2488, MKII, NEO Mods and repair

[Dominik]

Hey guys,

I would like to show you some modifications and repair hints for the 2488, MKII and the NEO.

SWITCH REPAIR:
First of all, I did the tactile switch repair. So I bought some switches from ebay.
https://www.ebay.de/itm/Microtaster...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

The desoldering of the original switches was very easy. I meassured the old switches and they had really really bad continuity! So, fixing it with contact spray would be only a temporary solution.

MORE LIGHT:
Next thing I did was to light up the faders. I saw this feature on some other mixer and I liked it. So, I decided to add a LED stripe on the PCB behind the faders. (see picture).
As you can see, the faders are lighted up when moved.
I also changed some LED. The Mute-LED now flahes red and the HD LED is much more brighter.

LCD:
I also tried to change the LCD backlight to white. But the semi-transparent reflective foil behind the LCD is too green in order to let it shine bright.
So as you can see in the picture, the LCD is more bright green as original. But for MKII color I have to remove the foil... I will do this in future. A replacement LCD would cost around 50 €. :-O

HARD DRIVE:
I changed the HD for a bigger one. So I found out that not only Seagate will work. Also, I made a new IDE cable because mine damaged after un-plugged it too often. No problem...

FOR FUTURE:
- I want a blue/white LCD... So I will change the polarization foil.

 

[Ajax]

That looks awesome! I have to replace the tactile switch under the right arrow. The link to yours is gone. Any idea where to get this part? Thanks!
Love this machine and will fix everything if it comes to that!

 

[Dominik]

Hey,
I'm back again. Now I own the neo and I did also the switch repair.
I bought them on Amazon. Important thing is to buy 6x6mm switches with 2 pins. Not the most common 4 pin ones.

 

[Dominik]

Today I did the next mods

The button for the phantom power has got a neighbor. A 3mm green LED. Now you can also see visually by means of an LED whether the phantom power is switched on or not.

Also, I placed the headphone jack and guitar jack (H) front to back (parallel). 2 additional sockets are now at the back, under the display on the housing.
has the advantage that the device is completely free of cables at the front. In addition, my headphone output leads to a 4-channel amplifier.

Furthermore, I installed a small red LED above the stereo fader and built a clipping circuit including a potentiometer for adjustment.
Now I don't have a VU display for the stereo sum, but I can set and see the clipping range without having to look at the display.
You can also see from the LED whether, for example, the kick drum track is too loud.

 

[Dominik]

Hey guys,
I thought I'd take over my old thread.
Because my DP-24SD has been joined by a 2488 again.
And this time I'm busy rebuilding again.

- Switchable fader illumination
- LED for phantom power
- SSD
- Replaced all micro buttons on the right control panel
- Color-coordinated transport panel to match the DM and SX series
- Guitar/Bass Input moves from the front to the back of the device
- And much more is to come...

 

[shredd]

These guyz are just syk wizards. Amazing what can be done to/for these great machines (I had all 3, over about 15 years, right up to the ‘neo, which was my main rig until a few years ago when a mint-condition O/G DP-32 arrived…)

The only thing I ever didn’t like about these were the teensy screens - but wuz too stewpyd to realize how awesome the HGR2488 video adapter that guy in the UK was making until it was too late!

 

[Dominik]

Yes, the HGR2488 was briefly on my wish list. But then it turned out to be a bit too expensive for me.

So, bad news:
After I had everything assembled, I wanted to test the device.
Booted it up, and it worked. Everything looked fine. All the buttons worked. Except for Record.
It doesn't work. I could cry! So, I took everything apart again, and believe me, it's a hell of a job. I checked the buttons, hmm, it should work.
Then I had an epiphany and looked at the manual. Even though I use my DP24 every day, I hadn't realized that the Record button only works after you've armed a track. My goodness, I'm such an idiot!
Now I can put everything back together.

And the moral of the story? You can be a technician and an electronics engineer. You can find every bug in a system, no matter how hidden. But your own stupidity will always remain.

Edit:
Ah, there was a small pitfall if you used the DP for too long... The record button on the 2488 only worked in conjunction with the play button. That's right. I think I've thought about that before and thought of some electronic tinkering so that you can operate the record button independently, like on the DP. Great... I just put everything back together.