Newbie Question on best option from Roland 5050 to AW16G.

Scooter B

Scooter B

New member
I did a search on this and found two analogue options but most of the posts were 2002 and 2003 and I have a third digital option here.

I am loving alot of the sounds of the 5050 through the headphones but as you know going straight into the 16G does not sound so good.

Three options I see for me at the moment and I am going to try the two that don't cost any addition money tommorow but I wanted to ask some keyboard players what should work best here.

1. Roland 5050 to Mackie 1402 VLZ pro. This would allow me to use all 4 outputs (if desired) and send to the G in a stereo mix or just the stereo mix from the 5050. I already have the 1402 and have not used it much. Could add some signal routing options like external effects and compression before hitting the G but it could also add some noise (still less than going straight to the G). My only other stereo capable preamp is a DMP3.

2. Roland 5050 SPDIF out to AW16G SPDIF input. I don't know anything about this option other than the G and the Roland both have these hook ups and it would keep the signal digital which could be a good thing but how is that going to affect the volume when I mix down?

3. Something like the Ebtech Line Shifter that boosts from -10 to +4 through a transformer. I am guessing this would be cleaner and less colored than the Mackie and cost around $80.

I am primarily a guitar and bass playing songwriter and picked the 5050 up for some simple keyboard fills, strings, horns and synth patches. While I have played some piano; electronic keyboards and MIDI are pretty new to me.


Thanks
 
Scooter B said:
Roland 5050 to Mackie 1402 VLZ pro. Could add some signal routing options like external effects and compression before hitting the G
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This is the one I'd start with before I tried anything digital. IMHO a simple, clean analog signal path is much less fussy and much more flexible than any digital path. Set it up and work with it for a while to see how it suits you - don't reject it out of hand because of percieved noise during the first ten minutes. I have an AW16G too and I love it - I use a Mackie 1202 VLZ as a submixer and find it's more than quiet enough.
 
Just curious, why is going straight into the AW16G a problem? Theoretically at least, that should be the second cleanest way to get the signal into the recorder, with the SPDIF input being the cleanest. I found the analog outs on the 5050 to be extremely clean and plenty loud enough. In fact, they are virtually indistinguishable from the SPDIF output in A/B tests, at least in my experience. I can't help but wonder if there is some other issue at play here if a direct connection from the 5050 to the AW16G is not working out.
 
Thanks Ssscientist I know I could count on you :)

I will give that a shot.

BTW I want to invite you over the digonstock.com for any G related discussions or help you might like to offer. There are a few of us MIDI impaired individuals over there trying to make use of the MIDI on the G and you could be a real asset. There is also a great bunch of guys over there.


Just curious, why is going straight into the AW16G a problem? Theoretically at least, that should be the second cleanest way to get the signal into the recorder, with the SPDIF input being the cleanest. I found the analog outs on the 5050 to be extremely clean and plenty loud enough. In fact, they are virtually indistinguishable from the SPDIF output in A/B tests, at least in my experience. I can't help but wonder if there is some other issue at play here if a direct connection from the 5050 to the AW16G is not working out.
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The 5050 sounds fantastic through the head phones but terrible through the G direct.

Some of the patches needed the G's preamp gain turned up around 2 or 3 o'clock, got quite noisy and sounded very muffled compared to the phones. Kind of like hearing a CD through blown speakers.

Others at the G forum have had the same problems going direct from synth modules to a recorder without a preamp....seems pretty common.
 
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I have the AW16G and have been using it for a year and a half. To record direct from my keys (either the Roland or Ensonic) I just run stereo cables from the left/right audio output on the keys, directly into 2 inputs on the AW16G (doesn't matter which inputs, as long as they are paired). For most patches, if I have the keyboard output on full, I don't even need the G's preamp (they are all the way off). Putting it up to 2 o'clock seems like you're getting into microphone boosting neighbourhood. there's more than enough output from a keyboard (it's almost line level output).

Make sure your patches are high volume, and that there isn't a setting on the G messed up (input gain fader at -20 or something, input tracks are set in stereo etc). I don't see the problem as being G related (at least I've never had the problem).
 
Canadianrocker is right, synths output line level and there should be no problem going directly into the AW16G. Using a preamp should be absolutely unneccessary. As he said, check to make sure the synth is outputting full volume. The volume knob on the synth should be at full volume, any volume pedal being used should be near the top of the range if you are having this issue, and patches should be set for full volume as well. Likewise, make sure there is no pad on the line inputs on the AW16G side, and check all other applicable settings.

The bottom line is, going from the line level outputs of a synth to the line level inputs of the AW16G should require no use of preamps. That is also the cleanest way to get to the recorder. Putting all the electronics of a mixer in between is only a good thing if you need to use it for some other purpose like adding eq or fx.

Boosting a preamp to 2-3 o'clock on it's range is definitely in mic range, so there's a problem going on that is not normal. No way Yamaha designed the box like that, so unless something is broken there's a solution that won't require adding more gear in between your synth and the recorder. If this issue is fairly common on the AW16G board, then maybe there is some obscure setting that gets easily overlooked.
 
Just reporting that ssscientist was right (as usual) and the 1402 did the trick nicely without any added noise.
 
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