Shit, my Fireface 400 died

[Torniojaws]

Just out of the blue, I heard these grating high-pitched noises, and POP! The Fireface powered off and disappeared from the system. It will not power on at all anymore

Just what I needed. Hopefully RME has a better RMA system than what their customer support attitude is like.

 

[Forceps]

Damned, that sucks dude! Hope you get it fixed fast and cheap!

 

[El_Gato]

Just what I needed. Hopefully RME has a better RMA system than what their customer support attitude is like.

Quoted for truth. There's a guy there who treat people as if we were idiots, they only answer the questions they want and they have no problem in deleting the bad reviews out of their forum. How old is it?

 

[Torniojaws]

I've had it since summer 2007. I just got it back alive, but it does not function correctly. What I did was change the internal Clock Mode to 32 kHz, and then it works as if nothing was wrong. If I use any other mode (44,1 kHz up to 192 kHz), there is no real sound, just white noise and high-pitched hissing that oscillates, and that noise seems to follow the sound that is playing back. Just like when you have a sound file that is played back at a wrong sample rate (which is what lead me to testing the internal clock frequencies), ie. a 48 kHz file that is played at 44,1 kHz - it sounds something like it should, but you can tell there's something very wrong. Except in this case, it is a helluva lot more severe!

I'm not sure if the internal clock means all sounds will now output a maximum of 32/2 = 16 kHz? I think it's just the rate at which the Fireface keeps synchronised. At least from listening to music now, there doesn't seem to be a loss of high frequencies.

 

[Torniojaws]

Fucking bullshit. The guarantee ended 3 months ago, and I would have to pay for the shipping and repair, even though it is 95% certainly a hardware malfunction.

Which interface do you guys recommend instead? This was my first and last RME device. All I need is ADAT and Windows 7 64-bit support + at least one decent preamp.

 

[Fama]

Damn. 3 months ago, that's what I call precision engineering. And since it's 3 years old, I won't think even virhevastuu would help you =/

 

[El_Gato]

Sucks. Can you ask for a repair estimate? Somewhere else if necessary. You'd only pay the shipp's, +/-20 at most? And maybe it's just a bad connection, who knows.

 

[Torniojaws]

Damn. 3 months ago, that's what I call precision engineering. And since it's 3 years old, I won't think even virhevastuu would help you =/

To my knowledge, virhevastuu* is pretty much as long as the company exists, as long as it is clearly a hardware failure. But apparently this is only in Finland, but not in Germany.

* virhevastuu = a legal thing in Finland concerning the need for manufacturers to repair items for free even beyond the guarantee period, as long as it is a clear hardware failure that should not happen due to wear (mechanical parts).

 

[Fama]

To my knowledge, virhevastuu* is pretty much as long as the company exists, as long as it is clearly a hardware failure. But apparently this is only in Finland, but not in Germany.

* virhevastuu = a legal thing in Finland concerning the need for manufacturers to repair items for free even beyond the guarantee period, as long as it is a clear hardware failure that should not happen due to wear (mechanical parts).

Ahh, good point about the country. Didn't think of that. I wasn't aware of what exactly it ment, just thought of it more as "If it breaks just after the warranty is over, it might help". Good to know

 

[kev]

I prefer the make your own warranty scheme when companys fail me. Just buy another one and send the old one back in the packaging as a DOA. That way RME will still pay for the faulty goods even if it is just slightly out of warranty.

 

[Torniojaws]

I'm sure they can tell this unit is not unused

 

[JeffTD]

Swap internals? :3

 

[kev]

^^

 

[Torniojaws]

Yeah, just got a reply from their service. They won't do anything about it. Fuck RME, I will never buy their garbage again. They only have a 2 year guarantee, and it seems they really make sure their devices WILL break soon after the guarantee. To me, that is the antithesis of good business conduct. Well, I receive the message loud and clear - never buy RME devices! I urge you all to think about whose products you buy...

866 euros down the drain.

 

[jangoux]

and how much is the repair?

 

[Torniojaws]

There is no repair.

 

[xturbox]

to bad man it happened with you. I am curious how things will go with their new USB versions.

 

[AD Chaos]

This worries me I have a FF800-

Why don't you take your unit to a good independant techie guy? If your warranty expired you have nothing to lose anyways
+you can fix it at a fraction of the cost

Oh and you're right the ambience in that forum feels like 'hey if you bought from us you must be an absolute guru & shouldn't be asking stupid questions'
My issues with setup I always ended up figuring them out almost all by myself

 

[JeffTD]

Have you been in contact with Synthax Germany? I had huge issues with the US branch of Synthax until I e-mailed the German HQ and then the US one got it's shit together within a week (managed in 1 week to get me parts that were 'backordered' for 4 months...) once it was pressured from the top.

 

[jangoux]

How come there is no repair? Everything is repairable unless it is burnt, full of rust or whatever. What the diagnosis they gave you?