Faulty preamp chip. Please contact your dealer.

The problem with returning it to the dealer is that it would be sold as a new unit again on ebay to someone else, hurting RMEs reputation, and hurting the buyer. I'd be more comfortable with getting a replacement from a representative directly, so this doesn't happen again to someone else.

Also, I'm concerned about the new unit not being significantly better. What if I go through all the trouble and find out it's a common RME QA problem with most interfaces? I think I should talk to someone from RME about this.

Thanks, Jeff!

Just FYI, the reseller will NOT deal with the return to RME - in fact, they already placed another returned Fireface UC, re-wrapped in the box, for sale on ebay. Just letting you know, if you don't deal with this exchange now, you will eventually, unless it's sold to a non-discerning customer.

For professional audio devices, I would expect RME to at least try to control bad units in the market! Now it makes sense why it's so hard to find a pro audio interface in good condition online, these days.

The reseller has made clear they are OK with a return, but that all the other UCs they have are from "the same lot", hinting they possibly have the same problem. Is this a possibility? Is RME's quality control done by the lot, or by the individual unit?

I bought it from them because they're selling at a decent discount, coming out to about $1000 for new units. But it's still expensive audio gear, so I want to bring that to your attention. I work with marketing teams and healthcare devices in california to improve business models and brand recognition, so I'm pretty OCD about this type of issues. Just letting you know, bad duds hurt your customer base, also hurting your brand.

Thanks!

Great, thanks! I already contacted the seller, and will try an exchange, since they still have a lot of UCs boxed up. If it's not a common issue I'll cross fingers and hope the next one is perfect! I'll let them know

I would guess not, just because it seemed an isolated issue with microphone preamp stage only.

I sent mine back for an exchange, so I'm keeping my fingers very crossed. I hate the feeling.

One bad point for RME's quality control right there, no matter what excuse they have. And seems like yours is the same way. If the one I get in return has issues too, then I'll just try to look for something else Fantastic unit besides that, tho. It's a real shame.

Comforting words! Which means I'll feel even worse if the returning unit has a problem too lol

I hope I have a similar experience, because I'm tired of looking for the reliability holy grail in audio hardware Apart from the tiny preamp issue, it was a very stable unit, with real drivers unlike Avid hardware.

I could have just ignored the noise and got an ADAT preamp and a power conditioner, but I would always feel stupid, because the UC isn't cheap, and I think I deserve to get a good one if I'm paying for it.
Kind of weird how unlucky I've been with interfaces in general

Cheers!

Hi Matthias,
I am back to the studio and I can investigate this better.
What can I do to better check it ?
thanks,
Luca

Well, I already got the replacement UC, and seems to be working great! Good luck with your Babyface.

Also, please check out the icons I designed today for the RME software (I wanted to make my dock prettier since they'll be popping up a lot when I start writing again).

Let me know your thoughts:  http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=74600