Soundcraft Signature MTK 12 Issues!

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

Hello everyone. I know that a few of you have this board. Recently my board has started acting up and I was wondering if anyone else has encountered these issues and how they have resolved them.

My Pots, Faders and Push Buttons are crackling a lot from time to time, and I am experiencing Audio Drop outs on various Channels, and the USB button is hit or miss when it will work to send audio from the DAW to the Board. Super frustrating to say the least. The MTK is only a couple years old and was purchased new.

I’m looking at a couple places for potential service, but I wonder if it’s worth it at the end of the day. Looking @ $75 per hour to ‘fix’ the board at a place in LA…but having bought this thing new, and have put it under limited/light use, I wonder if the 2-3 hour job would be worth it.

Did I just get a LEMON? There doesn’t appear to be any sort of meaningful warranty from SoundCraft either…

Thanks for any advice or input on the subject.

I’m tempted to open it up and see what the guts look like. Could it just be it needs an Air Cleaning and proper lubrication?

Hope everyone is doing well!

#2

All I can say, I’ve had crackly faders too. Not noisy in use, but scratchy when being moved.
The other problems not so much.
I think they used pretty cheap knobs + faders…

#3

I use a 22 mtk. I purchased it second hand, it’s about 3 years old. I have no decksaver.
I had heavy humidity problems in the studio for about a year.
I had to move and store everything. I stored the board in its box, but in a dusty place. After 2 months storage, I put it back in use, and I noticed several crackly faders (like heavy crackly…). I opened it. it was quite dirty… I cleaned everything with vacuum cleaner, by hand with cotton buds, used contact cleaner CO2 aerosol and oiled everything a bit. All in all It took me several hours.
I cleaned yesterday and only had little time to test it. From short tests, it’s now much better, did not notice any noise.

It’s definitely a fix that you can do by yourselve to save dollars. I guess that a professional would need minimum 2 hours.

I plan to add a homemade decksaver tomorrow to avoid dust in the future!

1 Like
#4

I agree. Cheap knobs and faders. Quite low quality components…
but let’s face it, those boards are quite cheap and offer a lot. I have the feeling that I have what I paid for. I would definitely not rank those high quality/durability, and I wonder if I’ll run in more problems in the future.

#5

Thanks. Did you just remove the screws on the top around the XLR ports and on the sides to gain access to the Pots and Faders areas?

#6

I disassembled everything (screws arund the inputs, screws on the back too)
It was actually a pain to disassemble/reassemble.
Use adhesive tape to protect the plastic if you want to avoid damaging the thing whil unscrewing. (I use this tape that is use for painting jobs).

Good luck!

#7

How can i connect my Soundcraft Signature MTK 12.
When I connect USB from A to B it will not work. it says it is not connected.
Is there something wrong with the cord or is there something wrong with the USB port on the mixer?