over it. (it has to have something connected to it, monitors, otherwise you can't hear it....8)...)
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Post by wiz on Nov 12, 2020 19:27:40 GMT -6
I should add the support from the store I got it from, has been above reproach to this point, fast and empathic ..
Manny’s here in Australia.
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Post by svart on Nov 12, 2020 19:33:28 GMT -6
Frying bacon. A bad coupling cap or pot. Plugging in changing paths causes a small voltage transient that charges the electrolyte in the cap or burns through the oxide in the pot.
Faulty transistors can make a similar noise but they don't get better with a transient.
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Post by jeremygillespie on Nov 12, 2020 20:12:35 GMT -6
That’s a bummer...
They should have sent you a new unit and a return postage sticker for you to send them back the bad one.
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Post by svart on Nov 12, 2020 20:37:07 GMT -6
Unfortunately for every unit that actually has a hardware problem there's 30 knuckleheads who are convinced their setup problem is a hardware problem and demand service. If UA or anyone just gave out loaners to anyone who said they had an issue, they'd spend more in shipping and debug than they make selling the units and they'd be out of business in months. I'd bet that at least half the issues they get contacted about are just connections and if folks got loaners, the connections get fixed through the actions of reconnecting everything and while the consumer is happy, the company is left with piles of used gear they just lost a boatload of money on.
And I say this because I worked for a company that tried out the loaner thing with commercial gear. Their RMA returns went through the roof because it didn't cost the end user anything to send the gear in for *any* little thing they felt was a problem and about half the returns had zero problems. We quickly lost money on the whole thing and had to stop doing it. We even lost customers because they didn't want to pay for service and felt we were trying to scam them.
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Post by reddirt on Nov 12, 2020 20:37:26 GMT -6
Wiz, i can imagine being pissed by this but of course electronics can die in the arse any time ,even expensive ones some times..... as to what UA should do, I would like to think they could provide a demo unit to tide you over. and of course this should have only taken a couple of days to remedy particularly as some of us are more than just weekend warriors. I'm a UA fan boy but "Not Good Enough UA" comes to mind Cheers, Ross
P.S. it's hard to believe you've had it 10 months
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Post by Johnkenn on Nov 12, 2020 20:48:51 GMT -6
My Apollo x8 which I purchased in Feb, is off for repair. It would develop a noise on a line input ,that sounds an awful lot like a condenser microphone that has moisture on the capsule. It was intermittent. In the end after much going round and round with UA support, which is kinda frustrating due to the delay between getting asked a question, answering it, then waiting for a response, all via email.. it took a couple of weeks to get to the point where they told me I have to send it back to the store I got it from. Now it has to go to the store, they want to check it,then to the distributor for repair......why don't they give you all the trouble shooting stuff in one bloody go, you do it, they decide, why does it have to go round and round and round. I asked for a replacement off the bat, and can't get one. I hate that. I should be able to get a loan unit. In fact under Australian law, you are entitled to a replacement if the unit doesn't perform as intended..which is clearly the case. Now I am dead in the water , and I bet London to a brick, it comes back with the same intermittent issue. I have provided extremely detailed information about the fault, including a video of the issue, I still reckon I will get the same faulty unit back.. lets see. The issue, is always on a line input.. .and can be cleared, by a number of means. Selecting MIC/Line in the Console app, and going back again to LINE. Unpluggin any physical Line input or output and replugging it in, including the headphone outs. It never happens on a MIC input. Whilst the noise was happening, I disconnected the x8 from the iMac, and the satellite, and the noise persisted. To me, it was an obvious hardware issue from the start, but you have to go through 2 weeks of run around... its extremely frustrating. So lets see what happens. Not real happy at the moment, this is the first audio interface I have had, and I have had many that has had a fault, and its only 10 months old. It is by far the most expensive interface I have purchase, and I expected better. Here is the video of the noise Apollo noise on inputI mean the noise isn’t THAT bad.
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Post by Johnkenn on Nov 12, 2020 20:49:00 GMT -6
I keed
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Post by wiz on Nov 12, 2020 20:50:22 GMT -6
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Post by Mister Chase on Nov 13, 2020 9:01:30 GMT -6
That is really a bummer, Wiz. Sucks big time. Even though I see Svart's point about loaners, at this point during the support case it should be clear(as it is to Svart) that it is a component issue. Therefore it would be nice for them to take care of you with a demo unit.
I used UA support a couple times. I will just say your experience doesn't surprise me.
Hope it all gets resolved for you soon.
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Post by ChaseUTB on Nov 26, 2020 20:40:28 GMT -6
Hope you get sorted quickly. Last time I tried UAD support they were closed via telephone, open via email due to COVID + the holiday week here in USA. Sorry to hear.
Hopefully Manny’s can swap the unit & handle it w/ UAD!
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Post by wiz on Nov 26, 2020 21:20:19 GMT -6
It’s at the distributor as of Wednesday.
Waiting waiting waiting
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,817
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Post by ericn on Nov 26, 2020 21:57:34 GMT -6
It’s at the distributor as of Wednesday. Waiting waiting waiting Try sending an email to the distributor referencing the issue and with a reference to the Australian law. UA could care less about local law, they don’t technically operate there, but the distributor does and making particular reference to the punishment. It’s worked before.
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Post by wiz on Nov 29, 2020 19:35:25 GMT -6
Nothing to add... except... geeze I am getting some stuff done around the house... LOL
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Post by wiz on Dec 3, 2020 18:32:01 GMT -6
It goes on... and on....
I reported this issue to UA on 2 Oct.
11 Oct, UA tells me , hardware issue, send back to store (Mannys).
Mannys get the item, test, and forward to distributor a few days later
Distributor (CMI) then soak test unit for 24 hours (2 Dec) and then contact Mannys saying they can't see the problem, and are now in talks with UNIVERSAL AUDIO!!!!!!
(Mannys just contacted me, and said that if UA say it needs to be repaired, my wait could be even longer due to parts needing to be sent!!!!!!)
I provided detailed accounts of problems, how it can be cleared (but comes back) a video of the issue..... 8 gazillion emails back and forth between UA, Mannys , now CMI and me.
Called CMI in the vain hope of speaking to a tech so I could walk through the issue......
Its been over 2 months.
I have sent Mannys an email , saying that if its not resolved in 7 days, can I please, as is my right under Australia Consumer Law, to have a replacement sent to me.
I figure I have been more than patient and understanding...
@drew @ UA can you please get involved here, especially now its gone back to UA, for the second time. (tried to tag Drew, but couldn't get the syntax right, PM'd)
Wiz
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Post by rowmat on Dec 3, 2020 18:37:38 GMT -6
Sounds more like Apollo 13 than Apollo x8. 😕
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Post by craigmorris74 on Dec 3, 2020 19:00:06 GMT -6
I had the same problem with a 2192. Took them darn near a year to fix it, most of that time they wouldn't return my calls or emails. I would never by a UA converter again.
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Post by kcatthedog on Dec 3, 2020 19:03:41 GMT -6
Well, with respect, bit of a difference in terms of age of units? The 2192 was designed and built decades ago, the X is current gen ?
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Post by craigmorris74 on Dec 3, 2020 19:07:22 GMT -6
Well, with respect, bit of a difference in terms of age of units? The 2192 was designed and built decades ago, the X is current gen ? This wasn't recently, and this is a common theme I've heard before with UA. If you build it, and charge a premium price for it, you should be able to fix it in a timely manner.
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Post by kcatthedog on Dec 3, 2020 19:51:09 GMT -6
Maybe but neither of us have UA repair data. I am up at ua forum a lot and I’d say these types of complaints are in the minority but who knows?
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Post by Drew @ UA on Dec 4, 2020 14:19:21 GMT -6
Do you have a ticket # I can look into for you?
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