DM-4800 dead channels

[Wayon]

Hello. I am posting for a friend. This is a sound board in a church. Apparently the centre 8 channels have never worked since they got the board (a few years now). Is there something everyone is missing? Any suggestions?

 

[Peter Batah]

@Wayon Could you be a little more specific. eg. Mixer model, firmware version, expansion card(s), etc. With all due respect your post is somewhat vague.

 

[Wayon]

Yes, my apologies, I know I have no info. Like I said, I'm posting this for a friend. This DM-4800 is in a church and is being used by non-professionals. I just thought (hoped) that there might be something simple - you know like "oh just go into Settings and check this and click on that and voila!" everything is good.
I get it, I'll find out more and post again. Thanks

 

[skier]

The problem with this kind of issue where no one is a professional is that the cause could be something simple, such as a setting, especially something related to routing. Or, it could be a very complex problem or system failure. However, as Peter mentioned, we will need a lot more information to be of help. Besides the info requested by Peter, we need to know how the problem presents itself. Saying, "the centre 8 channels have never worked since they got the board" tells us nothing. Here's more of the kind of thing we need, for example:

1. What kinds of inputs will be connected to the center 8 channels (channels 9-16)?

2. Has someone connected a microphone to those inputs and no sound came out?

3. Was some other device connected to provide input, such as a disc player to supply music, or some musical instruments?

4. How was it connected (through what kind of connector)?

5. Is the person who set up the currently working channels available to set up 9-16? If so, what has been tried and didn't work?

There are many more questions I could add, but a mixer of this sophistication being operated by people with little or no understanding of its capabilities and configuration is like asking a layman to pilot a jet with no training — the flight is quite unlikely to go well.

So please understand, we want to help, but we can only do so if we can get sufficient information to understand the problem and what has been attempted to fix it. And on your end, at the very least, it'll require someone who is willing to read the manual and learn the basic concepts; better would be if you could find someone who has at least some basic familiarity with the concepts of any kind of mixer.

 

[Wayon]

Yes. Thank you skier. I do understand. The thing for me to do is get the board and download the manual and troubleshoot it myself. I am familiar with the concepts of a mixer.

So, I'll probably be back. . . . .

 

[skier]

@Wayon, if you are familiar with mixer concepts, we are in much better shape than I had feared.

Before you commit to reading the entire manual, please provide more particulars about the problem, such as how you want to use channels 9-16, the kinds of inputs, whether you're sending them through any kinds of effects or just mixing them to send to the output amplifiers, what has been setup, tried, and didn't work, etc. We may be able to point you to the specific features of the mixer and/or manual pages you need to save you from reading the entire manual right now (unless you're obsessive and like boring engineering concepts like some of us nerds). You should still read the manual, but perhaps we can get you operational as soon as possible and you can get to the rest of the manual as your time permits.

 

[Peter Batah]

What has me baffled is how the OP states that the center 8 channels have not worked from day one (year one in fact). And, they are just getting around to addressing the issue NOW. A little odd, but anything and everything is possible.

 

[Wayon]

Ha ha! Ok. I'll explain the situation better. I just came across this board yesterday. A friend of mine is the musical director at a church and she asked me to come and help her set up a new mixing board that they bought used (a Mackie). I did that. Then she told me the story of the mixer that was being replaced (the Tascam). They bought it new about 7 years ago. After about a week someone left it on (with the cover on it) for 4 days, after which the centre 8 channels did not work. They figured maybe it overheated and fried something. They just accepted that because they weren't using more than 16 channels anyway. But then they started to need more and more channels. . . . . hence the Mackie.

I didn't think much about it until she told me that she wanted to get rid of it and asked me what I thought it was worth. I then did a bit of research and found out its a way better unit than the Mackie and might be worth fixing. And the whole 'overheating' thing didn't really work for me so I thought it might be something simple that they're just missing.

Plus they're recording some channels so the routing capabilities alone of the Tascam make it way better for them. The Mackie won't do everything they need.

And there's the story. The unit is still at the church and apparently now they're going to look into what it might cost to fix.

I do appreciate the replies.

This might not be over yet. . . . . .

 

[Peter Batah]

@Wayon You may or may not already know that Gibson had taken over Teac / Tascam a while back. Now that Gibson has filed for Chapter 11, having that unit repaired (if such a thing is necessary) may not be so easy. Best of luck!

 

[skier]

What has me baffled is how the OP states that the center 8 channels have not worked from day one (year one in fact). And, they are just getting around to addressing the issue NOW. A little odd, but anything and everything is possible.

Actually, that's not an uncommon situation when a community group or non-profit organization has such a problem. In many of these cases, no one person is actually responsible for something, rather, they all contribute and help out where needed. So as long as the device, be it a computer, vehicle, mixer, or some such, is working enough to do what they need, everyone is happy enough to let things be.

Gibson already spun off Cakewalk; it'd be great if they did the same with Tascam so they can get back to putting out great, fun gear. I've not been very impressed with what Gibson does with some of their acquisitions.

 

[Arjan P]

Gibson may be the majority owner of TEAC/Tascam, according to their own statement, operations are not immediately affected by the ch 11 situation: http://audio.teac.com/news/display/1061/

 

[Headroom]

6. Are the channels flipped from input to return?

 

[skier]

Gibson may be the majority owner of TEAC/Tascam, according to their own statement, operations are not immediately affected by the ch 11 situation: http://audio.teac.com/news/display/1061/

Thanks for that info, Arjan! At least it appears that Tascam is still in control of where they're going.