Hello, how could i tell if i had a broken mic… I know it is fairly obvious ‘it doesn’t work’… I mean it does work, but it is so quiet i can barely record anything audible to tape or sampler.
That is with the mic pre-amp set to max and the drive settings maxed too… As you can guess - the noise floor is fairly impressive.
I saw the replacement in/out board on iFixit and am considering picking one up, but wanted to find out how other users mic’s perform first to see if mine is shot or if that is the way it is meant to be.
( i remember a few early updates back that the settings in the mic menu went up to +40! … It worked real good then - i wonder why it changed? )
You’ve both had multiple microphone failures - Have you had to purchase multiple boards from iFixit, or once you’ve purchased one board, have you made a warranty claim through iFixit for subsequent replacement boards?
Does anyone know if the I/O board has been redesigned at any point? Specifically, is the the iFixit replacement board any less likely to fail eventually than the original stock board?
Bought my OP-1 recently, second-hand, with a bum internal mic (seller was up-front about it, and I got a fair price accordingly), so I’m just trying to figure out if it’s worthwhile to replace it eventually with a new board. Or if it makes more sense to just keep using an external mic.
@MrJoshua - the first two repairs were done by TE and they replaced the IO. The third one I did manually. But in got the board directly from TE and not ifixit so no warranty I assume. Current board os working fine.
@pricklyrobot one time when the mic failed it caused the speaker to not work. A new IO cured my speaker problem. I no longer use the internal mic for recording out of fear of damaging the IO. My USB also stopped working once. I only use the internal mic for l f o elements etc... so I'm saying you should replace it for fear of damaging other things.
I replaced my board with the one from iFixit. It worked out great eventually, but a word of caution, even with the special toolkit that I also bought from iFixit to pry my OP-1 open, it was a bitch to get it open. and I marred the heck out of the back of my synth. So, yes it worked, but if I had to do it again, I might have just sent it back to TE instead of the headache I had. I wasn’t wanting to go without my OP-1 long enough to send it off though:)
Has anyone diagnosed what the problem is, generally, with the original I/O board mics?
Is it an component issue (i.e. just a bad batch of something), or a mechanical issue (i.e. something that works loose with plugging/unplugging cables over time, and that—potentially—could be corrected with additional strain-relief somewhere on the board)?
It is still not clear if the mic itself (which is a tiny IC) could be responsible for a percentage of the failures. What is clear, however, is that the connectors used for the line in/out are prone to a mechanical issue that causes a bad electrical contact on the so called “return line” (the one that feeds the output signal back into the internal speaker and the input pre-amp into the internal mic). When that happens, it is like a plug is permanently inserted into the connector, causing the OP-1 to disable the internal speaker or mic.
Ah, okay. That clears some things up. Thanks, punji.
Probably just stick to using my little Zoom recorder as an external sampling mic for now. Maybe pick up a little lav mic at some point, if something more compact seems handier.
I’m pretty sure that on mine there was nothing wrong with the jacks, and that it was the mic that had failed, the particular part has been discontinued by the manufacturer so perhaps they were prone to failure (pure speculation) I think it may be to do with debris getting inside the actual mic, possibly from manufacture as mine are always kept in a case when not in use. Later revisions of the OP1 have mic protection rubber in place, one of mine has it and the other (older) one does not.
If you use an external mic bear in mind that the OP1 does not have “plug in power” so those type of mic will not work.
Its not hard at all - just take your time. There is a step by step guide on the iFixit site that is nice and clear.
Flip off the back plate, , gently prize off the connector cable/ribbon, undo 3 tiny screws, then lift out the board - it takes a little wiggling as its a very neat fit… Pop in the new board then retrace your steps when taking the old one out.
Just replaced connector kit within 5 mins of receiving it in the post from Germany (I'm in Scotland). It really is straightforward and now got my mic back, yeah!
Just wondering if it is worth investing in another board while they are still in stock. What do you guys think?