Creamware A16 Ultra / Pulsar 2 - something is unhappy

[cjw1378]

Hi All,

I've been a Scope user since about 1999, with a Pulsar 2 wired up to an A16 Ultra.

Of late, I've been having noise problems, clicks, pops, constant hum on the inputs from the A16 Ultra.
I thought I had cabling problem somewhere, but the noise is across several A16 inputs.

Today, I tried powering off the A16 while I was out for the whole day. I turned it on this evening and it wouldn't do much at first. Much fiddling with Master/Slave as Sync source and I find:

- if the A16 is the master, I get a double click roughly once every second and no audio playback is possible
- if the Pulsar 2 is the master and the A16 is the slave, I can playback fine, but the inputs on the A16 are just noise.

This sounds like the A16 is the issue, how can I be sure?

If the A16 *is* the issue, what could be the problem? Power source? Device itself?
In either case, why would it suddenly fail after running happily for almost a decade?

Running on from this, if it is the A16, what are my options? Can I get a new power supply (it's always the power supply, right? ) Will Sonic Core be interested in repairing?

Failing that, can anyone recommend a 1U, 2 x ADAT optical in, 2 x ADAT optical out, 16 balanced jack in, 16 balanced jack out equivalent?

cheers,

Chris

[garyb]

check the voltage on the power supply. you may need to test it under load.

you might also try trading out a cable or two....

S|C can't fix it. you might try Ferrofish, should it need repair.

[cjw1378]

What should the voltage be?

[Fluxpod]

Also please try this first.Remove the i/o board from the pulsar card and clean the contacts-put the board back on a couple of times.This helps usually.If this does not help the specs for the power adapter are printed on it.Its an ac-ac adapter.

[jhulk]

do you have it powered on for very long periods of time

if so sounds like you have a psu issue is it a walwart or an internal supply

also removing the outlet plate is a good surgestion once removed spray some de-oxit on the male connector get a plastic abrassive pad and rub of the oxiditation
then spay the male terminals again and insert it back into the feamal socket then remove agin and clean any black mess of and insert agian when no dirt is left
and the terminals stay clean then put it back together

if its a psu issue its most proberlythe caps that are fualty depending on what grade of caps used most highest 15000 hours at 105oc millitary grade are the best as they last longer and if cheap mother board smd caps are used like in the ensoniq dp4+ which used cheap grade 4000 hours

are failing creating noise and stoping there dc blocking allowing higher dc voltage through

i just had to repair 7 dp4+ for a studio in the neatherlands that suffered this same problem

wher do you live if you live in the uk i can take a look at it and test it on my 2 scope systems

[Immanuel]

- if the A16 is the master, I get a double click roughly once every second and no audio playback is possible

Just to make sure, you did remember to tell Scope to be slave, right? Because the A16 will not tell it to Scope.

[garyb]

that's correct. there can be only one master.

also, just in case it needs to be said, whichever device is master must have a cable connected from it's output to the slave's input in order for sync to be transmitted. in other words, if Scope is master and you are using an A16 slaved to adat, then the Scope adat output must be connected to the A16's adat input, regardless if you are using the A16's analog outputs or not.

[cjw1378]

Yes, yes, well aware of how to set up a master and slave

jhulk: yep, it's on 24/7/365 and have been for the best part of 3 years...
The PSU is the one supplied with the unit; pretty chunky. But, I suspect it is the issue. I'm in Reading or London, where are you?

Assuming it's the power supply, where I can I get hold of a suitable replacement?
(it's marked 230-250V primary, 12V secondary, doesn't say if the 12V is DC or AC...)

[garyb]

12vac
~=AC
S|C may have a few power supplies left.

[jhulk]

synth and sampler repair
42 glastonbury crescent
walsall
ws3 2rf
uk

now if its ac then it wont be the psu as it will be just an big transformer with primary windings of 220-240 and secondary windings of 12vac

now in the a16 there will be a glass rectifeir diode which will turn the ac into dc then there will be some smoothing caps and then a power regulator i would say its 5v with out looking that is

i dont have a a16 to try as i use my cards straight into a yamaha o2r as i have 4 adat card i/o and i use the yams analog inputs

i would ned the machine to look at but it sounds like a common smoothing caps are failing and there is to much ripple for the power regulator to filter out so that the dc voltage is becoming a slighly ac voltage

this cuases white noise and static on dac and opmaps outputs and inputs

this is the most common failure on all synths and samplers and the other is the solder growing and shorting out or not properly cleaned solder flux that when moister is produced grows into a yellow brown goo which can become condutive

and rosh components and non lead solder suffer worse with growing strands than lead does so new synths that use lead free solder are going to suffer earlier than there lead soldered counterparts

[faxinadu]

has your issue ever been resolved mate? i also have a very noisy a16 at the moment.

[cjw1378]

I'm afraid not, I just gave up on the Creamware card (CPUs are now way more powerful on the 3 Sharc DSPs on the card) and now use a RME Fireface 800 for the audio interface, which has been rock solid and is amazing.

[jksuperstar]

Faxi-

I can say that I have an A16ultra, and also another device that uses a similar 12vac (Axon 50 guitar>midi converter). I was hearing some high frequency noise on the Axon 50. After checking out the supply with a digital multimeter, and it looking OK, I swapped power supplies with my A16. The noise followed the power supply to the A16 (same high frequency junk came through), while the Axon 50 got quiet.

So even though these power supplies are just a simple transformer, they can still make their own noise! I guess that's why some transformers are potted in a resin.

Try another power supply if you have access to one.

[garyb]

jk- i've seen that kind of thing, too.

[faxinadu]

well i sold that a16, i couldn't solve it :/

but if we are already talking here, i have also a high amount of noise on my cards' analog inputs. currently i have a scope with the xlr inputs and a pulsar with the rca inputs and both are annoying me. it isn't at a level where i can't work at all, but it is at a level where for a pro standard this is not acceptable.... any ideas where to look for as far as what the issue could be? i tried various tricks with the power flow, like having the pc and monitors on seperate wall outlets and such, no change.

[w_ellis]

I could never get decent noise levels on the analog ins either, so bought myself a Behringer ADA8000, which was a much better solution. Not an A16, but a fraction of the price. The Xite-1 analog stage is a lot better.

[astroman]

I just unplugged the cables leading to Scope's analog inputs, let them dangle on the table
the meter reads -80dB, with termination it's -87dB which is perfectly ok for such a device
but you really have to be careful checking for groundloops with PC peripherals
(and the PC itself should be grounded properly)
proceeding systematically helps a lot, but it's still a pita

cheers, Tom

[faxinadu]

i had both the ada8000 and the a16. bottom line ada8000 is the better product imo.