Well, I just received my SK 48 today and it was very disappointing. I did lots of research and did not want to believe some of the bad reviews on this unit. The reason for this is because the more recent reviews did seem positive and explained that TC had fixed most of their BUGS and DRIVER software issues. The SK 48 components may be of great quality, however I DID NOT EVEN GET A CHANCE TO USE THIS UNIT!!

I took a chance on it and it has been a waste of my time. I'm experienced and have been in the production business for over 13 years.

Here's what occurred:

1. UN-boxed the brand new unit, plugged it up to check power. Unit turned ON and LED panel WAS WORKING!! I then turned the unit off and proceeded with the software installation.

2. Installed the TC NEAR software. ( from the included CD ROM)

3. Updated the software to the latest version. 2.4.1 (for MAC) and hooked up the SK 48 with FIREWIRE cable to my MAC PRO.

4. Restarted my MAC PRO as requested by the TC NEAR software.

4. Computer restarted and did NOT recognize the SK 48 Interface. I turned the SK 48 off and then back on again. LED's were still working and it was finally recognized by my Mac Pro.

5. I then opened the TC NEAR software application to adjust my settings. It stated that the FIRMWARE was not up to date. I had just finished the update during the software INSTALL??!! Not sure what happened there TC??!!

6. I then chose the update FIRMWARE option and then my computer crashed during the procedure. HOPEFULLY ALL COMPONENTS ON THE MAC ARE WORKING AS I WILL GLADLY RUN A DIAGNOSTIC TEST AND CONTACT YOU IF THERE ARE ANY COMPUTER ISSUES AFTER THIS ABRUPT CRASH!! I then turned the SK 48 off and restarted ALL the components at this point.

7. The SK 48 was simply NOT working anymore. LED's did NOT work anymore and the MAC did not recognize the UNIT at all. The power button light was working and that was about it.

8. Finally, I updated the TC NEAR software and turned the SK 48 OFF and ON several more times and it was a WASTE OF TIME. I was left with only with a power light on the unit.

This unit is not cheap and I'm definitely NOT considering trying another new unit. I will definitely return this unit and I am positively considering a different brand at this point.

If anyone has this unit and would like to share their experience, please feel free.

TC, this is really not acceptable and embarrassing at this level. I'm surprised Robbie Bronnimann is so excited about this piece.

Best,

That sounds like a very frustrating experience.

I have one SK 48, that I'm very pleased with, mostly used for remote multitrack recordings with an old windows laptop. It has proven to be very good both when it comes to stability and sound quality.

I had an issue with one of the input pots though. This is a known issue and although my unit was more that 2 years old, all four input pots were replaced for free.

I would take contact to your dealer and or TC support immediately!
[I reckon you've done that]

::
Mads

I had similar problems with a unit here in Blighty.
I purchased the unit when they were initially released and the early versions of the software were difficult!
Then over a few months of limited use two of the front pots failed!
Then last October the firewire board failed. Sent it to Panic Music services in the UK and all fixed for £200. So the unit has cost roughly £1200 so far!
I still find issues when connecting via firewire. Sometimes the firewire works sometimes CoreAudio completely fails to see the unit, this is after restarts e.t.c. With a uMBP I had to manually uninstall & re-install the TCNear software, which was boring!!!
It's a shame as the design with the remote make it a v.useful all in one solution for monitor switching and 5.1, plus the sound quality is good IMHO.
It now operates from one of the more theft vulnerable studios, so if a chancer has a go I don't really mind! heh

I'm having similiar issues.Been fighting it since Feb when I received it.Been on the TC forums and have even had a small discussion with TC tech.Tc Tech sent me a canned response with a Mac fix.Followed the directive no less than 4 times and still have issues.Replied with another set of issues for the TC Tech and never received a reply.It finally just stopped working and now I am getting prepared to return it.Problem is they are on backorder so I either send it for repair or wait for another shipment.

Issues new Imac27 10.6
Software crashed first thing.
Updated.
Software loaded and locked up TC Near control panel.
On and on and over and over until I found the "fix" link in the TC forum.
Problem is it finally loaded and worked but everytime I shut down my gear and come back a day later it has lost output from Logic.Locks up iTunes like when you hit "pause".Use it as Logic only output and once in a while you'll rewind a track,hit play and the computer will prompt "No sound output device found" and then everything locks up again.
Had a friend who works on Macs come over and remove the entire TC software and reload verbatim from the TC sight.
His conclusion?
"There is something really buggy with either the software or the unit"

Been through all of the logical troubleshooting like new cables etc.

So far, everyone that has it or has worked with it has had an issue.

It's a HUGE disappointment and shipped mine back already for a straight refund. Considering a different brand/model at this point.

I definitely don't have the time to waste on trying to fix TC's problems with their so called "Flagship" interface!

Features don't mean anything if the unit is unreliable and NOT working properly!

I had major problems with the first TC Konnekt interface. NEVER worked without giving me crackles pops or loosing the connection to the computer. I was suprised that a company like TC, which has produced some great products, would put out crap like this. Interface went back to the dealer and I bought a different interface.

TC Konnekt = just don't do it.

TC is the company I've had most trouble with , when I first bought my FireWire poco I returned it twice bought several FireWire cards and 2 PC's before it worked correctly.

I bought the multi-license for the poco virus in 2004, now 6 years later it has still never worked.

I contacted TC a few months back and asked for a refund on the multi-licence seems it's never worked but they came up with some silly excuse that my account has been active as of late and that I must be using it when in reality I'd not been in my TC account for over a year.

Nowadays I give anything TC a wide birth.

I use a TC Digital Konnekt x32 here. Other than the TC Near program intermittently crashing if I click "Check For Updates" more than once in an open session, the device itself has been 100% rock solid.

Obviously it's quite a different animal from the SK48 - no analog stages other than a single stereo DAC monitor/phones path, no integral mixer, no DSP, etc... but it does what it does amazingly well.

Had a pot go bad on my Konnekt 8, sat in my buds closet for about a year, got it back, sorta worked until it flaked.

I sent it back with it two years, yes years, after warranty went out about a month later working great.

Only thing I'm out was the UPS shipping, other than that on the square for repair here.

Though I have a much bigger disdain not for TC but for Chinese/Taiwanese electronics in general.

Good luck as they have pretty good sound for the cost.

I've so far had no problems with mine. Worked fine out of the box with both Mac (Logic) and XP (Samplitude.)

Dunno where yours is made but my x32 is made in Denmark, not China or Taiwan.

Got the Konnekt 48 and TC PowerCore Firewire on a 2007 Mac Quad running Logic 9.1 on Snow Leopard in 32bit mode and am happy.
The TC Near software does act up now and again but I can get work done

how old is your mac??? what firewire chipset do you have???

if its the newer lucent/augere chipset it has problems... until they write something that fixes the bugs thats it...

if you have the Texas Instruments firewire chipset it rarely has issues and you can link up to 3 SK48's together...

SK48 works fine with my late 2009 20" imac,,,,,i just use the latest firmware and TCNear software, Works fine with Logic 9 and Reaper for me.....My imac has the lucent/agere chipset I believe....running OSX 10.6.3

David B

+1, although my powercore x8 has occasional strange static-noise issues intermittently with the past few TC version updates.

strange.... mine is late 09 as well but i have the TI chipset and OSX 10.6.3 as well

OOps, my mistake....mine is an imac9,1 which I bought in May of 2009. It has the Agere fw chipset though and works fine with my SK48 !!


DB

Did you try the latest drivers? I have the TC konnekt 8 I bought for 120 bucks used.... with the new updates to the drivers it has been an absolute dream! amazing value for the money.... especially for monitoring... also it is bus powered... so I can use a long ass FW cable and use it as a DI box :p

TC FTW!

no issues at all with my sk 48 and desktop konnekt 6 here. never had any crashes so far (using them for almost 1 year now).

I bought it because of the 12 analog line inputs. the converters are good enough for my needs.

(XP, mostly Reaper, TI Chipset)

The pots that went bad on my unit where made in China (did a bit of research to try and repair myself), manufactured I believe in Denmark.

I have a few interfaces: Duet, Yamaha N12 and I bought a TC Twin Impact to play with at work.

I have used the TC unit on both My mac and PC (and operation was fine), however I did the firmware update with the PC.

It is my understanding that an interrupted firmware update can damage hardware's ability to function. For example a PC with a corrupted BIOS install on the motherboard usually has to be returned to the manufacturer.

I have read about N12 Yamaha's that have also died form failed firmware updates...also my Playstation3 died from a failed update etc.

It may be possible that due to the computer crash DURING the firmware install....that the firmware was only partially installed and now the unit will not operate in any capacity.

Regardless of the cause I'm sorry for your troubles, we should all be making music...not troubleshooting electronics.

Aaron

I've had issues and contacted TC Tech.Latest reply from TC sent yesterday to my response sent to them March 25th.Upon reading their response yesterday one can surmise they did not read the first 2 well explained mails I sent them.
My SK48 is on it's way back to the seller for replacement.Should have another hopefully next week and if this one works maybe I can start recording.......which was my purpose for buying the TC.

I'm not real impressed with the TC tech support but I am understanding since they are probably inundated with emails.
On the other hand when I have a problem I get a bit selfish and would like help in a respectable amount of time.

The question is to buy or not to buy!? The studiokonnekt look very good with all the future on hte unit but iam afraid of all the bad comment on the driver * issue... now we are in 2010 how are the new driver for this external soundcard & the powercore with Virus plugin?? iam thinking of buying both..

I have been using the SK48 for a while now on my 20" IMac with no problems.
I have no experience with Virus and powercore,


DB

I just answered a PM regarding TC K48 and I thought I can copy/paste it here...

"I am very much satisfied with it. After some initial problems with the drivers, it seems really stable now, I am just going to try it out on another laptop for some remote work tommorow, so I'll see if drivers will give me any problems there...

But I think they invested much work into this problem, so now the drivers are quite fine...

Sound is cool, transparent, I don't notice something that would bother me, if I make mix decisions on it, they translate well to other systems and that's what interests me most... Overall - it works and I have no further wishes at the moment... it is a cool unit..."

just to balance any negativity with driver I tried a Konnekt 48 with the latest drivers on a Mac Pro and it worked just fine - seemed pretty solid. However I compared to to my FF400 and sold it on. But the drivers were fine. If I was buying now Id get a Steinberg jobby.

same here, no major problems to speak of...

Mine just says DESIGNED (or MADE) BY TC ELECTRONICS.
No other "made by" labels any place else.

Where's yours?

That's quite a phrase there!






Wanna add a few things up!
Ive owned a 24d before and i had an input die of an unknown reason, plus the computer had minor issues with not reading the audio driver (not giving sound) after long mac pro "sleep" sessions. Now i got a konnekt to play around with and i believe the driver has same sort of issues. The remote is SEXY! The main mixer / control panel is quite understandable with tips on the bottom of the interface, without them - it will need a lot of time to understand, its not so obvious.

Ima geto to it later..

Thought I'd share my short experiences. I research the shit out of anything before I buy. However... researching the shit out of gear can't take the place of experiencing gear, touching it, fondling it, having candlelight dinners with it, etc. No dealer anywhere around me carries this. The knobs inexplicably suck. I can't stand it. Seriously, it's plastic, smooth plastic at that, with no sort of grooves or grips whatsoever. Phones knobs are too close together and I'm not a big guy. Plugging in headphones does not bypass the main outs, which is real stupid. Am I missing a setting somewhere? I tried consulting the gimp manual, which is not helpful.

Another example is instead of talking about it's midi implementation - I was hoping this could give me an independent midi interface for my control surface so I could can mine and integrate more... no mention. Maybe someone could help before I return this. The situation sucks because I'm sure the plugs are great, sound is good, all connections I need, adequate metering for me, doesn't look too cyber-high-tech and stupid... but I can't get past the sub-par tactility and shortcomings I was hoping to solve with this piece.