MOTU 8Pre ADAT Jack Problem

[dgatwood]

Well, 7 days later, here's a follow-up. Some genius engineer decided it would be cute to use an ADAT jack with a built-in cover. Problem is, that cover becomes an integral part of the integrity of the jack, and is held in by two tiny little plastic hinge pins.

I have already broken one on about the third time I plugged in a cable, and I was being pretty careful inserting the plug each time.... I've contacted MOTU asking if they can just mail me a handful of replacement covers. If they won't/can't do that and/or cross-ship a replacement unit, I'll call Sweetwater and return it as DOA and get a new one.

Anyway, word to the wise: if you buy one of these, you should keep a cable connected to these jacks fairly permanently and be exceptionally careful plugging in and unplugging the cable. I wish I could convince them to just replace the jacks with standard jacks and plugs. The built-in covers just scream "fragile" to me.

 

[Mattman84]

For the record, I really appreciate your updates about the 8Pre. I'm very close to pulling the trigger on one. I've been trying to decide between it and a cheaper Firepod ($350 demo). I'll probably end up with the 8Pre, but I'm just hanging back until more info is widely available. Anyway, your updates are the only info I've been able to find, so I appreciate it.

 

[dgatwood]

I'm happy to say that MOTU handled it very quickly and professionally. It took until mid-afternoon to hear back from them, but as soon as we can get in touch by phone for me to give them a credit card number, they're going to put a hold on the card for the retail price of the unit (not charge it, just a hold) and ship me a replacement along with a pre-paid return label. They'll cancel the hold when they get the defective one back. No downtime, no fuss.

 

[treymonfauntre]

let them know about this thread since its the only board i've found with a person that actually has experience with the product! i am planning on getting one soon so any generally bad vibes i get will skew that decision...

 

[dgatwood]

They reached me by phone today, so they should have a replacement unit out RSN. I'll update you when the new one arrives.

 

[dgatwood]

Got a shipping notice. The replacement 8Pre went out today by UPS Express Saver Next Day from Boston. I'll have it here tomorrow.

The only real question remaining is whether I should hook up all five interfaces simultaneously so I can say that for a few brief moments, my computer had 40 analog inputs.

[Edit: forgot about the built-in analog. If the M-Audio FW1814's S/PDIF simultaneously outputs by optical and coax (I think it does), I could theoretically sync all six sources. Forty-two inputs.]