fireberd
Max Output Level: -38 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3704
- Joined: 2008/02/25 14:14:28
- Location: Inverness, FL
- Status: offline
Rant on MOTU
I bought an MOTU 896mk3 Hybrid, new, on line. After working with it and getting confused with their control program I sent it back and got a different brand of equal price. The different brand only lasted one day and the power on/off function went bad (it would not power off). During that time I ran into a person at Guitar Center that used MOTU and he offered to show me how the MOTU Cue Mix FX program worked. Had I had that training before hand the MOTU would not have been sent back. Fast forward to the second 896mk3 Hybrid (replacement for the unit that the power function failed). It was "factory sealed" both on the box and internally, however it had some scuff marks on the case and looked like a rack screw mark. I powered it up and checked it out and all appeared to be working OK. Closer inspection reveals there are marks inside the plastic screen for the Cuemix display (two white dots and one smudge). I contacted MOTU and was told to contact the seller for a replacement, they won't do anything about it (and wouldn't comment on it potentially being a refurb or possibly a demo). I now have an RMA from the seller and will be shipping it back and hopefully the replacement will be new (and works). I don't blame the seller, since the packaging suggested it was "factory sealed".
I'll use the replacement but MOTU is off my buy list for any future purchase.
End of rant.
"GCSG Productions" Franklin D-10 Pedal Steel Guitar (primary instrument). Nashville Telecaster, Bass, etc. ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero M/B, i7 6700K CPU, 16GB Ram, SSD and conventional hard drives, Win 10 Pro and Win 10 Pro Insider Pre-Release Sonar Platinum/CbB. MOTU 896MK3 Hybrid, Tranzport, X-Touch, JBL LSR308 Monitors, Ozone 5, Studio One 4.1 ISRC Registered Member of Nashville based R.O.P.E. Assn.
|
Jim Roseberry
Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
- Total Posts : 9871
- Joined: 2004/03/23 11:34:51
- Location: Ohio
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/24 10:29:35
(permalink)
I would feel the same...
Just a FWIW...
I've bought a lot of MOTU gear (for myself and clients)... and I've never encountered a situation where returned/refurbed gear was sold as new.
|
fireberd
Max Output Level: -38 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3704
- Joined: 2008/02/25 14:14:28
- Location: Inverness, FL
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/24 17:16:11
(permalink)
First time I've ever got a new product that turned out to be "not new" from any source.
The box flap had the seal, the AC power cord was sealed in plastic bag, the 896 was wrapped in plastic and taped (and no indications of prior tape) and the user manual was sealed in plastic.
"GCSG Productions" Franklin D-10 Pedal Steel Guitar (primary instrument). Nashville Telecaster, Bass, etc. ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero M/B, i7 6700K CPU, 16GB Ram, SSD and conventional hard drives, Win 10 Pro and Win 10 Pro Insider Pre-Release Sonar Platinum/CbB. MOTU 896MK3 Hybrid, Tranzport, X-Touch, JBL LSR308 Monitors, Ozone 5, Studio One 4.1 ISRC Registered Member of Nashville based R.O.P.E. Assn.
|
fireberd
Max Output Level: -38 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3704
- Joined: 2008/02/25 14:14:28
- Location: Inverness, FL
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/27 06:21:45
(permalink)
I have to backtrack on the seller not being the one to blame. Doing some deep internet searches yesterday there are posts about the seller. I'm not naming the seller, but from some of my other posts on this you can probably figure out who it is. Thus it would appear to not be MOTU's fault that I got a replacement that was not "new".
I have changed my RMA request to a refund and will buy somewhere else.
"GCSG Productions" Franklin D-10 Pedal Steel Guitar (primary instrument). Nashville Telecaster, Bass, etc. ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero M/B, i7 6700K CPU, 16GB Ram, SSD and conventional hard drives, Win 10 Pro and Win 10 Pro Insider Pre-Release Sonar Platinum/CbB. MOTU 896MK3 Hybrid, Tranzport, X-Touch, JBL LSR308 Monitors, Ozone 5, Studio One 4.1 ISRC Registered Member of Nashville based R.O.P.E. Assn.
|
mettelus
Max Output Level: -22 dBFS
- Total Posts : 5321
- Joined: 2005/08/05 03:19:25
- Location: Maryland, USA
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/27 07:34:14
(permalink)
FWIW, the seller is most likely the person who "factory wrapped" it. Many retailers have this ability, so probably has zero to do with MOTU... that retailer can factory wrap any product (and probably does).
Unfortunately ethics are not enforceable until someone breaks the law.
ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero (Wi-Fi AC), i7-8700k, 16GB RAM, GTX-1070Ti, Win 10 Pro, Saffire PRO 24 DSP, A-300 PRO, plus numerous gadgets and gizmos that make or manipulate sound in some way.
|
mike_mccue
Max Output Level: -90 dBFS
- Total Posts : 4
- Joined: 2014/07/29 07:54:14
- Location: United States
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/27 08:17:49
(permalink)
Is it possible they sent you back the one you made used before returning it because you didn't know how to use it?
Was the second one they sent you eligible for factory warranty if it ever actually broke?
|
Rimshot
Max Output Level: -29 dBFS
- Total Posts : 4625
- Joined: 2010/12/09 12:51:08
- Location: California
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/27 09:20:53
(permalink)
@Mike McQue,
Welcome back if that is the old Mike McQue!
Rimshot Sonar Platinum 64 (Lifer), Studio One V3.5, Notion 6, Steinberg UR44, Zoom R24, Purrrfect Audio Pro Studio DAW (Case: Silent Mid Tower, Power Supply: 600w quiet, Haswell CPU: i7 4790k @ 4.4GHz (8 threads), RAM: 16GB DDR3/1600 , OS drive: 1TB HD, Audio drive: 1TB HD), Windows 10 x64 Anniversary, Equator D5 monitors, Faderport, FP8, Akai MPK261
|
kitekrazy1
Max Output Level: -40 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3524
- Joined: 2014/08/02 17:52:51
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/27 12:59:08
(permalink)
fireberd
I have to backtrack on the seller not being the one to blame. Doing some deep internet searches yesterday there are posts about the seller. I'm not naming the seller, but from some of my other posts on this you can probably figure out who it is. Thus it would appear to not be MOTU's fault that I got a replacement that was not "new".
I have changed my RMA request to a refund and will buy somewhere else.
No some of us can't. This doesn't help either the buyer or seller.
Sonar Platinum, W7 Pro 32GB Ram, Intel i7 4790, AsRock Z97 Pro 4, NVidia 750ti, AP2496 Sonar Platinum, W7 Pro, 16GB Ram, AMD FX 6300, Gigabyte GA 970 -UD3 P, nVidia 9800GT, Guitar Port, Terratec EWX 2496
|
Beagle
Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
- Total Posts : 50621
- Joined: 2006/03/29 11:03:12
- Location: Fort Worth, TX
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/27 13:01:15
(permalink)
Also, just a suggestion, but since you've discovered this is not MOTU's fault, you might want to change your thread title.
|
fireberd
Max Output Level: -38 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3704
- Joined: 2008/02/25 14:14:28
- Location: Inverness, FL
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/27 13:07:36
(permalink)
It was not the one I sent back. There were no marks on the case or any rack screw marks on the one I sent back, and there were no marks in the plastic face plate. If they had sent the one I originally sent back there would be no issue.
I don't know about warranty on the second one. I contacted MOTU about the marks on the inside of the face plate and was told to contact the seller, they didn't want anything to do with it.
"GCSG Productions" Franklin D-10 Pedal Steel Guitar (primary instrument). Nashville Telecaster, Bass, etc. ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero M/B, i7 6700K CPU, 16GB Ram, SSD and conventional hard drives, Win 10 Pro and Win 10 Pro Insider Pre-Release Sonar Platinum/CbB. MOTU 896MK3 Hybrid, Tranzport, X-Touch, JBL LSR308 Monitors, Ozone 5, Studio One 4.1 ISRC Registered Member of Nashville based R.O.P.E. Assn.
|
fireberd
Max Output Level: -38 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3704
- Joined: 2008/02/25 14:14:28
- Location: Inverness, FL
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/29 08:59:37
(permalink)
Continuing saga, I have ordered another from a different on-line music site. Hopefully this will put it to bed. However, Murphy's Law always applies. 
"GCSG Productions" Franklin D-10 Pedal Steel Guitar (primary instrument). Nashville Telecaster, Bass, etc. ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero M/B, i7 6700K CPU, 16GB Ram, SSD and conventional hard drives, Win 10 Pro and Win 10 Pro Insider Pre-Release Sonar Platinum/CbB. MOTU 896MK3 Hybrid, Tranzport, X-Touch, JBL LSR308 Monitors, Ozone 5, Studio One 4.1 ISRC Registered Member of Nashville based R.O.P.E. Assn.
|
steveo42
Max Output Level: -89 dBFS
- Total Posts : 90
- Joined: 2015/11/14 18:18:04
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/29 18:44:18
(permalink)
You might have gotten what I call a "Saturday Night Special". That's where an employee of the store you bought the interface from does a friend a favor and "sells" an interface for short term usage, like a Saturday night gig and then takes it as a return, shrink wraps it back up and sells it new. The worst case of this is where the person swaps the guts out with a defective or older version that he already owns. Happens all the time and few people take the time to match up the stickers on the box with the burned in serial number etc. Fingerprints happen because sometimes the person at the factory isn't wearing the gloves they usually wear. Rack rash is another thing though. You should NEVER see that on a new piece of gear, obviously.
I'd send it back, get a refund and purchase elsewhere.
I buy from the same handful of retailers and they know up front, because I tell them when I order, that I do not want a repack and if I even suspect the unit is repacked, it will be returned and I will never buy from them again.
This is nothing new BTW.
It's been going on in this business for decades.
|
fireberd
Max Output Level: -38 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3704
- Joined: 2008/02/25 14:14:28
- Location: Inverness, FL
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/30 13:09:21
(permalink)
Steve, if you read my posts you will see I have done exactly what you say.
1. Send unit back and get refund.
2. Purchase elsewhere.
3. I will no longer do business with this company.
"GCSG Productions" Franklin D-10 Pedal Steel Guitar (primary instrument). Nashville Telecaster, Bass, etc. ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero M/B, i7 6700K CPU, 16GB Ram, SSD and conventional hard drives, Win 10 Pro and Win 10 Pro Insider Pre-Release Sonar Platinum/CbB. MOTU 896MK3 Hybrid, Tranzport, X-Touch, JBL LSR308 Monitors, Ozone 5, Studio One 4.1 ISRC Registered Member of Nashville based R.O.P.E. Assn.
|
steveo42
Max Output Level: -89 dBFS
- Total Posts : 90
- Joined: 2015/11/14 18:18:04
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/30 13:44:23
(permalink)
Good for you fireberd!
If more people refused to accept gear that has obviously been tampered with these companies would learn that it does no good to try and trick or take advantage of the consumer.
|
TheMaartian
Max Output Level: -47.5 dBFS
- Total Posts : 2774
- Joined: 2015/05/21 18:30:52
- Location: Flagstaff, AZ
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/06/30 14:03:10
(permalink)
steveo42
You might have gotten what I call a "Saturday Night Special". That's where an employee of the store you bought the interface from does a friend a favor and "sells" an interface for short term usage, like a Saturday night gig and then takes it as a return, shrink wraps it back up and sells it new. The worst case of this is where the person swaps the guts out with a defective or older version that he already owns. Happens all the time and few people take the time to match up the stickers on the box with the burned in serial number etc. Fingerprints happen because sometimes the person at the factory isn't wearing the gloves they usually wear. Rack rash is another thing though. You should NEVER see that on a new piece of gear, obviously.
I'd send it back, get a refund and purchase elsewhere.
I buy from the same handful of retailers and they know up front, because I tell them when I order, that I do not want a repack and if I even suspect the unit is repacked, it will be returned and I will never buy from them again.
This is nothing new BTW.
It's been going on in this business for decades.
Happens with more than electronic gear. Many years ago, there was a 6-story parking garage on Rush St. in Chicago. It was too small to have ramps, so it had car elevators. You checked your car in and they parked and retrieved it for you. Well, one day, a guy gets his new Corvette back, and makes it all of about 2 blocks before the engine fell on the street. Turns out, when you checked the car in, if you told them you were going to be parked for several hours, and the car was on their 'list', they would swap out the new engine for an old POS. They'd been doing it for years and getting away with it, but that time, they forget to put the engine bolts back in. Oops.
Intel i7 3.4GHz, 16 GB RAM, 2 TB HD Win10 Home 64-bit Tascam US-16x08 Studio One 4 Pro Notion 6 Melodyne 4 Studio Acoustica 7 Guitar Pro 7 PreSonus FaderPort Nektar P6 M-Audio BX8 D2 Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro NI K9U XLN AK, AD2 AAS VS-2, GS-2, VA-2, EP-4, CP-2, OD Toontrack SD3, EZK
|
fireberd
Max Output Level: -38 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3704
- Joined: 2008/02/25 14:14:28
- Location: Inverness, FL
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/07/05 18:36:10
(permalink)
End of Rant.
NEW MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid received from M/F today. Checked out and working OK, and no scratches.
However, still waiting for refund from the NYC company.
"GCSG Productions" Franklin D-10 Pedal Steel Guitar (primary instrument). Nashville Telecaster, Bass, etc. ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero M/B, i7 6700K CPU, 16GB Ram, SSD and conventional hard drives, Win 10 Pro and Win 10 Pro Insider Pre-Release Sonar Platinum/CbB. MOTU 896MK3 Hybrid, Tranzport, X-Touch, JBL LSR308 Monitors, Ozone 5, Studio One 4.1 ISRC Registered Member of Nashville based R.O.P.E. Assn.
|
gswitz
Max Output Level: -18.5 dBFS
- Total Posts : 5694
- Joined: 2007/06/16 07:17:14
- Location: Richmond Virginia USA
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/07/05 19:47:21
(permalink)
My gear suffers. I'm never super interested in a scuff. I like the warranty though. And I like it to work properly.
When spending a chunk of change, I'm often in a hurry to make sure it does work. I had an interface that sounded beautiful until the first driver and firmware update and then it stopped working. It was the first generation of the newly released interface.
I worked with tech support from the company for a month before returning the interface. It may have been the FireWire interface in my laptop but it was just so weird that it worked and then didn't. The company was bummed that I returned it. They were still trying for the fix. But a month is a long time to tie up a grand for something that doesn't work.
StudioCat > I use Windows 10 and Sonar Platinum. I have a touch screen. I make some videos. This one shows how to do a physical loopback on the RME UCX to get many more equalizer nodes.
|
Mosvalve
Max Output Level: -67 dBFS
- Total Posts : 1194
- Joined: 2009/11/20 20:49:33
- Location: New Jersey
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/07/27 19:43:36
(permalink)
fireberd
I bought an MOTU 896mk3 Hybrid, new, on line. After working with it and getting confused with their control program I sent it back and got a different brand of equal price. The different brand only lasted one day and the power on/off function went bad (it would not power off). During that time I ran into a person at Guitar Center that used MOTU and he offered to show me how the MOTU Cue Mix FX program worked. Had I had that training before hand the MOTU would not have been sent back. Fast forward to the second 896mk3 Hybrid (replacement for the unit that the power function failed). It was "factory sealed" both on the box and internally, however it had some scuff marks on the case and looked like a rack screw mark. I powered it up and checked it out and all appeared to be working OK. Closer inspection reveals there are marks inside the plastic screen for the Cuemix display (two white dots and one smudge). I contacted MOTU and was told to contact the seller for a replacement, they won't do anything about it (and wouldn't comment on it potentially being a refurb or possibly a demo). I now have an RMA from the seller and will be shipping it back and hopefully the replacement will be new (and works). I don't blame the seller, since the packaging suggested it was "factory sealed".
I'll use the replacement but MOTU is off my buy list for any future purchase.
End of rant.
I don't trust GC anymore. Is that where you bought it?
BobV ASUS Prime Z370-P - Intel Core i7+ 8700K 3.7GHZ 16GB Memory, Intel HD Graphics 630 GPU, Windows 10 Pro 64bit, , Sonar Platinum 64bit, Motu 828MK3 Hybrid, Warm Audio TB12 Pre, Warm Audio WA273 Pre, AEA RPQ 500 Pre, Warm Audio WA76 Compressor, Presonus D8 Pre, Tonelux EQ5P 500 Eq, Kush Electra 500 Eq, Lindell PEX 500 Eq, Yamaha 80M monitors with HS10W Sub, and a bunch of other good stuff. I have a Roland Juno-106 that's looking for a new home. PM me.
|
fireberd
Max Output Level: -38 dBFS
- Total Posts : 3704
- Joined: 2008/02/25 14:14:28
- Location: Inverness, FL
- Status: offline
Re: Rant on MOTU
2016/07/28 08:44:50
(permalink)
No. It was a site in NYC.
The replacement was purchased from M/F, which is owned by GC. Came in new and works perfectly.
"GCSG Productions" Franklin D-10 Pedal Steel Guitar (primary instrument). Nashville Telecaster, Bass, etc. ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero M/B, i7 6700K CPU, 16GB Ram, SSD and conventional hard drives, Win 10 Pro and Win 10 Pro Insider Pre-Release Sonar Platinum/CbB. MOTU 896MK3 Hybrid, Tranzport, X-Touch, JBL LSR308 Monitors, Ozone 5, Studio One 4.1 ISRC Registered Member of Nashville based R.O.P.E. Assn.
|