Fixing this soundcard wasn't easy!

[@MM-vs2et]

The joy of a repairman rewarded by their work is infectious. As an aspiring electronics repairman who's stuck in a dead-end job, I hope to one day be half as good as you Tony. Magical work.

[@tony359]

I know that feeling very well - I hope you can succeed in your dreams! Thanks for watching!

[@MM-vs2et]

@@tony359 No, thank you Tony. Your channel has been an invaluable resource for amateurs like me. Also been entertaining. Your discipline is enviable. I would've thrown in the towel after the USB port lmao.

[@r3not5]

Indeed infectious. I was almost as happy as he was when he finally got the USB working.

[@tony359]

ahahah thank you! :)

[@g4z-kb7ct]

New QFN chips that have likely been sitting around for 10+ years tend to not stick unless you tin the pads under the chip first. So add flux and solder and tin the pads then when you hot air the chip it will automatically stick and all pads will be soldered. Also, you made the right call by wicking away most of the solder on the middle ground pad. Too much solder can squeeze out and create shorts on the outer pads which would be bad, most likely resulting in having to remove the chip and start over.

[@tony359]

Thank you! Many have suggested the same! I shall do that next time! And good to hear that my decision to remove some of that solder was a good idea :)

[@alelondon23]

apparently Louis Rossman is not the only one knowing how to solder tiny ICs!

[@g4z-kb7ct]

@@alelondon23 Louis is actually not that good. Yeah to the below-average noob he looks like a god but vs a pro electronic engineer he's pretty average. I've publicly documented smd soldering repairs 10X harder than anything he's done. Look them up you might learn something lol

[@alelondon23]

@@g4z-kb7ct I'd love to. link?

[@InTimeTraveller]

@@tony359 imho (and just for reference I'm a test engineer for a PCB assembly company so a lot of times I have to deal with soldering defects lol :P), you could have even removed all of the solder and still have gotten away with it. It's mostly used as a heatsink/ground pad and even the small amount of solder left there would have still made a good connection and besides it's a sound card, fairly low USB data transfer rate so the chip won't get hot. The most important thing with soldering QFNs is for them to lie absolutely flat on the PCB surface. Even minor level imbalances are annoying af to deal with. You should also have removed the capacitor from the side so that you could have better accessibility. It's a bulk decoupling capacitor, even if you ripped the pads you could still hack it back together and it would have worked :P

[@simontay4851]

28:11 I had a moment like that when i replaced the HDMI connector on a PS4. Some of the pads were broken off. I spent hours with tiny strands of copper wire to repair the traces and it looked ugly. I was jumping up and down in excitement, shouting: "YES YES YES! It works! YES!" when it finally worked. I couldn't believe it. It was such a relief and I was so happy.

[@simontay4851]

28:44 That smile on your face says it all.

[@tony359]

I know the feeling! Those pads are a pain! I replaced one on the PS3 but it was still a through hole!

[@Cadmeus]

Your thought process troubleshooting was so great to learn from, thank you for keeping it in the video. And what a satisfying repair! I hope Focusrite see it and realise how important it is to share schematics and firmware versions for their community.

[@tony359]

Well, from their point of view it’s one less 2i2 sold so I wouldn’t hold my breath 😂 Thanks for watching!

[@pepealexandre]

Great job with the repair, and even a greater job with the video editing, multimeter/oscilloscope shots, schematics and overall description of the whole process. Always a pleasure and very informative.

[@tony359]

Thank you so much, it means a lot to me! The editing takes soooooo long! :D

[@timpullen4941]

Ciao Tony. I was the service manager for Technics musical instruments for the entire life cycle of Technics. I love the way you explain what you are doing. It's not easy for one to make a living repairing digital circuitry. Customers have no idea that we work at microscopic level. I am an Italian national and your English is really brilliant. I heard the Italian long eeee sound where your pronunciation of the word ' this ' (singular) sounds exactly like ' these ' (plural). If you listen to an English speaker you will hear the word ' this ' sound a very short I sound with a long S thîssss and ' these' sounds like theeez.

[@tony359]

Thanks for your comment, for watching and for your kind words! My brain has a limited processing power, if I focus I think I can say "this" and "these" properly but if 'm doing three more things... well the language centre goes into default mode and then my Italian re-surfaces a bit! :) At least I don't say "theess-e" :) (well, I hope I don't at least!)

[@BloodyClash]

yes. you can clearly hear the italian accent. but (at least to me) it's rather charming (at least much better than german accent in english (i am german)) 😁

[@tony359]

@@BloodyClash danke schön!

[@ejstacey]

Great work! Your frustration and joy were both palpable. I can't imagine working on something so tiny with that USB chip. Well done!

[@tony359]

Thank you! Yes, it was kind of scary to work on something so small! Thankfully I have a microscope!

[@LaLaLand.Germany]

The "YES" moment was worth it. A little luck together with know what´ya do can work out. Congrats and a happy new year wishes

[@tony359]

Thank you, happy new year to you too!

[@chainq68k]

That 486dx2/66 casually laying on the bench. Anyway, great repair. Random Italian "cursing" when something unexpected happen is just icing on the cake. :)

[@tony359]

ahah - but I did not curse! :D That 486 was passing by, waiting for its motherboard to be fixed (coming soon when I get new tweezers!) Thanks for watching!

[@45KevinR]

Good eye. Took me ages to find it. Ah, I remember when they were the new frontier.

[@MrAlFuture]

What a great, real-life video. I've always been a bit scared of SMT hand soldering and you've shown that I don't need to be. Thank you!

[@tony359]

Through Hole is always simpler! But nice to have a challenge every now and then! Thanks for watching!

[@qubei]

I have the same model device and I suspect it has the exact same problem. It's been sitting in a box for at least a year, I never tried fixing it, and somehow the algorithm knew to recommend this video. I'm not so confident with my SMD soldering but I'll have to try fixing it now

[@tony359]

Google knows :) Good luck, I hope you can bring it back!

[@JV-wl6ex]

Great video! Thank you for keeping your experience truthful and showing that anyone can regroup and conquer unexpected PCB issues within. Some creators will go out of their way to hide any scope footage that shows that they have little to no experience working with. People need to shown what it looks like to jump in feet first and not be worried about being embarrassed while trying. Whoever would have a beef with such logic is probably the same person that would edit their own video to not show that they’re a noob at something. I’ve done quite a few projects like this one but I’ve never attempted to record it. In my experiences I’ve seen my work improve on the soldering as well as the finished product. Some of my first projects looked rather rough at the end. The biggest reward is seeing your work actually work like it was designed to. If I could clean up my rework aesthetics that is my goal to make. Thanks again!

[@tony359]

Thank you for your kind words, I do appreciate that! In terms of improvements, when I started with a soldering iron - maaany years ago - I could not solder without burning each and every component! :) The fun is in the journey! :)

[@NewRetroRepair]

Love your repair videos Tony, this one was a fun watch. Congrats on keeping the audio card out of land fill and hopefully saving some money too!

[@tony359]

Thank you!

[@thealphageek1975]

This was great! I'm secretly happy you didn't get this to work on the first attempt...proving you are human like the rest of us lol! I'm often working on vintage audio gear from the 1970s... really have to be careful with those solder pads as the bond between the board and the pad itself will fail even if you look at them funny. It was very rewarding to see this device come back to life. I really liked the segment where you pulled the firmware chip to validate. Fantastic as always!

[@tony359]

thank you for your kind words! Yes, it was that good balance between "easy" and "challenging"! Just the socket would have been boring :) Thanks for watching!

[@samuraidriver4x4]

Great diagnostic work as per usual. You might want to give solderpaste a go instead of reapplying solder to the pads. That way you can skip soldering pin for pin. Clean the pads, apply a small amount of solderpaste, put the chip in place and blast it with hot air.

[@tony359]

I have some, I thought that solder was a bit easier for my first time. Who knows. I hope I can practice again soon! Thanks for watching!

[@samuraidriver4x4]

@@tony359after some practice its alot easier. Just get some of the cheapest chips you can find in the package you want to practice and some practice pcb's. Recently got myself a bunch of 4 layer pcb's with big internal ground planes made just to practice soldering VQFN packages for an upcoming project.

[@johng.]

Good investigation, analysis, and fix! This reminds me of what my team and I were trying to do when we were setting up a streaming system during 2020/COVID. While we were pretty good at computers, we were still trying to figure out how to spell "audio-visual", and all the unfamiliar hardware bits and pieces to bring sound and picture together for a decent stream. And just like you did here, it all eventually came together and it just worked! Great job, Tony. I really enjoy your presentations - keep them coming 👍😁

[@tony359]

Thank you for your kind words and for watching!

[@venjsystems]

really great video. i love that you don't waffle on unnecessarily, it's all killer, no filler.

[@tony359]

Thank you, I appreciate the feedback!

[@Doyle69]

I need to replace one of these on my Macbook pro and couldnt find a video for a quick tutorial to make sure was doing it best way possible, amazing video thank you! I never thought about soundcards using same USB IC controller.

[@tony359]

oh yes, I wouldn't expect that either! Good luck with the repair and thank you for watching!

[@Warconstruct]

Great job, Tony. Expert troubleshooting and repair. I've learned quite a bit from this video. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@tony359]

You're very welcome - thanks for watching!

[@christophklein9724]

Loved how you described in detail, what tool you use for what purpose in your hunt for the issue. Made it even more fun for me to follow along. Thank you!

[@tony359]

Thank you for your kind words, very much appreciated!

[@MikkoRantalainen]

Great work! Replacing this kind of devices has no monetary value (a working unit should go for around 30-40 USD second hand) but fixing any devices instead of buying a new device is always good for the environment.

[@tony359]

Absolutely - thought a 2i2 here in the UK would sell for £60-70 ($82) so this was actually a good thing :) Thanks for watching!

[@GDScriptDude]

Man, that soldering looked challenging. Great that you got it working.

[@tony359]

It's smaller than small! :D Thank you for watching!

[@MrJvlake]

I had the 2i4 card and the same usb ic failed a few weeks after purchase, fixed under warranty. Well done with the repair.

[@tony359]

Very interesting - you're not the first to report a similar issue, it looks like it's a fragile IC or maybe the circuit design is not the best! Thank you!

[@DelticEngine]

Many thanks for posting this video! I have a Focusrite 2i2 with the exact same problem. I think go straight to replacing the USB intercafe chip. I have a 2i4 on which I replaced the USB port and that just worked fine so I guess I got lucky. I also have an M-audio interface, but those are known for the power supply chip going bad and cost more than the device is worth when I last looked so it's still an expensive doorstop at the moment. However, watching your video has given me hope that I may be able to repair at least one of them.

[@tony359]

Amazing, hopefully you can fix it! Thanks for watching!

[@JehuMcSpooran]

Thanks for your work. It really gives a great insight on the diagnostic method. A lot of devices I find quite daunting so a logical, methodical way of hunting down the problem is greatly appreciated.

[@tony359]

You're very welcome and thank you!

[@alan-leung]

Nice to see it works! Thank you for your excellent demo on how to troubleshoot and fix a bad electronics.

[@tony359]

My pleasure, thanks for watching!

[@alphaomega8784]

So cute when you finally repaired it, we can feel the joy xd

[@tony359]

eheh thank you! I do get carried away at times! Thanks for watching!

[@gwbenites]

Congratulations my man. I was feeling your frustration, as my skills (or lack of) are about the same level as yours!😁😁

[@tony359]

Ahaha, yes! Thank you. So cool when it starts working!

[@hydorah]

That poor abused little red box! Well done for saving it!

[@tony359]

Thank you!

[@subculture-records]

You must have the patience of Angels to repair this soundcard. I would have ditched it and purchased a new one. It just goes to show, a little tenacity goes a long way. Great video.

[@tony359]

eheh - I like repairing things! On top of that, I was looking for a sound interface like this so it's a win-win situation! Thank you for watching!

[@VJ-lu2he]

Hey Tony! happy to see that you repaired your USB soundcard! To be honest I somehow stumbled upon this video and I am lucky I did, because I am troubleshooting a very similar problem with a DJ controller (Pioneer DDJ-SR) I bought but barely used until it started acting up intermittently until one day it said good bye forever! I ordered 2-3 TUSB3200AC IC's from aliexpress and tried this very procedure by replacing it but that just didn't worked, I then decided to give up on it and sent it over to a professional workshop so the guy there of course said I did a very terrible job soldering it (it wasn't that bad in my fair opinion, I made sure all contacts are solid and there are no bridges, also tested in continuity) so he fixed that but what he also did is he removed the inductor on the data lines and bridged the lines directly with a wire :D not sure what he was trying to do there but I am sure that inductor plays a role since I can see the same board design here too! Sadly I noticed that late since he came back with a negative and I just put it at rest until after some time I decided to have another look, but by then I assumed that inductor is long gone. Anyway, I've got more tools over the years, got better at soldering, I do lack an oscilloscope and that's why I kind of let it rest in the corner, but I might just go and replace couple of stuff, order another batch of those USB IC's and that inductor and see how that goes. Cheers!

[@tony359]

I am no an expert at electronics but those inductors are there to filter out very high frequencies (MegaHertz) in both directions. I suspect the inductor was open, they didn't have it and they just bridged it. For a test it works. For a professional repair... :) I think you can see those inductors on HDMI ports too, same reason I guess. Anything that has a cable coming can be an antenna/aerial! :) Thanks for watching and for commenting!

[@VJ-lu2he]

@@tony359 you are absolutely right! I didn't factored in that a cable can act as an antenna and cause EMI especially in data lines, great thinking! If one day I fix this I will come back to this post to celebrate the result! :)

[@Venca182]

Very nice video, your commentary in it and the workflow :) i feel like it's 7 a.m. again today and i'm sitting at my desk at work :D

[@tony359]

I'd hope you felt like it's 9am on a Sunday morning but maybe next time! :) Thanks for watching!

[@giova___0232]

Finalmente qualche italiano che porta video del genere fatti con passione

[@tony359]

Ti ringrazio!

[@danblankenship5744]

nice troubleshooting methodology. it appears all you need is a micro-soldering station. knowledge and tools are the key.

[@tony359]

Thanks - meanwhile I purchased a 210 handle for my JBC. Now I need some more tips :)

[@deansmith6924]

Another great video and repair. New old stock parts having older solder sometimes don’t work well with hot air. I have found adding some fresh solder and flux does wonders. Keep up the good work and I look forward to the next one.

[@tony359]

Others also mentioned, definitely something I'll keep in mind, thanks!

[@N0Negatives]

I had a similar/opposite issue. My MOTU interface was having issues with the 3.3v overheating and dropping out. After a number attempts to fix it I finally gave up on it. It was a firewire interface anyway, so not a total loss. I am using a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 now, love it.

[@tony359]

Interesting! I used to have a MOTU Traveler which was a Firewire only interface. My 4Pre is FW and USB, really like it. But I believe it's a different price point than the Focusrite, which is a nice one too! Thanks for watching!

[@sokoloft3]

Fantastic. Great work. I've worked on mice and keyboard for people in the past. The human slime factor is always gnarly with peripherals.

[@tony359]

OMG, I can just imagine!

[@oleksiilisovyi3832]

Such a great moment looking at you seenig thing started work again after those hopeless tries! Good job! For me making my first steps in soldering (just start recently) is very appealing to see such learning process not that far awai AKA Luise R. level!

[@tony359]

Amazing, I'm sure you'll be a pro soon! Thanks for watching!

[@nightwintertooth9502]

As someone whos scrapping and saving and just got their first 2 channel hot air soldiering iron combo, vent fan and helping hands and have been soldering away everything in my home since it arrived a few days ago this is a goal! Being able to buy electronics cheaply and have the knowhow to fix them for cents on the dollars! Great fix. My station has already paid for itself!

[@tony359]

Amazing, what station did you end up buying?

[@nightwintertooth9502]

@tony359 got a 2 channel YIHUA 8786D 12 in 1 kit. I really didn't see chasing after a Weller price was high, this was reasonable. It does what I need, heats up quick, has temp controls, comes with hot air rework and replacement tips are inexpensive. I can get a board preheated very quick so it's great.

[@tony359]

@@nightwintertooth9502 Cool! The iron is probably a clone of the Hakko - if a genuine Hakko tip fits, you might want to give them a go. They made a huge difference on my Aoyoue Hakko knockoff!

[@nightwintertooth9502]

@tony359 I'll swing on a set and grab my calipers and see how well. Keep you posted. The heating doesn't have any hardware. It's just a metal rod with a thread nut the tip is expected to mate to. It will be ID of the tip that's the biggest concern. Often to make them proprietary they adjust the ID very slightly and the lengrh to prevent them from being interchangable. The thread is standard. I can fix bad length with a Dremel it's the ID of the tip that's the concern. If there is a gap it won't heat XD.

[@tony359]

Have a look. Making things different is expensive! :) Sometimes they just copy everything!

[@rogiervanlierop]

Thank you to let us experience some real Italian temperamento😊

[@tony359]

ahahah I contained myself! :D Thanks for watching!

[@SanguineBrah]

Nice work! Those J-lead style packages are such a hassle to solder, even for larger ICs, and because of the angle it's not so obvious when you have a bad joint.

[@tony359]

Yes! But I can't wait to encounter another one to practice more! Thanks for watching!

[@uomoartificiale]

Italian here. I can confirm a very polite, gentlemanlike, reaction to the desoldering incident 😅

[@tony359]

ahaha grazie!

[@tookitogo]

Just a minor correction: that isn’t a J-lead package. J-lead means packages that really have pins that come out the side and then fold down, with a curved end folded under the chip. The most common J-lead package is the PLCC (though not the version used for LEDs).

[@tony359]

Thank you!

[@halnovemila9698]

Really greatly enjoyable video Tony! many kudos to you! it's the first time I watch one of your videos after I've seen hundreds of others about electronic repair. What made me super surprised it's to realize about your italian origin and yet, till that point, I had never imagined that English isn't your native language. How did it happen that you speak English so fluently without the typical italian accent? ha? I envy you 😛non solo perchè parli inglese benissimo, ma anche perchè sei estremamente capace. Fare una riparazione elettronica è già una sfida che richiede capacità, ma farci un video come l'hai fatto tu, dettagliato, informativo, con grafica dedicata e composizione, ci vogliono ancora più competenze e lavoro... lo so perchè l'ho provato io stesso. Saluti da un Veneto scappato dal manicomio italia a 42 anni suonati e che da solo e senza mai esperienza di viaggi all'estero è andato dall'altra parte del mondo a cercare di lavorare e vivere in un paese dove la pazzia non ha ancora pervaso tutto e lo stato non è già diventato pervasivo, oppressivo e vessatore, e si può ancora vivere un po' come Dio vuole e non come vogliono una massa di psicopatici col coltello dalla parte del manico. Poi, se mi dici che flux usi e che stagno usi... mi fai un piacere perchè quello che ho comprato io fa schifo... ma ce ne sono mille in vendita e mica posso comprarli tutti per sapere quale è quello buono! 😉 Auguri Tony a di nuovo complimenti!

[@tony359]

Hello and thanks for your comment! I've been working on my English for a while now, I always wanted to reach a level where my original nationality was not super-obvious! That said, I was told that my accent was good many years ago, so maybe I just like languages! I shall know soon, I'm trying to learn Portuguese! Clearly I am proud of my Florentine accent, ma magari ti sorprendera' sapere che sono Fiorentino solo per meta'. Per l'altra meta' sono perlappunto Veneto :) Ho automaticamente letto la parte Italiana del tuo commento con accento veneto! :) Capisco bene il motivo della tua decisione, e' un peccato, non e' vero? Grazie per le belle parole - come dici, fare questi video e' un lavorone ed e' sempre bello sapere che qualcuno li apprezza! Lo stagno uso il Loctite 309 60EN 5C - Non ho grande esperienza con altri ma questo secondo me funziona molto bene. Per il flussante, l'Amtech 559 e' il piu' gettonato ma e' molto caro. Quello che vedi nel video e' di Aliexpress, si chiama Kingbo RMA-218. In questo caso avrei dovuto usare l'Amtech probabilmente ma per roba generica il Kingbo da 3 sterline va benissimo secondo me! Grazie per la visita e per il commento, a presto!

[@Bergi2000]

Great! No more Spiders! :) Ahahaha! This was a very nice one! Thank you! When do you Set up your Superthanks and/or Patreon?

[@tony359]

The No More Spiders lives on my desk :) Thanks for asking, I think when I reach 20K :)

[@djdoo]

Very difficult little chip of the devil there to solder indeed Tony... But glad you eventually persuaded it to stay at its seat completely, but the most important thing here is the correct troubleshooting method you used to discover that tiny faulty IC. I was a bit scared with the firmware situation cause you did not say, do you run the card with 214 firmware or reverted back to the original that the little ROM had inside? Also the black knobs seem to have that velvet feeling coating which eventually turns to a gross glue on plastics and looks dirty without being. Cheers from Greece, keep up, best wishes and better year for all of us than that shitty 2023! Jim.

[@tony359]

I did revert to the 2i2 firmware, it just didn't make it in the final cut! :) Yes, that "grime" could have been that "soft rubber" which disintegrates over time. But I am not 100% sure, the whole thing was honestly covered in grime when I got it! :D Thanks for watching!

[@livefreeprintguns]

You got a nice pick there... I always used MOTU soundcards, but for the money the Focusrite Scarlett was a formidable little soundcard especially for it's price point!

[@tony359]

Indeed. I am using it regularly now. I still get my MOTU for more serious tasks but the 2i2 is pretty cool! Thanks for watching!

[@livefreeprintguns]

@@tony359 I watched a few videos once your channel came up in the algorithm. Very cool stuff, subscribed!

[@tony359]

Amazing, thank you and welcome :)

[@Constantin314]

awesome repair, Tony. enjoyed it a lot

[@tony359]

Thank you!!

[@ConorFenlon]

Incredible repair. Thank you for sharing your problem solving process. I have this exact model of card in my PC right now, in fact! If it ever gives me trouble, I'll know who to contact ;) You've earned yourself a new sub!

[@tony359]

Thank you Sir and welcome! I hope your 2i2 behaves for a long time! :)

[@jsamusicsociety]

Congratulations, Ilove to see people fixing things....

[@tony359]

Thank you!

[@Axl_Pose]

Cool fix! I have quite a few of these Focusrite interfaces (different sizes and gen) that I have collected over the years. I have never actually seen inside one, so it was cool to see its guts. It must've taken a fall at some point to manage to snap off the 1/4 jack tip.

[@tony359]

It's easy to fix, there is an opening at the back of the socket, probably designed for those occurrences in mind!

[@DelticEngine]

A fall is unlikely to cause this. I suspect it may have been an adapter of some sort as I have known those things just fall apart or a plug that was already damaged by being stepped on, for example.

[@SaccoBelmonte]

The "Grime" you mentioned on the knobs is rubber coating disintegrating. I have an old Maudio interface which has been in a shelf for years and all the knobs are a sticky mess.

[@tony359]

I thought about that - Let's hope it's that then! :) Thanks for watching!

[@herrpez]

That was my first thought as well. Looked exactly like the rubberized muck I'm used to seeing on aging devices. Haven't seen it on knobs before though, I'll admit.

[@jerrybomcool]

I have the solo and they are amazing! Great to see some repair on one and see what’s inside

[@tony359]

Great little one indeed! Happy to have it working! Thanks for watching!

[@jerrybomcool]

@@tony359 glad it was up and running at the end. Knew you would sort it! I love my gen 3 solo they are handy to have

[@minombredepila1580]

Amazing job. Your joy is very contagious 🙂

[@tony359]

ahah - I get carried away easily :) Thanks for watching!

[@noriyukitakashima]

I was impressed by your excellent failure analysis and repair. I like watching various people's repair videos, and I feel like I often see USB chip failures among them. On the contrary, there are almost no cases where the CPU/GPU core fails. Perhaps the amount of protection circuitry is different. thank you.

[@tony359]

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

[@Projacked1]

Excellent job man, you had me worried with that piece of pad coming off 😅

[@tony359]

Tell me about it! :D Thanks for watching!

[@GriotDNB]

Well done! Keep on repqiring! Got the newer model of this soundcard, awesome piece of kit for the price.

[@tony359]

Yes, this old one is performing ok too! Thanks for watching!

[@PJBonoVox]

Great work dude. Amazed you didn't blow all those capacitors away accidentally when using the heat gun. I would have made a right mess 🤣

[@tony359]

eheh, at least that went well! SMD is always tricky! Thank you!

[@wabroli]

Your happiness when it worked, I can totally relate haha, great video, thank you!!

[@tony359]

Thank you for watching!

[@chriswilson7493]

An excellent repair and a very enjoyable and professional presentation, thanks!

[@tony359]

Thank you very much for your kind words!

[@naorunaoru]

Got myself into a situation once where I had to replace a burnt STM32F411 on a flight controller. Your experience pretty much mirrors mine, though you have an even smaller chip. I found that holding down the chip slightly while blasting with hot air helps with flaky connections after 20th time resoldering everything haha.

[@tony359]

I have a feeling mine didn't flow properly, I did push it down but maybe the ground pad didn't melt properly. Or maybe not enough solder! Not sure! Next one will be better! Thanks for watching!

[@VVerVVurm]

@@tony359 my impression was the opposite .. too much solder and the chip was floating on the middle pad .. but I haven't tried QFN yet

[@tony359]

I stumbled into some videos online and I think the idea is that when the middle pad flows, the excess solder automatically squeezes out of the sides of the IC when the IC is being pushed down. Then remove the excess. So either I didn't flow it properly (the middle pad will suck heat away, it's not easy to flow when you have an IC on top!) or...

[@tomaszski9818]

Great job Tony, what is missing I personalny would like to see the communication between the new chip and CPU on an osciloscope.

[@tony359]

Thank you, I appreciate the feedback! I'm always trying to find a balance between an enjoyable length and good content. Your feedback is important! Cheers!

[@Superjamppa]

Great video. This motivates to learn more with my hotair station and oscilloscope.

[@tony359]

Fantastic! I hope you manage to master them! :)

[@Murgoh]

Nice work. The plug tip breaking in a jack is a pain, had it happen a couple of times which lead me to only using Neutrik plugs. The construction is much better than most with the tip being one full length piece of metal instead of a riveted design and the strain relief is the best I have seen in any plugs. And they are not the most expensive either, sold at Thomann as assembled with Cordial cable at very reasonable price..

[@tony359]

When it comes to sound, poor quality connectors and cables are to be avoided as much as possible! Well, the same applies for everything else of course! And you're right, often the difference in price is minimal so really no reason to cheap out on those things! Thanks for watching!

[@wcndave]

Very nice. Do you have any videos on that whole flux/soldering/cleanup process for surface mounted components and pin components, from microscope setup, to what that gunk is, to temperatures etc... would be great to see and try to learn it!

[@tony359]

Thank you! I've never considered making a video about that, thanks for the idea! It could be a useful one! Thanks for watching!

[@alelondon23]

Thank you. great video. I've learnt a few things and I admire your humbleness and honesty. Bravíssimo

[@tony359]

Grazie! Thanks for watching!

[@richardaston6361]

Love your work, the way you explain it and how you show the process 👍👍👍👍

[@tony359]

Really happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching!

[@toastermon2272]

As someone who has not only had to replace the USB connector on a Focusrite 6i6 but also on an Akai MPK88 keyboard one word of advice: upgrade them to USB-C while you're at it, I bought a couple of 4 pin type-c connectors that terminate in a little DuPont jack and just soldered 4 wires to the pads of the old connector in the interface and crimped a fitting connector on. The type c jack fits snuggly (although diagonally) into a type b slot and can be additionally secured with a little hot glue. You don't have any real benefits but moving my complete setup to type c has been so nice and even micro b plugs can usually be upgraded with a little bit of filing.

[@tony359]

I can picture someone trying to plug the Focusrite blindly, trying to align the USB plug to the diagonal socket at the back! :D Thanks for the idea - and for watching!

[@toastermon2272]

@@tony359 I mean blindly aligning any USB C plug is probably easier than any other USB version so that's a risk im willing to take. Given, for an interface that's plugged in most of the time it doesn't really matter but for other audio equipment, some of which to this day is only available with micro USB B, this is so nice if you switch controllers often or don't have your audio setup on your desk the whole time, one plug to rule them all! ;)

[@tony359]

absolutely!

[@tvelektron]

Hello, nice repair for sure... One question, what are You spraying around 29:40 to all connectors, pots and switches? Some "magic" contact cleaner or just simple isopropylic alcohol to clean it a little bit??

[@tony359]

Thank you! That is my favourite contact cleaner, it's called Servisol S10. It's "lubricated" and enhances conductivity. So it's not "dry", it leaves stuff behind. But I found that when the dry contact cleaner doesn't work, the S10 does :) I believe it's now sold by a different manufacturer - Kontakt 61 maybe? Thanks for watching!

[@mukmusicdiary]

Great work mate! I just picked up a new addiction hahaa. Might need to start learning how to do this stuff haha.

[@tony359]

Yes it can be an addiction, a very rewarding one! :) Thanks for watching!

[@TheJimNicholson]

I have the 2i4, and it's developed a slight static in the outputs when I change the volume knob. I've been too intimidated to try cleaning it, but watching you do this repair has shamed me into trying it. :)

[@tony359]

Thos pots are more or less sealed. You can try with some cleaner but make sure you use the "lubricated" one, for trimpots. Failing that, you could replace it. Good luck and thanks for watching!

[@nikelquint]

Brilliant video, i adore your methodology and explanations

[@tony359]

Thank you, appreciated!

[@carlosgarcialalicata]

Great video!! I am learning a lot :) - How do you plug the device while holding the oscilloscope probe? or, how many hands do you have? :) - I would love to see your setup

[@tony359]

Thank you! One day I might make a video about my setup! Nothing special about the rest, the trick is to almost plug the USB plug, then set the oscilloscope, then use one hand to fully plug the USB connector. But yes, tricky. Especially when also filming on three cameras, looking at the scope, diagnose, think of what to say and recording a commentary :)

[@TheSalatech]

Hi. I had a 6i6 1st gen on the bench, same issue, same chip to replace. First i ordered a few from china since they were not available anywhere (mouser)at that time. Replaced 3, none worked, probably fake ones. Then after more then a 6 months they became available back in Mouser, the first one worked ;). Good video, i really liked the detailed fault finding. thanks

[@tony359]

Ah interesting! Good to have two spares then :) Thanks for watching and for your kind words!

[@TheSalatech]

​@@tony359with pleasure. I just found your channel, i will check more of the videos.

[@zx85]

Congratulations!🎉 Great repair

[@tony359]

Thank you!

[@jimle22]

You da man Tony. I am about to buy one of these 2i2 fourth gen. And now I know what they look like inside. Chers. I'm subed.

[@tony359]

thanks and welcome! I've been using this for some audio tests and I'm pleased with it - besides one channel introducing some noise sometimes requiring a "reseat" but it could be the cheapo jack...

[@Birdman_in_CLE]

I understand how you feel doing this type of work. I just did my first surface mount ic like this and if I were being paid they would have fired me after the second hour. 😂

[@tony359]

ahah - well, someone has to begin from something! Thanks for watching!

[@moddaudio]

The third gen focusrite I tested had a big peak in noise at 90KHz. A problem I noticed on a lot of other interfaces by other brands. While you can not hear it, it does effect the next opamp in the chain.

[@tony359]

Interesting find. I suppose that could be easily filtered out with some passive components? Thanks for watching!

[@PileOfEmptyTapes]

That's the shaped noise from the DAC. The CS4272 DAC is a relatively old and inexpensive design with like 1 or 2 bits only that requires fairly high-order noise shaping (4th or 5th-order I think) for it to achieve its rated performance, resulting in substantial amounts of ultrasonic noise that requires dedicated external filtering in addition to what's built into the chip... which in turn inexpensive interfaces will commonly skimp on, and at least the 2i4 is no exception. The "big peak at 90 kHz" isn't even an actual peak, that's just the effect of ADC filtering kicking in when recording at 192 kHz. Things merrily keep rising beyond that point for a good while longer. Seems to be about a 3rd-order slope, so even the circuitry suggested by the datasheet would not be entirely adequate if you are serious about your hi-res.

[@tony359]

@@PileOfEmptyTapes amazing insight, thank you!

[@moddaudio]

​@@PileOfEmptyTapes The codec may be an old design, but it is also not understood. Otherwise someone would place an analog low pass filter on a higher end interface. I ran a test where I mixed a guitar with a 32KHz sine into a distortion box. The poor opamp got so saturated reproducing the 32KHz tone that it undistorted the guitar. It is my understanding that a codec works by sampling at a much higher rate and lower bit depth into an adder accumulator. (CIC filter) Then you carefully select a series flat-top and or half-band filters to push the noise out of band as much as you can while reducing the sampling rate. I guess you are saying that the noise is the result of inadequate digital filtering for an interface rated for 192 KHz and a lack of any analog filtering.

[@PileOfEmptyTapes]

@@moddaudio "The poor opamp got so saturated reproducing the 32KHz tone that it undistorted the guitar." Congratulations, you have proven that high-frequency AC bias helps a baseband signal overcome a strong nonlinearity. Messrs. von Braunmühl and Weber really were onto something, eh? ;) The importance of this effect for audio reproduction cannot be overstated. It helped tape overcome its scratchy lo-fi beginnings and turn into an actual hi-fi medium, and without it things like delta-sigma A/D and D/A converters (which are vastly dominating audio applications) or Class D audio amplifiers (which are using a switch-mode output stage and PWM) would not exist. The CS4272/CS4392 presumably runs a dual bit modulator (3 levels or ~1.585 bits) at 128fs (12.288 MHz at 48 kHz in). Even including 21 dB of oversampling gain, it would only achieve a dynamic range of about 32 dB when applying flat (white-noise) dithering, absolutely pitiful performance. These kinds of modulators need substantial amounts of noise shaping to shift most of this noise outside of the audio bandwidth, which results in a noise floor rising with frequency - so you get less where it matters and more above. The more dynamic range you are trying to squeeze out of a given modulator and sample rate by increasing modulator order, the steeper the rise is. While there is some internal analog (switched-capacitor) filtering in the DAC to address ultrasonic noise output, it is unlikely to be comprehensive in a price-conscious DAC design in particular. The maximum modulator order I've seen in a DAC has been 5th order, and when designers can get away with 4th or 3rd order while still achieving the desired performance they will happily do so, just because it makes them easier to manage. The maximum on the ADC side has been 7th order, which is really extreme but not such a big deal there as digital filtering can get rid of the noise during decimation. Even getting such a beast mathematically stable would have been quite the accomplishment (it used to be a real problem for the design of higher-order modulators). At least running a higher-order modulator means that increasing the oversampling ratio (i.e. its operating frequency) gives major gains - at 4th order or a 24 dB/octave slope, doubling it turns a converter not even quite making it to CD quality spec into a midrange audio interface affair, assuming the analog side can keep up. A lot of designs made the jump from 64fs to 128fs in about 1995-98. I realize this is a real rabbit hole into the nitty-gritty of digital audio. Understanding dithering with or without noise shaping is not trivial. Fun fact, shaped dither was instrumental in the CD revolution itself. Remember that Philips only had a 14-bit DAC at their disposal (the TDA1540)? Using a digital filter IC to run it at 4X oversampling gave them another 6 dB, but that would still only have been 15 bits effective. So the filter would apply some noise-shaped dithering as well, which pushed performance levels in the audio band to about 16-bit level as desired. Mind you, the filter created some new problems - a 0.2 dB periodic passband ripple spec in an FIR filter is not pretty, for one.

[@txilibrist]

I repaired mine by applying a little heat to the USB chip. It has been running for 4 years. What I don't understand is why you changed the USB connector without first checking your connections. It seems that in this model, Scarlet 2i4, this failure is quite common. I subscribe to the channel because of your excellent videos

[@tony359]

Hello and welcome! The USB connector was broken, the central part was missing and had the terminals just hanging in the air! Sorry if that wasn't clear in the video. Yes, I could have tried re-flowing that IC for sure. Not sure why I didn't try? Maybe to avoid stressing the PCB twice with heat. Some PCBs are not great and traces start detaching when heat is applied, even at low-ish temps. But I have to be honest and I don't think I had this elaborate thought back then! :D

[@yt4krist0f]

Great job and love the way of troubleshooting!

[@tony359]

Thank you so much!

[@arkadybron1994]

Focusrite Scarlet units can be found in many broadcast radio and television environments including several BBC broadcast centres. So is capable of broadcast quality audio.

[@tony359]

Interesting! Given the price, I do like them :) Thanks for watching!

[@elektro-peter1954]

15:23: Shouting at the screen that your scope is in AC - LOL and you find it 1 second later - I guess my shouting worked ;-)

[@tony359]

Oh, that was you! Thank you! ;)

[@tiemanowo]

28:33 It is a good practice to put some fresh solder on the IC itself not only on PCB pads, and I think you've forgot that. But overall, nice repair.

[@tony359]

Very good idea! I actually removed some from the ground pad as I thought it would be too much? I have a feeling "more is better", the excess would squeeze out when you press the IC! Thanks for watching!

[@SianaGearz]

@@tony359 More isn't better, not even close, less is good, but the trouble is, this IC probably spent years nobody quite knows where, its entire bottom is likely oxidised and may not be eager to accept solder before you re-tin it. I think that was why you had unsoldered pins. As such this is indeed a good call. Maybe your flux is also not quite angry enough to deal with that without a little extra encouragement. Serious manufacturers are highly reluctant to use ICs whose manufacture date is more than about 2 years old for this very reason, this is how they end up cheaply on the Huaqiangbei market.

[@tony359]

very good point! I was indeed wondering how such an IC would work in a proper production line, in a reflow oven!

[@CM-xr9oq]

I've never done that with any IC. Drag-soldering with a chisel-point soldering tip and using plenty of flux works well.

[@JurassicJenkins]

Nicely done!!! What firmware reader / programmer are you using? 😊

[@tony359]

It's the XGeku T48, really nice machine! Thanks for watching!

[@JurassicJenkins]

@@tony359Thank you!!! I like your approach and persistence on troubleshooting. Great Video❤

[@222inverter]

just thinking??...did you leave the firmware on the flash for the 4 port version??...great video by the way.!

[@tony359]

No, I went back to the 2i2 one - sorry I didn't show that part in the video! Thank you for watching!

[@cristigheorghe]

Hah, great work! Did you keep the 2i4 firmware in the end with no issues?

[@tony359]

No I went back to 2i2 - sorry it didn't make it in the final edit! Thanks for watching!

[@TonyLing]

I pulled two of these out of a bin behind a music store, both had broken USB sockets like that. I replaced them and all worked fine. I assumed at the time that the music store had vandalised them to prevent them from being re-used.

[@tony359]

it could be, such a horrible practice! Well done!

[@dtwistrewind7361]

Great repair, ive got a native instruments audio 8 dj soundcard that has a similar issue and has been dead about 5 years after a usb hub socket shorted out, hopefully this will work for me👍

[@tony359]

I hope your soldering is better than mine! Thanks for watching!

[@niwivan3793]

Ottimo lavoro! felice di aver scoperto il tuo canale :D

[@tony359]

Grazie e benvenuto!

[@mynameizmaineimis1880]

Wow, this video is really great! I was considering getting one of the larger Scarletts at a third of the original price with 2 loose inputs and 1 loose output. Your video convinced me not to. Thanks for making it!

[@tony359]

You're very welcome thanks for watching!

[@baghdadiabdellatif1581]

Great work 👌👍👏 I think reflowing the original usb IC will fix connection problem. Great Northridge fix IC soldering technique

[@tony359]

Yes, I should have tried that but considering the USB port was broken, it is kind of expected the USB IC to also be faulty. Thanks for watching!

[@baghdadiabdellatif1581]

@@tony359 try it. The original IC quality much better than new one

[@tony359]

It’s USB, it works 🙂 removing and reflowing that area will likely cause further damage! 🙂

[@baghdadiabdellatif1581]

@@tony359 In this case. Keep the original IC for another project. Great sound card by the way. A week ago I bought a Presonus audiobox GO.

[@tony359]

All the faulty IC's and components go in a "dead" tray :)

[@diego.alienigena]

I really enjoyed this repair 👏👏

[@tony359]

Thank you for watching! :)

[@kwcdata]

Good work and very interesting repair.

[@tony359]

Thank you!

[@morganoliveira2721]

This is a masterclass.

[@tony359]

Thank you so much!

[@colechristensen]

What part did you use for the USB port? I have exactly the same problem

[@tony359]

I bought one online on Ebay, nothing specific. I have a feeling they are all the same. Or I was lucky :) Are you in the UK?

[@erikelshout]

Great work! have a look at the USB chip at 13:03..... near the R5? mark and R=330E (?pin 21, 22) The original soldering work is not connecting the chip to the pads. Not a propper soldering Maybe just reflowing the chip would have done the trick.

[@tony359]

I think that was me poking around off screen, the probe just squashed the solder. But you are right, I could have tried re-flowing it first! Thankfully those IC's are cheap! Thanks for watching!

[@CXensation]

Well done ! Most DIY'ers would have deemed fake IC as the problem. There is a huge disbelief in IC's from China despite the fact that nearly all commercial available IC's are fabricated in China.

[@tony359]

Well, there is also a huge amount of fake ICs coming from China as well! But yes, sometimes I think the same: what would be the monetary advantage to remove a similar IC, re-label it and sell it for pennies? I guess I should consider the almost-free labour and big sale numbers? Thanks for watching!

[@RikerJoe]

Nice job, Tony!

[@tony359]

Thank you!

[@GeorgeGeorge-xj2bc]

Once i replaced usb port on a focusrite and also computer did not recognize it.I think it has its own drivers through a dedicated software because many models have no stand alone operation and work only by its own software and no other way.Ableton hardware also had similar action after repair.

[@tony359]

Interesting, some very professional ones do that. Thanks for watching!

[@Mediateritorist]

Very great job, Tony and very sympathic ;-)

[@tony359]

Thank you!!

[@FlashcarlGaming]

I have a Focusrite 2i2 sound card, it was damaged due to a lightning strike, it has been repaired for maybe 2 times to my local services distributor and it was damaged again, is there a solution for that?

[@tony359]

If your equipment tends to be damaged by lightings, a surge protected power strip - or better a UPS - might help. A friend used to have the same issue and resolved with an UPS. That said, the 2i2 is powered by USB. I'd expect that a surge would damage your motherboard before the USB connected interface? Unless the surge came from some attached sound devices? I don't know if there is a more general solution you could apply to your whole house. Thanks for watching!

[@CobraFat2000]

Watched your video through my 1st Gen 2i2. To be fair - you do apply the goo just like Rossmann and he himself has mentioned that his hands are shaking and he rarely does the soldering himself anymore.

[@tony359]

I'm not an avid follower of his channel, I hope he's fine! Good to know I am at least applying the goo as he does :) Thanks for watching!