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I had to unsolder the fader wires from the channel strip because I couldn’t just try flipping the clip/plug. They only go in one way. This is certainly a manufacturing error. It’s not possible to plug them in backwards. Once I flipped the fader clip and soldered it back into the PCB, they...

Finale update: case closed. Ultimately the problem was that 7 channels had faders wired BACKWARDS. I flipped the little clip that attaches to the channel PCB from the fader and BAM the fader works as normal! All 7 channels with trick faders now have working faders only after I flipped that...

Update: after repairing dry joints, I still had the issue in 7 (seven) channels. The fader goes from “off” to 20db gain, no in between. Out of curiosity I reversed the red and blue wires on the faulty channel. Literally unsoldered the fader wires from the channel PCB and flipped them around...

Thanks for your input! I will leave it alone. My only concern that if the signal is balanced by the time it gets to the faders. Then I worry that inverts the phase. This happens on 10 out of 40 faders, so, I’ll assume the manufacturer was not as ignorant as I am, and the wiring is fine. Thanks...

I pulled up each channel strip to inspect the solder joints connected to the other failing joints. I discovered that many of the wires were reversed during manufacturing. From looking at the fader, is it ok to swap wires for 2 and 3? Like, can wire 2 go in 3’s spot on the fader? And vice...

My mother always said, “if you’re going to take the time to do a job, take the time to do it right.” Thanks for the correct way to repair a dry joint. I will do it this way. Cheers from Wisconsin in the USA!

I’m learning new terms here!

Oh! Now I understand. Yeah it isn’t the actual traces that are broken, it’s where the clip is soldered onto the PCB. I can see the wires protruding beyond the solder and they move with no solder. So I’ll just reflow that solder and do ‘em all. I will repost here once I get all this done if...

It looks like the bad joints are all in one spot that’s been jostled a bunch over the years, so, it should be quick. What is ‘linking out the circuit’? I’m just a lay person who pick up some tech skills out of necessity. Do you mean attach jumper wires from the fader directly to the channel...

Thanks Dave! At the end of the night I’d seen that it’s not my fader causing the problem. I did identify that the solder joints in these areas are super brittle, so, I suspect a broken solder joint that I haven’t found yet, one deeper in than the ones I already found. I’ll be home in 6-7...

I was wrong, it didn’t fix it. I just tried putting a different fader on that same channel and it’s the same exact behavior. Fader goes from silence straight into unity gain…. I’m going to bed. I’ll dig into it more tomorrow. Thanks man!

Putting a multimeter on it reveals that I do not know how to test a fader with a multimeter ? I do see some fuzz caught under the wiper part that bridges the two carbon tracks. I’ll clean this out and try it again. 2nd edit: there are finely broken solder joints where the fader wire harness...

These are those ALPS faders in a metal case. I’ll maybe post more details tonight after I get home and feed myself. I’d be surprised if I bent something. They seemed durable and I was being gentle. Thanks for the clue!

Am I going crazy? I meticulously and carefully cleaned each fader with d-100 DEOXIT. Dried them all with paper towel, then cleaned them again. I’ve now noticed 2 faders that seem to do nothing to the volume. At the bottom, they turn off the signal, but everywhere else it’s the same volume...

Hi, thanks for your observation. I regret saying digital doesn’t deserve respect. I was just feeling like I missed out of an era of extra good sounding vinyl, and cassettes. What brand/model of ADAC do you recommend?

There are many similarities between tape recording and film photography. Tape and film have MUCH more distortion than digital. What I’ve also noticed is that digital photos don’t look as 3D, like, far away objects look close. One could argue that’s a good thing—but it looks unnatural. I...

I’ve used the ones that came with Ableton Live 7. I even tried a few on my 2 track mixes straight off the tape. Each time, although they add some color, I feel like some fidelity is lost. I’m zealous about avoiding digital converters in my recordings and I even swore off mixing in the box...

Drums sound more glued-together when recorded directly onto tape. That’s the only instrument that was obviously different sounding on tape. It must be the natural compression and EQ tape does. A cheap 1/4” R2R 2 track would be fun to get started with. Then just play your 1/4” into your DAW.

I’m not nearly as reliable troubleshooting these as SweetBeats but if I were you I’d be looking carefully for broken solder points in the areas you were just wiggling. So much old stuff has been dropped or rough-handled in its lifetime and those circuit boards get brittle—plus solder joints...

Great to hear your observations! Yeah, there’s an obvious high end loss with all my tape machines. The hiss is annoying and distracting. My computer doesn’t disintegrate in high humidity either like tapes. I grew up almost exclusively with CDs so the uniqueness of listening to a tape may be...