Re: Failure rate
I haven't had any of these fail yet, but it was only because I was aware of the problems others were having and took proactive steps to prevent the same failure.
The ADA8000 units as they leave the factory are a big space heater. The comment about heat sink problems for the voltage regulators is not unfounded, but the real culprit is the power transformer chosen. The secondary voltage is way too high requiring the regulators to drop excessive voltage across them, resulting in very hot operating temperatures, too hot to touch for more than 2 seconds.
Because the load on these regulators is fairly low from a power requirement perspective, I can't understand why a simple engineering issue like this was overlooked without correction or a recall. Is this a case of behind the scenes component "substitution" by the factories, or were they instructed to build them based on a poorly engineered design?
On a positive note, the ADA8000 is a great product otherwise, and fills a void in the marketplace for a cost effective AD/ DA interface.
