Hey Chase, first, thanks for your kind words about the products you've had a good experience with. Glad we've been able to be a part of your process for so long, and obviously we appreciate the repeat business and your advocacy! But more importantly, thanks for bringing this issue to our attention. Obviously this is a completely disappointing experience that is not up to the standards we envision for BLA. I'm going to bring this up to the support team and see what we can do to improve communication on matters like these moving forward. I'm sure after the experience you've had that may not seem like much... and that at the end of the day there's really nothing we can do to return what you've really lost here: time. I don't know what the fix is yet, but I wanted to respond to you ASAP and let you know that we hear you and we're going to work on a resolution so that incidents like this won't continue to be a problem for you or anyone else. Glad you got the Auteur Quad up and running again despite the hassle. We'll do better.
Hi BLA, Thank you for your response and for acknowledging the issue. I appreciate your commitment to improving communication and addressing the problem. It’s reassuring to know that you are taking steps to ensure better customer service for all customers moving forward. While the experience was indeed frustrating for my self, and it seems for others based on some comments below, your prompt reply and dedication to resolving the matter does give me hope that BLA will strive to be better. Thank You for taking the time to listen to not only my concerns here, but hopefully everyone’s comments and concerns going forward. I look forward to seeing the improvements and hopefully continuing to be a part of the BLA community. Best regards, Chase
It's been going on a week now, and I've contacted BLA and RAD distribution. Email and phone calls, no response to the email or calls. Goodbye BLA!!!! Grace, Audioscape, and Warm are much better in responding and have better build quality too!
Yeah no problem. I had a basic question about connecting 2 EXP’s, so I can expand my quantum 2626 I/O’s. They never responded via email and they have no contact number. I ended up getting a ferrofish instead. (Plus it was cheaper). The best small company customer service is from Audioscape.
I emailed then about a simple Vau centering question on a 172a I have and they becer responded. Didn’t affect the quality of the item so I just factored into the .5 do I couldn’t get to zero no mater what I did. It checked out with others experience online as well. A drag.
That’s too bad. You were mentioning power supply and power cable so took me a while to understand this unit had an external power supply. Did you include the IEC cable when you returned it? Not trying to make excuses for them at all, but a missing IEC cable is unfortunate but I’ve returned things without it sometimes because, at least in my case, I have a big box full of IEC cables. They’re pretty ubiquitous. Glad you finally got it sorted out though.
Yes the Auteur quad has an external power supply that is a power brick with a unique 5 pin connector and a IEC power cable to the wall. You have to send the unit and power supply to repair, so both parts brick&IEC were packaged together in the box.
Unfortunate, for sure. I know they have quite a good name in the game, but bad customer service/lack of communication KILLS reputations. On one hand if a product is stellar, you shouldn’t have to worry about customer service but on the other hand every little part has its own way of shorting out and maybe it flies under the radar. Thats where customer service comes in. While this is frustrating, I don’t think I’d count them out as a viable option for a studio, but I’d be weary at buying $800+ outboard gear vs a $200 power conditioner now that I’ve seen so many comments on customer service.
I wouldn't count them out, as there are still vendors / retailers (Sweetwater, Zzounds etc) whom take great care of their customers and that could be a difference maker for some.
Bad Customer Service.... NON-EXISTENT CUSTOMER SERVICE is more accurate in my experience ! Bought a Black Lion Seventeen and was running into a hum issue. I emailed as directed by their website, twice, no response (I checked spam folder etc.). Returned. I really liked the Seventeen, but, knowing I would never receive customer support, happily bought an 1176 from a competitor. I call BS on not returning an email.
That’s unfortunate but I totally understand the frustration but I agree on the lack of support doesn’t instill good faith. It’s unfortunate you had to go through that.
Hey Chase. Good video. I'm a live sound engineer from Norway and I've got a recording studio too. I have been looking at these Black Lion Audio products for some time and been wanting to try them out. So, over the years I have come across several different types of equipment that has break-out power supplies. In itself, that is not ideal because it means that you have one more unit to keep track of in addition to the main unit. This also means you have one more point of potential failure. OK, so to the point. To me, the failure of your unit like you describe it, this sounds like it was a power supply issue/failure. So, it says on the back of the main unit that it is Made in Chicago, USA. That's fine, but is the power supply unit made in Chicago? Or is it made in China? I have encountered several pieces of equipment over the years that have China made (and other countries) power supplies and unfortunately many of those power supplies have failed due to poor quality components inside and/or poor electrical design. The unit is probably made to spec but the components are not always the best. I am definitely NOT saying that this is the case in Black Lion Audio's power supplies but it is a legitimate question. I mean, why would the same thing happen twice in a row? So, Chase, during your video you say you want your power cable back, but it is not the power cable you want back, it is the power supply. And you need to take a look at what the power supply is capable of handling. Is it up to the task of supplying enough power to all 4 channels at the same time, at full blast? I may very well be totally wrong about my theory here but I have learned over the years to first take a good look at the power supply when something fails like this. I started in this business back in 1985 and have had a few power supplies fail on me over the years. Anyway, I like the scope of your channel here on RU-vid so I have subscribed and hope to see more interesting videos in the future. (PS: To the Black Lion Audio folks, yes, I will be trying out your products. Many of my friends and colleagues recommend your products.) Thank you for an informative video, Chase.
Thanks for the reply! to clear up some confusion and clarify, the power supply is an external power brick, then the IEC connects from it to the wall. The BLA return policy required me to send in it the unit and the entire power supply/brick + iec cable. Upon return only the 4ch preamp was in the box, after some time only the power brick was returned. That being said, I totally understand your point of view about the power supply not being able to handle it, and that is a possibility but definitely out of my realm of knowledge. One of the things i loved about my Auteur MKII was how little gain it needed to be pushed, to get the levels up, which is why I upgraded to the Auteur Quad. Unfortunately the Quad is the one that had the most issues. Thanks for watching!
@@thatsoundsterrible Thank you for responding to my comment, Chase.Yes, what I call break-out power supply is what you call an external power brick, I totally get that. We are talking about the same unit. 😄 My point is just that these can fail and have failed on a few occasions with my equipment. Some due to over heating and some due to component failure inside the brick.
Yeah I was with ya :) also I forgot to mention, while the preamp is made in Chicago, yes the power brick origin is China like you mentioned. Could have been a bad batch or it could be something else. I don’t always think country of origin is a main factor but at times that does come into play, Part tolerance, build quality, and etc will always be the issue within limits.
It sucks that they lied and said they sent it out when they didn't. That would upset me. But bro... being mad about not getting an IEC cable? Doesn't everyone just have dozens of those lying around the house? 🙄
The principal of it is that if you send them a box of stuff, they should send it all back. Doesn’t matter if it’s as small as a washer or an IEC cable. Send my belongings back.
@6AM_YT per their policy, the power supply is required to be sent in with the unit for repair / warranty work. So I fully expected it to come back. Maybe I didn’t make that clear in the video, that’s my fault.
Hey Mike, sorry to hear that, you're absolutely entitled to warranty service for that. Check in with the dealer you purchased from (if you haven't already) and they'll take care of you.
