My usb port on my A6 just broke last night. The orange middle piece came right off in the usb cable. My first reaction was “oh shit”, and quickly after that I was thinking "how could this be, as I have had it about 18 months?’ I would have not expected this so early in the Audio 6’s life. So my first question is: I am out of the NI Warranty period right? I could not find any info on their warranty in my Scratch Pro 2 book. Have not written NI yet, but curious as to their reaction or solution to this would be.
Next question to you as the DJTT community is what should I do: 1)try to get the usb port inside the interface replaced as I have heard it is possible, 2)buy a used A6 interface, or 3)buy a new interface? I need another one asap as I use it every weekend.
Fair warning to others: though mine was one of the first A6 boxes made, I cannot imagine they have changed the usb port assembly much if at all. I usually would connect/disconnect the usb cable from the box 3 or 4 times a week between practice at home and set up at the bar. Thinking of leaving it connected more often now when I get a new one or have the part replaced. Anyone else leave their cable connected to the A6 interface often? Thanks for your help people.
Thanks for the recommendations so far. I just emailed NI about my problem, but with the Christmas holiday, I do not expect to hear back from them till at least Wednesday. Too bad they are known for not having the greatest response time (even w/o the holiday), but maybe I’ll be surprised.
I am tempted to have a local computer/electronics store just switch out the usb connector on the Audio 6 board, but I’ll wait until hopefully hearing something from NI. It seems disassembly of the interface is not the easiest.
Does anyone know how long the warranty is on the Audio 6 is though? I’ve read 1 yr and also 2 yrs too. And I cannot find anything official from NI.
This kind of thing is semi-common on the s4 if you aren’t careful. For that reason I leave my S4-side usb plugged in as much as possible and just unplug the cord from computer to transport it because I don’t want it to break
Just wanted to post a follow up to my original post with the outcome/results as it may help one of you in the future.
I did what user keeb suggested and just went ahead and called NI after not hearing from them for a week after starting a ticket through email. The guy helped me out right away in emailing me info that they needed from me in order to send me prepaid postage to get my Audio 6 fixed. Unfortunately I was emailing with them this info over the holidays or I know things would have been faster.
I ended up shipping my A6 off on Thurs the 3rd of Jan. The guy at NI said normal turnaround time was about 2-3 weeks. I received a new A6 just last Fri. the 18th, so I was pleased. It takes 4 days to get to PSSI repair in TX from where I live and another 4 days to get back so they basically only had it 2 business days to make a decision. Very happy in the response time there.
The warranty period I learned on this product is 2 years (as I think it is for most NI hardware). Thankfully the Guitar Center where I bought it was able to pull up their records and email me a copy of the receipt which NI needs for warranty purposes. NI or PSSI even sent another usb cable with the soundcard too. I plugged everything in and connection was flawless - worked like the old one did when it was new. I think I’ll try and unplug this about half as much as I did with the first one, hoping to preserve that part of the soundcard.
So from my lesson learned, if I happen to have another problem with Traktor that I cannot find an answer to on forums, I’ll email first to open a ticket and then probably call 1 or 2 days later. NI email support would get a D from me, but the phone support is definitely an A. Thanks to all those that offered advice.
Glad it got all sorted. I have an audio 6 also, i tend to leave everything plugged in unless transporting so will keep an eye on the usb plug on my s/c.
