Having said that, I’m not quite clear on some of the things you said, like this:
1. The Digital Bank was as though the clock card was not inserted as every option was blank and this was on both the desk's LED screen and the external monitor --- via PC (Mackie's TT Control program) being fed from the desk via USB.
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What “clock card” are you talking about? I don’t see an optional clock card to install in the TT24 - the clock should be built-in, already, no? Or is there an additional clock card that can be installed in one of those slots? If so, why? Looks like all the clocking options that could be needed "should" already be built in...?
The manual can be found here, and this is what the clock options should look like:
https://www.fullcompass.com/common/files/10729-TT24OwnersManual.pdf
- TT24_ClockPage.jpg (Array KiB) Viewed 1011 times
So, are you saying that these options don’t appear and are blank? Doesn't look as if these (virtual) buttons are even designed to go blank...?
From how you phrased it, it sounds like you’re looking at a different mixing desk…?
2. The Analogue Bank, displayed most of its features for each of the 24 channels, but altering settings, although visable did not appear to alter anything audibly --- no EQ, effects, dynamics, etc.
While you were inside the desk, did you check the other ribbon cables as well? I know you said they’re of a much better design than in the D8B… but the issue you describe here, kinda sounds like a disconnect between the “control surface” (i.e. the knobs and buttons, etc.) and whatever component inside the TT24 has the DSP on it, that handles this kind of stuff in the (digital) audio realm…?
Or is there something like a “MIDI Control Mode” or something, that disconnects the control surface from the internal components and only outputs MIDI data to the USB port or the MIDI out - so the desk could be used a bit like the D8B in HUI mode?
I’d recommend reading the manual front to back, for starters (I won’t… I don’t have one of those desks).
3. The Returns Bank that takes as the first 8 faders all of the external analogue inputs was as for the Analogue Bank. I did not try the other features/inputs of this bank.
I don’t know what that means - I don’t know what banks exist and what the default routing is. If you’re saying that the wrong channels come into the wrong bank… was there only one way to plug that ribbon cable back in, that you said was disconnected inside the desk? Is there a possibility that you reversed the connector while re-connecting this one (like what you described had happened inside the “donated” D8B?).
Are there possibly other routing settings (like in the D8B) that could be responsible for routing the input channels to these channels on another bank?
Again, I'd recommend studying the manual before coming to conclusions.
The motorised faders on all three main banks are working correctly and the desk is passing audio as expected, BUT why the other sections/features of the desk appear not to be working I do not understand.
Do the faders alter the volume of the correct channels, or do they only “move as intended” while the desk passes audio without the faders affecting audio? If the faders DO affect audio on the correct channels, but the other controls do not, then I don’t think it’s a “MIDI/Controller Mode” setting, but probably a defect (or bad ribbon cables or other bad contacts).
But again, without knowing how that desk works "by design" and how different settings may change what the controls do, all I can really suggest is to carefully read the whole manual before making assumptions.
I am seriously starting to think that I was sold a very sick and possibly very much fiddled with desk, so I think that it is going to have to be removed and back to square 1 with the donated d8b desk, or right back to the originally donated Behringer analogue desk.
That reverted face plate on the UFX II card sure sounds like that desk was fiddled with in the stupidest ways possible. I mean, it takes a special talent to put a faceplate on upside down, and not notice that this isn’t right when installing the card. This didn't happen at the factory. No chance.
With that in mind, who knows what else the previous owner did with this desk… so, yeah… not sure what I’d do with that one if it was mine. Probably take it apart and take a very close look at everything - especially the “Pin 1” markings on all the ribbon cables and if they always match the marking on the sockets they’re plugged into, so both ends go to Pin 1 on the socket as well, and nothing is flipped around.
As for “choosing” an old Mackie desk and being surprised that there are issues… I mean... that's what these old desks are infamous for! This entire forum, and the predecessor-forum on the Mackie page had so many visitors/posters, since these desks were plagued with lots of issues from when they were new (...and at least once I heard from an ex-Mackie employee that this almost tanked Mackie as a company).
Sure, there’s also a lot of people who were lucky and where at least the D8B was working great for many productive years… but even when I mentioned to audio-people outside of this forum that I still use a D8B, I got a response akin to this multipe times: “…I used to have one of those - it was great on the rare occasions that it worked. Couldn't get rid of it fast enough while I could still get some money for it"
That's where I usually respond that I got it dirt-cheap, and like to tinker with old PCs of that era (which the D8B is... with a fancy controller attached to it), and I can have all my synths connected at the same time.
Essentially, every time I mention my D8B to someone else from the MI industry, I have to justify why I'm using that. And I think that these old Mackie desks have this kind of reputation is not exactly a secret.
I'd never recommend one of these to anybody, unless they like to tinker or somehow ended up with one and want to put it to use.
I bought a new MacBook Pro with an M3 Pro processor recently. This thing has such an abundance of CPU power, that there is absolutely no need for the 6x UAD-2 DSPs I have as part of my system, or the DSP in the D8B (not that I really used those much, anyway).
Unless where it makes sense to put effects on busses and share them between tracks (create a "common space" for multiple instruments, or "glue" tracks together etc.), I now throw even processor intensive plug-ins directly on my audio tracks. Life has gotten SO EASY with that new computer... but my DAW-projects definitely look a lot more messy now, hahaha... Good that nobody sees that mess, when listening to the songs created with that setup
So, the next time my D8B acts up, it's gone - but it's been working reliably for the past year or so (probably also because I rarely even turn it on and just work "in the box" most of the time).
It is times like this when I really wish that there was someone in this country who was an expert on the desks that I could call on to sit beside me and work out if it is me or the desks that are faulty --- my wife woud say it is definitely me !!!!!!!
I often feel this way, when a DAW feature doesn't work the way I imagine it should, and wish I could ask the designer of this, directly. Then, after spending some time with it, it's usually mostly me who expected this to work differently from how it was designed, and that - had I had the chance to ask the question directly - the software engineer would likely just have shaken his head and told me to read the manual, hahaha
Just like in real-life, the learning process never ends... and while I tend to be quick to point the finger everywhere else than to myself at first, I have to admit that in the end, it was often ME who just didn't understand something right, until I spent the time to read up on it... or bought something I shouldn't have, because I didn't inform myself sufficiently what I'm getting myself into. (e.g. a Yamaha DSP-Factory card with 2x ADAT extensions I bought in the 90ies that never worked with 16-ADAT channels in Logic, or the Emagic Audiowerk card that I bought because an "ADAT daughterboard" was promised, but then never released). I can only blame myself for these things.
Luckily, my wife doesn't give me much grief about that stuff... but probably because I'm paying all the bills... so, it's also up to me how I "waste" the little money I make, haha
Anyway - best of luck with that TT24. I'm afraid I won't be much help going forward, since I just don't really know that desk AT ALL.
(...and none of this was meant to imply that there isn't a genuine issue with that TT24. Just sharing that I often find myself with the same sort of wish - having an expert on the topic right by my side to answer questions while they come up. Most of the time, I find the answer myself when taking the time to figure things out... or how something "should" work and then see where the breakdown is and fix it.)
