Hi !
I think that´s all theory.
If I remember right, I got my Xpander new in 1988 or 89 and most of the year, all my gear was switched on for approx . 10 hrs a day in my studio. I toured 1 or 2 times a year for approx. 2 1/2 month (one tournament) a year, so sometimes 4-5 month in a year. During this time, the gear was in the hand of my techs and in the hands of the daily changing stage hand crews. The gear went in and out of trucks and in and out of the cases, from the cold to the heat and vice versa,- and the backline was switched to on 1 hr before soundcheck started and switched off immmideatedly after show.
Until now, I never had a blown PSU or failing Xpander exept one CEM 3372. These chips seem to be the ones which go 1st.
But I had bad experiences w/ my Sequential Prophet V rev. 3.3 and the Oberheim OB-8,- the power regulators blew several times caused by spikes and/or brownouts resulting in a ~ 100Hz modulation of the audio signal during shows which destroyed the sound of all the patches in memory. The OB-8 got additional probs regarding system infos written in RAM,- the spikes shot the RAM too.
There were/are other machines being more sensitive to power spikes and brownouts as well as power condition/stability,- the PPG 2.3 p.ex.
So, the rule is: Use power conditioners and independent power lines/circuits w/ quality grounding in your rooms.
Actually these days and w/ the use of virtual gear in addition ( I use a OPX-Pro too...), I switch the old gear on if I use it and let it run this day then before I switch it off, that seems to be the best here, keeps the batterys alive, reloads the accus of my Sycologics and prevents batterys from leakage.
I also have a CEM chip version of a MKS80, MKS70, DPX-1 (x2), DX7mkIIFD, TX816, TGs, Akai Samplers, EMU stuff, D550, M1Rex, Wavestation, SG Rack, Matrix 1000, drummachines and outboard,- all is working since decades and I rarely have service situations.
It´s a good idea to keep all this alive IMO,- the computer related stuff isn´t nearly as reliable compared to the old hardware.
In deed, I sometimes look for more actual hardware instruments to replace the old ones because of the interest to get a smaller rig.
What I find in the shops is gear w/ buggy operating systems all over, non functional concepts, all promises and you wait years for the fixes. Plastic cases and wimpy connectors in addition and cheap knobs, wheels, sliders and keyboards as well.
Hi prices and a duration/reliability of 3-5 years not to mention what you´ll get if you try to get rid of it.
envia94 schrieb:
Hmm? Turning Xpander/M12 on and off several times daily in order to save the life-time
of the VFD displays may not be a good idea. By the way, how long is the envisaged life-
time of these displays?
I'm considering this because I know that electronics may be kept turned constanly ON in
many professional studios, because it is a fact that chips and other components most
often fail when being switched on or off. I don't recommend, but you can prove this by
switching your gear on and of repeatedly very many times, heh, heh.