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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: ehren on April 29, 2005, 03:08:14 AM

Title: jb3 optical jack problem
Post by: ehren on April 29, 2005, 03:08:14 AM
Hello,

I just got a Jb3 off of ebay and it seems as though the optical jack is screwed up. I get intermittent digi noise and drop outs if you move the cable in the right way. I've tried two different cables, one cheapo and one monster, and the monster is much worse. It's the kind of situation where if taped down it would be fine but that kind of bothers me. Do you think an electronics shop could fix that pretty easy? Also the screen has a very thin blank line that runs across the screen. I konw I've seen replacement screens for cheap, is this an easy fix? Any tech gurus want to help me out? This is my first move from DAT and so far I'm not impressed. All other functions seem to work great. Any thoughts?

Title: Re: jb3 optical jack problem
Post by: Brian Skalinder on April 29, 2005, 03:22:20 AM
I vaguely recall some people re-soldering their optical connections to the board, maybe with mixed results.  Screens seem fairly easily replaceable, but require very gentle hands.  Both topics have been covered a bit in the past, try a Search to see if you find anything.

What condition did the EBay seller claim before you completed the transaction?  Both of those are problems that IMO should be noted pre-sale, and if they misrepresented the JB3s condition, I'd get a refund and buy one direct from Creative or from someone here who's (probably) more trustworth.
Title: Re: jb3 optical jack problem
Post by: JackoRoses on April 29, 2005, 06:37:41 AM
hrm, I noticed more clicks on a show I recorded this past weekend.
I did 2 bands earlier and it sounds ok, then the last band I started to get some clicks.
I wonder if my jack is going bad as well ...
Title: Re: jb3 optical jack problem
Post by: bhadella on April 29, 2005, 06:42:26 AM
hrm, I noticed more clicks on a show I recorded this past weekend.
I did 2 bands earlier and it sounds ok, then the last band I started to get some clicks.
I wonder if my jack is going bad as well ...

Make sure you consistently clean off that hard drive.  I'd used to get clicks if I didn't routinely clean up the hard drive.
Title: Re: jb3 optical jack problem
Post by: Brian Skalinder on April 29, 2005, 09:49:00 AM
hrm, I noticed more clicks on a show I recorded this past weekend.
I did 2 bands earlier and it sounds ok, then the last band I started to get some clicks.
I wonder if my jack is going bad as well ...

Do what bhadella suggested, then also [1] try a different, known-good optical cable, [2] ensure your cable is seating properly within the JB3 jack - some cables require a mod to the casing around the jack so the cable seats properly (link in the JB3 FAQ).
Title: Re: jb3 optical jack problem
Post by: JackoRoses on April 29, 2005, 10:13:23 AM
hrm, I noticed more clicks on a show I recorded this past weekend.
I did 2 bands earlier and it sounds ok, then the last band I started to get some clicks.
I wonder if my jack is going bad as well ...

Make sure you consistently clean off that hard drive.  I'd used to get clicks if I didn't routinely clean up the hard drive.
Well I did not reformat the drive, yet the drive was empty when I started saturday,
I recorded about 4 gbs in all so..
Maybe I do need to reformat after every outing.
Usually I have been selecting the tracks and deleteing one by one..
Especially if doing a festival.
Title: Re: jb3 optical jack problem
Post by: JackoRoses on April 29, 2005, 10:21:21 AM
hrm, I noticed more clicks on a show I recorded this past weekend.
I did 2 bands earlier and it sounds ok, then the last band I started to get some clicks.
I wonder if my jack is going bad as well ...

Do what bhadella suggested, then also [1] try a different, known-good optical cable, [2] ensure your cable is seating properly within the JB3 jack - some cables require a mod to the casing around the jack so the cable seats properly (link in the JB3 FAQ).
Brian if the clicks were more prevalent through every recording, I would blame the cable.
At this point I do not blame the cable at all. If anything I may contribute to a click or
two by opening and closing the lid to the bag and it hitting the cable.
But on the one set I pretty much left the bag alone, so I don't even believe
bumping the cable is causing the clicks.
I am leaning towards the drive as stated and maybe the jack..
Title: Re: jb3 optical jack problem
Post by: F.O.Bean on April 30, 2005, 01:25:33 PM
jackorose, i bet its a defrag problem, do a,disccleanup and a format and see what happens
Title: Re: jb3 optical jack problem
Post by: JackoRoses on May 01, 2005, 11:01:39 AM
jackorose, i bet its a defrag problem, do a,disccleanup and a format and see what happens
I did I have about 6 hrs + of music to listen through and see if I picked up any more ..
Title: Re: jb3 optical jack problem
Post by: Diggin on May 01, 2005, 10:50:36 PM
My old one used to have that problem, it was caused by a bad connection between the cable > input > board.  I wasn't getting a clean connection from my optical cable because it was loose on the board of the JB3.  after resoldering it the problem went away until it came loose again.  I then did break my input off yet again but I bought another one before just as a backup and haven't repair the other one and have been using it as a mp3/file store player
Title: Re: jb3 optical jack problem
Post by: ehren on May 02, 2005, 10:42:14 PM
I sent it back and got a refund. Everything about the jb3 seems great except for that connection. As I put my rig back together the data storage end of things is becoming more and more complicated. The new m-audio box seems perfect, but it's not out. I don't really want to go back to dat for all the obvious reasons. I'm looking for another jb3 but not really finding anything. The other option is to go with something like an fr2, but that is a lot of cash when all said and done.