What the **** do I do wih this leveling thing?

[Leslie John]

OK you guys with loads of experience, tell me what the heck I am missing with this leveling thing when I record.

I have a new Roland RS9 keyboard plugged into my Gina24 sound card and I am running Cakewalk's Sonar for recording. For now I am using the mono analogue output of the keyboard. The level of the input is way down, around -40 dB. The same thing occurs when I plug the keyboard directly into powered monitors (20/20bas), the volume is way down compared to other uses of the monitors. Do I need a preamp for my keyboard to get the level up to make "hot" recordings?

Roland tech support told me that the level was down because I was not using both left and right outputs of the keyboard, so I tried using both and the level didn't change.

Someone else told me I needed a direct box to match impedances, the keyboard having high impedance and my sound card having low impedance. I tried this and also found no boost in the level.

Any suggestions to get me on my way would be appreciated.

Les

[Dolemite]

Hmmm, something is wrong here. The synth output should definitely not be -40 dB. You obviously want to crank the outputs on the synth since that's often a digital control anyway so it shoudn't introduce noise near much as analog gain would. So, you want to turn the synth output all the way up, and set your Gina24 for its most sensitive input levels (probable -10). Some synths need a little boost from a preamp or a mixer to get them up to nice hot levels but you should definitely not be at -40. Make sure that your synth is all the way up and your inputs are at -10 and if that doesn't work, well shit, I dunno what else!

[Leslie John]

Dolemite,

Well I went back to check the levels again, and using both left and right channels of the keyboard, and setting the keyboard internal level to maximum, I was able to get the input level up to -30 dB. Still not hot enough for recording, right? I called Roland tech support at this point and as you said, he suggested turning the level up on my sound card. I cannot find any adjustment of input levels for my Gina24, only monitor and output adjustments. The input is just a meter. Could this be a case where am I need a preamp for my keyboard?

Les

[DavidK]

Les, are all the patches from your Roland the same, or are some hotter than others?

I dont know the RS9, but on my Roland JV1010, some patches are really low as far as output, and the output on the Roland doesnt come close to the output on my Alesis sound module.

I have my Roland JV1010 connected to a Spirit Mixer, and quite often I have to turn up the Gain to get a strong signal from the JV1010, but a few patches ( and I mean a few ) are very hot, so my only problem with the JV1010 is the disparity between patches, and lots of other folk agree with me. Maybe your RS9 is similiar. Seems to me that Roland should address this problem.

[Leslie John]

David,

Your reply was a blessing for me, just what I was looking for. Thank you!

As God works infathomable ways, my brother, who has been following my keyboard leveling dilemma right along, yesterday bought me a line level 2-channel mixer with 20dB of gain and balanced outputs for a birthday present.

Les