psalmest - resetting the alesis 230 EQ and the 3630 Alesis compressor

psalmest

New member
Hello all, I have a Alesis 3630 compressor gate and a alesis 230 meq EQ. They were adjusted by a vendor who used software on a laptop to preset them to keep people from changing the settings for someone. My question is, do these devices have some type of reset button inside that will restore them back to the factory settings? I cant find the vendor who made the change to the devices.

Thanks,
 
That's wierd because the 3630 doesn't have any presents or logic settings...its all analog pots and switches, and further more there aren't any interface connectors on it either than the audio connections. Have you opened it up to see if there is some sort of interface connector inside?

I've never heard of such a thing and would be interested if there is such tweakability to the 3630. I can see there being a logic chip inside, a CMOS chip that could be accessed and have certain functions turned on and off, but that would seem to be a feature that Alesis would mention and there is no mention anywhere in the documentation.

What is it that is not functioning?
 
That's wierd because the 3630 doesn't have any presents or logic settings...its all analog pots and switches, and further more there aren't any interface connectors on it either than the audio connections.

Agreed, I've never heard of settings being internally frozen on a 3630, not sure how this would be done short of gluing the pot caps in place!
 
Yeah as stated, neither the 3630 or M-EQ230 have logic control of any kind. I’ve owned both of these units in the past. They’re very straightforward analog units. Unless someone has gone to the trouble of bypassing the pots for fixed value resistors I can’t imagine how this could be done… and I can’t imagine anyone going to the trouble of modifying either unit to be dumb boxes.

The DEQ230, which is a digital 1/3 octave graphic equalizer, does have a locking feature to prevent unwanted tampering. Perhaps this is the model you’re referring to. I don’t know of any digital Alesis compressors comparable to the 3630 that might have a locking feature. If there is such an animal its news to me.
 
That's wierd because the 3630 doesn't have any presents or logic settings...its all analog pots and switches, and further more there aren't any interface connectors on it either than the audio connections. Have you opened it up to see if there is some sort of interface connector inside?

I've never heard of such a thing and would be interested if there is such tweakability to the 3630. I can see there being a logic chip inside, a CMOS chip that could be accessed and have certain functions turned on and off, but that would seem to be a feature that Alesis would mention and there is no mention anywhere in the documentation.

What is it that is not functioning?

Thanks for your reply. You know what, that was crazy and it blew me away when I saw it done, I was right there. He took his laptop and managed the system by his software. I once rented a sound system for my company once for an occasion and this soundman did the same thing. He stated that this was the new way of keeping people out of systems and accidents from happening. he setup his laptop and managed the whole system. The only thing he didnt preset was the power amp, so if you needed more power you could change that, them left until I called him to pick up the system.
 
Again, these particular units have no means of doing what you describe. You're not going to get a different answer. Both work with simple potentiometers. I've been inside both units, and all over the 3630 modifying it. There's nothing in there. Either the guy is yanking your chain… perhaps charging you for something he didn’t do, or someone actually went to the trouble of designing and installing an aftermarket control circuit. Why would someone do that on these units? Verifiable insanity is the only thing that comes to mind. People can't simply come up with a "New way" of controlling a device if the device has no internal components to allow it. These are simple analog circuits... nothing fancy.

The only other thing it could be is that the bypass buttons have been internally wired to always be in bypass mode. In that case front panel controls will seem to do nothing, but the device also won't do you any good because it's not working. Or the units you have are defective. The bypass mode on the M-EQ230 is labeled “In/Out” on the front panel. The 3630 has a bypass button for each channel, labeled “Bypass.”

By the way these are decent units (When working). All the M-EQ30’s are the same and have a good rep. There are three versions of the 3630, so you’ll see mixed reviews on that unit. The second generation with better VCA’s made by THAT Corporation is preferred to the original 3630.

Good luck with your issue. Hope you can get them working.
 
The only other thing it could be is that the bypass buttons have been internally wired to always be in bypass mode. In that case front panel controls will seem to do nothing, but the device also won't do you any good because it's not working.

Given what little good they do when not in bypass that may be for the best.
 
Back
Top