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hi, having a problem with my a156 ultra. hopefully you guys can point me in the right direction and help me troubleshoot and possibly repair.
i have only zlink1 connected and 3 inputs active on the a16.
also the 2nd zlink on the same pulsar card is connected to a 2496 which was never affected and worked all the time,
here,s what happened:
after 3 hours of idling with just a minimal hum from the guitar as input, the a16 started crackling like a bad vol. pot on an amp, then went into a constant loud noise, 0db. sounded more analog, like the static between fm stations.
i should have just muted in the mixer but was a little shocked and more concerned with my amp and speakers.
what i tried:
switched on and off. rebooted. pulled the zlink. pulled the mains for 1 hour.
noise remained, nothing helped but the zlink did siill sync ok. i left it for the rest of the working week.

today, the noise is gone, but also no sound from the analog input,
switched to zlink2 on the a16 and works fine. so half of it ok.
since there are no error messages i would guess it is sth, in the a-d area rather than the dsps, ior are there other things like separate power regulators for the a-d ics?
i am fully capable of smd work and can always fall back on 2 chinese guys in our company. they are like machines, a little humiliating at times...

Your A16 has 2 zlink ports and your pulsar has also two.
Did you try "crossing" the zlinks, so you make sure the problem is on the A16 side ?

I also own an A16U with one Zlink defect. (got it 2nd hand with that defect).
There is a smd-chip for communication on the border of the pcb. I replaced it, but it didn't help in my case.
I also mailed ferrofish, but the answer was, that they don't care about zlink-problems.

If you manage to get a schematic of the A16 (or pulsar) I would be very interested.

yes. zlink b works zlink a not but it syncs on both

Didn’t the ferrofish hardware Dev Design these units when working at creamware? I will let Gary answer, but I think that person may be able to recommend a repair channel.