by Y-my-R » Tue Aug 27, 2024 5:54 pm
The standard word clock card, "disappears" into the desk, in the same way the MFX and UFX cards disappear into the desk.
It would install into the same card slot as where the Apogee Clock card would go (i.e. the type of card in the reverb link you shared). So, with the "standard" clock card installed, there's usually a slot cover over the clock card slot, that you'd remove to get to the card.
If there's just an open and unused empty slot where the Apogee Clock card would go, then that unit is only a "boat anchor" at this point, as David said.
I'd also think about WHY that clock card is missing, though. It's definitely the easiest thing to sell from a D8B, since not everybody who has a D8B got one of those when new (some just used the "stock" clock card) - so, there's a lot of demand.
However, if the whole D8B system would have worked without issues... why not sell the whole system for more money, but instead sell the clock card and make an "otherwise perfectly running" system useless?
The reason could well be, that the rest of the system was NOT perfectly running, and that selling the clock card was a way to make money without getting complaints... and now getting rid of the rest of the mixer "for cheap" and "as-is" will keep too many complaints at bay, as well (for the seller).
So, I'd be rather suspicious about this.
Also, the DIO8 cards (with the ADAT and TDIF connectors), need to have a firmware chip on them that starts with 2.x... cards with the older 1.x chip will be 16-bit only. A mix of 1.x and 2.x cards in the same system, can create all kinds of wild issues... weird hangups and crashes, too.
So, definitely check the firmware version on these cards before purchase.
As for how much such a mixer without a clock card is worth... I recently posted some long text as a response to a similar question in the "for sale" section of this forum, about how I think pricing depends on LOCAL supply and demand (because shipping is expensive for D8B systems and frequently causes additional issue, and that can vary wildly, depending on location.
...as stated over there, in a location like here in Los Angeles, where there's plenty of supply, but relatively low demand, I wouldn't pay more than $200 for a "complete" system... but wouldn't care if it gives Error 43, since "something" will likely need some maintenance and basic fixing at the beginning anyway.
You might be super-lucky and find a local unit that wasn't moved around much, and that supposedly worked for the last 20 years without problems, where the buyer wants A LOT more than that. And in theory, that might be reasonable... that is, until the moment when your, say, $1,000 D8B is set up at your studio, and has exactly the same issues you can find across this forum.
So, I'd rather have these issues $200 later, than $1000 later.
As a good (or rather bad) example - David/csp who posted above, has a great working D8B system he's been using for decades. And because he liked it so much, he bought an additional D8B system with the idea to "donate" it to a community center, so the studio there can benefit from it...
...and then he went on to spend 2 intense years of troubleshooting on that desk, but in the end, could never roll it out to that community center, since it wouldn't continue to work reliably enough, after "seemingly" fixing all the issues. They always came back, and it's unclear why.
So, IF you can get a D8B to nicely work, it sounds like it "could" be a great addition to your studio, and it sounds like you're the kind of guy who appreciates old gear like that for what it is. But the "IF" part is really a big gamble, IMO. I think the chances that you'd just get an Apogee Clock card and put it in that desk, and that it would just start working perfectly from there, are pretty low.
I think you'd at least have to be prepared to replace the battery and do a full ribbon-cable reset, and clean as many of the internal contacts as possible. More or less all of these desks need that procedure done at some point in their life (or multiple times... every few years when they start acting up, again).
That's why I have mentioned "old alternatives" like the Yamaha 02R. I haven't suddenly become a fan of these desks - they're boring and they don't stand out in any way at all. Pretty plain, all across. BUT they usually just work. And you can get expansion cards for them, similar as for the D8B, for a similar final input count.
So, if I'd have to start over with all this, I probably wouldn't go the D8B route... but if you decide that that's what you want to do... there's a great bunch of people who will try to help every step of the way... but again, sometimes it doesn't work out. See David's "not quite the end of the saga" thread on here... and he definitely already knew his way around a D8B, but it still didn't work out in the end.
I'm supposed to do some work right now... but I think I'll come back later, to clarify a few things you mentioned (e.g. the "built-in" Mackie HUI in the D8B, etc.).