Hello everyone,
A few months ago, my 12-year-old RME UFX sound card experienced aSerious problem.
An atrocious sound came out suddenly and without warning from all the line outputs (speakers, headphones and all outputs) The sound was very loud, impossible to stop, even in Mute.
Similarly, it seems that the signal also passes through the microphone inputs (perhaps via the 48V) I suspect that it damaged one of my microphone capsules (AKG 414 XLS whose capsule I had to change)...
In short, after finding some clues here and there, and some videos on Youtube of similar breakdowns, I decided to try to replace the internal power supply card myself.
I am absolutely not an electronics technician, and I simply made the change with a card purchased on an RME reseller site that also has spare parts.
The repair cost me the price of the power supply board, a few scares and finally it restarts perfectly.
Easy repair, completely within the reach of a non-connoisseur. Only the connectors are a little rigid but it ends up coming.
Here is a video (in French sorry) of my "repair"...
Card power supply failure RME UFX (1st gen)
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- KVRist
- 82 posts since 18 Jan, 2023
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 82 posts since 18 Jan, 2023
Here in France, the card was guaranteed for two years but I bought it shortly after its release in 2011. The repairs had to be at my expense.
The RME France service had offered me a support and diagnosis for an amount of around 100 euros, with possible repair on their site if possible (I think it would therefore have been necessary to add the wait, the immobilization of the card, the shipping costs, the cost of labor). The total price if it had not been returned to the German site would still have greatly exceeded the one I paid by doing it myself.
If the service had considered that it was better to send it back to Germany, the price was more than 400 euros.
I assume that this price would have been much higher in a country outside Europe.
What should be noted all the same: These cards have an extraordinary follow-up. I can't imagine much hardware that can benefit from firmware updates for so long, and support over such a long period of time. The fact that we can also find this part for repair is a very positive point.
The negative point is still that this failure was not without consequences on my equipment. If my passive monitoring had remained on and unattended when the problem occurred, I would probably have toasted the HPs. I also suspect that it destroyed a capsule of one of my AKG 414 by raising a signal carried by the 48V (but this is questionable, I talked to a technician who told me that the microphone had electronics that would have been touched before the capsule, but I had to change the capsule and not the electronics. The microphone was almost new...)
In any case, I can tell you that long-term support is a real argument for expensive equipment: you see, I had a misadventure with a Canon 5D MK3 camera (new old stock bought recently). Canon informed me that they were no longer repairing this product, which was too old. A professional device from this range!!! This is quite unacceptable.
Conversely, I had contact with the services of Schoeps (microphones) who is very responsive and who was close to carrying out any maintenance and repair on MK4 dating from... 1982! (For a relatively affordable price, and with the care of maintaining the stereo torque pairing!!)
Like what, this aspect is important.
To be complete: I think it is not abnormal that my RME UFX has this defect and that I have also seen this same defect referenced on the web. It is from a generation where precisely all the cards bought at that time arrive at a crucial moment in their lifespan, when the capacitors begin to have a certain age (sound cards are still very stressed during their life). I am still relieved that the problem is limited to the power supply which is interchangeable, and not to deeper circuits that it would have been impossible for me to change.
Thanks for your comment !
The RME France service had offered me a support and diagnosis for an amount of around 100 euros, with possible repair on their site if possible (I think it would therefore have been necessary to add the wait, the immobilization of the card, the shipping costs, the cost of labor). The total price if it had not been returned to the German site would still have greatly exceeded the one I paid by doing it myself.
If the service had considered that it was better to send it back to Germany, the price was more than 400 euros.
I assume that this price would have been much higher in a country outside Europe.
What should be noted all the same: These cards have an extraordinary follow-up. I can't imagine much hardware that can benefit from firmware updates for so long, and support over such a long period of time. The fact that we can also find this part for repair is a very positive point.
The negative point is still that this failure was not without consequences on my equipment. If my passive monitoring had remained on and unattended when the problem occurred, I would probably have toasted the HPs. I also suspect that it destroyed a capsule of one of my AKG 414 by raising a signal carried by the 48V (but this is questionable, I talked to a technician who told me that the microphone had electronics that would have been touched before the capsule, but I had to change the capsule and not the electronics. The microphone was almost new...)
In any case, I can tell you that long-term support is a real argument for expensive equipment: you see, I had a misadventure with a Canon 5D MK3 camera (new old stock bought recently). Canon informed me that they were no longer repairing this product, which was too old. A professional device from this range!!! This is quite unacceptable.
Conversely, I had contact with the services of Schoeps (microphones) who is very responsive and who was close to carrying out any maintenance and repair on MK4 dating from... 1982! (For a relatively affordable price, and with the care of maintaining the stereo torque pairing!!)
Like what, this aspect is important.
To be complete: I think it is not abnormal that my RME UFX has this defect and that I have also seen this same defect referenced on the web. It is from a generation where precisely all the cards bought at that time arrive at a crucial moment in their lifespan, when the capacitors begin to have a certain age (sound cards are still very stressed during their life). I am still relieved that the problem is limited to the power supply which is interchangeable, and not to deeper circuits that it would have been impossible for me to change.
Thanks for your comment !
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- KVRAF
- 3822 posts since 20 Apr, 2005
Yeah, repair prices are insane these days, compared to the cost of items.
Congrats on working out how to fix it yourself and doing it. I hope it lasts many more years. I'm impressed by you doing it!
Definitely unfortunate to lose a mic, but like you say at least it wasn't worse.
Anyway, well done and good luck!
Congrats on working out how to fix it yourself and doing it. I hope it lasts many more years. I'm impressed by you doing it!
Definitely unfortunate to lose a mic, but like you say at least it wasn't worse.
Anyway, well done and good luck!