DM4800 with Start Up issues

[ghook]

Hi All,In January this year I put up a post saying my desk had the lights jamming on at startup making the desk unusable.I have been advised by a repairer that if it’s faulty circuit boards that they are probably no longer available and if they are available that they probably are dearer than buying a second hand desk outright.My question is that are these units too old now to risk buying second hand or am I just unlucky to have mine die. I have the opportunity to buy a second hand desk to replace mine but I would appreciate any comments that people may have regarding the reliability of the units as they get older before I purchase a used desk to replace mine.Thanks GHook

 

[J L Bowie]

My answer is going to be biased by my love for this board. Bought mine secondhand in 2010 from someone frustrated with the learning curve that had it for less than two years, and never put it into everyday operation. Just recently experienced a single blue line in the display and, rather than wait for it to finally crater (might have taken years), I opted to install an LED replacement. Other than that, no other problems have arisen.
I mention this because this was the first time I ever had occasion to open the unit up and check out the guts, which gave me even more confidence after seeing how well manufactured it is. A quality piece of kit overall, which is why Tascam has had such a good reputation for several decades.
Think about this, there are literally tons of older analog and digital desks, not to mention highly prized ancillary gear, some upwards of forty years old and beyond, that somehow manage to be repaired and maintained for professional use. Compared to keeping a Neve alive, finding parts to repair a DM4800 should be relatively easy, and cost effective, especially considering what a new console with the same capabilities would cost. This all depends on what you use it for, of course, and how important it is to you.
I see you are in Australia, and not knowing where exactly I'm not sure this will help, but I found these guys in Victoria: https://techshops.com.au/ Maybe they can at least point you in the right direction if not help you directly.
Lastly, if it was me, depending on price, I would pick up that other DM4800. After that, I would find someone who really knows about the repair of your board, and if it is cost effective, fix it and either sell it or keep it as a spare.
Bottom line, properly cared for, these boards have a lot of life left in them.
My fifty cents,

Jack

 

[ghook]

Thanks For your reply Jack.Very much appreciated.My thoughts are very similar to yours but it’s good to have opinions from others before making decisions.

 

[waterstrum]

I'm a big fan of the 4800. It has served me well for over 10 years.
Only problem on mine was the display but 2seemy solved that.
With 96K capability and nearly infinite routing possibilities, this digital dinosaur remains a viable mixer in the year 2020.
I agree with Jack... the quality of the internal construction is top notch.
Tascam did a beautiful job!
Wish they had continued the series.
That said, maybe you could try the second hand desk and be sure everything is working before purchasing it.
Otherwise, there are many 'more current' options out there.

 

[etwolf]

G'day ghook,
Any updates on which way you went. I just bought my
DM-4800 about a month ago on eBay other than a few small issues now rectified I couldn't be happier. I had a similar issue with an FW-1884 many years ago and seriously turned out to be the quality of the firewire cable I was using went through 5 (different brands) before I found one that worked.
I doubt that that's your issue though. Having said that I had an issue that a lot of users here have had with the IF-FW/DM not getting a lock on firewire (Using legacy driver), mine would cycle between Locked, Driver offline and No Cable over about a 2 second period. I tried 2 cables and noticed the the fit was a bit on the loose side, trying a third cable fit was much tighter and my lock issue disappeared. So replacing the firewire socket on my
IF-FW/DM MkII might be in order at least as some future insurance.

 

[J L Bowie]

Speaking of the Firewire connection, I discovered something a long while back that I didn't think to share until now.
I have a separate computer room close enough to use a 4.5 meter cable, which should technically be fine for the DM4800 with the IF-FW/DM MkII. However, it proved to be occasionally unstable until I installed a FW repeater, which completely eliminated that issue. Tried other cables as a matter of course, but the repeater fixed it with never a dropout since. Just a thought.

Jack

 

[Juzz]

I'm with Jack. I think the functionality, IO and design of the DM4800 is way ahead of it's time and today nothing still comes close to its features / price point. You may be best buying a second hand one as I've seen the occasional one for sale in Oz.