DM-4800 channel failure

Marvel

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Hey guys,

Picked up my 4800 last Thurday and very happy with this fabulous machine! Still working out the immense load of features and possibilities. For sure I will check back here often for advise and tips.

But one thing is wrong with this console and already I need some council on this. When I bought it, I was already aware that the fader motor on the physical channel 8 /32 is no longer working. Also the encoder is broken off, but this can be easily glued back on.

However it turns out that there is a serious problem with the sound, which is very distorted. Here's what I have found out so far:
- First of all, the M/L input on the module sounds fine.
- The only other input I have is the FW card, so it feels as if something might be wrong there. The distortion sounds a bit like clipping, or drop-outs. Hard to hear, but it certainly has a 'digital' kind of feeling.
- The input is coming from Logic, and it's a mono channel. If I send a stereo signal (to module 7/8 or to 8 only), everything sounds fine.
- When I send THE SAME CHANNEL from Logic to a different module (e.g. 9 or 7), everything sounds fine! Of course I tried all this with different channels from Logic, all with the same result: stereo sounds ok, mono crap, on module 8.
- When I send the 'speaker' output from the computer to 7/8 (using iTunes), everything sounds fine.
- And here it is: when I put slot 1-8 on another module/channel, e.g. 7, the distortion is on that channel!

Well, I am lost here. Is there anything I could check to pinpoint where the problem must be? Does my last point prove there is something wrong with the FW card? It looks like it is just a coincidence that I first discovered this on module 8, since it is only logical to punt slot 1-8 on module/channel 8. Has anyone heard of something like this before? And of course most importantly: can this be solved, or do I need to replace the FW card? Or could it still be something else entirely?

My passport: macOS 10.13.2 / Logic 10.3.3 / DM-4800 firmware 1.72b / FW-driver 1.30f10

Any help or advise is very much appreciated!

Cheers,
Marcel
 
Did you try reimitializing the mixer to a default state? Are you sure that the previous owner didn’t set up channels 1-8 to an internal effect on the mixer, perhaps a distortion effect, compressor, gate settings or something else specific to those channels that would cause the distorted sound?
 
Hey @cmaffia, yes I'm fairly sure there is no routing from the channels to any effect, dynamics or otherwise. At least as far as I know at this point this would show in the Module screen, right?

I guess I could reinitialise the whole thing. Is that what can be found in the service manual which is in the Documents section here?

Apart from this you have never heard of a failure on a single channel in the FW card?
 
Thanks, @Peter Batah. I also found it in the service manuals, it is indeed the same procedure.
 
So, this didn't help. I wasn't really expecting it to. But better try everything of course. I also have an SRAM INIT option 'for factory', which doesn't appear in the service manual. I don't dare to use that one. Should I? Maybe it brings me back to firmware 1.00, so I could try one of the older firmwares. Perhaps the last stable one, since I am using a beta firmware apparently. Haven't read anything about any known issues though.

So back to square one. Anyone have any other suggestions?
In the meantime I can work around this by sending a stereo channel to Channels 7/8. Just shuffle around a bit with the order of instruments. At the moment I'm sending the overheads there when I am mixing drums, so that fits nicely.
 
Try it. You have your settings backed up on your CF card?
 
Yes I have. I made a project - aptly named 'test'! :) - and saved it to the card. So let's give it a try.

EDIT: Unfortunately this didn't help either. I think I will try a different sample freq to see if this solves anything.
 
Last edited:
Quick update for all concerned. I started a new project in Logic with sample rate 48kHz. Did some tests and so far slot 1-8 is behaving nicely. Easiest workaround I can think of, if it keeps working like this. :)
Will post back if anything changes.
Cheers,
Marcel
 
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