Three weeks ago my Aardsync seized to work. I have noticed that right before that the power led started to blink. So I powered down and when I turned it back on the unit was dead.

One of the things that I tried to troubleshoot was to check on the external transformer. I measured it's output and it read 16.5V. It should be only 12V.

So I suspect that this (made in china) wall-wart smoked my beloved Aardsync.

Now, I called Sweetwater if they could be of any assistance, since I bought it from them 3 years ago.

The service dept. can't help me - and my sales engineer (Jason Koons) who I work with for many years told me that Aardvark is gone, but there is a new company called Antelope, and those are the same people as Aadwark. And as you can see on their website they're coming out with some good looking toys as well. http://antelopeaudio.com/

I called them to seek some advice how to have my Aardsync fixed, and so far no response.

It's seems to be a little fishy circumstance that Aardwark disappeared without any trace or link to a potential service help or warranty issues. And at the same time those now Antelope people brag about introducing the Aardsync WC generator some years ago and therefore setting up a new standard in a digital audio.

BTW, Antelope should be at the AES show this weekend. I'll try to go there to have a little talk with them. I hope I'll get some answers. Otherwise I'll be warning all potential Antelope customers as I'll go. Too bad - they seems to do a great engineering job. But as far as their commitment to users goes - somewhat questionable in my opinion.


I'll appreciate any help, ideas or comments.

Josef.

kecinzer@comcast.net

Sorry to hear that dude, I'm not using my aardsyncII and would be willing to sell it to you if you can't find a way to get it fixed.

Sorry to hear that dude, I'm not using my aardsyncII and would be willing to sell it to you if you can't find a way to get it fixed.

Joe, I feel your pain. But I think you may be devoting too much time and effort to this. I doubt your wall wart had anything to do with the failure you describe. Manufacturers that rely on wall warts know how widely wart outputs can vary; that's why the first component that the power goes to inside your unit (or any unit that uses a wart) is a voltage regulator that brings it back down to 9v or 12v or whatever the unit needs.

Regulators are power transistors that very rarely fail. They are specifically designed to take 4x-5x of their rated output as input. You'd have to blast at least 60v into a 12v regulator to fry it. I've been repairing electronic equipment for 25 years and I've never seen a regulator fail. Plenty of smoked resistors and capacitors, but never a regulator. More likely, it's a fuse, loose connection or an actual failure of a different component.

And on top of all that, you got 3 years use out of it before it failed. That's way beyond any expectation of a warranty repair.

Three years without malfunction is not the greatest run but not uncommon with todays digital gear. Heck, I'm thankful when it's not obsolete after three years.

I'm sure that aardvark honored all of their warranty agreements after closing shop (it's the law).

I see nothing fishy about a designer (or even the ceo) starting a new company after the one he/she worked for had the misfortune of going under.

Some wall xfrmrs will put out more than their specified output when measured without a load on them, which may be the case with yours.


Not to be harsh, Josef, but I think folks would only think you a fool if you go on that sort of rant on the AES floor.

Find a good tech to fix it.

I agree with Mark. A 12 volt un-regulated wall wart should read close to 16 volts. In fact, if you look inside you should see a regulator with 3 legs an a heat sink on it. It will have a number like 78XX where XX is the voltage. 5, 12 or even 15 could be a number. Look for that voltage on one of the legs (one leg is the input, one ground and the other the output). You might find a burnt resister or diode or a open fuse. If it's a power issue, that might be the easiest thing to fix.

My God, look at Igor Levin's (the president of Antelope) head.

Jesus H. Christ, what a disaster.

Thank you for your ideas -

Jeremy, why don't you use your aardsync? This addition to my rig had a remarkably positive impact on my overall sound. But if I can't fix this one I'll probably get the Big Ben which I just installed in my friend's studio. I would get yours if the price would be close to the cost of the repair.

Tim I agree with you about the AES Show. Maybe I should get an Antelope product and start praying.

And yes Kelly - I just realize that beside his WC adventures he is actually that guy from the Sesame Street. You know ... Burt or whatever is his name - that buddy of Ernie or something. I'll know for sure when / if I'll get a chance to talk to him.

Damn!!! I needed that laugh. I nearly fell outta my chair laughing!!! He's truly blessed with moheaditus.

He looks like an Aardvark with a good dose of Human genes.