H9000 USB Failure?

[Esmartin007]

I recently purchased a H9000 used off Reverb last month. The prior owner said it was essentially a new unit since his prior one was recently replaced by Eventide after the front USB-A ports failed on his first unit. The fact that the factory replaced an entire unit under a warranty gave me comfort regarding Eventide’s support for their products too. It looked and smelled new.

It’s an excellent sounding unit and I’ve enjoyed incorporating it into my work. I use it for mockups of film music – basically as a four bus outboard fx unit via USB. Probably an expensive way to add shimmer to my tracks but the interface suits my process since I need to work fast. I’m likely not using it to its full potential but still it is lots of fun and makes dialing in beautiful sounds much quicker.

However, this week I was unable to access the unit via USB and now the factory is telling me to send it in to determine the fault and get it repaired. The $375 fee isn’t a big deal but I guess I’m concerned that perhaps the new platform is not as robust as prior versions. Are these going to be consistent points fo failure that should concern me? Has anyone else had a similar problem with their H9000 requiring a factory repair so soon after purchase? I don’t think I’ve ever had a hardware failure like this so soon after acquisition and I’ve had my share of gear.

Thoughts please.

ESM

 

[stevepretty]

I love my H9000, but also had to send it back because of a problem with the USB audio connection. I now avoid that part of the unit as I’ve found it a bit problematic (plus there’s no way on the unit itself to use mic pres or even a headphone out), and don’t want the same issues.

Amazing piece of gear with some very frustrating flaws. I so wish they would make an expansion card with some more analog IO, and would sort out some of these USB/clocking issues.

Anyway, good luck with it. It’s super powerful.

[Esmartin007]

Does that mean your unit’s USB failed too? If so… yikes. I guess I expected a more robust platform. Yes, I agree it is super powerful. Lots of fun. Like a Rolls, fun but high maintenance. Lol. Plugins are getting more attractive however.

[tbskoglund]

Sorry that this has happened to your unit. I manage all of the H9000 support, and I have only ever seen a very small amount of this USB failure issue. I am confident that there won’t be many other users that will comment on this thread with the same issue because it is a very rare occurrence.

We are committed to offering the best support we can for the H9000 and will work to get your unit fixed ASAP. Thanks for your patience.

[Esmartin007]

It looks like USB failure is something that at least happens with these units. However infrequently. Has a root cause been determined?

The reason I ask is because if there are things we can do as end users to minimize failure it would be good to know.

For example, I use my H9k in a mobile rig and so the rear USB is constantly getting plugged/unplugged as locations change. I can easily purchase a hub to minimize the use cycles on the port if the physical port is the failure point. If its on the motherboard chipset and say there’s just a few floating around as a “bad batch” I’m fine with that too once things get repaired. The $375 repair cost is annoying and the downtime is a pain too but I also understand that’s often the cost of entry with high end gear.

I’m just trying to have my expectations set one way or another.

 

 

[tbskoglund]

Sorry, I don’t have the information for what the root cause is, or if the other users issue is the same as yours. We can provide some more information via the support ticket if you like.

I would not suggest that there is any reason why you should limit the use of the physical USB port.

[Puppeteer]

My top USB port on the front panel hasn’t worked since I got the unit, but I’m in Perth, Western Australia, and getting it sorted seems a bit impossible.

[pinballmagnetic]

I’m trying to connect my H9000 to my Mac using USB, but I can’t seem to get it to show up in the Audio MIDI Setup. I’ve gone through all the typical troubleshooting steps and still no luck.

Is there any way to test if the USB connector might have a hardware issue? It’s been a frustrating ordeal since I was planning to use the H9000 as the centerpiece of my studio setup via USB, and it’s just not cooperating.

 

[Esmartin007]

Contact Eventide Support with this issue, they respond very fast and are helpful.

For my unit there was a procedure explained to open the unit to determine if that USB port had failed. There’s a lighting indicator on the motherboard. Open up a ticket with Eventide and they will get right with you on checking this out.

All this said, I’m concerned that just in a few weeks we have at least 3-4 people with USB issues for their unit. I would speculate that there aren’t more than few thousand H9Ks out in the wild. If so that’s a concerning fail rate. This is professional/boutique equipment so these things can happen and everyone here should be patient with Eventide. I just would like to understand the root cause and the solution to set my expectations. Even with these issues, I would buy another unit.

[tbskoglund]

Yes, please email support@eventideaudio.com and I can help you directly to troubleshoot the issue.

[Puppeteer]

Make sure you are plugged into the square USB port on the back under Expansion B, not the front or the small USB ports on the back.  Only the one under Expansion B works for USB audio and midi

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