Mackie DL32R Mixer Channel Repair Fail
Ok, repair may be too strong a word. Maybe exploration and experimentation would be more accurate. At a recent rehearsal, channel 2 on our Mackie DL32R mixer cut out. Hey, that’s my mic! Some signal seemed to be getting through, but very quietly. So, I temporarily switched to a different channel (using copy and paste for the first time, to duplicate my channel settings). Meanwhile, I was left with a nagging worry that our mixer is starting to show signs of early onset arthritis (it’s only two years old!)
We transport this mixer in our SKB Rolling Rack. I usually carry the rack, to avoid rough-riding on those little wheels. But the thing weighs a ton, so I do occasionally use the wheels if I’m on a smooth surface. Perhaps some vibration caused a loose connection?
I figured it was worth taking a quick look inside.
There are ten screws on the top, and six per side. (Note, not all of the side screws need to be removed to release the top- see the picture for which six to remove).
Then the top just lifts out easily, exposing the guts. You can see that the front panel jacks are connected to the main board with ribbon cables. Each ribbon has twelve wires, and handles four of the channel jacks. The ribbon channel sets are laid out vertically from the front panel perspective, so the first ribbon handles channels 1, 9, 17, 25 and the second ribbon handles 2, 10, 18, 26, and so on.
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Since I was having trouble with channel 2, I focussed on the second ribbon (which connects from the panel just above channel 2, and runs to the back of the main board, plugged into the connector labeled C.
I gave the cable connectors a wiggle and a tug, and they seemed to be firmly seated. No obvious signs of a loose connection. Just to make sure, I fully removed the ribbon cable from connector C, and plugged it back in.
I powered it up and lo and behold, channel 2 was working again.
I’ve since used it at another rehearsal and a gig without issues. Have I really fixed it, or am I just getting lucky?
We’ll see! Fingers crossed.
Update 10/24/2017: No love! It’s been a few weeks, and channel 2 is still working fine, but we had a similar issue with channel 1 at a Drop Daddies gig on Saturday. We sound checked and played our first set without incident. But then, as we were about to start our second set, we found that channel 1 had no signal! We got through the set by copy/pasting from channel 1 to an unused channel. Since channel 1 is on a totally different ribbon cable from channel 2 (which was giving us problems last time), I guess my wiggle-the-cable theory is no good. Yesterday, I tried the mixer again and channel 1 was still dead. I tried plugging my mic into several other channels, including those in the same vertical row (9,17,25), and they all worked fine. Then when I got back around to trying to channel 1 again, lo and behold it was working again. WTF? I guess it’s time to contact Mackie tech support. Changing the subject of this post to “Fail”!
October 24, 2017 @ 1:32 pm
How did you get in with Mackie. Do you have to send it back or did you try reseating all the ribbons. Having same issues here, thanks.
October 24, 2017 @ 1:43 pm
Hey there- interesting to hear you have the same issues! I didn’t trying reseating all the ribbons- just the second one (containing channel 2). That said, I didn’t see anything that looked even remotely loose… Everything looked nice and snug.
I haven’t contacted Mackie yet, but will do so today and will post back here when I get a reply.
-John
October 24, 2017 @ 1:53 pm
Have it open at the moment and can’t really see a way of getting the cables out without using force. I’m having trouble with channels 2, 6, 32… so probably have to reseat them all. What’s the knack to getting them as in the photo? Thanks
October 24, 2017 @ 1:57 pm
It sounds like you’re being very careful to avoid using too much force, and that’s good! Don’t get frustrated and yank it, or you may end up doing more harm than good.
I used a fine flat head screwdriver, and gently inserted it at the edge of one side of the cable connector. I gave it the screwdriver a gentle little wiggle and twist to get the connector moving, then switched to the other side and did the same. Back and forth a few times was enough to get the connector out.
October 24, 2017 @ 2:07 pm
Great John. I’ll try that. Thanks so much. I have a bit of a dilemma – no Mackie repair here so I was told it will be 4 to 6 weeks round trip to send it to Mackie repair but in the meantime I’d have to rent a desk, compressors etc for 2/3/4 gigs a week that I’m doing with my band. Then I found this and another few forums and Mackie Facebook that described the same issues I’m having and it seems the ribbons are a likely culprit. In fact I was told it was likely loose ribbon cables a while back by a Mackie guy over the phone. If I can get this to work it will save me a lot of hassle, and money. So thanks for your prompt replies.
October 24, 2017 @ 9:04 pm
Understood! It would be a major hassle for us too, to have to send away the mixer for repairs. We’re totally dependent on it! Interesting that Mackie support told it you it may be loose cables. I’ll let you know when I hear back from them…
-John
October 27, 2017 @ 10:20 am
Update from Mackie: they advised me that next time it occurs, I should try to use I/O patch to swap the mic pres between the failing channel and some other channel (e.g. if channel 1 is failing, but channel 2 is ok, then send mic pre 2 to channel 1 and mic pre 1 to channel 2). If the failure stays on channel 1, then it’s a software glitch, but if the failure follows the mic pre over to channel 2, then it indicates a hardware failure. I’ll try that next time it happens!
-John
November 15, 2017 @ 3:52 pm
Hey Bren-
I’m still in a holding pattern waiting for the next failure to try the I/O patch (we’re between gigs and rehearsals right now so it may be awhile before I get back to this).
I’m curious how your system is working now – did you reseat all the cables and have you seen improvement?
Thanks,
-John