ADA8000 issues

[RBIngraham]

I know some folks on here seem to be lucky and never have any issues with the ADA8000s to the point of doubting any of the reports. So I thought I would just throw out one here that I had a couple of weeks ago.

Running a show with 3 ADA8000s for Orchestra Mics and a few area mics and a talkback mic. Worked flawlessly for 5 weeks of rehearsals and run of the show. Week 6 comes around... I forget which night it was, but I come in and power up and do all my usual checks, which entails loading batteries and testing every wireless (not plugged into the ADA units), testing every output on SAC, testing all sound effects playback (which is routed through SAC) and I Solo every input used on the ADA units. Everything is clean and solid just like normal.

Do the typical mic checks with the cast and all that... etc..

So house opens and I have 30 mins to show time. I typically come back to my post about 5 mins prior to show, and then do a solo check on wireless mics since they are the ones you expect something to go wrong with. I sometimes will also chat with the orchestra via the talkback, because I am also the person that gives them their cue to start. I solo the orchestra mix so I can hear all the orchestra mics and not just one at a time and I hear all this hiss and fuzz. Going through one by one, I realize on my 1st trumpet mic there is all this noise. So I run back stage to check the mic and cable, etc... Nope problem is still there. Nothing with the mic, cable, or snake channel. I move the mic to an unused input on one of the ADA units... problem goes away. Hmmmmm....

This was a 2 show day so during the break between shows I tinker some more. I plug back into the noisy ADA input, problem is still there, but none of the other inputs on the same unit have this noise. OK, maybe it's an optical cable to the 2408? Nope, maybe it's that port on the 2408? Nope. I even moved it to the other 2408. Nope still there.

I figure oh well one dead channel on one of the ADA units, I have another anyway. I'll swap it out tomorrow just to be safe, don't want to loose a whole bank of 8.

Come in the next day, power up, all that.... guess what? No noise. Have yet to be able to replicate the issue.

So there you have it. No more doubting Thomas.

[905shmick]

Are you using something to drop the input voltage on the ADA units? If so, try bypassing it.

[RBIngraham]

Are you using something to drop the input voltage on the ADA units? If so, try bypassing it.

No I have never played with any of that nonsense yet. But I guess I should have checked the line voltage itself. But it will be hard to test for if it only happens once in a blue moon.

Thank you for the suggestion. Mostly however I was just posting to give an example of "yes... there are some real world examples of where an ADA unit caused a problem". Just for those that seem to question whether it's reputation is deserved or not.

[quaizywabbit]

I've been in the habit of actually turning off the power switch on every Behringer item i have, rather than killing power from a powerstrip.

I dunno but it seems to reboot the internal software..

[RBIngraham]

I've been in the habit of actually turning off the power switch on every Behringer item i have, rather than killing power from a powerstrip.

I dunno but it seems to reboot the internal software..

On an ADA8000? Ummm... there is no software there.

I don't have any other Behringer kit to try out.

Heat has been an issue for me in the past with these units and I've had similar behavior when they were tightly racked with no ventilation. But in those cases it was all the inputs on the same unit not just 1 channel. And since that incident many moons ago (not even with a SAC rig) I have always put a full rack space in between each unit for ventilation. Plus the gear hadn't been turned on all that long yet. Most of my heat issues have been on long tech days after being in use for many hours.

[dbarrow]

No I have never played with any of that nonsense yet.

I use the 120 to 100 volt stepdown transformer (for Japan?). The ADA-8000's work flawlessly with that and they seem to run quite a bit cooler. Four of them on top of each other ran quite a bit hotter with straight 120 volts.

[Guitarkeys.com]

I use the 120 to 100 volt stepdown transformer (for Japan?). The ADA-8000's work flawlessly with that and they seem to run quite a bit cooler. Four of them on top of each other ran quite a bit hotter with straight 120 volts.

Could you please provide me with a link to one of the voltage step down devices?

Thanks,

Jamie

[dbarrow]

Could you please provide me with a link to one of the voltage step down devices?

Thanks,

Jamie

http://salestores.com/powerb09.html

[Brent Evans]

Richard, I had a similar problem on an output a while back, I rerouted around it. When I came back to diagnose next day, it was gone. *shrug*

Moral of the story: Keep a spare, and have a few extra channels available (which is common sense on a mixer anyway). I wouldn't sweat it unless it happens consistently.

[Yogi]

Richard,
Was it channel 1 or 8? (I can't remember which one is near the power supply). In either case there's lots to be said to that 120 to 100 volt converter. A small price to pay to always ensure those things run cool. I've been running 4 stacked one on top of the other (no spacing) and they run cool to the touch with that converter. The old ounce of prevention thing at play here.