AudioBox USB, AudioBox Stereo and AudioBox Studio
Music Creation Suite (PS-49 Keyboard, Studio One, Notion, Nimbit, XLR cable, M7 Mic, Headphones and USB 2.0 Hub)
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Hi all,

I recently purchased a new AudioBox USB 96 (25-Year Anniversary Edition). I quickly discovered that the headphone volume knob (which is discrete/notched rather than continuous) doesn't seem to work correctly at the lowest notches. The first three notches are silent or near-silent. The fourth notch jumps significantly in volume, but is biased towards the left channel. Notches five and up seem to work correctly, but at that point the volume is already fairly loud, which means you can't listen at lower volumes without adjusting the volume elsewhere.

I took the unit back to where I bought it, and we tested it at the store and were able to reproduce the issue, so it doesn't seem to be an issue with my home setup. Ultimately I exchanged the unit for a new one, but was surprised to find that the new one exhibited the exact same behavior, which seems to indicate either a remarkable coincidence, or maybe a design flaw/idiosyncrasy with this particular model or a bad production run or something like that.

I also have an AudioBox Go, and its volume knob works perfectly (consistent over its entire range and clear and well balanced at arbitrarily low volumes). So, it does seem to be an issue specific to the USB 96.

If this were an issue inherent to all 25-Year Anniversary Edition AudioBox USB 96's, I'd expect to see some discussion of it online, but I haven't seen any. At the same time, it seems unlikely to be a coincidence that the same behavior would manifest in two separate units.

Can anyone else who owns this particular model check the lowest notches of the headphone volume knob and see if it exhibits the behavior I've described here?

Mac mini 2023, macOS 13.4, Logic 10.7.8, Ableton 11.3.2, AudioBox USB 96 25-Year Anniversary Edition, AudioBox Go
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by Trucky on Fri Jun 02, 2023 7:29 am
Welcome to the Forum!

Is your Mix knob set to 12 o'clock position or higher?
Are you able to adjust it to get the proper headphone volume level?
If not, please submit a Support Ticket (see link in my signature below).

PLEASE ADD YOUR SYSTEM SPECS TO YOUR SIGNATURE.
Download the SO 6 PDF MANUAL. Access your MY.PRESONUS account.
OVERVIEW of how to get your issue fixed or the steps to create a SUPPORT TICKET.
Needs to include: 1) Subject 2) Description 3) Country 4) Product 5) OS 6) Audio Software


Windows 11 Pro 64-bit (23H2), Studio One 6.5.2 Professional | Notion 6.8.2 | Universal Control v4.2.0.96206
Intel NUC 13 (Intel i5-1340P, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD, Revelator, SIII 32
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by jessek3 on Fri Jun 02, 2023 8:58 am
Trucky wroteWelcome to the Forum!

Is your Mix knob set to 12 o'clock position or higher?
Are you able to adjust it to get the proper headphone volume level?
If not, please submit a Support Ticket (see link in my signature below).

Thanks for the reply. I've already been through tech support. They said my only recourse was to contact an Authorized Service Center. The person I talked to at the ASC said the AudioBox isn't serviceable, and that my only recourse was a refund or exchange. That's what led me to exchange the unit, which is when I discovered that (surprisingly) the exact same issue exists in the replacement unit as well. I'm now working with the place I bought it from to resolve the issue. They have their own line of communication with PreSonus, so maybe they'll be able to find out something I couldn't. Meanwhile, I'm just trying to gather as much info as I can on the issue to help them (and myself).

Thanks for the suggestion of the mix knob - I did already think of that. Unless I'm using direct monitoring, I have the mix knob set to 100% playback. You can indeed work around the problem by setting the headphone knob to a value that works (notch 5 or higher) and then turning down the mix knob to lower the volume.

It is a workaround, but there are a couple reasons I wouldn't consider it a solution per se. First, the headphone knob *should* work correctly (again, the corresponding knob on the AudioBox Go works fine, so it does seem like there's some sort of manufacturing or design issue at play here that's specific to the USB 96). Second, if you turn the headphone volume up far enough and the mix knob down far enough, you get sort of a low-pass filter effect. In fact, '100% input' isn't actually 100% input - on both of the units I've tried, the playback signal still comes through clearly - just quietly and seemingly low-passed. (Interestingly, the Go doesn't have this issue either - on the Go, 100% input is actually 100% input, with no playback signal at all.) In any case, I imagine a moderate headphone level and turning the mix down a bit would be fine, but the low-pass effect at lower mix settings makes me hesitant to use that workaround for actual mixing (and again, it shouldn't be necessary to do that).

If you have any further thoughts, feel free to share them! And if anyone else can provide any info on whether this problem does or doesn't occur for you, that would be helpful as well.

Mac mini 2023, macOS 13.4, Logic 10.7.8, Ableton 11.3.2, AudioBox USB 96 25-Year Anniversary Edition, AudioBox Go
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by ncuyixdd on Tue Aug 15, 2023 12:58 am
:+1 I have the exact same issue and RMA'd the device 4 times already it seems that the soldering joints on the board itself were not properly soldering when they manufactured these where that took place I have no clue but they didn't do it correctly so this is the outcome. Just be weary and no customer service department is going to be able to remotely repair hardware. Going to try and get a refund from ZZSounds.com as they told me that it's a copyright issue to replace audio hardware dumbest thing I've ever heard all my life and I work in an attorneys office. Going to try and get this replaced if not the attorney can give them a friendly call to resolve the issue.
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by jessek3 on Tue Aug 15, 2023 1:04 am
Surprised to see a reply after all this time! It does seem like it might be a manufacturing defect at the device level or with a specific production run or something. In any case, I was ultimately able to return both the ones I tried, and am using the AudioBox Go instead, which works fine. Too bad the USB 96 seems to be defective.

Mac mini 2023, macOS 13.4, Logic 10.7.8, Ableton 11.3.2, AudioBox USB 96 25-Year Anniversary Edition, AudioBox Go

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