So I have a couple options to get my MX-70 up and running 100%.

1. Send all 16 cards to Chicago to be repaired by a fellow named Soren Wittrup – This guy is a well-respected tech that was recommend to me by Otari.  He was the head tech at Electrical Audio which is Steve Albini‘s studio.  Strictly based on that, he is ‘the man’.

2. Bring the whole deck to Toronto to a place called Tele-Tech.  Tele-Tech is the only shop in all of Canada that seems to specialize in analog, multi-track recorders.  (if their are others, please tell me!!)

The pros and the cons as I see them are as follows….

When I talked to Soren he immediately knew what the problem was and knew what the solution is.  wow.  His ball park estimate was $45 to fix each card…..  sounds sweet.  The downsides as I see it are that he may find other issues and that would bring the cost up (I’m paying in American $ so it’s a 10-15% premium), shipping would cost $/duties, and he doesn’t have an actual MX-70 to conduct testing with.  He would be doing the repairs blind.

When I talked to the service guy at Tele-Tech (Patrick Holden) he seemed very friendly, knowledgeable and receptive.  They are ‘local’ (well close enough), i.e. no shipping/duty worries, they guarantee the work, and they do seem to do alot of higher end work.  We get to bring the whole machine down – if the issue isn’t just the cards they will be able work it out and test the results. Plus they could do a couple of other things – a proper alignment and calibration, and the VU meter lights.  The downsides as I see it could be that they aren’t familiar with the issue so it may take longer (more $) to diagnose and they (Tele-Tech) have a reputation as being a bit pricey as they are the only game in town. 

I have to discuss the possibilities with Jason and my lovely wife….