Hmm .. ever have a track disappear and then reappear again?

[BigKahuna]

This is weird ...
I had a guitar track that we had to punch in on over the solo section. Let me say that I DID PUNCH OUT! I'm absolutely positive of that!

Sometimes when I play it back, the guitar is there throughout the tune ... other times, it cuts out after the solo (no levels on the ADAT either). I'm sure I don't have it on auto input and/or rehearsal punch in/out activated. I dunno ... it's weird.

I wonder if maybe it's a sync problem (this track is on the slave deck) ... but I have no problems on any other tracks on that deck, you'd think that those would disappear too. No really big deal because he'll redo all his guitars anyway as this was just a guide for the drums .. but I'd like to know anyone's thoughts on this ... and if it's happened to any of you.

This is on an LX20 deck. It just had a thorough cleaning about 2 months ago ... so I'd be surprised if it was due to a dirty head. I get no errors displayed on this machine at all.

Let me know if you have any opinions. I'll probably try Alesis customer service, but thought I'd try here first to see if I'm missing something obvious.

Thanks guys.

[David]

What kind of tape or you using? And is the interpolitan light blinking at all? That's weird...keep us posted.

[David]

Sorry about the "thumbs up icon"...wasn't aware of it!

[BigKahuna]

heheh ... dammit David, how dare you make fun of my problem!!


Well, I don't know what's going on ... Deck #2 doesn't playback tracks 5-8 at all now ... it used to just happen once in a while ... but I can't get anything off any of them today. I can't believe that's head related ... but I'm having format and sync issues now too, so maybe it is. I've been playing them all week and didn't have a problem until we were about to redo some bass tracks today ... how embarrassing.
I'm going to just take both decks in ... and see if they can do anything. We'll see if that helps at all. If not, I might be in the market for a new multitrack format.
These LX20s have served me well, but it seems like it's more troubleshooting than recording these days.

[David]

Yep...didn't listen. I've already seen a lot of goofy stuff happen on the LX20. First thing was , I had to clean the head's at not even the first 170 hrs...is that in the norm? I thought it would be more like 300 or so. Already can tell the transports aren't that great too. Oh yeah BK, you didn't say...what tape are you using? You might try a diff brand if you haven't already...just a thought. Next time will be an XT20, buy cheap buy...yeah I know.

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Big K: [It's about time to wax up your board isn't it?


Just as a point of reference, I use the MD8 and I've lost tracks on it because I forgot to switch the recorded tracks to the CUE mode; for some reason, beyond my technical knowledge, if that is done, POOF--TRACKS DISAPPEAR.

Other than that, I can't comment on the Adat. Haven't used one yet.

Karabunga,

Green Hornet

[BigKahuna]

That's what I thought originally GH ... that it must be in rehearse mode or auto input or something. But no ...
Me turning it off and on again multiple times did no good ... so I decided to send both decks in to get them fixed/cleaned/calibrated.
I'm using Maxell Pro 60min tape, which was recommended to me on this board after having trouble with Quantegy. I've done other projects with Maxell with no problems at all.
I haven't really had problems with my LX20s until pretty recently. They're 4 and 2yrs old ... and I had a tape stuck in one about maybe 6 months ago ... and then this problem, but that's pretty much it. I must confess that I did very little to maintain them when I first got them ... so I kinda deserve to be screwed now. But, considering that, I think they've worked pretty well these few years.
Having problems like this always makes me look and see what other multitracks are around, though ... I am blown away by the HD24 ... hmmm ... seems like it would fit into my setup better than tape-ADATs. Not to mention the price ... wow.
Anyway, that's another thread ...
thanks for the reponses!

[hatrock]

I had an xt 20 than i bought used and had a similar problem. the exterpolation light was coming on. i cleaned the heads- changed tapes-sometimes it would play- sometimes tracks dropped out. turns out it was some sort of preamp on the head was going out. cost about$125 to replace----to the head cleaning on the lx20- what kind of tapes are you using?

[BigKahuna]

Well, I called the shop where I took them. He said that both units needed a good overall cleanup ... but the one where tracks 5-8 were disappearing had a bad playback head. He replaced it with a refurbished head. He said that if I had *perfect* data on the tape, it would playback OK ... but if it was even a little iffy, then those tracks would just drop out.
Total cost for all repairs and cleanup ... $500. There goes any hopes for a Lexicon MPX500.
It's worth it I suppose, but I still wonder if a HD system would be better for me considering the sheer number of cats I have running in and out of the studio. Hopefully, this will get me through for another few months ... but the HD24 still looks like a plausible alternative.
Anyway, sounds like I'll be back in business on Monday night. Yee Haww!